Resurrexit!

Dear Friends, I don't usually talk shop here, but I think I should explain why Devon- and you- have to "eat leftovers" every weekend...

I'm sure that by now you've noticed that my blog postings are just five days per week (Tuesday through Saturday). In praying about how to be a better steward of my time, I'm finding that it's better for me (and my husband) if I don't stay up all Sunday night blogging a Monday posting. Also, the spring semester is in full swing and I'm taking four classes (!!!). Oh, and I'm also writing my dissertation proposal which I hope will be approved this June. Add this to my duties as a wife and homemaker and minister, and you'll see that my 'dance card' is full.

For reasons that I won't detail now, I have resigned from dance ministry. This has opened up several hours in my schedule, and I think that the removal of dance and the removal of the Monday blog post will be enough to help me manage this semester. As always, your prayers are greatly appreciated. I hope I won't have to cut anything else.

(For my "midnight" people, my apologies for not posting today's blog at midnight- I will try to do better next week!)

Okay, let's get to the sermon!

Pastor Sam finished the series on the "basics" of our faith this past Sunday. As a recap, these are the basics- "the elementary things"- noted by the writer of Hebrews in chapter 6, verses 1 and 2:

-repentance from acts that lead to death;
-faith in God;
-instruction about baptisms;
-the laying on of hands;
-the resurrection of the dead;
-eternal judgement.

Those last two, the resurrection and eternal judgement, are what we'll look at this week. But for now I want to reiterate something that Pastor Sam said at the beginning of the sermon in the second service: "we must pay the most earnest heed to what we have learned".

So, let's add some brief summaries to the first four 'elementary things' that we learned already:

-repentance from acts that lead to death (you have to be born in order to grow; if you have not repented from dead works, you are not a Christian);

-faith in God (never put your faith in anyone or anything other than God; God is a jealous God, and He will destroy any competing idols);

-instruction about baptisms (water baptism as clear identification and complete commitment to God; Spirit baptism as public manifestation of the spiritual engagement between God and you);

-the laying on of hands (God deals with us through other people- for blessing, healing, ordination, and being set apart for ministry).

Tomorrow we'll start to unpack the final two 'basics' of our faith. In the meantime, if you click on the link below that says "Back To Basics", it will pull up every blog that's related to the Hebrews 6:1,2 passage. A little something to munch on while you're waiting for the next meal (smile)...