Like Newborn Babies (Rev. John Lohor) 18-01-2015

SUNDAY SERVICE
MY SERMON NOTES
@ Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN)
Area 1, Garki-Abuja
18th January, 2015

★ SERMON

* Speaker: Rev. John Lohor

* Topic: Like New-born Babies

* Text: 1st Peter 2:1-3

* Theme: Growing up in Christ

* Sub-Theme: Intentional Growth

* Service Leader: Miss. Alheri Mutashi

* 1st Peter 2:1-3

"Therefore, rid yourselves of every kind of evil and deception, hypocrisy, jealousy, and every kind of slander. Like new-born babies, thirst for the pure milk of the word so that by it you may grow in your salvation. Surely you have tasted that the Lord is good!"

* Peter wrote this epistle out of concern for the Christians who have refused to grow in Christ regardless of the fact that they have been Christians for a long time

* If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you are expected to grow - there must be a positive change

* There are evil/ungodly virtues that must not be found in your life as a Christian

* Your life and character must undergo positive (godly) transformation as you grow in Christ

* When you come to Christ, you are expected to conform to His character and image. Your Christ-likeness must be evident to everyone around you

* When you give your life to Christ, you have to learn and take positive steps to be mature. This entails making deliberate effort

* The first step to spiritual maturity is taking the 'milk' of the Word of God

* The "milk" has to be pure, not diluted

* Mental growth is more difficult than physical growth

 - whatever you feed your mind on becomes a part of you. For instance, If You feed Your mind on sexually explicit materials, you are likely to manifest such in your life unconsciously

* As a Christian, It is very important to always study the Word of God. Take advantage of the availability of Bibles, and the various avenues to study God's Word.

→ NOTE: In some counties, it is a crime to even be in possession of the copy of a Bible!

* The basic ingredient you require for a balanced spiritual growth is the Word of God

* You must deliberately make time to study God's Word regardless of your tight schedules and diverse commitments

* If you do not study the Word of God, how can you grow?

* Joshua 1:8

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

*You must not only desire to 'ingest' God's Word at every opportunity, you must be crave for it with absolute passion

★ Additional Notes from Mr. Badung Gyang☆☆

* Milk Satisfies the hunger of a baby, nothing else would do

* Milk has all the nutrients that a baby requires for growth

* Milk contains the essential ingredients to protect the child from sickness

* Milk does not need any additive or it would be adulterated. The word does not need any addition or supplement

★ MISSION CHARGE

"There is a difference between interests and commitment. When you are interested in doing something, you only do it when it is convenient. When you are committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results . . . Lack of decisiveness has caused more failures than lack of intelligence or ability. "

- John Mason

★ QUOTE

"Character is something you either have or not. It is the real foundation of all worthwhile Success. A good question to ask Yourself is: 'what kind of world would be if everybody were just like me?' You are Simply a book telling the world about its author . . . Never be ashamed of doing, you need not choose evil; but only to fail to choose good."

- John Mason