[Biblemat] Walking in the Light (4/22/07)

Mon Apr 23 01:41:59 CDT 2007

Walking in the Light

"For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light."
"The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the
simple." 

"But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another...."
(Psalm 36:9; 119:130; 1 John 1:7a)

April 22, 2007

www.thetfordcountry.com <http://www.thetfordcountry.com/> 

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INFORMATION: My WEB Site  <http://www.thetfordcountry.com/>
www.thetfordcountry.com has just been updated to include the articles and
sermons listed below. All the sermons posted each week to my web site are in
.pdf format.  The PowerPoint charts are also included with ALL the sermons
that are posted to the web site. To access the sermons page, visit the site
and click on "Richard's Page" and then click on "sermons." Please visit the
"Reference Works" links page for updated links to various Bible study
resources. If you are a newcomer to the area or wanting information
concerning the Valley church of Christ here in Grand Junction, Colorado,
then click on the Valley church of Christ Web Site,
<http://www.valleychurchofchrist.net/> www.valleychurchofchrist.net. Thank
you for visiting my web site and as always, your comments are welcome. 

If you know of someone that would like to receive the "Walking in the Light"
electronic bulletin each week, please send an e-mail message to
<mailto:Richard at Thetfordcountry.com> Richard at Thetfordcountry.com  with their
name and e-mail address and I will add them to the list.

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CONTENTS:

"Progressing Toward Spiritual Maturity" (Richard Thetford)

"Stay In Tune To Our First Love" (Richard Thetford)

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PROGRESSING TOWARD SPIRITUAL MATURITY

Richard Thetford

We read in Isaiah 44:4 that God's people will "spring up among the grass
like willows by the watercourses." Our Christian walk should be a walk that
desires to be pleasing to God first and foremost. When this happens, then we
will see growth and maturity take hold in our life here on earth. Every one
of us should have a constant desire to progress toward spiritual maturity in
all aspects of our life. There are several areas in our life that God wants
to see us mature and develop in. These are:

1) Fruitfulness: "Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for
food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of
your righteousness" (2 Cor 9:10). God asks that we share his word with
others. This is something that should be on all of our hearts. We should
look for opportunities to share the good news to those we come in contact
with. 

2) In Christ: "but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things
into Him who is the head-- Christ" (Eph 4:15).  "that you may have a walk
worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work
and increasing in the knowledge of God" (Col 1:10). In order for us to
mature in Christ we must learn what a good work is (2 Tim 2:15; 3:16-17).
When we speak "the truth in love," we are growing in Christ because we are
speaking His truth and we are doing it in love, caring for the soul of
another. 

3) In Love: "And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one
another and to all, just as we do to you" (1 Thes 3:12). "But concerning
brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you
yourselves are taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do so
toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren,
that you increase more and more" (1 Thes 4:9-10). The true Christian test of
life is whether one can show a genuine love for the brethren. For us to be
able to mature in the sight of God, this is something that all of us must
possess. As Paul stated, it is also an area in which we need to continue to
increase. There is nothing that takes the place of loving and caring
brethren who genuinely look forward to seeing and being with each other at
every opportunity. May we all grow in our love for one another!

4) Unto Perfection: "Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary
principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God" (Heb 6:1).
The word "perfection" means "completeness." Once we have learned the truth
of God's word and have been obedient to the gospel, we should then progress
onward to maturity, not returning to the basic elements again. We need to
learn to be teachers (Heb 5:12-14), and the only way to do this is through
the word, having a desire for God's word in order to grow to completeness.
Peter writes, "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you
may grow thereby" (1 Pet 2:2). When we are "perfect" or "complete," then we
will never stumble (2 Pet 1:10). Inorder to progress to this point we must
strive to put all the characteristics mentioned by Peter to use in our life.
We must add " virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to
self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly
kindness, and to brotherly kindness love" (2 Pet 1:5-7).

5) Grace and Knowledge: "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet 3:18). When we learn and understand the great
gift that God gave us in His Son, then we should be motivated to grow in the
knowledge of our Lord. The more we know, the better we can defend the gospel
and spread the gospel! Jesus wants us to know Him as He said, "Come to Me,
all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My
yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls" (Matt 11:28-29). We need to grow in grace and
knowledge of our Lord.

In conclusion, our spiritual maturity will be realized when we put away
childish things from our life (1 Cor 13:11) and begin to cultivate an
understanding of the word (1 Cor 14:20). If we will follow the example of
Jesus (Eph 4:13, 15; Phil 3:15), and partake of the deeper truths of the
gospel (Heb 5:14), then we will be able to overcome any temptation that is
cast our way (1 Cor 10:13; 1 John 2:14). When this happens, then it will be
obvious that we are pressing toward maturity in our Christian life. It may
then be said of us: "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as
it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every
one of you all abounds toward each other" (2 Thes 1:3).

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STAY IN TUNE TO OUR FIRST LOVE

Richard Thetford

All should have a "first love" and that is Jesus Christ our Savior and King!
We need to keep our hearts and minds focused on Jesus each day that we live.
Remember the Ephesians? With all their positive aspects and glorious past
history, with all of their diligent devotion - what did the lord say to
them? "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou
canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they
are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and
hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first
love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the
first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy
candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" (Rev 2:2-5). We must be
careful not to lose our first love like these Ephesians did long ago. Many
things can take over our life and cause us to forget Christ. If you feel
that this has happened to you then you need to reclaim that love by getting
back to the basics of love, duty, and responsibility. Let's get back on
track and stay in tune to "Our First Love!"

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SERMONS

THE RIGHT COMBINATION (with PowerPoint Charts)

THE HAND OF GOD WORKING IN OUR LIFE (with PowerPoint Charts)

Sermons can viewed at my web site:  <http://www.thetfordcountry.com/>
www.thetfordcountry.com

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Valley

CHURCH OF CHRIST

Meets at:
491 Sparn Street
Grand Junction, CO   81504
(970) 245-5112

 <http://www.valleychurchofchrist.net/> www.valleychurchofchrist.net

ASSEMBLY SCHEDULE

SUNDAY
Bible Study..................9:45 A.M.
Morning Worship.......10:45 A.M.
Evening Worship.........5:00 P.M.

WEDNESDAY
Bible Study..................7:00 P.M.

Evangelist
Richard Thetford

Building: (970) 245-5112
Home:     (970) 314-7261

E-Mail:  <mailto:Richard at Thetfordcountry.com> Richard at Thetfordcountry.com

Web Site:  <http://www.thetfordcountry.com/> www.thetfordcountry.com

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Richard Thetford

E-Mail:  <mailto:Richard at Thetfordcountry.com> Richard at Thetfordcountry.com

1918 Barberry Court, Grand Junction, CO  81506

Home: (970) 314-7261

Please visit my web site:  <http://www.thetfordcountry.com>
www.thetfordcountry.com

Evangelist, Valley church of Christ

 <http://www.valleychurchofchrist.net> www.valleychurchofchrist.net

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