Outline for 16/17 February 08

“Being Active”

“Good Things are the enemy of Great Things”
God can & will do Great Things in us and thru us!

When we become active and join Him as
“co-workers” (1Cor 3:9, 2Cor 6:1)

Everybody is active, but active doing what?

Are you content with your life?

We can be active doing bad things
Gal 5:19-21

God puts parameters on things

Because going past God’s limits hurts us
— think of a fence —
He is our designer (Ps 95:6-7; 103:13)
God isn’t a “killjoy”
He knows what is best
And He knows what will hurt us
(For an explanation see Rom chs 1 & 2)

Note: Gal 5 is one list—it’s not a “tiered” list—
one is as bad as the other
Because sin “interrupts” our relationship with God

What to do if you find yourself in sin:
Change your way of thinking (Acts 2:39, 3:19; Eph 4:23)
Confess your sin to God (1 Jn 1:8-9)
Ask for forgiveness and trust you are (Mt 6:12)
Stop that behavior (Mt 3:8)

We can be active doing things we think are good but in reality are fruitless

Doing religious things* is fruitless
*We define this as our efforts to earn God’s love and favor
Religious things produce some of the “works” in Gal 5

Just thinking about being spiritual is fruitless
Prov 28:19

Just “doing church” is fruitless
Like going to the pool and not swimming

We can be active doing good things
See Eph 2:10 and Heb 10:24

Good Things are things that lead to your spiritual growth
Worship
Some info on worship: Jn 4:21-24; Mt 22:37-38, Rom 12:1-2

Or things that lead to other’s personal spiritual growth
Evangelism (Mt 28:18; 1Pt 3:15)
Discipleship (Lk 17:24; Eph 4:20-32; 2 Tm 2:15)
Fellowship (Acts 2:42; Heb 10:25; 3:13)
Service (1 Pt 4:10-11)

We measure activity against what it brings in return

Bad things bring sin & death & disillusionment
Fruitless things produce frustration

Good Things bring earthly blessing & eternal reward