You can do spiritual things without experiencing spiritual life. We cannot move forward spiritually until we are made alive spiritually. • Spiritual Stagnation is a Warning Sign Revelation 3:1 (ESV) “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.’” Hebrews 5:12–14 (ESV) “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” A decision for Jesus that never changes our desires may just be an emotional decision. Matthew 15:8–9 (ESV) “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” 2 Timothy 3:5 (ESV) “Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” John 15:5–6 (ESV) “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers.” What Abiding Is and what it Is Not Abiding is not: Casual church attendance Occasional prayer Intellectual agreement with Jesus Abiding is: A life that is rooted in Christ Ongoing trust and obedience to Christ Allowing Christ’s words to remain in you Is the life of God truly at work within me? • Life Cannot Grow Where Darkness Remains 1 John 1:5 (ESV) “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” Ephesians 5:8–11 (ESV) “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Psalm 36:9 (ESV) “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” Spiritual health doesn’t begin with action it begins with alignment. • The Gospel Brings Life, Not Improvement We Don’t Need to be Repaired, We Need a Resurrection John 3:16 (ESV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” • New Life Produces a New Identity Galatians 4:4–7 (ESV) “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” Identity comes before behavior. 1 John 3:1 (ESV) “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” **Identity is not something we achieve; it is something we receive. **