Cambria Pulpit

Becoming skilled at anything requires time and effort. If one wants to become a musician of skill, they must spend years practicing daily. If one wants to grow as an athlete, it requires self-discipline and practice. Growth in every area including relationships requires time and effort.

When Christians do not think intentionally about their spiritual growth, they should not expect significant growth. Without understanding the biblical marks of spirituality, the Christian will struggle to exemplify these marks. Without comprehension of their current spiritual state, a path to exemplifying spiritual marks becomes impossible to find. 

For the past two weeks, we have looked at the Word of God to discover the marks of a believer. We identified five marks: A love for God's people, a desire to obey God's commands, a commitment to communicate with God, eagerness for unity through humility, and producing the fruit of the Spirit. This past week we called on one another to their lives against the marks to determine their current spiritual standing. When Christians identify the marks and standing, they can identify a practical path between the two. Today we will discover that this path consists of the spiritual disciples.

The path to godliness is not easy. Instead, this path requires effort. Any relationship (including our relationship with God) takes time and effort. This means that God intends ordinary Christians to practice the spiritual disciplines. He does not reserve these disciplines for a supposed class of super Christian. Hebrews 12:14 informs us that no one will see the Lord without godliness. And the path to Godliness runs through the spiritual disciplines. 

If you are a believer, you are called to practice the Spiritual disciplines. While Christ declares the believer righteous through the forensic act of justification at the moment of salvation (Romans 3:24), that moment begins the process of sanctification in the believer's life by which the believer conforms to the image of Christ. This conformity takes place through spiritual disciplines. 

How can we claim this fact? Are we sure that the Bible calls each of us to practice spiritual discipline in our lives? And what do we mean by Spiritual Disciplines?

Today I want to walk us through three important texts which show us God’s method of spiritual growth, our responsibility in Spiritual growth, and the danger of ignoring spiritual growth.

Because of the history surrounding Christopher Columbus, someone once suggested the foundation of the Christopher Columbus award. This award would go to those who, like good old Chris, when they set out to do something, don’t know where they are going; neither do they know how to get there. When they arrive, they don’t know where they are, and when they return, they don’t know where they have been. 

Tragically, many Christians set out in their spiritual life with little more understanding than good old Chris. 

Each January we pause our current study to look at some foundational lessons for life. This year we will spend some time speaking about Spiritual Discipline as the path to maturity. In order to become mature Christians, we must first figure out the goal, the destination. Once we have figured out what a mature Christian looks like, we can then come to a realization of where we are at. When this has been completed, we can then chart a path between the two.

In today’s message, we will finish the message we began last week and we will seek to ask and answer the questions: Where are we aiming as Christians? What is a disciple supposed to look like? What is a mature Christian?

While the list could be a long one, we will focus on 5 marks of a mature Christian: last week we looked at the first 2

In his 1865 children’s novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carrol presents a striking scene which contains an important lesson for us today. In the scene, Alice continues her travels through Wonderland. However, she comes to a fork in the road. As she contemplates which direction she should take, she is flummoxed. Looking at each road from different sides presents different possibilities. As she contemplates her decision, she notices the Cheshire cat sitting in the tree. Being in wonderland she does the logical thing and speaks to the cat. She asks the cat which direction she should take. The cat looks at her through his yellow eyes and his maniacal grin and asks her, “That depends on where you are going.” Alice thinks for a moment and responds, “Well, I don’t really know where I am going.” To which the cat answers, “Then it really doesn’t matter which road you take.” 

The lesson is that unless you know where you are going, you cannot know how to arrive there. You are destined to wander aimlessly around until you figure out your destination.

The kids of today will never understand the joys or frustrations of traveling in the days years before GPS. When you wanted to take a trip you had to get out a map. The first thing you would do when you took out the map wasto locate your destination. Then you would locate your starting point. Once these two points had been determined, you could proceed to design a route between the two. 

Sadly, many Christians live like Alice in Wonderland. We don’t know where we are headed. So we wander aimlessly and when we come to crucial decisions, we are flummoxed. Each January we pause our current study to look at some foundational lessons for life. This year we will spend some time speaking about Spiritual Discipline as the path to maturity. In order to become mature Christians, we must first figure out the goal, the destination. Once we have figured out what a mature Christian looks like, we can then come to a realization of where we are at. When this has been completed, we can then chart a path between the two.

In today’s message we seek to ask and answer the questions: Where are we aiming as Christians? What is a  disciple supposed to look like? What is a mature Christian?

While the list could be a long one, we will focus on 5 marks of a mature Christian:

A Christmas Sermon

It has been a challenging week for our community. Several of your kids and grandkids have had school canceled for several days due to the threats made against their schools. Some kids are now scared to go, parents are worried, and we see society continue to degrade in front of our eyes. So how should we as Christians respond to the situation?

As we have looked at the first chapters of Romans, we have seen the challenges of today. In chapter 1 we looked at the wrath of God against a society. It is interesting that the chapter ends with this: 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Even this week this feels like a prediction of today. 

In chapter 2, we discovered that acts of religion cannot save us or change society. In chapter 3 the picture became direr. No one does good, no one is righteous, no one seeks for God. All people are totally depraved. So what are we to do? Simply resign ourselves to the fact that depravity will continue without stopping? Live in a world in which our kids have to be scared to go to school? How can we see change happen?

After weeks of bad news, today we get to turn to the good news. Yes, man is totally depraved and hopelessly wicked, but there is good news.

Over the past two looks at the Book of Romans, we have noted that religion can’t save us. Paul addressed the Jews specifically informing them that their status as Jews could not save them. This raises an important question for the Jews and for us. The Jews would ask, “what advantage then is there to being a Jew?” We would ask, “What help then is religion?” Paul anticipates this question and enters into a sort of debate with himself. Admittedly, this section is one of the hardest sections to deal with in the book because it may appear that Paul rambles. However, as we examine this debate, we discover an important lesson: True Religion is valuable because it demonstrates our sin and leads us to God. 

Perhaps you have attended church from nine months before you were born. You memorized the verses in AWANA, you went to youth group. Somewhere along the lines, you prayed a prayer. Maybe you were even baptized. Now you come to church on Sundays and serve the church in some way. You assume that because you are doing all these things, you are good with God. But as we examine the Word, we discover that you just might be relying on the wrong thing. All these actions cannot save you. Only faith in Christ, through the Gospel can save you. Your religion can’t do it. 

It has been a couple of weeks since we looked at Romans. As you may recall, in chapter 1, Paul presented a damning statement against culture. We examined the fact that our own culture is under God’s wrath. Yet in chapter 2, Paul instructs us to be careful in our judgement. For our own religion cannot save us. Today as we finish out chapter 2, we continue with this idea. Your religion can’t save you.

It is very easy for religious churchgoers to look at the world around us and decry what we see. Perhaps last week as we walked through the wrath of God against a culture, you found yourself agreeing with the judgments made. Our culture fell prey to their own sins resulting in a sexual revolution, homosexual revolution, and now societal chaos. We bemoan all that is going on around us. We rant against it with our family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and on social media. 

However, we will discover today that Paul set us up. We fall prey to looking with disdain at the evil in the world around us. And often, we fail to look honestly at our own lives. Too many people believe that because we are moral and religious we are good with God. Too many people are relying on a ditty they said as a child for their eternal security. All the while, we excuse the sinful actions and attitudes present in our own hearts. The world decries the hypocrisy of Christianity, and we often bristle at this accusation. Unfortunately, this accusation is not unearned. 

After demonstrating that the culture is in trouble because it is under the wrath of God, Paul presents some bad news to the moral religious people: You are in trouble as well, because your religion can’t save you.

Chapters 1-3 lay the foundation of the Gospel. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot gain eternal life on our own. We cannot create our own purpose in life. We cannot enjoy a relationship with God through our own works. Modern culture cannot accomplish these things for us because we are under God’s judgment. But neither can modern religion accomplish these things for us. Only faith in the saving work of Christ and surrendering our lives to him can accomplish these things for us. You see, your religion can’t save you. 

It seems as though society has reached a tipping point into evil. Any thought to argue against the LGBTQ agenda cannot be tolerated. Last week Former President Barack Obama stated with shock that he could not believe people were still arguing about it because that ship has sailed. The political sphere is as divisive as it has ever been. Young people are seen as completely out of place if they maintain their purity. The drug problem continues like a flash flood across our county. Violence, deceit, immorality, death, destruction, and hardship are all around us. The cultural and political leadership continues to drive the culture further away from God. And churches across the country echo Oprah more than God. 

In the middle of this onslaught, we often feel like Habakkuk. Habakkuk 1:13 – O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? 3 Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. 4 So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.

In today’s passage, Paul presents for us the path of cultural destruction. And he demonstrates that this cultural destruction is the act of wrath by God upon a culture. However, this text is not given for hopelessness or despair. Rather, hope reigns, and the kingdom will advance.