GROW
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Last week we started into our Mission Statement: Know. Grow. Go.
Last we talked about know.
Know God
Know Our Purpose
Know One Another
Today we talk about Grow.
What is required for Growth?
What is growing.
Input.
Time.
Results.
Living Beings
Dandelions - the image for our series.
Growth is visible, reproducible, and has an impact on whatever or whoever is growing.
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Grow in Faith
Grow in Faith
In this passage from Acts 2 we see the growth of the early Church.
The culmination of God’s plan of salvation was accomplished in the resurrection.
On Pentecost, we see the next step in this plan.
The unleashing of the church through the power of the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses to the end of the earth.
Through this ministry. The Gospel - forgiveness from sin by the blood of Jesus -is preached and people come to Know God through saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Growth in Faith
Knowledge of God
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Corporate Worship
Small Groups/Sunday School
The Bible
I want to take a moment and express to you that the Bible is the most profound and important book that you can ever encounter.
We have God’s very word in our hands!
We have it in different translations to your preference.
We have it (for free) on our phones or computers.
However...
Among Evangelical Protestants (what we are) only 63% of people read their Bible at least once a week.
Almost 20% reported seldom to never.
The Gospel Coalition had a great article about the reasons we don’t read our bible:
It Convicts Us.
We think it is too complicated.
We are undisciplined.
We think it is boring.
We have a dysfunctional relationship with God.
I tend to think it is a combination of all of those things. I also think that the majority of believers aren’t aware of the depth of what Scripture contains. Too many are like the believers in Corinth as he describes in 1 Corinthians 3:1-2
But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,
Because many Christians don’t get the spiritual nourishment they need, they don’t grow and mature as they should.
They remain infants in Christ.
Because of this, they can’t handle the solid food.
Even further some Christians seem content with their milk, at the expense of the solid food available to them.
I am not a milk drinker, but I cannot imagine that even the biggest fan of milk would trade all of the wonderful foods that exist to drink milk only.
I want to explore this with you for a moment. I want to show you the riches and the depth that Scripture offers.
Graphic of cross-references.
Chris Harrison and Pastor Christoph Römhild
The bar graph that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible, starting with Genesis 1 on the left. Books alternate in color between light and dark gray, with the first book of the Old and New Testaments in white. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in that chapter (for instance, the longest bar is the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119). Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible are depicted by a single arc - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect.
This averages 53.6 referances per chapter.
It is in this that I believe the depth and beauty that is God’s Word begins to become apparent. The Bible is a collection of 66 books divided into and Old and New Testament with Various styles and authors.
But what is abundantly clear is that the Bible is one story. God’s story. That he has given to us.
Beginning to interact with Scripture in a deeper way will help you to see the fullness of this depth.
It continues to blow me away the more time I spend with Scripture.
I want to share with you one of the most impactful examples of one of these cross-references that I was reminded of recently.
It centers around the crucifixion of Christ. I want you to take a moment and think about that, reflect on it, think about all of the things you know that took place during the crucifixion. Now lets look at:
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
I know at one point in my life I was confused by this statement. Why would Jesus say he was forsaken? He knew the plan of what was happening.
An explanation that could be given for this is that this is that Jesus is expressing the grief and anguish at bearing the wrath God has against our sin and shame.
While this certainly is a possibility, and Jesus certainly suffered, years into my journey following God, I came across what I believe to be the reason for Jesus saying this.
To do this… We are going to have to step out of our comfort zones. I know that we Southern Baptists aren’t too vocal during the sermon, though there is the occasional amen. But I want you to be for a moment.
I want you as a congregation to finish the statement and or song based on what naturally follows.
God is Good, (All the time) and all the time (God is Good)
Jesus loves me (this I know)
The Lord is my Shepherd (I shall not want)
It is actually the Psalm right before that, that Jesus is referencing on the Cross.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
Just like you knew those previous passages, the Pharisees that were in attendance should have recognized this as the beginning of Psalm 22. They also would likely be aware of the rest of that Psalm. Let’s look at some of the parts of this Psalm that Jesus referenced.
For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—
I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
Through this reference, Jesus is describing the very circumstances that he is enduring.
But it gets better.
You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.
From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.
Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.
From the cross, Jesus is declaring to those who have crucified him, that this had been declared beforehand.
He is declaring that God has not abhorred him He has not hidden his face from Him.
That through what Jesus was undergoing, God was fulfilling his plan to redeem the fall of Adam, as he promised Abram in Genesis 12 that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed, proclaimed by David in Psalm 22, and then declared from the Cross by Jesus, so that we can gather here today and, as it says in verses 30 and 31 that it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it!
It is so exceedingly beautiful. All of Scripture testifies to the goodness of our God, the love of our God. That in everything he was working toward the work of Jesus so that we might know Him and He might be glorified.
And then He gave us the Bible so that we can marvel at his goodness. That we can marvel at all that he has done for us. So that we can grow in our faith.
If you are bored by the Bible… It is not because the Bible is boring.
You just need to start where you are and progress.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Other Bible Helps & Christian Works
The idea of Supplements - Not a replacement. Not for nourishment, but to assist us and help us.
Study Bibles, Commentaries, Christian books.
Trust in God
We must learn to trust God so that we more regularly follow His plans for us, than our own.
The unfortunate thing about this, is that it is not an easy process.
Growth comes through Struggle.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Steadfastness
When God sees us through difficulty, our faith will be strengthened.
The more that we go through with God, the more our faith will grow as a result.
Holiness
Conformity to His likeness
We are extremely maliable creatures.
Why peer pressure is such a problem.
We are always conforming.
What are you conforming to?
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
We are supposed to change, but we are just called to change to become more like God, rather than the world.
Grow in Ability
Grow in Ability
If you know your purpose, you need to grow in your ability complete that purpose.
1 & 2 Timothy as examples of this.
Direct instructions to him about how he is to live into his calling.
Qualifications for Elders and Deacons.
Work on your strengths
Work on your weaknesses
Nick and Mellissa Scott
They felt that God had called them to be missionaries to Japan.
This was part of God’s revealed purpose for them.
In preparation to do this - they began to learn Japanese.
What. Why. How.
What does God want you to do?
Why do you know that?
How can you go about achieving this?
I know God wants me to ________ because ________. To do this I need to focus on _____________.
Nick and Melissa Example: I know God wants us to be missionaries in Japan because He said to make disciples of all nations. To do this we need to focus on learning about Japanese Culture and learning Japanese.
I know God wants me to share my faith with those around me because the Bible clearly says it. To do this I need to focus on being more confident in how to share the Gospel and overcoming the fear of what others will think of me.
I know God wants me to raise my children to follow Him because He has entrusted them to me. To do this I need to focus on making my faith apparent to them, and teaching them the truth of Scripture.
I think that the problem is that it can be easy for us to get caught up in this journey.
Do you even know what to do?
If you do, do you know why? Is it convincing and convicting to you?
If you know why? Do you know how? Are you putting it into practice?
Grow in Community
Grow in Community
You don’t just need to be a part of the church, you should be actively involved in the church.
Let’s read that passage we started with again:
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Everything we see here is in the context of community!
THEY did these things TOGETHER.
You should grow alongside your brothers and sisters in Christ spurring one another onward, encouraging.
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
When a church is full of people growing in their faith, growing in ability to live into their individual purposes, and growing together in community we see the results.
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
This is the result of a church filled with people who are
The example of the seed revisited.
I have seeds, I have dirt, I have water...
But the way they are now, nothing is going to come of it.
All of the tools are here, ready for the growth of this plant, but without the action, there is no growth.
And this is not a one time thing. I must continue to water it, and make sure it has access to the sun.
If you are sitting here today and you feel like you have struggled to grow in your faith, or that you have stopped growing, or that you aren’t growing like you would like to…
I want you to honestly ask yourself: Why?
All the ingredients to grow are there, why do you struggle?
Because it takes more than just the ingredients. It requires obedience. It takes doing the work.
Where there is obedience, the Holy Spirit will come alongside and provide the growth.
I don’t say this to shame anyone here. Every person, myself included, should consistently seek to grow more in their faith each day.
The words of Paul in Philippians 3:13-14 couldn’t be more true.
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Let us forget what is behind. Put behind the shoulda-woulda-coulda game that Satan wants us to play of how we could have grown in our faith.
We aren’t looking backward, we cant, because we are focused on what is ahead. The goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
That we don’t just look at it, but that we do the work, that we are obedient, and pursue our goal in Christ.
In doing so, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will certainly grow in our faith.
Invitation
I want to be clear. This goal we are striving for. This obedience and doing the work that I speak of only applies to a person in a relationship with Jesus.
To grow in your faith, you must have know God.
We know God by faith in the work of Christ.
Admitting our sinfulness.
Believing in Jesus.
Confessing him as our Lord and Savior.