I Thess. 4:1-10                    Bethel                             1-24-10

The Recipe for Improvement

(Increasing more and more)

Intro. 

We Must Have:

I. Holy Dissatisfaction.  We must be unwilling to remain the same.  “Give me a child or I die”.  Grab a hold of the horns of the altar.  Hunger and thirst for righteousness.

It is good to be dissatisfied with ones stage of growth.  Too many today are easily:

A.   dissatisfied with others, or

B.  dissatisfied with their circumstances,

C. but far too satisfied with themselves!

God’s Holy Spirit has a way of making a Christian aware of his need for growth.  We know when we are being called to a closer walk and we know when we are not right and need to get right.

II. Honest Determination.  Commitment is necessary for real improvement.  “He that putteth his hand to the plow and looking back is not worthy to be my disciple.” 

Change is something that requires commitment for the “long haul”.  It is

A.  always demanding,

B.  often taxing, and

C.  sometimes frightening!

There is a need for a turning point.  There must be a time of surrender or a pivotal moment when we make up our minds that we are going to improve in a certain area of our lives.  Real growth will not happen accidentally.  It must be done on purpose.

III. Heavenly Direction.  We cannot change for the better without God’s help.  Self reformation results in catastrophe.

            A. Is it Perceptual?   We should move when it is time to move but otherwise stay where we are put.  If we always remove ourselves from uncomfortable places or avoid difficult situations, we cannot improve.  We have to have a place to go that is better than where we already are.

We are not to stumble around with no plan for growth.  Improvement must be tied to reality.  Can you see it?  If it is by faith…can you articulate the vision so others can see it too?

            B. Is it Plausible?  We are not likely to improve if our goal is impossible to reach.  God is loving, longsuffering and patient with us.  He mostly leads us to what is clearly visible and readily doable.

            C. Is it Positive? It is not an improvement if it does not make you and others better. 

Which leads to…..

IV. Harmony with the Disciples.    When I improve, my church improves.  I cannot improve without my church, and I cannot improve without my church improving also.

            A. We need others.  Trying to improve alone is very difficult. Strong, growing Christians are connected to the body.

1 Cor. 12:25-26  That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.  And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

            B.  Others Need Us  Heb. 10:24-25  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Each of us is important to the health of the body.

            C. The World Need to See Christians in Loving Harmony

Joh 13:34-35  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  (35)  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Conclusion:  Do you have a Holy Dissatisfaction with your spiritual life?  Are you willing to make an Honest Determination to improve it?  Will you surrender to the Heavenly Direction God is leading you to take and will you live in Harmony with the Disciples in order to grow in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ?