Diagnosis and Remedy

In one paragraph

The pastor preached from Hebrews 5:11 through 6:3, the verses that sit right on the edge of what he described as the strongest warning in the entire New Testament. He framed the passage around two things: a diagnosis of where that first-century Jewish Christian audience had landed spiritually, and the remedy the writer of Hebrews points them toward. The passage opens with the writer saying there...

Read together

1. Romans 1:16 quoted during worship singing: 'for I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes'
2. Hebrews 5:11-6:3 the main passage preached through as diagnosis and remedy for spiritual dullness
3. Hebrews 3:7-8 quoted as prior warning in Hebrews: 'Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoke me in the wilderness'
4. Hebrews 3:13 referenced as the call to encourage one another day by day so we are not taken in by the deceitfulness of sin
5. Hebrews 3:15 quoted again: 'Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts'
6. Ephesians 2:10 paraphrased at the close when praying over Eugene and Becky: 'your poema, your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, masterpieces, to walk out the works ordained ahead of time'

Talk about it

1. The preacher described a condition where believers who once heard God's voice clearly become 'dull of hearing' over time. Have you ever experienced a season like that in your own walk with God, and what do you think contributed to it?
2. He pointed out that the writer of Hebrews tells people who should by now be teachers that they need someone to teach them the ABCs of the faith all over again. What do you think keeps a believer from growing to the point where they can feed others instead of always needing to be fed?
3. The sermon drew a picture of solid food belonging to those who have trained their senses through practice to discern good and evil. What does that kind of daily practice actually look like for you in a normal week?
4. He made the point that the remedy the writer of Hebrews gives is not to go back and re-lay the foundation but to press on to maturity, and that the phrase 'let us press on' is actually a passive verb, meaning God is the one doing the maturing in us as we submit to Him. How does it change the way you think about spiritual growth to know that it is something you yield to rather than something you produce by willpower?
5. The preacher warned that getting absorbed in the form of worship rather than the one being worshiped can stunt your growth. Where have you seen that happen, either in your own life or in church life generally, and how do you guard against it?