Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Immature Christians

Pastor Sherry’s message for February 12, 2023

Scriptures: Deut 30:15-20; Ps 119:1-8; 1 Cor 3:1-9; Matt 5:21-37

About 10 years ago, I was teaching Introductory Psychology at Santa Fe College, in Gainesville, Florida, when I had in my class a young man on the autism spectrum, likely diagnosed with Asperger’s Disorder. He was 18 years old, earnest, and smart, but also very concrete in his thinking. He seemed not to be able to comprehend abstract ideas. He told me he had an older brother who was a pharmacist, and his perception was that his brother was their parent’s favorite. He told me how hard he worked to be just as good as his brother, academically, and how important it was to him to make A’s to impress his parents. I noticed in the parking lot that he drove a brand new Ford Mustang GT with racing stripes, so his parents must have favored him more than he acknowledged.

Now the study of Psychology involves a great number of abstract ideas, so I was worried that he would not score well on my tests. Sure enough, he failed the first one. Given the amount of pressure he put on himself, I suspected his reaction to his score would be one of intense disappointment. What I was not prepared for was his startling behavior.

When the other students filed out of the classroom, he threw himself on the floor and had a temper tantrum like that of a 2 or 3 year old. He flailed his arms and legs. He screamed and cried. Believe me, I felt compassion for him in his distress; however, his behavior was thoroughly inappropriate for a college student.

I stood near him and told him, calmly, to stop that. I said his tantrum was not age appropriate. I asked him to get up off the ground and to seek the free counseling that the college offered (which he later did). He needed to learn to control his anger and to manage his distress, and he needed to learn to express negative emotions in an age-appropriate manner. Such a response was immature and would only earn him his peers’ and his professors’ contempt.

Immaturity is the issue that Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. Let’s back up for just a minute and put Paul’s concern into context. In chapter #2, he had divided humankind into two classes of people: the unsaved and the saved. The unsaved he also called the natural man, or the fleshly man. Such persons either reject the idea that God exists– they are atheists–or, they worship gods they create in their own image, and we call them idolaters. Or they cling to their own wills, believing spiritual things are foolish. They are so fascinated by their own intellects that they believe they can save themselves (I have met many like this in academia).

Paul contrasted the unsaved with the saved or spiritual man. This man or woman has accepted Christ. They are spiritual enough, or practical enough, or wise enough to realize (1) they can receive the wisdom of God; but, (2) they cannot attain righteousness on their own. On other words, they know cannot save themselves—they need Jesus.

Now, in chapter 3, he further divides Christians (the saved; spiritual persons) into two classes: Paul asserts there are Mature Christians, who are cooperating with the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. You can see evidence that their life has changed since they came to know Jesus. They are not perfect, but they do most everything they do with the awareness that God is watching. A church in Live Oak has on their sign, “God saw that.” I think that’s funny. It’s also true since God is omniscient and omnipresent. He does see everything. Furthermore, mature Christians do most everything they do with a desire to please the Lord. They are also future thinking, often considering what might be the eternal consequences of their current actions and words. They are constantly learning from Jesus and/or Scripture and desire to share what they learn with others.

Then there are also what Paul calls Carnal or Immature Christians. They are Christians who look like and live like everyone else in the culture. Coming to know Jesus has not changed them at all. The Greek word for carnal is sarkikos, which means fleshly. In Latin and in French, carna means sensual. Thus, the word carnival comes from carna vale—or farewell to the flesh. This is why many cultures celebrate the Tuesday before Lent starts—Fat Tuesday—as the last opportunity for gluttony allowed before the traditional deprivations of Lent set in. This is who Paul meant when he wrote in Philippians 3:19 [they are the ones]…whose god is their belly. Paul thinks of them as “spiritual infants;” they are as immature acting as my former student.

Paul tells them he fed them milk, the basics, because they were too immature to digest meat. They may have come to know Biblical stories, but were probably not familiar with Biblical doctrine. When I arrived at a church in New Orleans to assist my friend, the lead pastor, we discovered the staff were all reading The DaVinci Code, by Dan Brown. They did not understand why Jesus would not have impregnated Mary Magdalene and left behind a child the Catholic Church worked hard to deny. We shared with them the doctrine that Jesus was sinless as he walked the earth. He needed to be in order to save us. Also, He would not have committed fornication, nor would He marry only to have shirked His responsibility as a husband or father. The staff were “baby Christians.” They hadn’t really studied Scripture (which is both milk, bread, meat, honey), like the Corinthians. Or perhaps they had studied God’s Word, but they had not digested the hard truths they found there (like in today’s Gospel lesson). They weren’t cooperating with the Holy Spirit, so there was no spiritual fruit in their lives, little grace for others, and no true desire to live a life pleasing to Christ.

In verses 1-3, Paul says that the Corinthians are immature, worldly, and carnal Christians. He is convinced his assessment is accurate due to their (a) quarreling (strife)—they are too fascinated with fallen humans; (b) jealousy of (and gossip about) one another; (c) factions; and (d) the fact that they allow gross immorality to go on in their fellowship in the name of toleration. He then reverts back to his arguments of chapter #1they are being carnal, immature Christians when they try to elevate Paul over Apollos, or vice versa. There is not to be any competition, as both are servants of God who do different aspects of God’s work: Paul planted the church and the “seed” of God’s Word in their hearts. Apollos then “watered” that seed as the great preacher and teacher who God used to deepen their faith. They were a kind of one-two punch for Jesus!

Paul wants them and us to be sure that God alone gets the glory. It’s not who the preacher or teacher is–not their personality or their skill set; not even whether we like them or not. It is, instead, whether God is using that person! He rarely ever uses only one person. I have heard other pastors criticize an Ed Young, Jr. and a Joel O’Steen because they preach “Gospel light.” They are both invested in attracting nonbelievers to Jesus. Once people have accepted Christ, they probably then move on to someone like Ed Young, Sr., Charles Stanley, or Dr. David Jeremiah to dig down deep to experience being discipled in the faith. I believe God uses many persons of differing skill sets to bring us to a full, mature faith. Again, Paul, Peter, and Apollos did not compete with one another. All three were doing the work assigned to him, under Christ’s Lordship.

Paul’s message in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 is that he wants both the Corinthian Church, and us, to grow up in our faith! (Remember, I told you last week that God told me to “Grow up!” because I am usually reluctant to preach from Paul’s letters?)

We become mature Christians when we marinate ourselves in God’s Word, the Bible. Make it a practice to read a passage daily. If you don’t understand it, get a study Bible and/or a good commentary to help you. Ponder what you have read and notice how opportunities to apply it come up in your daily life. When I was doing fulltime therapy with folks, I often found the Scripture I had read that morning was immediately relevant to what they were going through, and because it was fresh on my mind, I could share it with them. The Bible consists of God’s thoughts–God’s wisdom–written down for our benefit, ”The Word of God for the people of God.” Let what it says begin to guide your behavior. Let what it says begin to corral and transform your thoughts. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you change the way you live and think so that you line up with how Jesus lived and how He thinks.

We become mature Christians as we notice things like gross immorality in our culture—like drag shows for toddlers and sex change operations for children—and refuse to participate in it ourselves. Pray that those who practice these things come to a saving faith in Jesus, rather than summarily condemning them. Instead of condemning corrupt politicians, pray they discover Christ. Instead of seeking revenge, pray the evil-doer has a life transforming experience with the God you know and love. Finally, look for opportunities to offer nonbelievers knowledge about Jesus. This could include your personal testimony about how faith in Him has changed your life. It might also involve sharing the truth that all of the addictions or immoral practices people are using to fill the God-shaped hole in their lives will never satisfy them as Jesus can and will.

Thanks be to God who desires to grow us up into Mature Christians through our Lord Jesus Christ! Alleluia! Alleluia!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

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Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Our Starting Point, Our Standing Place

Pastor Sherry’s message for February 5, 2023,

Scriptures: Isa 58:1-12; Ps 112:1-10; 1 Cor 2:1-16; Matt 5:13-20

Over my years here, you have probably realized that I don’t usually preach from the writings of Paul. I find him often difficult to understand and more often addressing theological points rather than everyday life. But this week, the Lord told me it was time for me to “Grow up!” So, today I will focus on the second chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church. In chapter #2, he focuses on our correct starting point with Jesus and our secure standing point.

But first, let’s look at some humorous examples of various starting points:

(1) Great grandma’s recipe for chicken and dumplings: First, catch a chicken (Aren’t we glad we don’t have to do this today?). I remember this as a little child. My grandparents had a few chickens. Saturday afternoon they would kill one; my grandmother would pluck the feathers and clean it out, and then cook it for Sunday dinner.

(2) In the 1920’s, the University of Michigan had a famous football coach named Fielding Harris Yost. One season, Michigan had been badly beaten by Notre Dame, one of their major archrivals. The atmosphere on the train trip back to Ann Arbor was silent and dismal, as players waited to be thoroughly chewed out. Eventually, Yost stood up in the aisle to address the team. In a calm manner, and with a solemn demeanor, Yost held up a football and explained, “Gentlemen, this is a football.”

(3) You may have noticed that I struggle with my weight. Both of my grandmothers were plump (I always thought they were “fluffy” and provided such comfortable laps for a child), so I think I may have been genetically primed to carry extra pounds. At any rate, I have tried almost every diet plan known to humankind: Weight Watchers; The Daniel Diet (based on what Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ate in Nebuchadnezzar’s court); Jenny Craig; The Maker’s Diet (consisting of vegetables like leeks and grains like spelt found in Old Testament times); Keto; and GoLo (or as my son calls it, “NoGo.”). Even when I struggle to take the excess pounds off, I cannot seem to preserve or maintain a reduced weight. I can start, but I can’t seem to successfully stand. Here’s the truth: I know the secret of weight loss, but I just enjoy eating too much of the wrong things. The most effective weight loss strategy—the starting point and the standing place of weight loss–boils down to this truth: Eat Less, Move More.

(Ideas borrowed from the Revs. John Fairless and Delmer Cilton, The Lectionary Lab Commentary, Year A, 2013, p.51.)

Again, I believe this is where the apostle Paul is coming from as he addresses the Church in Corinth (Greece) (1 Corinthians 2:1-16). Here’s the historic situation: Paul had established this church, in about 18 months, from 49-50 AD. The city was a sea port of Greece, numbering about 400,000, and populated by sailors, soldiers, and tradespeople of many races, nationalities, and belief systems. Additionally, it offered more than 1,000 male and female prostitutes to copulate with “worshipers” of the goddess Aphrodite and the god Apollo, in fertility rites.

Needless to say, the prevailing lifestyles were carnal ones—a lot like present day Las Vegas, which panders to about every addiction know to humankind–focused on meeting all sorts of human “needs.”

Since founding the church, a number of problems had arisen, so Paul wrote this first letter to them, from Ephesus, to address the 5 most troubling dilemmas:

(1) Divisions—those who preferred Apollos, or Peter, or Paul. He made short work of this issue in chapter 1. Christianity is not a cult of personality. We are all followers of Jesus Christ. We are to keep our focus on Jesus…End of story (Starting point, standing place).

(2) A case of a man sleeping with his stepmother—YIKES! This sin was a “notorious” one because everyone in Corinth knew about it. It was a disturbing example to nonbelievers. In a later chapter Paul gives the church a choice: the man can stop having sex with his stepmother and repent, or he can be expelled from the church.

(3) Law suits between members. Paul says, “God forbid!” This is not behavior grounded in Christian love. It is also a poor witness to nonbelievers. Paul wants the Corinthians to forgive as they have been forgiven.

(4) Abuses of Christian freedom (using grace as an excuse to continue to live as though we don’t know Jesus). Again, in a later chapter, Paul says in essence, “No, we really don’t have the freedom to do wrong.”

We are to remember that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. When we fornicate or commit adultery, we bring Jesus into that illicit relationship. Again, YIKES!

(5) And, finally, he addressed the general chaos he had heard reigned during communion. People were hogging the bread and getting drunk on communion wine. Paul calls this a violation of the law of love and charity with our neighbor. It was selfish, indulgent behavior. We are to receive communion decently and in order, not taking more than our fair share.

He begins, in chapter two, to instruct (and correct) them by returning to the starting point, the basics: Remember, before you cook a chicken, you need to have one on hand. If you want to win at football, you need to know how to handle the ball (knowing the rules and having some strategic moves doesn’t hurt either). In other words, this is an “eat less, move more” moment for the Church at Corinth. The basic starting point (and standing place) for the Christian Church is (v.2) …Jesus Christ and Him crucified [and resurrected].

Paul then goes on to tell them (vv.3-4) he is not a great orator or a gifted debater, both of which were skills highly prized by Greeks I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. He spoke as an ordinary person, not caring to draw attention to himself as a great preacher. He claims he had no eloquent words, no clever arguments; just “the Word of God for the People of God.” He says he preached in the power of the Holy Spirit, so all the glory would go not to him but to the Lord.

Next, he reminds them (vv.6-8) that salvation was purchased for us by the Son, but it was planned by the Father. Paradoxically, the Gospel is both simple and exceedingly complex–simple enough for an illiterate or uneducated person to grasp; but also so profound that it challenges the most brilliant minds. He stresses that the “lost”—and even immature believers—won’t get it. Jesus Christ crucified for our sins may seem ridiculous (foolishness) to nonbelievers. Nonbelievers of that day said, He was a nobody from nowhere of importance! And, He was executed as a criminal! Even Satan thought he had defeated Jesus at the Cross. Jesus’ death on the Cross is a mystery, a sacred secret, an unveiling of God’s plan from Old Testament times. These truths were hidden in the Old Testament (hinted at by the prophets, but not explained). They were also hidden from the unsaved world, people like Pilate and Herod, and others who encountered Jesus and never suspected Who He really was: The Son of God; The Creator and Redeemer of the World.

But Paul then asserts that these truths were revealed to us, by the Holy Spirit, and through the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And Paul and the other apostles all devoted their lives to sharing them with anyone who wanted to understand.

This wisdom is still valid and applicable to our lives today. In verses 9-10, Paul quotes from Isaiah 64:4 ’What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love Him—these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit has revealed to us God’s thoughts, God’s wisdom. After all, Deep speaks to deep (Psalm 42:7);

(V.13) —This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. God’s thoughts have been preserved for us in God’s Word (the Bible).

Paul wants the Corinthians and us to know that our standing place is secure in Jesus Christ. We don’t have to placate a group of immoral immortals, as pagans do their gods (who often act like out-of-control humans). Our God has done the work of salvation for us. We simply have to say, “Yes, Lord, I believe.” Paul also wants us and them to realize that because we love Jesus, we have the mind of Christ. Through Christ, we are redeemed or ransomed. Through Christ, we are made right with God the Father (our sin is washed away by Jesus’ blood). Through Christ, we are sanctified, set apart for God’s service as works in progress. In Christ, we come to understand the wisdom of God.

So what’s the point for us today in modern-time America? We start right and stand firm/true when we accept and believe that Jesus Christ has saved us. This is not a faith based on human wisdom, but on the wisdom of God–even if nonbelievers consider it to be far-fetched.

As a result, those of us who are in Christ can say that, “Every Day is a good day.” It might not always look like it. It might not always feel like it. But think of this: We close our service each Sunday with a portion of the Kenyan (African, Anglican) liturgy…

All our problems…we send to the Cross of Christ.

All our difficulties…we send to the Cross of Christ.

All the devil’s works…we send to the Cross of Christ.

And all of our hopes…we set on the Risen Christ.

The purpose of this is to remind us, as we leave worship to go out into the world again, that we can give every trouble we encounter to Jesus. We can stand firm on the fact that He is able to take care of it all. We can also stand firm on the knowledge that Jesus Christ is our hope.

Our starting point and our standing place is this: Jesus Christ and Him crucified…and raised from the dead. Halleluiah! Amen!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Becoming a Mature Follower of Christ

Pastor Sherry’s Message for 7/24/2022

Scriptures: Hosea 1:2-10; Ps 85; Colossians 3:1-11; Lk 11:1-13

As I looked through my former sermons this week, I discovered that I had preached on the Hosea passage in 2016, and on Luke 11 in 2019. So, I believed the Lord was calling me to tackle the Epistle lesson with you today. It wasn’t until the passage was read this morning that I realized I had messed up. The passage appointed for today was Colossians 2:6-19. I am a highly intuitive person, focused on the “Big Picture” and not much given to details, so I mistakenly addressed the passage appointed for next Sunday, Colossians 3:1-11. I apologize. Perhaps the Lord meant for someone to focus on chapter 3 instead of the last half of chapter 2 today.

Colossians is one of Paul’s 4 pastoral letters (including Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon) written from prison in Ephesus.

Apparently, Paul never met in person with the church in Colosse (75-100 mi east of Ephesus). It had instead been planted by a disciple of his named Epaphrus. We could say that Paul was like a spiritual grandfather to this church.

His focus in this letter is becoming a mature believer in Christ. Many folks in Colosse had become as sick of the immoral excesses of paganism as we have of what we see/hear happening in DC, NYC, LA, Chicago, etc. They were initially attracted to the high ethical standards offered by the Jewish faith. They looked at the Torah and were impressed with laws that said don’t do this or that, don’t taste this or that, or don’t handle this or that.

They saw these laws as a means of escaping the soul-killing, vapid, immoral world of paganism. It was as though they thought, Maybe keeping these rules will help us live a better life; and Perhaps keeping these rules will help us improve our spiritual lives.

But Paul tells them this way of thinking is an illusion, a dead-end. First of all, none of us can keep these rules perfectly. So we end up trading what Bishop. N.T. Wright calls, “a worldly self-indulgence of a sensual kind for a worldly self-indulgence of a spiritual kind” (Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters, N.T. Wright, Westminister John Knox Press, 2002, p.174.)

We reduce our faith to keeping a set of earthly rules, and avoid developing the deep relationship God desires with us. Additionally, contrary to popular thought, rule-keeping doesn’t lead to holiness. Holiness requires that we die to self. Rule-keeping keeps our focus on ourselves. Holiness requires that we die to self and are raised to live for God. The Good News is that by being in Christ, we have the supernatural assistance of the Holy Spirit—if we ask for it—to help us live out our lives at a higher moral standard. It’s not a matter of trying harder in our own strength, but rather of cooperating with the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul admonishes us to (verses 1-2) Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. And in verse 5, he adds Put to death therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. In verses 8-9, he adds to the list of behaviors to avoid, including anger, rage, wickedness, blasphemy, dirty talk, and lying. This is like putting aside an old set of tattered and soiled clothes and taking up and putting on your very best. In the 1st century church, folks being baptized showed up in their old clothes, were immersed in the waters of baptism, and then dressed in new, white garments, symbolizing their new status as followers of Christ Jesus.

If it’s not just rule-keeping, how do we proceed? We have to know what needs to be changed in order to cooperate with changing it.

Let’s look first at the main categories of sins that Paul lists here:

1. Sexual misbehavior–This one is tough because our culture today—like that of ancient Corinth or Colosse, is overly sexualized. Much of American advertising makes sexual appeals. It doesn’t take too many clicks on the internet before you stumble onto pornographic images. (I worry about what our children are being exposed to at too young an age.) But Paul means everything from sexual intercourse outside of marriage (fornication), to adultery, and even including sexual fantasies. Paul calls these behaviors idolatry because, as in all pagan worship, they require that you give your allegiance to something of this world rather than to our holy and supernatural Trinitarian God.

2. The 2nd category Paul cites are sins involving unedifying speech. This includes everything from angry, malicious speech to gossip, slander, and lying. Wouldn’t Paul have a fit over the way folks lie in Washington DC? When I taught Psychology at the community college in Gainesville, I heard my students punctuate their sentences with the “f” word. Reminding them that they were there to get a higher education, I challenged them to try to elevate their vocabulary by replacing that word with something more dignified. To my delight, they got the concept and did cuss much less in class.

Both sexual and verbal sins can tear a community apart. Years ago, before I went to seminary, I had a pastor with whom I was very close. He was like an older brother in the Lord. We met about once a month for breakfast, to talk over the Bible study I was leading and other leadership concerns of our church. I later discovered he had been fired by our bishop for having an affair with another woman in our congregation. He and I had met just the day before this took place. He had told me he had 3 things to tell me, but ran out of time to tell me the last. When I learned what had happened, I figured he was too ashamed to confess he had compromised his calling. His family was humiliated. We had a booming college ministry at the time. They were so disappointed in him that they said we were all hypocrites and left the church. Other adults left as well, and for the same reason. Our community was hurt by this one man’s sexual sin.

Paul presents the problem (these two very popular sin-groups) and their solution. In verse 10, he writes [since you have put on your new self]…which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator…. Remember back to the 80’s and 90’s when people would ask, WWJD? What would Jesus do? It was a great slogan because it reminded us to stop and think before acting/speaking. It encouraged us to think about how Jesus might view our actions or our speech. Would He say, Well done, good and faithful servant? Or would He want us to, Go and sin no more? Again, as Bishop N.T. Wright says, “Being a Christian means learning to think harder, not to leave your brain behind in the quest for new experiences. Thinking straight and knowing the truth are part of what it means to be a truly human being, the sort of human being the gospel is meant to create. (Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters, pp. 179-180.) We think harder because we are not just considering what we want to do, but also what the Lord would desire of us. We know the truth because Scripture reveals it. Immoral behavior and malicious speech may feel good at first, but the truth is that they leave a bad aftertaste. Our consciences bother us. Then the Holy Spirit compels us to make amends, which humble and perhaps embarrass us further. In the long run, it is simply easier for us to train ourselves to avoid the behaviors Paul lists.

This is another way of saying we are growing in spiritual maturity. Consider these definitions of Christian maturity:

(1) Chuck Swindoll—One of the marks of maturity is the ability to disagree without becoming disagreeable.

(2) Fred Cook—Maturity is the ability to do a job whether supervised or not; finish it once started; carry money without spending it; and …bear an injustice without wanting to get even. If Cook is correct, his definition is quite an indictment of our current culture, isn’t it? We are trying to get along with a huge number of spiritually immature persons.

(3) John McNaughton—Maturity begins to grow when you can sense your concern for others outweighing your concern for yourself.

(4) Anonymous—Maturity is moving from a soft skin-tough heart to a tough skin-soft heart (This one requires some pondering).

When we are followers of Jesus Christ, trying to think like Jesus and live in ways that please Him, we might come to say like John Newton🡪 I am not what I might be, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be. But I thank God I am not what I once was, and I can say with the great apostle, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” (Chuck Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word Publishing, 1998, p.370.)

The Apostle Paul wanted the Colossian Church—and us—to grow in spiritual maturity. This is not an easy task. It involves self-denial. It can and often does involve pain. The devotional, Today in the Word, printed a story years ago (1987) about how a mother eagle encourages her chicks to leave the nest:

Though many of us have seen pictures of a huge eagle’s nest high in the branches of a tree or in the crag of a cliff, few of us have gotten a glimpse inside. When a mother eagle builds her nest she starts with thorns, broken branches, sharp rocks, and a number of other items that seem entirely unsuitable for the project. But then she lines the nest with a thick padding of wool, feathers, and fur from animals she has killed, making it soft and comfortable for the eggs. By the time the growing birds reach flying age, the comfort of the nest and the luxury of free meals make them quite reluctant to leave. That’s when the mother eagle begins “stirring up the nest.” With her strong talons she begins pulling up the thick carpet of fur and feathers, bringing the sharp rocks and branches to the surface. As more of the bedding gets plucked up, the nest becomes more uncomfortable for the young eagles. Eventually, this and other urgings prompt the growing eagles to leave their once-comfortable abode and move on to more mature behavior.

It’s not easy to mature spiritually, but we can attain it—or at least move toward it—by cooperating with the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. Like the mother eagle, He can and does comfort us when we are afflicted (hungry, lonely, tired, etc); but also like her, He can and does afflict us when we get too comfortable. This side of heaven, we don’t attain perfection. Nevertheless, we want to be like John Newton, the former captain of a British slave ship, who repented, came to Christ, and was ordained. He is also the one who wrote the hymn, “Amazing Grace”. Remember he said, I am not what I might be, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be. But I thank God I am not what I once was…. Hopefully, day by day, we are making progress in becoming more and more like Christ Jesus.

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

©️2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams