Apathy

Harris Creek

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Apathy

7 Deadly Sins of Suburbia

January 30, 2022 • Jonathan Pokluda • Hebrews 5—6, 1 Timothy 4:7–8, 2 Timothy 2:2

Have you ever received a medical diagnosis saying you’d get worse if you don’t make changes? What about other areas of your life…things aren’t going well and they’ll only get worse if something doesn’t change? As we continue our series, 7 Deadly Sins of Suburbia, JP teaches us about apathy by studying Hebrews 5 & 6.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

-People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated. - D.A. Carson

-The church will be at the height of its heresy when you call obedience legalism. - AW Tozer

-If you go through life doing only what you feel like, you will only grow dysfunctional. You will not grow as a disciple of Christ by only following your feelings.

-You could get to heaven and live a completely spiritually impotent life while on earth.

-So many Christians are not living the Christian life. They are not a threat to the enemy, and they are simply drifting toward death.

-The Bible teaches the exact opposite of apathy and comfort. It teaches to embrace hardships and challenges and discipline.

-Apathy: A resistance to spiritual growth.

-No Christian is exempt from living out the call of 2 Timothy 2:2: The things you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful people who will teach others also.

-We fight apathy by growing as a healthy disciple.

-Disciples make other disciples, and all Christians are disciples. A “disciple making disciple” is redundant.

-May we never be a people that is more American than we are Christian.

-You don’t go to the gym to be entertained, you go to workout (to change). Similarly, you don’t go to church to be entertained, you go to be changed. To become more like Jesus.

-We fight apathy with a steady diet of God’s Word.

-At some point, Christians must outgrow a diet of only devotionals. They must learn to read and study the Bible on their own.

-If reading your Bible is hard, that doesn’t make it wrong or bad. Going to the gym is also hard…you go to grow, and you only grow when it’s hard.

-If you take pictures of a tree one year apart, you won’t see much of a difference. If you take pictures of a tree 20-years apart, there will be a huge difference. Mostly, in a way you can’t even see: deep, strong roots that are the foundation and strength of the tree and it’s growth.

-There has never been a person of faith—let alone great faith—who doesn’t pray.

-We fight apathy by exercising our faith.

-As you exercise your faith, sin will become more and more repulsive to you. You won’t stop sinning on this side of death, but it will become less attractive.

-We don’t work for our salvation, we work from our salvation.

-If you drift toward apathy, one of two things will be true: you will die and go to hell (you were never a Christian to begin with), or, you will get to the end of your life and realize you completely wasted if.

MENTIONED OR RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

-Suggested Scripture study: Hebrews 5:11-6:8; 1 Timothy 4:7-8; 2 Timothy 2:2

-Sermon: Entitlement

Indulgence

February 27, 2022 • Jonathan Pokluda • 1 John 2:15–17, Genesis 3:6, Matthew 6:24, James 4:4, Philippians 3:18–20

What do you want right now? In this moment as you read this, if you could have anything in the world, what do you want? As we finish our sermon series, 7 Deadly Sins of Suburbia, JP teaches about indulgence by studying 1 John 2:15-17. KEY TAKEAWAYS -What do you turn to when you are stressed? -What you want shows who you love. -We love stuff and use people to get more stuff. This couldn’t be further from what the Bible teaches. -A biblical worldview teaches us to use stuff to love people. -You can either love the world or you can love God. You can not have or love both. -You will either be full from the things of God and able to resist the world, or, you will be full from the things of this world and will resist the things of God. -Wickedness comes from wanting worldly things. -Satan is the little g god of this world. His one desire is to drag you out of a right relationship with God, and he uses the things of this world. -What marks you? If those closest to you got asked about what’s important to you, what would they say? -“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” -C.S. Lewis -Walking in the will of God is living for another world. -As you walk with God, your wants and desires will align with His. -Parenting is teaching kids what to do with their wants as well as teaching them what to want. Christianity is no different. -If you take sin it will take you. RECOMMENDED RESOURCES -Scripture to study: 1 John 2:15-17; Matthew 6:24; James 4:4; Philippians 3:18-20; Genesis 3:6; James 1:14-15; Psalm 37:4; Romans 12:2 -Sermon: Anger from Unforgiveness

Anger From Unforgiveness

February 20, 2022 • Jonathan Pokluda • Micah 7:18, Matthew 18:21–35, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Romans 14:23, Isaiah 53:10

1) God's anger toward you was satisfied 2) Forgiven people are forgiving people 3) Your forgiveness demonstrates God's forgiveness

Gossip

February 13, 2022 • Nate Hilgenkamp • John 17:20–23, Genesis 3:4–5, Ephesians 4:29, Proverbs 18:8, Romans 1:29–30

Have you ever talked about someone who wasn’t present? Have you ever found out people talked about you when you weren’t present? As we continue our series, 7 Deadly Sins of Suburbia, Nate Hilgenkamp teaches about gossip by teaching through the book of Proverbs. KEY TAKEAWAYS -Gossip is sharing unhelpful or unnecessary information about someone who isn’t present. -Gossip is in the same list of sins as murder and hating God. -Gossip is enjoyable. -TMZ made $126 million in 2021…they’ve literally made an industry out of gossip. -Neuroscience has shown that the reward center of our brain lights up in response to gossip in a similar way as it does to romantic interest or eating chocolate. -We enjoy gossip because it makes us feel better than others. -Gossip also makes us feel important because someone trusts us to tell us something. -When someone gossips to you, they are really saying, “I’m OK talking about people behind their back.” -We enjoy gossip because it’s easy. It’s a lot harder to ask intentional questions of others or share specific struggles in your own life. -Gossip is divisive. -As adults it’s easy to see gossip in middle and high schoolers, but the reality is, it’s rampant and divisive in adults too. -It’s been said that gossip is the devil’s telephone. -God hates gossip because He loves you. -Before being crucified, Jesus prayed specifically for us, today, that we would be perfectly unified with other Christians the way He and the Father are perfectly unified. -Gossip can be put out. -The only way a fire can continue is by adding fuel. The same is true of gossip. Are you adding fuel or putting it out? -Even if you don’t share gossip, you have a part to play when you listen or permit it to happen. -We talk to people not about people. -On Harris Creek staff, we practice the “24-hour rule.” If someone says something to you about someone else, you give that person 24-hours to go tell the person they gossiped about, and if they don’t, you go with them to talk to the person together. -These phrases are almost never going to have helpful things behind them: “Don’t tell them I told you, but;” “This doesn’t leave this room;” & “Just between you and me.” -Venting is simply calling gossip by a different name. -If something doesn’t honor God or encourage others, just don’t say it. -If you are afraid your phone might record what you are saying about someone, don’t say it in the first place. -God hears every word you speak. Your words matter. MENTIONED OR RECOMMENDED RESOURCES -Proverbs 18:8, 16:28, 26:20; Romans 1:29-30; Genesis 3:4-5; John 17:20-23; Ephesians 4:29; Matthew 12:36-37 -Sermon: Comparison