Summer at RockCreek – JUST KEEP GROWING

Summer at RockCreek – JUST KEEP GROWING

“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

Ephesians 3:17-19

“Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”

Philippians 2:12-13

WHAT KEEPS PEOPLE FROM CHURCH COMMUNITY

• I will be .
• I don’t up.
• I was by the church.
• I just don’t

HOW DO I GROW CLOSER? (WITH GOD AND PEOPLE)

1. that you need help.

“He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!’”

Luke 15:15-17

2. to God and others.

“I will go home to my father and say, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you.’”

Luke 15:18

3. the .

“’All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’ “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.’”

Luke 15:29-31

4. God’s .

“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.”

Luke 15: 22-24

A CATALYST FOR GROWTH – WATER BAPTISM

• To follow the set by .

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

I Corinthians 11:1 (NIV)

“Someone may say, ‘I am a Christian; I am on my way to heaven; I belong to Christ.’ But if he doesn’t do what Christ tells him to, he is a liar.”

I John 2:4 (TLB)

• To demonstrate my .

“And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

I Peter 3:21

• To my commitment .

“Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.”

Matthew 10:32-33