BLOG POSTING #14: PREACHING TO SPIRITUAL YOUTH

BLOG POSTING #14

PREACH AND TEACH TO CHANGE LIVES

Step 4:  FOCUS ON YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE (cont’d)

PREACHING TRACK: WHAT TO PREACH TO SPIRITUAL YOUTH

In our Blog Posting #13 we talked about what to preach to SPIRITUAL BABIES.  In this posting we will talk about what to preach to SPIRITUAL YOUTH.

FOCUS: VICTORY

According to our preaching diagram, our FOCUS for this stage of SPIRITUAL YOUTH is VICTORY.  This is drawn from the scripture description of this stage in 1 John 2:13, 14:

13 … I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one….

14 … I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.

Let’s note the following characteristics of the spiritual youth:

(a)  They have overcome the wicked one;

(b)  They are strong;

(c)  The word of God abides in them.

The connection between these three characteristics is obvious.  The spiritual youth is STRONG because the WORD OF GOD abides in them; as a result they have OVERCOME the wicked one.  This is the ideal picture of a Christian at the spiritual youth stage.  Our goal in preaching then is to help a BABY CHRISTIAN to grow up to the level of a YOUTH CHRISTIAN.   We need to PREACH sermons on:

(a)  The WORD OF GOD and what the Christian needs to do in order to have the Word of God ABIDE in him/her.  In the Spiritual Baby Stage we already introduced the Christian to the five ways of taking in the Word of God: hear, read, study, memorize, meditate.  In the Spiritual Youth Stage, we need to continue preaching at a deeper level on how to practice these disciplines. The goal of preaching at this stage  is expressed clearly in Colossians 3:16:  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

(b)  The Spiritual Youth must learn to overcome (gain victory) over the enemy (the wicked one).  Preaching at this stage must provide instruction on the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHY, and HOW of the enemy and his tactics.  Two scriptures provide powerful starting points, one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament.  The Old Testament scripture is obviously Genesis 3, regarding the temptation of Adam and Eve, the first representative human beings; the New Testament scripture, also obviously, is Matthew 4 (and parallel Gospel passages), regarding the temptation of Jesus, the second representative human being.  Isn’t it very revealing that in both temptations relationship to the Word of God spelled the difference between defeat (in the case of Adam and Eve who did not have God’s Word abiding in them) and victory (in the case of Jesus who had God’s Word abiding in Him)?  Isn’t it also very revealing that in both cases Satan used the three major areas of temptation: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life?

(c)  Not only must the Spiritual Youth learn about the Enemy and his tactics; he/she also must learn about his/her all-sufficient, all-victorious Ally, the Holy Spirit.  At this stage he/she must know about and consistently practice the Holy Spirit-filled life.  Preaching at this stage must emphasize the person, work, and fruit of the Holy Spirit as they relate to the believer.

(d)  Another way to differentiate the focus for the spiritual baby stage from the focus for the spiritual youth stage is as follows: the focus of the baby stage is primarily JUSTIFICATION; the focus of the youth stage (as well as the parent stage) is SANCTIFICATION.  Sermons on justification deal with the basics of the Gospel and salvation; sermons on sanctification deal with the essentials of practical holy Christian living.  We may describe these two truths (justification and sanctification) as “lenses”.  When we use these two “lenses” to examine the apostolic epistles (both Pauline and general) to the churches, we will discover abundant texts and topics from which we can preach on either justification or sanctification.  For example, Paul’s letter to the Romans divides roughly into GOSPEL & JUSTIFICATION TRUTHS (chapters 1-5) and SANCTIFICATION TRUTHS (chapters 6-8, 12-16).  In many of the epistles we will find texts regarding the Word of God and regarding Satan and his tactics and how to overcome him.

KEY: HOPE

AREA OF CONFLICT: VALUES

MAJOR TEMPTATION: LUST OF THE EYES

For the spiritual youth stage, sermons for reproof, correction, and training will revolve around hope, values, and the lust of the eyes.  We define lust of the eyes as the uncontrolled desire to be seen (admired) or to covet things that we see as valuable.  One key scripture that exposes the root and essence of this temptation is Matthew 6:19-24:

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Another key scripture is Philippians 3:17-21:

17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

To put the issue bluntly:  For whom and for what are we living – God or Mammon, the kingdom of God or this transient world?  Put in this way, you can see that essentially the spiritual youth will struggle with his/her COMMITMENT, which will determine his/her PRIORITIES.  You can also see why HOPE is the virtue that strikes at the root of this issue, because hope anchors the Christian’s commitment in heaven, not on earth.

At the spiritual youth stage you will need to preach a lot of sermons to REPROVE Christians (make them stop loving this world), to CORRECT Christians (show them the way out of loving this world), and to TRAIN them in righteousness (how to start loving and serving God and His kingdom and righteousness first).  Paul’s two letters to the Corinthians provide a lot of texts and topics for reproof, correction,  and training, sermons that will help spiritual youth Christians to have God’s Word abide in them, to be strong, and to overcome the wicked one.

SEXUAL PURITY

We need to point out one fierce battleground for the spiritual youth, especially those who are literally in their physical age of youth.  The apostle Paul warned his protégé Timothy about this:

2 Timothy 2:22: Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Bible commentators believe that at this time of writing Timothy was already a mature church leader, possibly close to forty years old, certainly no longer an adolescent or young adult.  But Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to warn him against the pitfall of youthful lusts.  This implies that no one ever gets too old to become immune to this temptation, as many sad and tragic real life stories prove; so many supposedly mature, even highly visible Christian leaders have fallen in this area.  But most especially the adolescents and young adults. 

Hence, we need to emphasize the need to preach and teach strongly and regularly on how to gain victory in this area. 

NOTE:  In  our next blog posting we will talk about what to preach to SPIRITUAL PARENTS.

BLOG #13: FOCUS ON TARGET AUDIENCE (cont'd)

BLOG #13

PREACH AND TEACH TO CHANGE LIVES

Step 4:  FOCUS ON YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE (cont’d)

PREACHING TRACK

In Blog #11 we said: Here the TEACHING TRACK is foundational.  The PREACHING TRACK assists as a trouble-shooter. But note:  All preaching involves teaching, and all teaching involves preaching.  But for the purposes of this study, we make the following distinction:

TEACHING gives the timeless Word; PREACHING gives the timely Word.  TEACHING aims to impart God’s Word progressively from Genesis to Revelation; PREACHING chooses specific texts and truths to expound and apply to the current needs of the congregation.  TEACHING serves the regular menu for healthy Christians who are developing normally; PREACHING serves a special menu that provides the nutriments needed at critical stages of development.  

Again, we may illustrate the difference as follows:  Teaching (horizontal arrow) instructs God’s people consecutively, progressively and systematically from Genesis to Revelation.  Preaching (vertical arrows) brings out truths from anywhere in God’s revelation in the Bible to meet the current needs of God’s people and to equip them to deal with their present circumstances.

(Sorry.  Diagram is supposed to be inserted here, but I'm having a problem uploading it.  Diagram shows one long horizontal arrow, representing TEACHING; above the horizontal arrow are short vertical arrows, representing PREACHING.)

Our diagram provides a guideline as to what we need to preach on, as we focus on our target audience.  We simply need to ask questions such as:  What do I need to preach on when I’m speaking to SPIRITUAL BABIES?  When I’m speaking to SPIRITUAL YOUTH?  When I’m speaking to SPIRITUAL PARENTS?

Please note that our diagram shows four general topics for preaching:

·      Focus

·      Key

·      Area of Conflict

·      Major Temptation

These topics arise out of 1 John 5:12-17:

1 John 2:12-17:  12 I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. 13 I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning.   I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one.   I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.

14 I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning.   I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

BABY CHRISTIANS

Let’s look at the four topics as they relate to BABY CHRISTIANS.

FOCUS: SECURITY

1 John 2:12, 13:  I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake …  I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.

From the above description of the spiritual baby we deduce that the focus of preaching/teaching to the spiritual baby is SECURITY, which is related to forgiveness of sins and knowledge of the Father.   Sermon topics for Baby Christians on SECURITY may include the following:

·      Assurance of Salvation

·      Assurance of Victory over Temptations

·      Assurance of Forgiveness

·      Assurance of Answered Prayer

·      Daily Devotional Time (Quiet Time)

·      Fellowship with Other Christians

Another key verse for SPIRITUAL BABIES is 1 Peter 2:2:

As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.

Sermon topics for Baby Christians on the WORD OF GOD may include the following:

·      A Brief, Panoramic Survey of the Bible

·      Five Ways of Receiving God’s Word: Hear, Read, Study, Memorize, Meditate

·      The Importance of God’s Word as Food (Milk) for Spiritual Growth

·      Obeying and Applying God’s Word

·      Two Kinds of Hearers of God’s Word (Matthew 7:24-27)

KEY: FAITH

AREA OF CONFLICT: BASIC NEEDS

MAJOR TEMPTATION: LUST OF THE FLESH

The three topics above are all related.  More than at any other stage of the spiritual journey, it is at the BABY STAGE that a Christian struggles with the basic needs of life and with the major temptation of lust of the flesh, which arises out of those needs.  And FAITH is the key quality to develop in the Baby Christian, because it is faith that will help him/her to deal with basic needs and with the lust of the flesh.

Matthew 6:25-34 provides the essential message for Baby Christians regarding the three topics above.  The message centers on this truth:  GOD YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS JEHOVAH-JIREH, THE LORD YOUR PROVIDER.  This truth may also be expressed as JESUS YOUR SHEPHERD WILL ALWAYS TAKE CARE OF YOU.  Below are some scripture passages that you may preach from:

·      1 Kings 17:1-16 – God provides in times of famine.

·      Psalm 23 – Our Shepherd provides for all our needs.

·      Psalm 103 –  God’s Material and Spiritual Blessings.

·      John 2:1-11 – Jesus will help us when our resources run out.

·      Philippians 4:19 – God will supply our needs, not wants.

·      James 1:5 – God gives the needed wisdom to live the Christian life.

·      Philippians 4:6, 7; 1 Peter 5:7 – How to overcome worry.

·      Hebrews 13:5, 6 – God will never forsake us.

·      Mark 4:1-20 – How to overcome Satan’s temptations regarding the lusts and cares and worries of this life.

NOTE:  In our next posting, we will explore preaching topics for YOUTH CHRISTIANS.

BLOG #12: AN OVERVIEW OF THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

BLOG #12

PREACH AND TEACH TO CHANGE LIVES

Step 4:  FOCUS ON  YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE (cont'd)

AN OVERVIEW OF THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

NEWLIFE DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING MANUAL

A manual is a brief guidebook that's easily carried in one's hand.  This discipleship manual is not only a book that you carry in your hand.  This manual will put on your palms and fingers important discipleship truths, taught through hand illustrations, that will equip you to participate in the greatest work -- becoming a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ and helping others to do the same.

In the Bible, God often refers to His hands.  The Lord Jesus gives the most beautiful reference to the divine hands: "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand" (John 10:27-29, NIV).

What a wonderful promise!  In the almighty hands of the Father and the Son we Christians are safe and secure – forever!  Our salvation does not depend on our holding on to God.  Our salvation is securely grounded on the truth that God holds on to us with a grip that won't let go.

Does this mean that we fold our hands and do nothing but wait for heaven? Unfortunately, many Christians hold this wrong idea in their minds.

To the contrary, because we are secure in God's hands we should work vigorously with our hands!  Paul captures this graphically in Philippians 3:12:  "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me."

Christ took hold of us -- grasped us with His hands -- for a purpose.  Now, we are challenged to take hold of -- to grasp with our hands -- Christ's purpose until it is perfectly fulfilled in our lives.

To take hold of Christ's purpose, the Christian must have strong hands.  This discipleship training manual will strengthen your spiritual hands at every stage of your Christian growth.

STAGES OF GROWTH

There are three stages of Christian growth, according to 1 John 2:12-14: "I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.  I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning.  I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.  I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.  I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning.  I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one."

Children, young men, fathers. In more general terms, every Christian goes through three spiritual stages: BABY, YOUTH, and PARENT.  This discipleship training manual will teach and train Christians to use their spiritual hands during each of these stages.  Hence, the outline of this course is as follows:

BOOK ONE

BABY RIGHT HAND:  THE GOSPEL

1.  Thumb:  God's Love

2.  Pointing Finger:  Man's Problem

3.  Middle Finger:  Christ is the Answer

4.  Ring Finger:  Christ's Invitation

5.  Little Finger:  Man's Decision

6.  Palm:  The Christian's Assurance

EVANGELISTIC BIBLE STUDIES

FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

BOOK TWO

BABY LEFT HAND:  NEEDS OF A SPIRITUAL BABY

1.  Thumb:  Prayer - I

2.  Pointing Finger:  Word of God - I

3.  Middle Finger:  Forgiveness

4.  Ring Finger:  Family of God

5.  Little Finger:  Testimony

6.  Palm:  Indwelling Holy Spirit

BOOK THREE

YOUTH LEFT HAND: NEEDS OF A SPIRITUAL YOUTH

1.  Thumb:  Prayer - II

2.  Pointing Finger:  Word of God - II

3.  Middle Finger:  Cross

4.  Ring Finger:  Body of Christ

5.  Little Finger:  Witnessing

6.  Palm:  Holy Spirit-Filled Life

BOOK FOUR

BAPTISM AND CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

The Importance of B-A-P-T-I-S-M

Thumb: Believe

Pointing Finger:  Accept, Prove

Middle Finger: Testify

Ring Finger: Instruct

Little Finger: Stewardship

Palm: Membership

BOOK FIVE

YOUTH RIGHT HAND: KEYS TO VICTORY

1.  Thumb:  Body

2.  Pointing Finger:  Mind

3.  Middle Finger:  Emotion

4.  Ring Finger:  Will

5.  Little Finger:  Armor of God

6.  Palm:  The Exchanged Life

BOOK SIX

PARENT LEFT HAND: NEEDS OF A SPIRITUAL PARENT

1.  Thumb: Prayer - III

2.  Pointing Finger: Word – III (Expanded in Book Eight)

3.  Middle Finger:  Stewardship

4.  Ring Finger:  Bride of Christ

5.  Little Finger:  World Mission

6.  Palm:  Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Expanded in Book Nine)

BOOK SEVEN

PARENT RIGHT HAND: Foundations for Ministry

1.  Thumb: The Spirit in Ministry

2.  Pointing Finger:  The Word in Ministry

3.  Middle Finger:  Prayer in Ministry

4.  Ring Finger:  Modeling in Ministry

5.  Little Finger:  Trials in Ministry

6.  Palm:  Goal & Process of Ministry

BOOK EIGHT

BASIC BIBLE TRUTHS

1.  Palm:  TRUTHS ABOUT THE BIBLE

2.  Thumb:  TRUTHS ABOUT GOD

3.  Pointing Finger: TRUTHS ABOUT CREATION

4.  Middle Finger: TRUTHS ABOUT SIN AND SALVATION

5.  Ring Finger: TRUTHS ABOUT THE CHURCH

6.  Little Finger:  TRUTHS ABOUT LAST THINGS

BOOK NINE

SPIRITUAL GIFTS:

DISCOVERING, DEVELOPING, DEPLOYING

1.  Four Wonderful Truths

2.  What are Spiritual Gifts?

3.  Gifts for Serving

4.  Gifts for Teaching

5.  Gifts for Leading

6.  Basic Ministries

7.  Developing and Deploying your Gifts

8.  Affirming Your Gifts and Ministry

9.  NewLife Church Planting Strategy

BOOK TEN

CHI UPSILON

SPECIAL TRAINING FOR YOUTH

1.  CHI and UPSILON are letters from the Greek alphabet.

(a)  CHI (shaped like the English letter X, pronounced like CH) is the first letter of the name of Christ in Greek: CHRISTOS

(b)  UPSILON (shaped like the English letter Y but equivalent to the English letter U) is the first letter in the Greek word UPSISTOS (pronounced [H]UPSISTOS), which means ABOVE ALL.

2.  CHI UPSILON is a Bible study course designed to help Christians, specially young people, to put CHRISTOS [H]UPSISTOS – CHRIST ABOVE ALL – in every area of their life.  When a person receives Christ as Savior and Lord, this commitment is symbolized  by superimposing the letters CHI (X) and UPSILON (Y) on the circle of life; thus dividing the circle of life into SEVEN AREAS (please see diagram below):

·       GOD

·       SELF

·       PARENTS

·       FRIENDS

·       SPECIAL FRIEND

·       PURPOSE

·       SUCCESS

BLOG #11: FOCUS ON YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

BLOG #11

PREACH AND TEACH TO CHANGE LIVES

Step 4:  FOCUS ON YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE.

The bottom half of our diagram deals the MESSENGER; the top half deals with the HEARER.  In our simple model of communication HEY! YOU… SEE? SO., the HEY underlines the importance of knowing, understanding,  and focusing on your target your audience.  The old illustration of the shotgun versus the rifle is apt.  Some people preach/teach as if they are blasting a shotgun at their audience.  The pellets of the shotgun blast cover a large area and some of those pellets will surely hit someone.  But the focused single shot of the sniper rifle is more effective in hitting the heart.  Someone said, “If you aim at nothing, you will surely hit it.”  Another said, “If you try to talk to everybody, you’ll end up talking to nobody.”

What do we mean by focusing on your target audience?  We mean three things:

·      Focus on the goal of the spiritual journey.

·      Know at what stage of the spiritual journey your audience is at present.

·      Aim to bring your audience one step closer to the goal.

THE GOAL

Let’s begin with the GOAL.  The Christian life is a spiritual journey with a very clear goal or destination.   This goal has two aspects: IN THIS LIFE and BEYOND THIS LIFE.  Please look at our diagram.

(1)  BEYOND THIS LIFE:  PERFECT LIKE CHRIST

This aspect of the goal is beyond this life because it will be accomplished at the Second Coming of Christ.  This will be the culmination of salvation described as glorification, in which the believer will share in the perfect humanity of the resurrected Jesus, in body, soul and spirit.

Ephesians 4:13: Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Romans 8:29-30:  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Philippians 3:20-21: 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

(2)  IN THIS LIFE: MATURE IN CHRIST

Every Christian is called by God to grow to full spiritual maturity in this life.  Maturity is not the same as perfection; maturity is achieving your God-given potential (in character and service) in this world short of perfection.

Ephesians 4:12, 14-16:  12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ… 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Colossians 2:6-7:  6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Every time you preach/teach keep your eyes on the goal of the spiritual journey.  Your purpose is not to inform merely, or to encourage merely, or to challenge merely.  Look at every person in your audience and praise God in  your heart and say: “God, thank You this person will become mature in Christ in this life, and perfect like Your Son someday.”

You preach/teach like Paul with all your might because of the greatness of the goal:

Colossians 1:27-29:  27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.

And you must undergird your preaching/teaching with the same fervency of prayer exemplified by the apostle Paul as well as by a local church leader like Epaphras:

Feel the passion of the apostle Paul as a spiritual parent: Galatians 4:19: My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you

Share in Epaphras’ uncompromising commitment to the goal:  Colossians 4:12:  Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

THREE STAGES

As in the physical life even so in the spiritual life, the Christian goes through three stages in his/her spiritual journey toward maturity: baby stage, youth stage, parent stage.  Please look at our diagram again.

1 John 2:12-14: 12 I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. 13 I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.  14 I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.

A newborn baby is the sweetest thing in the world.  But if that baby stays a baby and does not grow normally toward the next stage of development, parents become concerned as they should be.  In the Philippines we have a name for a person that develops physically to the size of a grown man but whose mind remains that of a baby; we call that person BONDYING (pronounced bon-djing).  We often use that term for fun, but there is nothing more tragic and more sad for parents than for their baby to grow into a BONDYING.

The New Testament strongly warns against believers remaining BONDYINGS.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3:   1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

Hebrews 5:12-13: 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

How do we protect the people in  our care from remaining spiritual BONDYING?  We do this by making sure they get the knowledge, disciplines, skills, attitudes and character qualities that they need at each stage of the spiritual journey.  Again, let’s remind ourselves that we do this through two tracks, TEACHING TRACK and PREACHING TRACK.

Here the TEACHING TRACK is foundational.  The PREACHING TRACK assists as a trouble-shooter.  What do we mean?

TEACHING TRACK

Every group or congregation must have a curriculum of Bible studies, which progresses from evangelism on to the baby stage and the youth stage and the parent stage.  And everyone who becomes a regular attender (and eventually a member) of the congregation must be enrolled in that curriculum.  Remember the Campus Crusades’ TEN STEPS?  The Navigators’ 10 book-series called Lessons in Christian Living?  These lessons are designed to take a person from the start of the spiritual journey up to a certain level of maturity.    This kind of step-by-step, systematic curriculum is the best way – the ONLY WAY – to ensure that every member of the congregation gets the needed teaching and training at every stage of the spiritual journey. 

NOTE: NEXT BLOG

For purposes of illustration, the next blog posting will give the outline of my 10-book  NewLife Discipleship Training Series (available free in word.doc electronic file upon request at pastor.bien@yahoo.com).  The NewLife Series utilizes Hand Illustrations, which contain the knowledge, disciplines, skills, attitudes and character qualities needed at each stage.