Day 1 – Monday – December 29th
From Information to Intervention
Yesterday’s sermon landed a certain way because it was supposed to. Sometimes the most loving thing someone can do is tell the truth. It can feel like a sting at first, but it brings you back to reality and focus. That is exactly how Hebrews 5:11–14 reads. The writer makes a hard turn. He has been explaining who Christ is and what Christ has done, and then suddenly he confronts how believers are living. From information to intervention. That confrontation is not cruelty. It is mercy. It is God refusing to let His people drift into a dull, stagnant spiritual life.
The week after Christmas can feel emotionally dead or physically draining. Back to reality. The Christ child arrived. Now what are we going to do about it? Hebrews does not let us treat Christmas like an inspiring story and then return to normal. God expects growth. Spiritual stagnation is not neutral. If growth stops, drift begins. And drift is never harmless. The sermon said it plainly: you grow, you live. You drift, you die.
So today is not about feeling guilty. It is about stepping into growth. Growth is revealed by what we hear, what we teach, what we consume, and how we discern. If the Word exposed dullness, that is not the end. That is the beginning. Conviction is a gift. It is God saying, “I love you too much to leave you there.”
Reflection
Where have I been treating faith like information instead of intervention?
What part of the sermon stung because it was true?
If I stay the same for the next six months, what will my spiritual life look like?
Scripture to Read
Hebrews 5:11–14
Hebrews 2:1
James 1:22
Prayer
Lord, thank You for telling me the truth. Help me receive correction with humility. I don’t want to stagnate. I choose growth. Wake me up where I have become dull and lead me forward.
Action
Write down one area where you have been spiritually stagnant and ask God for one concrete next step.
Day 2 – Tuesday – December 30th
Grow in Hearing: Dull Ears Are a Choice
Hebrews says, “You have become dull of hearing.” That phrase matters because it is not describing a hearing problem. It is describing a heart problem. The sermon made an important distinction: not listening is different than being dull of hearing. Not listening is missing words. Dull of hearing is losing comprehension and responsiveness. It is hearing the sound but not receiving the truth.
This happens slowly. These believers once heard clearly, but over time they became selective in what they were willing to hear. They went from being on fire to asking, “Why do I have to go to church?” That is what drift looks like. It is not always loud. It is often quiet. It is not always rebellion. It is often dullness.
Hebrews 2:1 gives the warning: we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. That means hearing is connected to survival. Once you stop hearing, you stop growing. Once you stop growing, you start drifting. If you drift, you die. If you grow, you live.
The sermon also called out the pattern from Zechariah: refused to heed, shrugged the shoulder, stopped the ears, made the heart like flint. That is the pathway to dullness. God does not harden hearts. People do, through refusal. The scary part is that dullness can feel normal. It can feel like “I’m just tired.” It can feel like “I’m just busy.” But Scripture calls it what it is: a dangerous spiritual condition.
The good news is that God gives a clear way forward. Proverbs says, give attention, incline your ear, keep the Word in the midst of your heart. Inclining your ear is an intentional posture shift. It means choosing attentiveness. Moving closer to the source. Reducing distance and distraction. Submitting before you fully understand. Staying teachable. Growth starts right there.
Reflection
Where have I been selective in what I will hear from God?
Do I approach preaching and Scripture ready to obey or just to evaluate?
What distraction has been training my ears more than the Word of God?
Scripture to Read
Hebrews 5:11
Hebrews 2:1
Proverbs 4:20–22
Matthew 13:15
Prayer
Lord, I don’t want dull ears. I incline my ear toward You. Make me teachable again. Wake up my appetite for truth. Give me the humility to obey before I understand everything.
Action
Remove one distraction today during your time with God. Phone away. Quiet room. Focused Bible time.
Day 3 – Wednesday – December 31st
Grow in Teaching: Stop Waiting to Be Asked
Hebrews 5:12 is a direct confrontation: “By this time you ought to be teachers.” That does not mean everyone becomes a preacher. It means mature believers stop living as permanent consumers. Growth means moving from “what’s in it for me” to “what’s in it for others.” The sermon called it out: WIFM has to become WIFO. Because if faith never flows out of us, it stagnates within us. God’s design is that every mature believer becomes a conduit, not a container.
This hits hard because it exposes a common pattern: always receiving, rarely pouring out. Always needing someone to teach us again the basics. Always circling the same questions: what do I believe, am I a Christian, will I really follow Jesus, do I agree with this or that. Hebrews says that life becomes lifeless when believers never progress past the basics. The goal is discipleship.
That is why Jesus’ command is not “go and attend,” but “go and make disciples.” Growth in teaching is not about mastering everything. It is about being faithful with what you already know. Teach the basics. Teach love. Teach repentance. Teach faith. Teach allegiance to Jesus. Teach your children. Encourage a new believer. Help someone else take their next step.
There is also a hidden blessing here: you grow when you help others grow. Pouring out strengthens what is inside you. Teaching forces you to own truth, not just admire it. The sermon gave a practical picture from Ezra: prepare your heart to study, then do, then teach. That is the path.
As the year closes tonight, this is a good moment to ask: who am I helping grow? If the honest answer is “no one,” that is not condemnation. It is a call. Growth begins with a decision to stop waiting to be asked.
Reflection
Who has God placed near me that I could help grow this year?
Where have I been a container instead of a conduit?
What basic truth could I begin sharing confidently with someone?
Scripture to Read
Hebrews 5:12
Matthew 28:19
Deuteronomy 6:6–7
Ezra 7:10
Prayer
Lord, make my faith outward-facing. Show me who I can strengthen. Give me courage to initiate, not wait. Help me disciple with humility and consistency.
Action
Text one person today with encouragement and a simple next step: pray, read a passage, come to church, or talk this week.
Day 4 – Thursday – January 1st
New Year, New Appetite: Milk Will Not Carry You
It is New Year’s Day, and the world is full of resolutions. But Hebrews 5 calls for something deeper than self-improvement. It calls for spiritual maturity. Verse 13 says the one who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, because he is a babe. That language is strong on purpose. Milk is not bad, but it is insufficient over time. Babies live on milk. Adults do not.
The sermon did not just call out behavior. It called out appetite. The issue is not access. It is appetite. Many of us have endless access to Scripture, and yet we still choose doom scrolling, streaming, hobbies, and distractions instead. This is not mainly a scheduling problem. It is a hunger problem.
The sermon said something that needs to stick with us: if you are refusing to make time for the Word, you are unskilled in the Word and living like a milk baby. That hurts, but it is the kind of truth that saves. Because the alternative is spiritual immaturity, instability, and vulnerability to deception. Psalm 1 describes the healthy life: delight in the law of the Lord, meditate day and night, rooted like a tree. That is what God wants for His people.
Here is a helpful New Year question: what is going to shape my mind and soul in 2026? If Scripture is not central, something else will be. The Word is spirit and life. If the Word dwells richly, it changes a person. Not just knowledge, but desires, direction, and discernment.
Starting today, Revival Week is also approaching quickly. Revival is not sustained by excitement. It is sustained by mature believers with appetite for the Word. If God is going to do something in our church, it will require people who are willing to move from milk to solid food.
Reflection
What has been feeding my soul more than Scripture?
Where do I see milk habits in my spiritual life?
What would it look like to start 2026 with a different appetite?
Scripture to Read
Hebrews 5:13
Psalm 1:1–3
John 6:63
Colossians 3:16
Prayer
Lord, give me a new appetite for Your Word. Forgive my apathy. I don’t want to remain unskilled. Let Your Word dwell in me richly and reshape my life this year.
Action
Choose a daily Bible time for January and set it in your calendar right now.
Day 5 – Friday – January 2nd
Grow in Discernment: Trained Senses, Not Itching Ears
Hebrews 5:14 says solid food belongs to those who are mature, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. That means discernment is not automatic. It is trained. Developed. Exercised. The sermon said it plainly: maturity results in trained senses. Discernment is developed, not gifted.
That matters because we live in a world full of voices. Some sound spiritual but are not of God. Some use Bible verses but twist them. The sermon warned that many believers get led astray not because wolves are strong, but because believers are apathetic and untrained. That is why Scripture says to test the spirits. That is why Proverbs says discretion will preserve you. Discernment keeps you from drifting and delivers you from the way of evil.
There is a pattern that Scripture warns about. People with itching ears gather teachers who match their desires, not God’s truth. They turn away from sound doctrine and turn aside to fables. This is not about one random heresy. It is a lifestyle of choosing what feels good over what is true. Christianity shaped by appetite instead of Scripture eventually becomes a fake Christianity: glory without suffering, Christ without a cross, victory without obedience.
Discernment grows when we stay grounded in the whole Word, not just favorite verses. It grows when we practice obedience and see what the Word produces. When you forgive, does it change you? When you serve, does it reshape you? When you worship, does it re-order your heart? The Word teaches discernment as we apply it.
As Revival Week approaches, discernment matters even more. Revival can be resisted through cynicism or derailed through excess. We need maturity. We need trained senses. We need people who can recognize what is of God and what is not, and who stay anchored to Scripture.
Reflection
Do I test what I hear against Scripture, or follow what feels powerful?
Where might I have itching ears, wanting comfort more than truth?
What practice of obedience would strengthen discernment in me right now?
Scripture to Read
Hebrews 5:14
1 John 4:1
Proverbs 2:10–12
2 Timothy 4:3–4
Prayer
Lord, train my senses. Make me discerning. Keep me grounded in the whole Word and protect me from deception and drift. Prepare me for Revival Week with maturity and humility.
Action
Pick one message, account, or influence you consume and evaluate it today: does it align with the whole Word or just human appetite?
Day 6 – Saturday – January 3rd
Grow in Hearing Again: Come Into Sunday Ready
Saturday is where many people decide what kind of Sunday they will have. Not on purpose, but by posture. If the heart is dull all week, Sunday becomes routine. If the heart is attentive, Sunday becomes fruitful. Hebrews calls believers dull of hearing, and the sermon made it clear that dullness is not just tiredness. It is a pattern of refusal, indifference, and closed ears. That is why preparation matters.
Growing in hearing means inclining the ear. That is an intentional shift. It means deciding in advance that God’s voice has priority. It means reducing distractions and moving closer to the source. It means submitting before understanding. It means staying teachable.
Tonight is a perfect time to ask: how am I coming into Sunday? Casual, distracted, and guarded? Or hungry, humble, and ready to obey? Growth begins with hearing, and hearing begins with posture.
Also, Revival Week begins Monday. If God is about to do something special in our church, then preparation needs to happen now. Revival does not start with a guest speaker. It starts when people stop shrugging their shoulders and start inclining their ear. If we want God to move, we need to be listening people again.
Reflection
What would it look like to incline my ear toward God tonight?
What distraction do I need to remove so I can hear clearly tomorrow?
Am I coming into Sunday ready to obey or ready to critique?
Scripture to Read
Proverbs 4:20–22
Hebrews 2:1
James 1:21
Psalm 95:7–8
Prayer
Lord, prepare my heart for Sunday. Remove dullness and resistance. Help me come ready to hear, ready to respond, and ready to grow. Make me hungry for Your Word and sensitive to Your Spirit.
Action
Set your plan for Sunday tonight: arrive early, minimize distractions, and pray before the service begins.
Day 7 – Sunday – January 4th
Step Into Growth Today, Then Step Into Revival Tomorrow
Hebrews 5 is not a suggestion. It is a warning and an invitation. God expects His people to grow. Stagnation is not neutral. Growth is revealed by what we hear, what we teach, what we consume, and how we discern. A mature Christian hears the Word, teaches the Word, knows the Word, and discerns it. That is the pathway from milk to food.
Today is a chance to respond. Not merely to attend, but to engage. Not just to be inspired, but to be shaped. The sermon made it clear that growth happens when we stop being selective hearers and become attentive hearers. When we stop being containers and become conduits. When we stop feeding on everything else and develop an appetite for the Word. When we stop being tossed around and develop trained senses that discern good and evil.
And tomorrow begins Revival Week. Revival is not magic. Revival is what happens when God meets a prepared people. Today is preparation. Today is posture. Today is humility. If you want God to do something in your life this week, come into worship ready.
Reflection
What specific growth area has God been confronting in me: hearing, teaching, Word, discernment?
What is one next step I need to take today, not someday?
How will I approach Revival Week: hungry and prepared, or casual and distracted?
Scripture to Read
Hebrews 5:11–14
James 1:22
Colossians 1:10
Proverbs 2:5
Prayer
Lord, I come today ready to grow. Open my ears. Train my heart. Increase my appetite for Your Word. Make me mature and steady. Prepare me for Revival Week so I do not just feel something, but become someone new.
Action
Commit today to attend Revival Week with expectation. Choose the nights you will be there and plan for it.
