Sermon

A detailed Summary of Sermon

I'm sure all of you have read or heard of the book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." The concepts are simple, and rather obvious, but a book of such acclaim is what it took for us to realize what we need to do. The book talks about such things as being proactive instead of reactive, utilizing synergy, beginning with the end in mind, and so on. These things are great pieces of advice because it all works in a secular world. This is the same world where we are taught to be lenient and passive against such things as violence, idolatry, and sex. We are taught that the end justifies the means, and you chose how you get there.

Well, the second part of that statement is true; we do chose how we get to the end. But what end are we looking for, the wonderful retirement, those first million dollars, or maybe 2.2 kids with a dog and a house with a white picket fence? Or are we looking for something more, something higher? That is where faith comes in. We have faith there is a higher purpose to our lives, we have faith that God will never let us down, never leave us, and most of all, love us so much, die for us. We believe strongly in these things, these things we haven't seen, and th

Also as we strengthen our own faith, we must be extroverted and strengthen the faith of others. Our greatest called by God through our faith, is to show it to others so that they might believe and be saved. This is the hardest thing I've found to do. It's a heavy cross to be the one to minister to others; it's hard to try to reach others. There is no guide book on how to do this either, only an example. Jesus is our only example on how to reach the many people that have struggling faith and those that have none. And in working construction, I've found that building on a shaky foundation is harder than starting anew. The same is true with people's faith. It's harder to help someone out that has had faith, but it's been destroyed by events and comments by other people. A lot of the time when ministering to others, I find myself being brought down with them, because it's hard to explain why things happen and what the purpose is. But through Jesus, I've found that by example is the best way for people to see what faith can do for a person. Our great calling is use what the Holy Spirit has given us, to bring His children back to him. And our only regret should be we only have one life to do it, instead of two.

So now what? Do we as Christians have a little book with seven habits we should possess? Is it clearly spelled out plain as day for the average person to understand? And most importantly, is it bright enough to shine the light on those who don't believe?

Our lesson clearly spells out where out faith comes from, and the habits we shouldn't possess, and those we should. But there is no dissertation on what those things consist of. What exactly do self-control, zeal, peace, benevolence, humbleness, contentnes

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1172
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Religion