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Five Signs of Spiritual Growth

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So, how are you doing with your spiritual growth lately?   In his book, "Rediscovering Holiness," J. I. Packer noted five signs of spiritual growth.  Read through these and see how you are doing: 1) A growing delight in praising God, with an increasing distaste for being praised oneself. 2) A growing instinct for caring and giving, with a more pronounced dislike of the self-absorption that constantly takes without either caring or giving. 3) A growing passion for personal righteousness, with more acute distress at the godlessness and immorality of the world around, and a keener discernment of Satan’s strategy, opposition, distraction, and deception for ensuring that people neither believe nor live right. 4) A growing zeal for God’s cause, with more willingness to take unpopular action to further it. 5) A greater patience and willingness to wait for God and bow to his will, with a deeper abhorrence of what masquerades as the bold faith, but is really the childish immaturity, t
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Sermon | Matthew 6:10a | Thy Kingdom Come

SERMON:  "THY KINGDOM COME" Matthew 6:10 The Lord’s Prayer – Week 4 By Andy Manning INTRODUCTION George Müller pastored a church in England for more than 60 years.  He founded a denomination.  He established 117 schools which offered education to more than 120,000 children.  He is best known for the several orphanages that he started that cared for over 10,000 children.  When it came to the orphanages, He intentionally never asked people for money or other resources to provide for the orphans.  Instead he simply prayed and trusted God to provide.  He had a prayer journal in which he recorded over 50,000 answered prayers in his life.  He said, “The primary object of my life and work is to show before the whole world that even in these last, evil days, the living God is ready to prove himself as the living god by being ever willing to help and answer the prayers of those who trust in Him.” Prayer is powerful.  That’s why we’re doing a sermon series on prayer.  Specifically, we’
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Sermon | Matthew 6:9c | Hallowed be Thy Name

SERMON:  "HALLOWED BE THY NAME" Matthew 6:9 The Lord's Prayer -- Week 4 By Andy Manning INTRODUCTION Did you know that prayer is good for your health?  Scientific studies point to several medical benefits of prayer: Improves attention and planning. Reduces depression and anxiety. Decreases sleepiness.  Protects the brain from cognitive decline. Reduces feelings of stress. Lowers cholesterol levels. Improves sleep. Decreases headaches. Relaxes muscles. Increases life span. (Source:  Rick Warren, The Daniel Plan.) Prayer has many benefits, so in this sermon series we are learning how to pray more effectively by studying the Lord’s Prayer. Let’s begin by quoting it together:  “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the powe
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Sermon | Matthew 6:9b | Our Father Which Art In Heaven

SERMON:  "OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN" Matthew 6:9 The Lord’s Prayer – Week 2 By Andy Manning INTRODUCTION It was about 550 B.C.  The Jews had been conquered and taken into captivity in to a distant land -- Babylon.  One of the Jews’ best and brightest had risen up the ranks and become one of the closest advisors to the king of Babylon.  His name was Daniel.  His colleagues were jealous of him and looked for a way to get rid of him.  They knew that Daniel was devoted to God, and that he prayed without fail three times a day, as Jews still do today.  They went to the king and tricked him into passing a ridiculous law that no one could pray to any god or man but the king for thirty days, or be thrown into the lion’s den to be eaten alive.  When Daniel heard the news, he didn’t change.  He did exactly as he had always done.  He continued to pray three times a day.  So, they arrested him and threw him into the lion’s den.  But God sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions,
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Sermon | Romans 8:28 | The Most Encouraging Verse in the Bible

SERMON:  "THE MOST ENCOURAGING VERSE IN THE BIBLE" Romans 8:28 By Andy Manning INTRODUCTION The title of this series is “Not Shaken.”  It comes from 1 Thessalonians 3:2-3, where Paul sent Timothy to the Thessalonian church to encourage and strengthen them in their faith so that they would not be shaken by affliction.  This series is all about how to face adversity without being shaken. What does it mean to be shaken by affliction?  To get angry with God and run away from Him.  To self-medicate with drugs and alcohol.  To try to cover the pain with sin.  To try to solve the problem with sin.  To   panic with fear and worry and anxiety.  To lose your faith in God.  To get angry and bitter, taking it out on those around us. To seek revenge.  To get depressed.  To end our lives.   Everyone goes through hard times.  Even Christians.  The benefit of being a Christian is that God has given us special tools and resources so that we can face hard times without being shaken. One of the
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Sermon | Philippians 4:4-7 | How to Respond to Adversity

SERMON:  "HOW TO RESPOND TO ADVERSITY" Philippians 4:4-7 By Andy Manning INTRODUCTION A few months ago as I was preparing a sermon in my office on a Thursday afternoon, my daughter knocked on my door.  She said, “Dad, the movie theater is closing!”  Our church had been meeting at Celebrity Theaters for years, and without warning, we heard through Facebook that the theater was closed.  Not closing soon, but closed.  That was a problem.  Where was the church going to meet?  That was not a fun position to be in.  That was not a great day for me.   All of us will experience days and seasons like that.  We will all face adversity.  You might hear that you or someone you know has cancer.  You might get fired or laid off.  You might fail an important class in school.  You might have serious marriage problems.  Someone important to you might die.  You might lose an important customer to a competitor.  The stock market may tank, and you may lose a lot of your savings.  All of us will
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