MEMBERS OF THE BODY #7

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ACCOUNTABILITY & ENCOURAGEMENT

#1­—A healthy, active member is committed to church attendance!  (Getting into rows)

#2—A healthy, active member is committed to being a part of a small group! (Getting into circles)

#3—A healthy, active member is committed to serving!

#4—A healthy, active member is committed to participating in the life of the church! (Prayer / Serving)

#5—A healthy, active member is committed to giving!

#6—A healthy, active member is committed to allowing others to help them in their journey with Jesus! (Accountability) 

#7—A healthy, active member is committed to growing in their relationship with Jesus!

Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.’” Matthew 22:36-40 (NLT)

For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son…  Romans 8:29 (NLT)

And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.  1 Corinthians 11:1 (NLT)

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.  Ephesians 5:1 (NLT)

Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God…  Ephesians 4:1 (NLT)

“Prone to wander…Prone to leave the God we love.”

“I can do bad all by myself”

The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate… 18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway….21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.  Romans 7:14-15, 18-19, 21-25 (NLT)

The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.  Galatians 5:17-18 (NLT)

#1­—Your old nature only wants to do one thing…sin! 

#2—Your old nature will never change!

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.  John 3:30 (NLT)

“Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”  Matthew 26:41 (NLT)

Because of this war that wages within our souls, you and I need to have people in our lives that will help us, encourage us, care about us, pray for us, and do their best to hold us accountable to what God wants for our lives.  

“Care for one another.”  1 Corinthians 12:25 (ESV)

“Encourage one another and build up one another.”  1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NASB1995)

“Stimulate one another to love and good deeds.”  Hebrews 10:24 (NASB1995)

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.  Titus 2:3-5 (ESV)

Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. 3 Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.  1 Peter 5:2-3 (NLT)

Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.  Hebrews 13:17 (NLT)