Freedom in the Spirit

Jim Leffel

Galatians 5:1-15

God's design for spiritual growth begins with understanding the freedom Christians have in Christ. As we are led by the Holy Spirit, God allows us to see how to meet others needs through sacrificial love. This kind of living produces real joy and relational closeness with others, rooted out of God's grace. Through the Holy Spirit, we are able to experience real moral change and go against our natural selfish tendencies that are shallow and empty.

Admonish One Another (Part 2)

Jim Leffel

Ephesians 5:21

The second part of a two-part series on admonishing one another with the focus on how to properly give admonishment. We must spend time in reflection and prayer thinking about the other person rather than react out of anger or hurt. Relational closeness, encouraging rapport, humility, and grace are all key when addressing someone's hurtful behaviors. It is an unpopular task because it is difficult to do well, but an important task that can change someone's life. It is also a practical way that we can love one another.\r\n

Admonish One Another (Part 1)

Jim Leffel

Ephesians 5:21

The first part of a two-part series on admonishing one another. This is perhaps the most difficult of the one another commands because it deals with a continuum of difficult conversations spanning from corrections to rebukes. The fool and the wise man are compared in their response to admonition. God wants to transform our character through our close friends who courageously speak the truth into our lives.\r\n

Forgive One Another

Jim Leffel

Matthew 18:21-33

Forgiveness is the supernatural ability to not punish or to not withhold love from someone who has hurt us. Our capacity to genuinely forgive others from the heart will make or break our spiritual lives. If we choose not to forgive, we will live a life of bitterness and be ineffective in our witness for Christ. By the grace of God, it is possible to develop a lifestyle of forgiving others which is a tangible way of loving one another.\r\n

Restoring Your First Love

Gary DeLashmutt

Revelation 2:1-7

Jesus encourages the church in Ephesus for being loyal to the truth about Him. He also admonishes them for forsaking their first love. Like the Ephesians many Christians today have lost sight of what it looks like to be in love with God. When we find ourselves in this position we must remember what it was like to receive God's forgiveness, choose to change our direction, and move towards doing things we once did to cultivate a spiritual passion.

Encourage One Another

Jim Leffel

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Encouragement is a powerful way to love others and to strengthen their spiritual resolve. Life is challenging and we have a spiritual adversary who wants us to fail but the Holy Spirit is our comforter, strengthener, and encourager who gives us the resources we need to love. As we rely on Him, He can work through us to encourage others through observing, reminding, warning, and consoling.\r\n

Accept One Another

Jim Leffel

John 13:34-35

The heart of Christian community is about loving each other as God has loved us. One aspect of tangibly loving people is to accept one another as God has accepted us. A practical description of what it looks like to have an accepting home group is presented. Though we may not agree with everyone, through the power of the Holy Spirit we can learn to accept each other and have a dynamic group.\r\n

Helping Others Identify and Use Their Gifting

Joel Comiskey

John 13:34-35

Helping people identify and use their God-given spiritual gifts is important. Every believer has at least one gift. The church is impacted by everyone's use of their gift and is to be used for edification. The best way to identify your spiritual gift is to experiment serving in different ways in a small group. It's important to keep Jesus in the center as we learn about our gifting.\r\n

Cultivating a Tender Heart

Dennis McCallum

Ephesians 6:12

In the Christian life and ministry there is a need for both toughness and tenderness, a paradox that we all face. We need toughness because Christian work is hard. We face attacks from Satan, failure, doubts, people walking away from God, criticism, and much more at times. In order to withstand this, we must learn how to draw near to God for strength. We do this so that we do not become hardened and self-protective, because Christian work involves exercising sacrificial love repeatedly and moving towards people. There are many consequences if we harden our heart in response, but also practical suggestions for how to cultivate this tender heart.