Christ Through Me: The Church in the Wilderness (Deuteronomy 8:2-3)

Series: Christ Through Me

Sermon: The Church in the Wilderness

Scripture: Deuteronomy 8:2-3

Date: August 11, 2019

 

LAST WEEK'S WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: Read chapter 5 twice in "The Saving Life of Christ."  Present yourself for what you are - nothing - to be filled with what He is - everything - and to step into every new day, conscious that the eternal I AM is all you need, for all His will.

And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.  So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.  (Deuteronomy 8:2-3)

Link to John Crist Uber video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqYmer6X2PM 

A church can lose its way and just wander rather than live as the body of Christ - in love with Jesus and on mission with Jesus.

Deuteronomy 8:7-10

Here are three considerations to see fi I/we are the church in the wilderness.  The church in the wilderness is more immersed in:

1. Apathy than Action
   • They were just accepting that this is how life is going to be.
   • "God will never satisfy you in the wilderness.  You are not good to anybody in the wilderness!  Basically, you will never change in the wilderness."  -Ian Thomas
   • How much more of Him do we want?  He is able and willing to pour out His Spirit without measure.  May we never lose our appetite for more righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
   • Love without expression or action is meaningless.
   • WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION: Read chapter 6 in "The Saving Life of Christ" twice this week.  Ask God what action step He wants you to take this week to get closer to Him.  Then do it.
   • "If you love relationship with God gets off, stop everything and fix that."  -Henry Blackaby
2. Boredom than Boldness
   • God is always at work around us.
   • "The witness of the Spirit to the redeemed sinner living in disobedience is an extremely unpleasant experience, and for the Christian who gets out but who refuses to get in, the things of the Spirit will become increasingly monotonous."  -Ian Thomas
   • "In fact, it seemed, as one of my Christian friends said to me one day when we were comparing our experiences, 'as if we had just enough religion to make us miserable.'"  -Hannah Whithall Smith
   • Psalm 138:3
   • WEEKLY GROWTH SUGGESTION #2: Ask someone if anybody has told them Jesus loves them today, and, if they say no, say "I want to be the first.  Jesus loves you."  Tell someone at school something cool that happened to you this summer as a Christian.
3. Complaining than Contentment
   • Psalm 104:14-15
   • What kept them in the wilderness was fear and unbelief rather than faith.