I’ve recently started sending weekly updates to our Sunday Life Group that include a summary of the Sunday sermon and a summary of our Life Group lesson. The goal is to keep everyone in the group in the loop even if they can’t make it to church every Sunday.
I know it’s tough for a lot of people to make it to church every Sunday so I thought more people may benefit if I post my weekly updates here on the blog. Feel free to check in each week (I’ll try to get them posted by mid-week) or if you’d like to get added to my weekly email list, just shoot me a message – I’ll be happy to add you!
Title: “Positive Living, Part 2” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) – Herb Hartso (Youth Pastor)
The sermon on Sunday centered around Attitude and was a great follow up to last weeks lesson on encouragement. In the scripture, Paul is encouraging Thessalonian Christians and describing the type of attitude they should have. Ultimately, an attitude that is joyful, prayerful, and thankful is God’s will for you too.
The ability to maintain a joyful attitude “always” is rooted in faith. Although our circumstances change and may affect our happiness, our joy is rooted in Christ and therefore should not be impacted by circumstances. Herb noted that joy can be reflected in how often we smile. Spreading our joy (and our smile) to others will spread the joy of Christ.
We should also have a prayerful attitude. While the scripture notes that we should pray “continuously,” Herb pointed out that this does not mean literally pray every second of the day. Instead, we should be in a spirit of prayer.
Lastly, a thankful attitude is crucial to maintain perspective. Again, the scripture calls for us to give thanks “in all circumstances.” This can be tough because on the outside, it doesn’t seem like “all circumstances” are good; however, we must maintain the belief that God is in control and he is working things together for the good even when we can’t see it.
John Maxwell says, “People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude.” As believers, our attitude impacts others – it’s important that impact we have reflects Christ.
Key Action Items:
– Smile more often – spread a joyful attitude
– Stay in a spirit of prayer – 2 specific items we can continually pray about are the racial divide in our country and that lost people come to know Christ.
In life, there are tasks that are important and tasks that are urgent. Rarely does something fall in both categories. Our call to share the gospel with others does fall into both categories as important andurgent. We should not hoard the good news but instead share it with others – openly and often. As a group we talked about modeling a Christian life and building relationships with others as avenues to share the gospel. Since this is one of the most important things we can do in life, we should be putting more time and energy towards this goal.
Key Action Items:
– Pray for an opportunity to share the gospel with someone else and the boldness and wisdom to take advantage of that opportunity.
Don't Just Live, Conquer! 