Wellington Church of Christ

Wow!  Can you believe we’ve been together for over a year now?  God has been so good to me in the last year.  It hasn’t been without struggles, but the struggles cause a greater bond.

Fruit

Have you ever had two pieces of fruit that look identical in their makeup but one tasted wonderful and the other was terrible?

Jesus talks about these kinds of fruit in His great sermon when he warns us about the danger of false teachers.  Here’s what He says in Matthew 7:15-20 –

One of the more difficult concepts to wrap our minds around in the current religious climate we live in is that salvation is free but discipleship costs everything. 

This week we’ll examine another of the best-known scriptures in the world, by Christians and non-Christians alike, Matthew 7:12

In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you…

Which is actually only part of the whole verse and which is often further simplified into:

Treat others how you want to be treated.

I think the most quoted verse, or some variation of it anyway, that I have heard quoted over the years is Matthew 7:1,

“Do not judge…”

I’m not intentionally controversial.  I don’t believe that God has called me to that.  I don’t believe that He’s called anyone to that.  I say this only because I know that what I’m about to write may be controversial or possibly offensive.  I just wanted you to know that it is not my intention to offend, but simply to express what the Bible teaches.  Here it is:

What do you treasure above all else?  Before you answer, first consider these questions:

• What do I daydream about most?
• What do I spend the most time wishing I was doing?
  

Fasting may be the most neglected of the spiritual disciplines, but this was not always the case.  Fasting was a big part of the Jewish culture in the time of Jesus and prior to his time.

When we see the word temptation, we typically think in negative terms, but the word we see for temptation in the Bible is peirasmos, and it is neither positive nor negative, but neutral.

What does perfect forgiveness look like?  I think that perfect forgiveness is complete restoration of a relationship to the state it was prior to the offense.