“Be a Doer and Just Not a Hearer!!” By Bob Heirtzler October 28th,
2012 I am thankful to be a part of this
ministry, Christian Fellowship, for 33 years today! Thirty-three years ago today I went up in an
altar call, and I didn’t even wait for the pastor to announce the altar call, I
just went up. I got baptized in a horse
trough in the basement of a church—we had to break ice in the trough to do the
baptism. I am thankful for all of the
Bible Studies, lectures, and sermons that I was able to apply to my life on a
daily basis! I am thankful for all of the
trials, tests, good times, hard times, ups, down, and etc. This all made me what I am today—Saved! All of my Scriptures today come from
the book of James, chapter one. James 1:2-4 …count it all joy when ye fall into divers
temptations… Why should I count that joy when I fall into temptation? Why do cliff-divers leave that nice, safe
cliff to dive into the water? Do you
know that when a caterpillar builds a cocoon, and then changes into a
butterfly, and then tries to push his way back out of that cocoon, we shouldn’t
help it? If we help it, then it will
never fly—it needs to struggle against the cocoon to build up the strength in
its wings. Divers temptations will make
us stronger in God! James 1:5-7 …he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea
driven with the wind and tossed… If you lack wisdom, take notes in
service, bible studies fellowshipping, lectures, etc. revisit those notes with
others and apply to daily living. Our
faith has to be solid; we can’t be like waves in the sea. James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all
his ways. This isn’t just talking about trying
to serve God and the devil at the same time—it is talking about that, but it’s
talking about other things, too—How many times have I promised God something
and then didn’t so it? That’s double-mindedness,
too. I can do better. Do you remember the four letter word
that Brother Ken talked about a few weeks ago? Work. There is work to be done… be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers
only. I used to think that this was taking
about every good gift, but it also says, “every perfect gift.” This also
includes sermons, by the way. The
question is, “What are you going to do with it?” If you don’t use it, you lose it. James 1:22-24 But be ye doers of the Word, and
not hearers only… Do you want a new building? We’ll
have to outgrow this place first. I know
we’re inviting people out, but God’s not going to give us a new building until
we have too many people to fit in here every Sunday morning. Sermon notes by Pete Shepherd |
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