NHCC Sermons & Teaching PodPoint

Follow up devotional thoughts from our Band of Brothers Study on July 24, 2024.

It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. —Hebrews 10:31 (NLT)

In this continuing sermon series, we have seen the threat addressed by Jude in the form of false teachers who attempt to infiltrate and deceive the body of Christ. Jude challenges the church to “contend for the faith” as they safeguard the truth.

In the first week we saw that the greatest threat is false teaching from within the church, false teachers who seem legitimate but knowingly deceive others. We are called to preserve the purity of the Gospel as we understand who we are being warned about.

In the second week, we learned that we will recognize these false teachers by their pride. We are warned to not be so quick to accept shallow teaching as we begin to grasp what it is that we are being warned about.

This week, verses 14-16 bring into focus the harsh judgment that is in store for these false teachers because they deceive so many with their perversion of the truth. It also illustrates why we are being warned so we avoid sharing their fate.

Follow up devotional thoughts from our Band of Brothers Study on July 17, 2024.

One of the truly challenging things about Biblical teaching is being able to recognize the difference between sound teaching and false teaching. Of course, in addition, one must be able as well to ascertain whether a teacher is simply in error and open to correction or intentionally distorting the meaning of the Scriptures. When we consider that many of us assume the best in people’s intentions as they stand to teach in the church—plus, it isn’t as if false teachers wear a “Hi, I’m a False Teacher” badge.

There is a genuine onus on each of us to know the Word of God in such a way as to recognize such false teaching. Jude gives us some warning signs to look for when listening to a teacher. Chief of those is an attitude of pridefulness. Pride motivates a lot of sinful behavior and is often the foundation of intentionally misleading and harmful teaching. Join us Sunday as we dive into this important topic in Frank’s message.

ude 1-2, Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
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This Sunday marks the beginning of a four-week sermon series over the book of Jude. The writer’s purpose in his letter was twofold: he wanted to expose the false teachers that had infiltrated the Christian community, and he wanted to encourage Christians to stand firm in the faith and fight for the truth. Jude recognized that false teachers often sold their deceptive goods unnoticed by the faithful, so he worked to raise the awareness of the believers by describing in detail how terrible their teachings were. But more than simply raising awareness, Jude thought it important that believers stand against those working against Jesus Christ. Believers were to do this by remembering the teaching of the apostles, building each other up in the faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, and keeping themselves in the love of God.
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Jude calls for his readers and us to fight for the truth! Stand up against error! The book is the very definition of short, succinct pithy proclamations. But in our day and age, this sort of teaching is called rude or unacceptable. In many circles the forcefulness of Jude will not be tolerated, the crowds preferring a softer and gentler side of the Christian faith. But Jude reminds us that there is a time and a place for the aggressive protection of the truth from those who would seek to tear it down.

Follow up devotional thoughts from our Band of Brothers Study on July 3, 2024.