“Maturing in Faith” – Hebrews 5:11-6:12 – Notes

No one watches a football game to see the huddles!  We watch to see where they go with it.  Our gatherings on Sunday mornings – both in Small Groups and in the worship service – are kinda’ like huddles.

A Huddle is not just for calling a play; it’s for sharing struggles that are keeping you and the team from the goal, and it’s for encouragement for where you got each other covered – “I got your back”.  All of this is for your common goal together, advancing in the game of life!  And that’s how Small Groups should work.

Too often today, in too many churches, we huddle to huddle.  But we never execute the play.  We stay locked in a huddle while the Enemy of our souls executes his plays with precision and power.

What’s the solution?  See the huddle for what it is:  An absolutely crucial element for a team to win.  For the church, it’s an absolutely crucial element to win in the game of life and to bring life to people’s souls in our families, in our community, and in the places we live our lives.

Tom Brady couldn’t play all the positions on the team as they won the Superbowl.  He spent time practicing his own role as he helped everyone else on the team develop in their own roles.  You could see them getting better at working together throughout the season.  And all commentators I’ve seen have spoken highly about how Tom Brady consistently focused on and gave credit to everyone else on the team doing their part.

One thing you can’t do when you leave a church service is to have your leaders live this faith and Bible stuff out for you – they can’t do it for you.  The test of faith is faithfulness.

Faith is our response to God’s Truth revealed in His Word.  Romans 10:17 tells us that “Consequently [with consequence], faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through The Word about Christ.”

Hearing only is not faith.  Ephesians 2:8-9 doesn’t say we’re saved by grace through knowledge, but through faith!

The more you hear or read God’s Word, the more knowledge you get – the more you’re informed.  But faith is trustplusaction – it’s what we do about what we know.  The more we know, the more we’re accountable for, but faith grows as we respond.  Faith can’t grow without knowing God’s Word and stepping out on what you’re learning, depending on the Holy Spirit to guide and protect you as you do.

So please allow me to share with you Four Kinds of Faith, and A “Check-Yourself” Warning, from Hebrews 5:11‐6:12:

5:11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand.

Knowledge is knowing facts, but understanding is active; it’s applied knowledge; it’s evaluating how those facts fit into a bigger picture.  While we studied through the book of Matthew together for a few years in here, we heard Jesus caution us at least 9 times to “Understand”.  We heard Paul warn us at least 4 times in the book of Ephesians over the last 6 months, one of those times being a direct command:

Ephesians 5:17 – Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word [the basics] all over again.  You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted [is in-experienced] with the teaching about righteousness.

1. Converted Faith – An infant-faith who has only received life, like a baby. (Hebrews 5:11-13)

• Like a baby whose greatest accomplishment is being born, their greatest accomplishment is being rescued.

• Like a baby, this person tends to whine – this person is self‐centered because they can’t take care of themselves yet – they usually only communicate desires and wants.

• New believers tend to struggle with the same things for some time because they can’t yet find answers in God’s Word for themselves.  L