Sermons

Summary: A closer look at growing in Christ by first taking control over what goes on in your head.

Pursuit for the Mind!

Toy aisle with Grant- Wal-Mart

Transformers

Humans want to be more, to be a part of something bigger

Christians are designed to transform, to become more

This is called Spiritual Transformation and it starts in the mind

2 Disciplines of the Mind:

1. Meditation

How many of you have ever meditated?

How many of you think it is wrong? Hard? Weird?

Scripture

Ps. 1:2; 63:6; 119:48, 97

2 Hebrew words: Hagah and Siach; used nearly 58 times in the OT

What is meditation?

“Christian meditation is the ability to hear God’s voice and obey His word.”

Too many Christians won’t shut up and listen

1 Kings 19:9-13

What’s the purpose?

Thomas a Kempis- “we are growing into a familiar friendship with Jesus”

You learn people’s voice the closer you get to them

Isn’t meditation New Age or Eastern?

Chart to compare them!

Who is it for?

Everyone

Israel’s mistake- 1 Sam. 8:7

Our mistake- the preacher and leaders

Meditation is threatening because it boldly calls us into the living presence of God.

2. Study

Your mind has been trained!

TV, books, movies, school, music

Your behaviors follow

4 Steps to study:

Repetition

“Regularly channels the mind in a specific direction, thus ingraining habits of thought”

“Ingrained habits of thought can be formed by repetition alone, thus changing behavior”

Romans 12:2

Memory Verses, Psychocybernetics, TV (murders, sex, etc.)

Php. 4:8

Concentration

1st highlighted part under concentration

It’s hard to concentrate today

Radio on, TV and a book, noise in the house, things to do

When we repeatedly focus the mind, center our attention on the subject, we understand what we are studying.

Comprehension- “what we are studying”

Feeling of “Eureka”

Reading something over and over

New level of growth and freedom

Leads to insight and discernment

Reflection- “significance of what we are studying”

Reflect on Scripture

How does it apply to me?

Requires humility

We are the student, not the teacher

The accumulation of information is not the same as knowledge

So what?

Spiritual transformation begins in the mind

These practices help transform your mind- Rom. 12:2

Changed behavior is the result of your encounter with the living God

Don’t you want to encounter God?

You can by beginning some spiritual disciplines today!

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