September 20, 2020

BETTER TOGETHER
September 20, 2020
Pastor Jonathan Falwell

Everyone has probably had a bad day—or possibly a bad year! Can you share a particular memory of one of your worst days, and tell what you learned from it?

Open:

This pandemic period of isolation, quarantine, and social distancing has been very rough, hasn’t it? In most cases, people with families, jobs or responsibilities outside the home have found these seven months extremely hard. Has it caused you to appreciate the things we took for granted, like being with friends, going out to eat, going to church, movies, or shopping? Today Pastor will teach us from Hebrews of the strength and encouragement we gain when we do life together!

Key Verse: Hebrews 3:12-13 (HCSB): “Watch out, brothers, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that departs from the living God. But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception..

Focal Passage: Hebrews 3:12-13; Acts 2:46-47.

Spiritual Awareness In An Ungodly World

• Read Hebrews 10:12a. Why does man have a nature that is sinful? Read Romans 6:23. What can be done about our sinful nature? How can a person profess God to be Savior, but then have to be careful not to be overtaken with an evil, unbelieving heart? Read Mark 4:14-20, for Jesus’ answer to this question. What are some things going on right now that would draw you away from God?
• Think about this time in history: what is Satan trying to do to everyone? Why is it critical that we know the word of God? Read Psalm 119:11. Is this the answer?

A Breaking Away From God

• Read verse 12b. Probably all of us know someone who has chosen to leave the church (or Christ). Can you share (no names, please), and tell what the results were? Should/could the church have been able to restore such a one  as written in Galatians 6:1?
• What do we mean when we say that a person must be intentional or deliberate about his walk with Christ, so as not to be led astray? If you take your hands off your steering wheel while driving, what does the car do? How does that analogy serve to describe our human nature when we are not careful about guarding our relationship with Christ?

Better Together

• Read verse 13. What have we learned about the importance of togetherness during Covid 19? What does verse 13 mean “to encourage one another”?
• How often are we told to encourage each other? Why should we need encouragement every day? Read James 5:13-14. How many times do you procrastinate about doing a good deed, only to let the time slip by?
• Does anyone recall a first-hand experience of someone who put off accepting Jesus, only to lose their life prematurely? Can you share?
• What would be some reasons we are told to encourage each other “today,” so that no one is hardened by sin’s deception?

Gene Getz stated, “Though true Christianity uniquely involves a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, it is also a corporate experience…Christians cannot grow spiritually as they ought to in isolation from one another.”

Close:

Years ago an analogy of the sinful nature we humans labor under was likened to a bird: he has wings, and can fly, but he also has legs and feet, so he can walk. Yet in his normal state, he naturally goes from place to place by flying. We, as fallen man, have a sin nature which causes us to fall short of the mark that God wants. However, when we are made new through salvation, it is no longer our sin nature that is in charge, but we are a new creation, in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit. We have to jealousy guard ourselves against Satan’s offenses.

As we study isolation from a biblical viewpoint, it brings up the subject of the pandemic that has stolen most of a year of our lives (so far). How many people do you hear saying “Yes! I’d love life to be like this?” Not many, right? Few people, while they may enjoy peace and quiet for a time, do not desire a life of separation from their friends and families.

Acts 2:46-47 says, “Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.” Wouldn’t it be a joyous time here on earth if we could spend time with each other, loving on each other, and inviting strangers in to share our meals—and see them come to God?

As Corrie Ten Boom said, “When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy.” Let’s give him no reason to rejoice!