Cadyville Wesleyan Church
Thriving in Babylon- Week 4- Spiritual Alchemy for Counterfeit Faith
Thriving in Babylon challenges us to hope in God and strive to live in a unique way, even compared to other religious people. In what appears to be an increasingly godless society, we are called to live as people of hope, humility, and wisdom. Though Daniel lived thousands of years ago, he has much to teach us today.
Locations & Times
Mosaic Church
2083 NY-3, Cadyville, NY 12918, USA
Saturday 6:00 PM
People of counterfeit faith have never experienced the life-transforming presence of God in their lives.
Nominalism is empty formalities, things so-called, and meaningless labels.
A nominal Christian is a person who self-identifies as a Christian but has never experienced the God’s power, love, mercy, and grace.
“Nominal Christianity is dangerous to those who attempt it because they quickly find out that trying to run the race of the Christian life without genuine faith is not only exhausting, it’s impossible.”
- Ed Stetzer
- Ed Stetzer
“Nominal Christians try to live out the moral life of Christianity, yet remain spiritually dead because the Spirit of God does not live in them.”
- Ed Stetzer
- Ed Stetzer
Physical circumcision meant that you were set apart for God. But it only mattered if the physical reality matched your spiritual reality.
“Brothers and sisters, God has called you to freedom! Hear the call, and do not spoil this gift by using your liberty to engage in what your flesh desires; instead, use it to serve each other as Jesus taught through love. For the whole law comes down to this one instruction: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ so why all this vicious gnawing on each other? If you are not careful, you will find you’ve eaten each other alive!”
- Galatians 5:13-15 (The Voice Bible)
- Galatians 5:13-15 (The Voice Bible)
“Here’s my instruction: walk in the Spirit and let the Spirit bring order to your life. If you do, you will never give in to your selfish and sinful cravings. For everything the flesh desires goes against the Spirit, and everything the Spirit desires goes against the flesh. There is a constant battle raging between them that prevents you from doing the good you want to do. But when you are led by the Spirit, you are no longer subject to the law.”
- Galatians 5:16-18 (The Voice Bible)
- Galatians 5:16-18 (The Voice Bible)
“It’s clear that our flesh entices us into practicing some of its most heinous acts: participating in corrupt sexual relationships, impurity, unbridled lust, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, arguing, jealousy, anger, selfishness, contentiousness, division, envy of others’ good fortune, drunkenness, drunken revelry, and other shameful vices that plague humankind. “I told you this clearly before, and I only tell you again so there is no room for confusion: those who give in to these ways will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
- Galatians 5:19-21 (The Voice Bible)
- Galatians 5:19-21 (The Voice Bible)
“The Holy Spirit produces a different kind of fruit: unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. “You won’t find any law opposed to fruit like this. Those of us who belong to the Anointed One have crucified our old lives and put to death the flesh and all the lusts and desires that plague us.”
- Galatians 5:22-24 (The Voice Bible)
- Galatians 5:22-24 (The Voice Bible)
“Now since we have chosen to walk with the Spirit, let’s keep each step in perfect sync with God’s Spirit. This will happen when we set aside our self-interests and work together to create true community instead of a culture consumed by provocation, pride, and envy.”
- Galatians 5:25-26 (The Voice Bible)
- Galatians 5:25-26 (The Voice Bible)
The fruit of the Spirit is a spiritual barometer that indicates your level of spiritual maturity.
“Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
- Romans 7:25
- Romans 7:25
The fantastic thing about the life that God has for us is that we don’t have to live shackled by regrets!
“Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
- Romans 7:25
- Romans 7:25
Trying harder will do nothing but convince us to embrace a counterfeit.
The remedy to counterfeit faith is not an action on your part, but a surrender.
Life is not about figuring out our salvation based on my merits, but living out the salvation that was already perfected and completed on our behalf 2,000 years ago and offered to us as a gift from God.
“God I trust that you are who you say you are. I trust that you will do what you promised you would do. I choose right now to be who you say that I am.”
“As free people, the Spirit gives us the characteristics of Jesus; we, too, can freely love in joy and peace. We can have patience along with kindness and faithfulness that can only come from the Father. We can reflect the goodness of God while being gentle in operating with self-control.
“For those who follow Him and live in the Spirit, these characteristics or fruits are a gift from God. As we grow in the faith, we find that we belong to God and can walk daily in the Spirit.”
- The Voice Bible
“For those who follow Him and live in the Spirit, these characteristics or fruits are a gift from God. As we grow in the faith, we find that we belong to God and can walk daily in the Spirit.”
- The Voice Bible
“Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
God is in the business of spiritual alchemy. He is constantly and consistently at work transforming counterfeit belief into genuine, world-changing faith.