1 Corinthians 3 (ESV)

1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

“GROW UP”

Ever been in a situation where it seemed like God took FOREVER to give you what you wanted. Where youve been on the front side of your blessing or your breakthrough but it just felt like it was never going to come to you?

Felt like you were doing everything RIGHT

Felt like your part was GOOD. You prayed, you believed, you Planted yourslelf in Church but you didnt see the result or the progress for what seemed LIKE ETERNITY

Its like the wait was LONG.

Then it leads to me thinking ----Why does God make me wait?

Is God even DOING anything in my life right now as i wait on some things

Whats the point of the waiting?

Why doesn’t he just instantly give you what you want… or even what you need?

GODS NOT AFRAID TO MAKE YOU WAIT: He’s been doing that to his own people

400 Years in Captivity, slaves in egpyt

40 years in the WILDERNESS before the promise

......

ever thought about this - Were waiting now.

2000+ years again and were still waiting for Jesus to come back! Because hes coming back. But were waiting

SO I WANNA TALK ABOUT THE WAITING TODAY - AND THIS MESSAGE I HOPE WILL INSPIRE YOU WHILE YOU WAIT - BECAUSE THE SPOILER ALERT IS THIS _ THERE IS SOIMETHING VERY IMPORTANT HAPPENING IN ANY TIME WE ARE WAITING ON GOD./

PLANTED & FLOURISHING: Part 4 “Growth is on the way”

P&FL Recap. On a journey to discover and believe for the promise of Gods people in

Psalm 92 “A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath. 1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; 2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, 3 to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. 4 For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. 5 How great are your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep! 6 The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this: 7 that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever; 8 but you, O Lord, are on high forever. 9 For behold, your enemies, O Lord, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered. 10 But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil. 11 My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.

..... and here is the focus and title of the series:

Psalm 92:12-15 “12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, 15 to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”

So weve been taking this example: The TREE PLANTED

1.ASEED IS ALL YOU NEED / Do you believe that now? What seed of Faith can you sow? 2.EMBRACE THE DIRT / Are you willing to embrace the dirt. Get into the house. Get planted in the soil?

3.JUST NEEDS A LITTLE WATER / The 5 Water wells. Are you drawing on them each and every day? (remember once a week is not enought - you need more water!)

4.GROWTH; or GROW -UP

But there is a formula:

Planted +Faithful = Blessed

If you are planted in Good Soil, the soil of His choosing… and you are FAITHFUL - God will bless you.

SEED => SOIL => WATER => FAITH to SEE GROWTH

If the seeds been planted

If the soil is watered

the growth will come.

BUTIT TAKES TIME.

What do you do when you wait? do you wait>?

Here i believe the word of Lord today is this: WHEN YOUR WAITING ON GOD… YOU ARE ACTUALLY… GROWING IN THE LORD

Many things happen when we wait on God:

In the waiting He makes himself known (We learn more about him)

In the waiting He makes known His own n purpose (We learn more about whats Hes doing)

In the waiting He does a WORK IN us - (Learn more about what Hes doing in us) that often takes time. time that were gonna talk about today

In the Waiting - I grow more than i think i do.

When the apostle paul addresses the believers in corinth he is essentially saying - guys GOD is doing something here - But remember who it is that does the growing: its GOD. not you

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 3

When one of you says, “I’m on Paul’s side,” and another says, “I’m for Apollos,” aren’t you being totally infantile?

5–9  Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working.

1 Corinthians 3:6 ESV

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

SO I WANT TO TALK TO YOU TODAY AS A BEKLIEVER ABOUT THE COMING GROWTH IN YOUR LIFE> THATS ON THE WAY.. BUT SPECIFICALLY HOW IT COMES.

Should be some good encouragement and good reminders for us today:

HOW DOES THE GROWTH COME?

1.GROWTH COMES BY FAITH (Trust)

JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVENT SEEN THE GROWTH YET DOESNT MEAN ITS NOT COMING. In the Planting of your life there is much thats happening beneath the surface before you get even a glimpse above.

“the growth is on the way”

The subsurface is what matters to us as believers, and immature believers dont understand this (thanks Apostle Paul) we know that while God is working on the inside of US, the growth on the inside - at the right timing - Will MAKE ITS APPEARANCE on the OUTSIDE at the appinted TIME OF GOD.

FAITH IN GOD, WILL ALWAYS CAUSE YOU TO GROW.....A lack of Faith in God, will often mean you don;t grow. you might wonder. you might doubt, you trust other things.

There are many alternate options that can take a our trust. Our faith

Many other deities that exist today. (Money, Sex, Time, People..... Self)

But, When you are planted in GOOD SOIL> WATERING HAS HAPPENED AND IS HAPPENING… GROWTH IS ON THE WAY!

when we are growing in GOD - we need to be TRUSTING in GOD.

The growth they were experiencing as believers wasnt an accident - but paul was worried about WHO WAS GETTING THE CREDIT.

WHO GETS THE CREDIT FOR THE BLESSING IN YOUR LIFE? Is it YOU. or is it HIM.

True growth comes when we recognize who it is thats doing the GROWING IN US.

1 Corinthians 3:7 ESV

7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

God is the GROWTH-GIVER: Who are you looking to for the growth?

Q: who are you trusting in, to grow your life?

Faith is what?

How do we grow in our FAITH & TRUST?

We Learn his word, How do you hear his word, you submit to the word as the overall authority in your life. and you come to church and you allow the WORD to go into your heart and grow your faith.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God

get around faithful believers who tell of Gods faithfulness

Worship & Recall his works - Sing songs

Worship Theology for a moment - What do you allow to come alongside God in worship?

let me say it a different way- What gets a GREATER FOCUS than God? Because if we are not careful, we will worship that instead of God.

Growing in God means Trusting in God - Who gets the WHOLE of your TRUST.

(my experience is that i’ve seen people try to peel a layer off to god and think thats going to appease God and thats just enought but its NOT ENOUGH)

You don’t just get a little bit saved.

You moved families when you said YES to Jesus. Did you know tha - You got a new dad and He isnt GOING to let you Go. but are you giving away yourself your worship to someone or something else? God is a jealous God who cares deeply who gets your worship. because whatever is getting your worship is the thing or person you value the most and that means its a a heart issue and God wants your HEART.

Who gets your WHOLE TRUST.... and your FAITH?

SEEING THE GROWTH COME THROUGH IS GOING TO REQUIRE A TRUST IN GOD - THAT HE (AND HE ALONE) WILL BRING YOU THROUGH.....

Its going to be the thing that BUILDS YOUR FAITH UP

And makes it a mature FAITH that will not just last the distance, but guide MANY as they step forward also.

(HE WANTS US TO BE FAITHFUL - He leaves room for us to pass the test

2.GROWTH COMES BY OBEDIENCE

Growth comes by being obedience to the voice and the calling of God.

What Kind of OBEDIENCE

The kind that isn’t fun!

“Obedience is the right response of people to the commands of God

Deut 26:16 “16 “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul.”

John 14:15 “15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

Acts 5:29 “29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”

Romans 5:19 “19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”

GROWING IN GOD ONLY COMES AS YOU TRUST AND OBEY GOD. Its silly to think that if you just come to church, but dont do what He says, what He commands then everythings going to work out well! Thats ridiculous: Obedience is TRUSTING GOD and DOING WHAT HE SAYS TO DO

and thats HOW YOU GROW.

WHY>?

Because its SOMETIMES Goes AGAINST our natural inclination to OBEY the LORD.

Hebrews 12:6 “6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.””

***one of the main things i focus on with my children is obedience: Because i’ve met many ADULTS who never learnt to obey their parents voice as children, and have struggled to obey Gods VOICE as ADULTS*****

we were always called to have CHILDLIKE faith - Trust - But a CHILD is GROWS UP in WILFUL OBEDIENCE

****God has made available His house. Do you go to Church because you have ressolved, and intellecually processed and formulated a decision that means you come to church? or do you just come to church because God wants you here? (thats CHildlike faith)

Do you honor him with your life, your money, your body because you “think its a good idea” that will work out for you in the long run? Or do you give God the highest place in your life thats struck in the deepest point of obedience to him because HE JUST SAYS SO (thats choldlike faith)

write this down: Obedience is the highest form of worship

You can say all you want

you can put on the show

You can make all the noise you want

BUT WHAT WE ACTUALLY DO IN OUR RESPONSE TO HIM - Is our WORSHIP.

*****THIS IS THE KEY TO GROWTH . THIS IS WHAT PAUL WAS GETTING AT ****

The Key to GODLY GROWTH: you walk with FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE FOR A LONG TIME. FAITH + OBEDIENCE = GROWTH

2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV

7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.

Eugene Peterson, wrote a book: a long obedience in the same direction

“There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.”

Its justt a continuation of what Paul wrote to the corinthians: I need you off the baby milk and on to the solid food. Time to grow up

Obedience is often just growing up: accepting: if im going to live for God and call myself a CHRISTIAN - This is what growthing looks like!

“The time of weaning is very often noisy and marked by misunderstandings: I no longer feel like I did when I was first a Christian. Does that mean I am no longer a Christian? Has God abandoned me? Have I done something terribly wrong? The answer is, neither. God hasn’t abandoned you and you haven’t done anything wrong. You are being weaned. The apron strings have been cut. You are free to come to God or not come to him. You are, in a sense, on your own with an open invitation to listen and receive and enjoy our Lord.”

3.GROWTH COMES WITH BLESSING & OVERFLOW.

HE WANTS US TO EXPERIENCE HIS OVERFLOW( THE FULLNESS OF HIS BLESSING - which is overflow)

Hebrews 6:1 ESV

1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,