Eugene International Church of Christ

(Mom and Paisley are fine. Thanks everyone for their love and support!)

Job 39:1-4
1 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
2 Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.
4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.

I Shared this verse with my wife, because her labor had not started yet - and we were worried about God’s timing. God is there with the Doe and the Mountain Goats…you are much more important to him than the deer and billy goats…He is right here with you…He understands the process and the pain, and certainly our joy.

Point #1 - The Pains of Childbirth

Galatians 4:19-20
“My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, 20how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!”

This is interesting. In childbirth – an infant will go forward a tiny bit, then recede farther back into the womb. This is what Amy went through this past week giving birth to our daughter Paisley. It takes a ton of pushing on a mother’s part. She has to push when the contractions are at their peak, the most painful, for there to be any movement of the baby forward. The whole process is mind-blowing and totally inspiring.

Even when a mother pushes into and through the pain – there is only the tiniest movement forward. When people are studying the bible, it is the same. Until there is pain (confrontation, repentance, job change, living situation change, parental rejection, persecution, breaking up with worldly boyfriend/girlfriend - these are all caused by becoming a disciple and true repentance) there is no forward movement to conversion.

Becoming a disciple involves reordering all our relationships after Christ.

Luke 14:25-27
“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26″If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

If you really do this, you spend more time with disciples and doing what disciples of Jesus do than what your physical family does. Nothing gets in the way of your commitment to God and his Kingdom, the church. You have quiet times no matter what. You make it to all the meetings of the body, no matter what. You get yourself taught to obey (Matthew 28:18-20) no matter what - IF your are following Jesus. This causes pain. The temptation is to recede … to regress … to go backwards to what we know is comfortable in our sinful nature.

By our nature, when Christ is formed in us, unless someone is continually “teaching [us] to obey” (Matthew 28:20) we will backslide. Back to what is comfortable for us, back to what is natural for us. This is why it is so critical to disciple people - using God’s Word until Christ is formed in them. Consistently. Persistently.

If a woman stops pushing during childbirth because she is tired, because it hurts, or because she starts to believe she can’t do it - this is very dangerous. If a woman quits for any reason, it leads to serious complications. C-Sections, fetal distress…even death of the baby or the mother. Back in the day when this scripture was written - there were no epidural drugs, and a cesarean meant maybe only the child would survive…C-Sections were an extremely rare option medicinally considered (compared to some 30% these days in the USA)

When someone is baptized, they are born again of the water and the spirit. (John 3:1-7) It is the Church that gives birth to spiritual children for Jesus. She is his bride. When Jesus (the head of the body, and the husband - c.f. Ephesians 5:22-32) and the bride are spiritually intimate and close, there will be spiritual children.

Just like Birth - there is a cost when the church gives birth spiritually and a new disciple is made. The disciples push themselves to help someone come around, and it is LABORIOUS. Paul compares it to the pains of childbirth - childbirth takes all a woman has, every ounce of her effort…the same is for the bride of Christ, the disciples in the church who work to bring forth spiritual fruit - new disciples. It is totally exhausting and yet totally exhilarating.

Point #2 - Crave Spiritual Milk

Ephesians 5:22-32
“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31″For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.”

It is the bride, the wife, the woman, who provides milk for the baby physically. As a husband, I’ll arrange pillows, massage Amy’s back, get food, while Amy nurses our daughter. I can hold our child and comfort her for a while, but the real nourishment for the baby comes from her mother’s milk. It will be some time before Paisley will want to BBQ steaks in the backyard with dad. In the same way, we must GET ready spiritually to hang out with dad and have a spiritual steak with him. God takes care of his bride, the church, and she is to take care of His spiritual children - the infants in Christ, new disciples made, baptized, and being taught to obey.

After birth, all the baby gets is concentrated food called colostrum. It’s got all the baby needs, and is high in nutrients, proteins, low in fats, and high in antibodies. This is why we have a concentrated plan after someone is “born again” into Christ at baptism - like the follow-up studies…and the deep convictions book for a great start in “quiet times”…and consistent focused discipleship times: out evangelizing, planning Christian dates with other disciples that are totally pure and totally fun…takes a lot of work to set this all up.

It takes a lot of work for a mother to nurse early on. There is a major learning curve. The key is the mother responds ANYTIME and EVERYTIME the baby is hungry or looks like they want to nurse. Babies crave milk. They are BORN to do so.

There is a worried look on Paisley’s face that she gets when she suckles my pinky and does not get any milk from it and it is heart-breaking. Babies get milk from their mother. Babes in Christ get “spiritual” milk from other disciples in the body. The young disciple naturally craves spiritual milk. The mature disciple provides it in LIFE example and DOCTRINAL understanding. (1 Timothy 4:16) The “baby” Christian sees these basics manifest in the life of the mature disciple - the elementary teachings, the first principles…and we need to be responsive - ready to give spiritual mile ANYTIME and EVERYTIME a good example or sound doctrine is needed!

Hebrews 5:11-14
“11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

• Someone who teaches others about Jesus (and thus constantly using these elementary truths) is mature according to this verse.
• Disciples who were not teaching or no longer teaching anyone these things are chastised right here.
• Solid food…teaching about righteousness = sticking the commitment and the devotion you have for God. Made decisions to move, to change jobs, to uproot ourselves to follow Jesus - sticking to them is a part of really having Christ formed in us – it enables us to help others to stick to their convictions.
• What is one soul worth? What would you NOT give up to save a soul? Amy, Paisley and I hung out with Erica and Melanie last night - One soul (Erica was the first person baptized in Eugene) is enough to uproot and move to Eugene to plant the church. How can we put a price tag or a time-limit on the cost of souls in Salem or anywhere else in the world? What is best? Do go anywhere, do anything, and give up everything for the LORD Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:33)
• There is so much pain in any birth. Labor. There is regression. There is backsliding. There is challenges and complications. There is the wonder of new life.
• One is enough. One soul is enough. Jesus thought that way. That’s how come he could go to the cross STILL - even after ALL his disciples left him…

1 Peter 1:22-2:1-3
“22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.[b] 23For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24For,
“All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25but the word of the Lord stands forever.”[c] And this is the word that was preached to you.
…
1Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

Newborn babies. CRAVE pure spiritual milk.

CRAVE = Epipotheo (Greek)

1. to long for, desire
2. to pursue with love, to long after

What are you craving? You are feeding on something! What is it and what impact does it have on you spiritually?

It is the bride of Christ, the church, that provides the milk for the newborns and for those who have regressed and need milk once again.
Clearly - according to Hebrews 5:11-6:1 it is possible for a person to AGE in Christ and yet regress or cease to be/not be mature.
Be sure to latch on – spiritually to relationships that build your faith, your unity, and your walk with God. Latch on spiritually to each other and help each other seek and save the lost.

Relationships -
There are a wealth of relationships here to focus you spiritually - you just have to have the LOVE and HUMILITY to let them in and go after it! Are you accessible, or fighting the caregiver - the brothers and sisters of Christ’s Bride - His Church?
Paisley - our infant daughter - can get fussy and fight with Amy while trying to nurse. Our daughter is too young to understand how to nurse. And yet she is starving. She fusses, cries, and flails - arches her back…and the lactation specialists tell us this is all a part of her learning and Amy learning what works in between to get her to nurse and to “latch on.” Both of them are making mistakes…but both are determined to learn to make it work.

This is why it says in 1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, love each other deeply for love covers over a multitude of sins…” In our relationships we have to learn to feed each other spiritually. GET the BIBLE out. Love deeply enough to squarely deal with the issues - fight through it with people. Determined to love them. If a baby does not eat, it will die. Get our EXAMPLE sound so that people can imitate our lives and rightly be following Jesus – the one who came to see and save what was lost (Luke 19:10)

1 Timothy 3:15
“if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.”

The church is that important. The pillar and foundation of the truth. Do you view meetings of the body like that? Do you see the milk here? Do you crave it? It’s the body of Christ, his bride, and it’s the place where you’ll get spiritual milk.

What does milk look like then?

1 Peter 1:22-2:2
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.[b] 23For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24For,
“All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25but the word of the Lord stands forever.”[c] And this is the word that was preached to you.
…
1Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

The living and enduring word of God. The word. That defines what spiritual milk is. It is important to note, 1 Peter was written sometime between 60-64 AD. That means many of the people reading it in these churches had been disciples for 30 years. They are still being admonished to crave spiritual milk.

1 PART - The opposite of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.

• Malice: desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering on another, either because of a hostile impulse or out of deep-seated meanness:
• Opposite = Benevolence: desire to do good to others; goodwill; charitableness: (Ann, Steph, Magarite, Chuck, many – our home is…we are so loved. Help and meals and love.)
• Deceit: concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading;
• Opposite = Honesty: truthfulness, sincerity, or frankness. (This is something that is easy to love about Bruce and Denny)
• Hypocrisy: a pretense (pretending / a false show of something) of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess. (How would you know? By what someone does! Weather they are sold-out or just lukewarm!)
• Opposite = Sincerity: freedom from deceit, hypocrisy, or duplicity; (Freedom!)
• Envy: a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another’s advantages, success, possessions, etc. (Discontentment!)
• Opposite = Contentment: the state of being contented; satisfaction; ease of mind. (Kinshasa, and San Pedro Sula disciples – they have little to nothing, but a joy and contentment in Christ that is powerful)
• Slander: a false accusation of an offense or a malicious misrepresentation of someone’s words or actions…
• Opposite = Encouraging : Build up others in love. What is good in them. (Love reading articles on fellow sold-out movement churches websites …always inspires me … to see what God is doing in our family of churches.)

Hebrews 5:13-14
“Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
Hebrews 6:1-3
“Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And God permitting, we will do so.”
2 PART - Teaching Elementary Teachings

• Repentance from acts that lead to death. (Becoming a disciple. Repenting of all our sins. Discipleship study lays this out. The Word of God study builds the clarity on what it means to obey and disobey in the first place…Romans 10:17, get faith from hearing the message - heard from the word of Christ…)
• Faith in God. (Cover this Seeking God as well as the Word study – can’t seek with 100% of your heart unless you have FAITH IN HIM)
• Instruction about baptisms. (Hit this in the Discipleship study … baptism in Jesus’ name, as well as going deeper in “The Coming of The Kingdom” study about what being Born Again of Water and the spirit really means. Also even digging deeper in the “Light and Darkness” study … how baptism in the name of Jesus is a participation in the death burial and resurrection of Jesus and when you get in contact with Jesus’ blood - and atonement for your sins. Not to mention being baptized into the body - which we cover in “The Church” bible study.)
• But what about John’s baptism? What about Acts 19 and the disciples of John getting re-baptized in the name of Jesus? What about the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Do we understand these things? More than that - are we competent and confident to teach about them? More that that even - are we teaching them to people now we are preaching the gospel of God to? This is why we have the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” study.
• Laying on of hands. Healing? Ananias and Paul - for healing Paul’s blindness? The disciples in Luke 10 for casting out demons and healing sicknesses? Paul and the aforementioned disciples in Acts 19 for the receiving of the Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit? And Peter and John in Acts 8 - where Simon tried not to buy the gifts of the Holy Spirit - but the ability to pass on the gifts to people he laid his hands on. This is why we cover “The Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit” bible study.
• Resurrection of the dead. At baptism (Romans 6:1-4) and Jesus Christ at the cross - his resurrection and his sacrifice and what that means for us, here and now, and in the hereafter.
• Eternal Judgment.. Can’t miss this in the “Light and Darkness” bible study and it’s why we “count the COST” with people too!

Proud of Melanie. Sharing about how she taught someone from the scriptures, “yes, there is a hell - and you better believe it.” Jesus preached about hell - 12 different occasions in the gospels!

We can’t be sentimental on the basics. It’s our nature to want to widen the road. Soften the blow. Water down the commitment and make excuses about why we want to be comfortable. It becomes easier and easier to do this the farther we move away from Jesus mission and dream to see the world evangelized in our generation. We end up putting our words in Jesus’ mouth - because we are ashamed of his words and refuse to take a stand on them…or simply Jesus’ radical expectation for us to give up everything encroaches on our comfort and we start talking about “pacing ourselves” and “balance” and “our ‘healthy’ lifestyle” - consider Jesus’ teachings in Luke 14:25-35 and what the Holy Spirit teaches us through Paul in 1 Corinthains 9:19-21…which is an example we are to imitate…(1 Corinthians 11:1)

People remember 20% of what they hear, 75% of what they see, and 90% of what they do, and 95% of what they teach.

No wonder Jesus commands us to evangelize the world! We’ll retain these elementary teachings - this spiritual milk. We’ll move on to maturity. We’ll be milk-givers and solid-food eaters.

This is another reason I am so fired up to go through first principles with many of us in the church. It is going to be awesome. It’s going to give Christ’s bride the faith and vision to bear spiritual children and nurse them!

The key that unlocks all this? Is the conviction to disciple the lost and your brothers and sisters and to get discipled on “What Is In your heart?”

Point #3 – Want What Is BEST

(In order to want it, you need to discern it…)

Discerning what is best = maturity. (Constant use concept here again)
What is best, not just what is good. There is a difference!
Believing in discipling verses making the time and method to actively practice it!
Believing in evangelizing the world and seeing the time frame they had in the first century - their generation (Colossians 1:6, Colossians 1:23“…if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.” - having the same heart to reach our world in our generation, in the 21st century and living accordingly!
Believing in purity and in marrying only a disciple and the conviction to be unwaivering in dating only disciples (not just other religious people – there is a difference!!!)

It’s not cute to have teens date non-disciples.

Research Taken from the online archives of the …

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES

[The following is data from] the Youth Risk Behavior Survey reporting the percentage of youth in grades 9 to 12 who have experienced sexual intercourse by sex, grade, and race and Hispanic origin.

Differences by Age.
In 2001, 34 percent of 9th graders reported having had sexual intercourse. This percentage increases with each grade, reaching 61 percent by the 12th grade…
…
Early sexual involvement also predicts many negative outcomes in young adulthood. Early sexual involvement for females is correlated with increased number of relationships, more frequent intercourse, greater likelihood of an abortion, and greater likelihood of contracting venereal disease.3 Moreover, precocious sexual behavior often has as its consequence teenage pregnancy, which in turn is related to several negative adult outcomes.

For the full study see our the link below:

http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/03trends/SD4.pdf

Awww - isn’t it cute that s/he has a boy/girl-friend, “puppy love”…nope.

The stats are scary. Teach your kids early to date only sold-out disciples.
Notice I did not say “Christian” - a real, sold-out disciple - A young man or a young woman of truth, and deep convictions on God’s word.
“They need life experience…” some say - as taught by Satan? As taught by the world?
Do the homework! The stats are frightening and should sober us about what we teach our children.

The most critical thing our children need? What is the “best” thing? A powerful example of
LIFE and DOCTRINE - that is consistent. Life experience that emphasizes the eternal
and powerful nature of the Kingdom of the Almighty God. Hypocrisy must be crushed.
Lukewarmness must be repented of. And marriage conflicts dealt with biblically.
GET discipled. Live with the LORD’s purpose!

Right now we see this in our life with our daughter!!!!!

EXAMPLE:
Jesus Rios took his son Elijah with him to a bible study with a friend in Salem.
Wants his son TO SEE disciples made and the word preached. (Matthew 28:18-20)
They stayed late because of the bible study.

Explained to his son:

“We are getting up early to do homework tomorrow…” and then he asked his son:
“What if we could not study the bible because you had homework?”
“We have to make time for both dad!” was his son’s response.
His son is 8 years old…and gets the principle behind the example.

Philippians 1:9-10
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”

• Love is what gives knowledge and insight. Not the other way around. Real love. Love for God, love for his people, and love for the lost. That’s where you’ll find depth of insight. God is love. He’s an awesome Father. Nothing is harder to deal with for me with Paisley than when she fusses and rejects me. I know shes just an infant…but it still stings my heart. She does it without knowing…and it’s still hard. I can only imagine the pain of the Father when we put him off, skipping or skimping in our daily walk with him - and many of us do so knowingly in our relationship with him. What is more of a priority to you than your walk with God? Whatever it is - it can wait so you can walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
• Love will enable you to discern what is best…and make you pure and blameless.
• God knew what was best. His son. I can’t even imagine my daughter going to the cross. I can’t even emotionally connect with that…it boggles my mind. God knew what was best. He had the depth and the insight to give it. His one and only son.

Point #1 - The Pains of Childbirth
Point #2 - Crave Spiritual Milk
Point #3 – Want What Is BEST

If you are willing to go through the pains of childbirth spiritually, crave spiritual milk, and you WANT what is best … you’ll have in your heart God and His Kingdom – because you realize God went through the Pain of the cross to give you second birth, surrounded you with the arms of his kingdom to give you spiritual milk, and is a Father who wants – and knows – what is best for your soul.

Amen.

Jeremy Ciaramella
Evangelist
Eugene International Church of Christ