Seven Words to the Church Today (Week 5) - March 6, 2022 - Trey Hardimon

Being spiritually alive means more than just calling yourself a Christian. LCC’s Student Minister Trey Hardimon continues with week 5 of our “Seven Word” sermon series with a message about the church of Sardis, a church with a reputation for being alive and well-known in their community but spiritually dead. This week’s sermon shares an important message about what it means to be truly repentant and why it matters. “My responsibility doesn’t change depending on if I’m awake or if I’m asleep. What changes is my ability and my willingness to handle what I am responsible for.” “The issue with pretending is that after awhile, slowly but surely, it can become your reality.” “You can believe that you’re not doing anything wrong – so, because you’re not doing something wrong, you must be doing something right. A wrong view of responsibility can make a huge difference.” “There are real and dangerous consequences to pretending to be somebody that you’re not. You can forget who you are. You can forget whose you are. You can forget who you have been called to be. And maybe… you can forget where you’ve been.” “The Holy Spirit enables the church to function as the body of Christ. It enables Christian unity. When we don’t have Christian unity amongst the church itself, we aren’t enacting the Holy Spirit.” “For the unbeliever, death means without spiritual life and without God. Separated from the father forever. But for the believer, death, like sleep, is something that is used as a symbol for carnality or for being out of fellowship with God.” “We typically act like we’re holier than thou but in reality, Jesus knows our deeds.” “The church of Sardis may have pleased men, but it did not please God.” “Church, would we rather be left alone by our community or would we rather be rebuked by God? Do we want to be left alone and be able to do whatever we want to do throughout the week, or would we rather be rebuked by God?” “Repent carefully – because a true change of mind and heart is necessary for a genuine, consistent walk with God.” “Repentance isn’t simply saying sorry. Repentance isn’t asking for forgiveness, just to do the same thing over and over again. Repentance is an action step where you turn away from the sin that is entangling you and you fix your eyes on the One who saves you. When you repent, you are acknowledging and saying, ‘what I’ve done is wrong, but who I follow is good, and I’m willing to follow Him.’” “The life of a Christian who is truly following Jesus… is one covered in hope and security, not in uncertainty. Jesus is letting us know that being spiritually alive means more than just calling yourself a Christian.” “We can be deceived by the world around us because we look at the outward appearance, all of the time, but God, who sustains us, looks at the heart.”