Qohelet Web Ministry Sermons John Telgren

(Heb 5:10 - 6:8) We need to avoid stalled progress in spiritual growth because it leads to dulled hearing/understanding of the deeper things of God, which can lead to abnormal immaturity, spiritual senselessness, which can ultimately lead to permanently falling away and spiritual death. In order to avoid stalled progress, we need to be disciplined disciples that truly listen, learn, practice, and bear fruit.

(Heb 5:1-9) Because Christ is a different and better kind of priest, and we are his priesthood, we need to follow his leadership and example, especially in his prayer of relinquishment in the face of extreme difficulty. When we humble ourselves in obedience as Christ did, then God will lift us up.

(Hosea 2; 11) The model for what it means to love can be found in God, who describes his love toward us as a man loves his wife, and as a parent loves his child. But the most vivid expression of God's love is in the cross. God's love is a model for how we are to leave in each of our relationships in our lives.

Labor Day is set aside to celebrate the value and dignity of work. The Bible has some concrete things to teach us about work. Work is not a curse, but part of our created purpose so that we can serve God. The curse is increase hardship, not work. In fact, work is a reflection of the God who has been working from the beginning. By design, work brings various benefits to others and us. This does not mean that rest is bad. Idleness is bad but rest is good, endorsed, and even instructed by God.

The Church of Christ is to be a Christ centered family, learning, sharing, and caring. This means that we are to be focused on Christ in all of our worship, that we are to live in the word and integrate it into our lives so that it transforms us into the image of Christ, that we are to serve others from our means and share the good news of Christ, and we are to be connected to each other in Christian fellowship, caring for and encouraging one another.

(Rev 13:11-18) Everyone has spiritual identification that identifies who they are and to whom they belong. There are only two kinds of identification, a mark or a seal. Those with the mark have made what appear to be reasonable compromises in the interest of happiness, prosperity, and blessing. Those with a seal have made a total, uncompromising commitment to Jesus as Lord, refusing to take the mark. In the end, those with the mark will be destroyed, but those with the seal that identifies them as belonging to Christ will be saved from eternal destruction at the judgment. In order for us to have the seal, we need unwavering and uncompromising commitment to the Lordship of Christ.