Christ in you - some reflections from last Sunday

Last Sunday I began a new series of messages at NRN entitled: Living Life in High Definition. Here is an excerpt from last Sunday's message that served as my thesis for the message and this series:

God wants us to mature - to grown up spiritually. I believe that it is God’s will for every believer to become mature Christians. TO BE LIKE CHRIST - That is our goal, plain and simple. Is this premise valid? Here are some examples from God’s Word:

“...that you may become mature Christians and may fulfill God’s will for you.” Colossians 4:12b (Ph)

“We are not meant to remain as children ... but to grow up in every way into Christ.” Ephesians 4:14-15 (Ph)

Once you are born into God’s family - God wants you to grow up!

What is a HIGH DEFINITION LIFE? BEING CHRISTLIKE

“For from the beginning God decided that those who come to him
...should become like his Son ...” Romans 8:19 (LB)

“You have been Christians for a long time now, and you ought to be teaching others, but instead ... you need someone to teach you ... When a person is still living on milk, it shows he isn’t very far along in the Christian life ... He’s still a baby Christian!” Hebrews 5:12-13 (LB)

You are young only once, but you can stay immature indefinitely!

“Learn to be mature.” Proverbs 8:5 (GN)


A high definition life is a life:

… with purpose, meaning, and clarity.

… that stands out from the low resolution lives of the people who are around me.

… on a higher level spiritually, emotionally, professionally, and physically.

… which I believe is to your life what the equivalent of the Pentium chip is to a computer. During the next 5 weeks we are going through the core teaching of spiritual maturity - Living Life in High Definition - and I want to help us establish a foundation of Spiritual Maturity here at North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene.

I will continue this series on Sunday January 11th at 10:45am at NRN.

Here is a simple (and fun) clip to show what it means to have Christ in us - the first step of living a life in high definition:

Special thanks to JR for sending this clip to me today. I found it on youtube

Here are the trustworthy sayings to explain the clip.

This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it's out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me. Colossians 1:26-29 (The Message)