Hoover Church of Christ Sermons

Our goal as a church is to support one another in our walk with Christ. We want one day to hear these words from Jesus, “Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” and nothing will ever be sweeter.

But, of course, the Christian life isn’t easy, and we need a little help along the way. Sometimes that help comes in the form of an encouraging talk from a brother or sister, or even perhaps a corrective word.

The passage for Sunday is difficult–not because it’s hard to understand, but rather because it’s easy to understand but hard to practice. Most of us would prefer doing almost anything rather than confronting a fellow believer about something he or she is doing.

But that’s what Paul tells us to do. He says that believers ought to have difficult conversations with one another from time to time. After all, if we had no one who was willing to challenge us on something we were doing–in the interest of helping us on our journey of faith, of course–that would be sad, wouldn’t it?

“We become what we repeatedly do”–Sean Covey.

Every year as the calendar flips, many of us get caught up in the dream of change, and in so many ways this is a beautiful thing. Justin Earley writes, “There is common grace in a calendar that regularly presents us with opportunities to reconsider how we live. The flurry of resolutions made this time of year reminds us that we really do long to be made new.”

But true renewal is only in Christ, of course. As Christians, we should be more introspective than most, and we recognize the myriad ways that our hearts need to be reshaped. In the sermon Sunday I hope to challenge our congregation to consider focusing on habits this year. Resolutions are often vague and sweeping, and usually, collective amnesia sets in before winter ends. Habits, though, are different. We make daily choices that determine the kind of people we are, and I plan to encourage all of us to be intentional in developing daily habits that equip us to continue the emphases that we stressed last year: Love God and Neighbor. And good daily habits will also help us benefit from our commitment to delight in Scripture over the next twelve months.

In the text above Paul writes that his goal is to “gain Christ and be found in him” . . . to “know him and the power of his resurrection.” This year will pass, and it’ll probably pass a little more quickly than last year. But we have the unbelievable opportunity to partner with God as he reshapes us in his image.

He does this bit by bit, day by day, though, and a simple yet powerful way we work with him is through intentionally developing heart-shaping daily habits–what one writer calls “liturgies of worship.”