Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins

"Cradle Christians" It’s the most natural thing in the world for a child to grow. Parents proudly measure their growth by marks on the pantry door. Birthdays are a big occasion. The children are growing up, and fast. Feed a child, right, give him/her sufficient care, and a child will grow! Maybe faster than you want them to grow. Clothes and shoes can be pretty expensive for a growing child. When a child does not grow, we are alarmed. We read the “books” on child care. We call a doctor, because something is wrong – our child has not grown as we expected! We keep looking until we find the cause of the problem and the solution. What about a Christian? You might think a Christian will just naturally grow – but not so. The “feed them right...sufficient care” principle may be true, but many do not grow. There is good reason for us to wonder why some Christians do not grow as they should. When growing does not take place, it has an effect on the entire congregation and can be devastating for every member. What happens when Christians do not grow as they should? The Bible specifically commands Christians to: “..grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen,” 2 Peter 3:18. What happens to the church when we do not grow as we should? WE FORGET OUR PURPOSE The church of Christ is the “body of Christ,” the “bride” of Christ, the “kingdom” of God. He did not shed His blood to purchase a social club. Jesus told Zacchaeus His purpose on earth was “to seek and to save that which was lost,” Luke 19:10. When Christians fail to grow, that goal will be beyond their reach. It takes effort to “seek and save” those who are lost, and when we do not grow to spiritual maturity, we can become content to pay the bills, clean the building and “be nice” to each other. Our purpose is much, much greater, and we must grow! We must be the “salt/light” so needed by the world. The Gospel must be taken to all. Immaturity keeps us from accomplishing that goal. LOSE COMPASSION FOR WEAK When Jesus spoke of judgement, He condemned those who had no interest in giving aid to the deserving poor. He said that since they did not feed the hungry, tend the sick, visit those in need, clothe the naked, they would “go away into everlasting punishment,” Matthew 25:31-46. There is no excuse for someone who remains weak when opportunity exists to grow strong, but we must be willing to “bear the infirmities of the weak,” Romans 15:1 Immature Christians, those who refuse to grow in Christ, tend to think of themselves first, just as a child. When we remain “children” we remain self-centered. We may not commit murder, adultery, steal from our employer or lie to the Internal Revenue, but when we lose our compassion, we lose too much. OUR PRIORITIES ARE SKEWED When we remain immature, our priorities are twisted and slanted away from our goal and shifted toward the material, the temporal things of life. Money and possessions become uppermost in our thoughts and emphasis. Making more and spending more on self becomes our goal instead of the Kingdom of God. Peer pressure can take over our way of making decisions. “What will my friends think?” becomes more important than what my Lord thinks. How I dress, where I go, what I enjoy, with whom I associate – all of these begin to take precedence over my commitment to Christ. Oh, it’s not obvious at first. It just creeps up on us, becoming more and more important to us. Eventually we forget that we belong to Him. We make more decisions based upon what “everyone else” is doing, and less upon our responsibilities to Him. These decisions are not exclusively the problem of children and youth. Adults are just as easily deceived, again looking for the approval of our peers instead of the approval of our Lord. Suddenly, these things are much more important than taking the Gospel to the lost. They determine whether we “risk” talking to our friends about the Gospel, wondering what it will do to our friendship. A true friend will not withhold the “hope of eternal life” from another, Titus 1:2, 3:7. A church full of immature members will always make immature choices, even to the degree of abandoning God’s truth in favor of that which is palatable to immature Christians. We all need to heed 1 Peter 2:1-2: “Wherefore laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” God tells us to GROW! Carl B. Garner

“The body is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body’; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body’; is it therefore not of the body?…now has God set the members, each one of them in the body, just as He pleased...now indeed are there many members, yet but one body.” 1 Corinthians 12:14-20

The Church of the Lord is: The fulfillment of prophecy – Isaiah 2:2,3. The object of Christ’s promise – Matthew 16:18. The institution of all the saved people – Acts 2:47. Purchased by the blood of Christ – Acts 20:28. The body of Christ – Colossians 1:18; 1:24. The family of God – Ephesians 3:14-15. The kingdom of God – Matthew 16:18-19. The custodian of God’s wisdom – Ephesians 3:10-11. The pillar and ground of the truth – 1 Timothy 3:15. The house of God – 1 Timothy 3:15. The group whom Christ will save – Ephesians 5:23-27. The body of which Christ is the head – Ephesians 5:23; Col. 1:18. The bride of Christ – Romans 7:4. Those for whom Christ gave Himself – Ephesians 5:25. Some say that the church is not important, but considering the above Scriptures, we may learn the great value of that institution in the mind of God!