How to grow as a Christian

Remind them of Student Service Saturday, May 25 + lunch after

Announce live student music practice begins in July, will introduce to Tom Anderson + a meeting soon, prepare your instruments!

Announce AWANA store set up after service and brownies

Read Philippians 1:10–11 “that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

Intro

There are somethings in life

that you can change.

You can change your hair

you can change your clothes.

But there is somethings you can’t change.

And one for example is your height.

If you could choose your height what would you choose?

For me I choose 6 foot.

But believe it or not

the University of Edinburgh

one of the top universities in the world

located in Scotland

did a study on this.

And said 5’11

is the ideal height

for men.

They say it’s tall but not too tall.

That it’s the perfect balance

of height and practicality.

But for many

including me

that height is only a dream.

I’m stuck with what I got.

And many Christians also feel stuck.

Do you feel like you’re going nowhere?

Making no progress?

I want to encourage you

that while you will no longer

experience physical growth

in height

spiritual growth

has no limits.

You can be 5 foot tall physically

and 10 foot tall

spiritually.

So how?

How can we grow as a Christian?

Thankfully God

tells us

how we can grow.

That’s why the title of our sermon today is

How to grow as a Christian.

So that you don’t stay stuck

as a baby Christian

but grow to be mature.

1. Grow in love and knowledge (v.8-9)

We see this in v.8

‘For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all’

Last week

in the previous verses

we learned

that Paul gave thanks to God

for the Philippians.

And here

Paul ends

his thankfulness

by expressing his love for them.

His love is so true

that he calls God his witness.

He’s so serious

and so eager

to make sure

that you know

without any doubt

that he loves them.

He is so sincere.

What is he so sincere about?

Paul says, ‘how greatly I long for you all’.

Paul tells the Philippians

that he longs for them

and that he longs for them greatly

so much.

When he says that he longs for them

what he means

is not just

that he wants to see them again.

Although that is true.

But what Paul really cares about

is that they remain faithful to the gospel.

That’s true love.

What Paul cared about the most

was not

their financial wellbeing

or their physical wellbeing

their health.

What Paul cared most about

was their spiritual wellbeing.

The Apostle John

also shared the same values as Paul.

3 John 2 (ESV)

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

Notice here what John does do.

He prays

for good health!

He’s not

being super spiritual

acting like a Pharisee.

No he does pray

for their good health.

But what does he also say?

‘as it goes well with your soul’.

As long

as your soul

is doing well

then

I pray your health also is well.

Because if the soul

is not doing well

it doesn’t matter

whether you have good health

and lots of riches

you will suffer.

So students

If you really love someone

you care about their soul.

I’m not saying

that you don’t care

about their health

their circumstances

but that you care

about their soul

above all.

People say

that all they want is love and peace.

Don’t argue

don’t confront

because they see love today

meaning

let people do whatever they want

regardless of the consequences.

As long as it doesn’t hurt anybody

it’s ok.

And they may not see

others get hurt

when they see people of the same gender

do immoral things together.

They may not see

others get hurt

when a male

calls himself a female.

And that’s because they are spiritually blind.

When people do thins like I just mentioned

they are hurting themselves spiritually.

People may not see it

you may not see it

but that’s the truth.

So what do you do

when you see someone hurting themselves?

You help them.

Because true love

cares most about the soul.

So you tell them the truth

the gospel

even if others

don’t like it

because you are helping a soul.

You are helping a soul

from suffering eternity in hell.

If your mother or father

were stuck in a burning building

you’re not going to care

what people think

or say.

You’re going to go in and help

because their life is on the line.

Now obviously

you can’t force anyone

but I want you to remember

this verse.

Mark 8:36 (ESV)

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

There’s no point

in striving to be so well off financially

and materially

and then lose your soul forever.

But this doesn’t only apply

to evangelism

but also with one another at church.

When you ask someone

‘how are you?’

do you actually care

about how each other’s soul is doing?

Ask

‘how are you doing spiritually?’

You want to know if someone is really doing well

don’t just find out

if their grandma is ok

or if they passed their test.

That’s good.

But also

find out how they are doing spiritually.

Have they been reading their bible?

Have they been praying?

Are they feeling down spiritually?

Dry?

Or maybe they are doing spiritually well!

Ask those things.

Because that’s what Jesus

would ask.

Paul says, ‘for God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ’.

God has feelings.

Jesus wept.

Jesus cares.

Matthew 9:36 (ESV)

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Jesus cares for you.

He cares for people.

If you read the Bible

and pray

and feel nothing

there’s a problem.

Because Jesus did not

feel nothing.

That’s because the Bible is not a textbook.

It’s not some textbook

that you study

so that you can pass the test

and get it over with.

The Bible is the heart of God.

It’s a relationship!

You’re supposed to be big brain yes

but you’re also supposed to be big heart.

And Jesus’s heart

is that he wants the best for you.

He wants the best for people.

And that best is

that you know Him

not just intellectually

but relationally

and have eternal life.

That’s what’s best for you.

And that’s why

Paul also wanted the best for the Philippians.

Because his emotions

and his intense care for them

came from Christ.

Because Christ loved Paul

Paul loved others.

And this is now where Paul prayed for others

to grow in love.

v.9, ‘and this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more’

Paul prayed that their love would grow significantly.

That they would love God more

and love others more.

What about you students?

Do you love God and others more?

Do you love God

more than you did last year?

Do you love others

more than you did last year?

Ask yourself students.

The Christian life is to be one of growth

not stagnation.

Not a swamp

but a flowing river.

If you feel like there hasn’t been much growth

you might be missing this important key.

Paul says, ‘in knowledge’.

Paul is saying

you can’t grow in love

if you don’t grow in knowledge too.

But didn’t I just say

that God has emotions?

That we should have feelings

and care for others?

Yes I did

but what’s also true

is that feelings

without knowledge

is useless.

It’s just a bunch of fluff.

Proverbs 19:2 (CSB)

Even zeal is not good without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily sins.

Does anyone know what zeal means? (ask)

It’s an intense passion.

An example of this

were the Zealots

in Jesus’ time.

One of Jesus’ disciples was Simon the Zealot.

And they were a group

that tried to rebel

against Rome.

And they would use violence.

Because they had no limit

no restraint

on their emotion.

How do you restrain

intense emotion?

Knowledge.

Romans 10:1–2 (ESV)

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

Zeal is good

but without knowledge

it’s useless.

Remember students

the Bible is not a textbook.

It’s how you can have a relationship with God.

How?

Because the Bible tells you

about God.

About who He is.

And the more you learn

about God

about His character

how He thinks

how He feels

you grow your relationship with Him.

It’s the same with any relationship.

The more you learn

about your friend

the more you grow your relationship

with that friend.

So if you want to grow as a Christian

students

you must grow

in love

and knowledge.

They go together.

If you are missing one

or the other

you will not grow.

But if you grow in both

naturally

you will grow as a Christian.

Love and knowledge

are your milk

and meat

to make you grow.

It’s your protein.

Try building muscle without protein

see how far you go.

Because when your love and knowledge grows

your relationship with God grows

and you begin to trust

God more

and you grow as a Christian.

2. Be discerning (v.9b-10a)

You won’t grow as a Christian

if you keep making unwise choices

and making the same mistakes

over and over.

That’s why Paul prays for discernment

for the Philippians

in the next phrase

‘and all discernment’

To have discernment means being able to make decisions when things are unclear.

Write that down.

Making decisions in grey areas

rather than black and white ones.

Should I go to this party or not?

Should I talk to this boy or girl or not?

Should I post this thing on social media or not?

All of this requires discernment.

And it’s not easy.

I mentioned before

a Christian

who was going to move into a place with a cousin and a friend.

The person and the cousin was a male

and female

while the non-family member

was male.

And thankfully I caught wind of it

and immediately advised him

not to do this.

This is an example

of when something is not clearly

good

or bad.

But rather

wise

or unwise?

They require you to know more

about God’s Word.

To use biblical principles

rather than direct commands

from The Lord.

Should I listen

to this musical artist

or not?

Should I join my friends

in this activity or not?

Students the world is filled

with grey areas.

That’s Satan’s goal

to make things as confusing

as unclear as possible.

So how

can we navigate

such a difficult

and unclear

world?

Many times

areas that seem grey

are actually

closer to black and white

they just need more light.

Psalm 119:105 (ESV)

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Students if you want

to be able to journey

through this world

you need light.

And the light

is God’s Word.

When you understand

God’s Word

you will be able

to make the grey areas of life

closer to black and white

by shining the light on it.

That’s why Paul says in v.10,

‘that you may approve the things that are excellent’.

Approve

means to test authenticity.

When I used to work in retail

if someone handed me a $100 bill

I had to test

if it was real or fake

before accepting it.

I had a variety of ways to test.

One way to test I would hold up the bill

to the light

and if I saw

a certain mark because of the light

I know if it was real.

Students when you use God’s word

the light

you can tell

where to go.

You will reveal

things that are grey

to be actually light

or actually dark.

You will be able

to walk

through this treacherous world.

Because what’s more dangerous

are when you have no idea

that what you are doing

is actually harmful to you.

Before the cigarette warnings

so many people

would smoke

worry free.

Little did they know

they were actually

creating lung cancer in themselves

as research showed

decades after

forcing cigarettes

to come with a cancer label.

But when you have light

and are able to navigate life

carefully

that’s the sign

of a Christian

who is mature.

A Christian that has grown.

You want to grow as a Christian?

Be discerning.

3. Be holy (v.10b-11)

First does anyone know what holy means?

Holy means to be set apart

or without sin.

And that’s

what Paul prays for the Philippians

v.10,

‘that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ’.

Sincere means

having a pure motive.

Without offense means

not stumbling other people.

If you want to know

if what you are doing is holy or not

ask

why am I doing this?

Am I doing this

for selfish reasons

for pride

for lust?

And ‘would this harm others especially Christians?

If a fellow Christian

saw me watching this movie

or listen to this song

would it cause them

to doubt?

If a fellow Christian

saw me going to a party

would it cause them to do the same

and sin?

Don’t be selfish students.

Think about how your actions

affect others.

Matthew 18:6 (ESV)

but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

And don’t just be holy once

or for a week

or a month.

You must be holy all the way

until you meet Jesus.

Paul writes, ‘til the day of Christ’.

This is your life students.

If you are really a Christian

Christianity is not a phase in your life.

We all had our phases.

If you met me in highschool

I had so many phases.

I had the sports phase.

I had the edgelord phase.

But when Christ saved me

my relationship with Him

became eternal.

Not a phase.

I pray

that when you graduate from student ministry

years from now

as an older adult

that you don’t

look back

and think

‘well that was a cute phase’

and turn your back

on God.

I don’t want that.

And neither

does Paul.

v.11, ‘being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ’.

True Christians

have the fruit of the spirit.

Joy

love

peace

patience.

That’s how we are able to be holy

to the very end.

Because Christ gives it to us.

We don’t produce the fruit of the Spirit

on our own.

We have it because

Jesus gives it to you.

So then live a holy life.

If Jesus gives you

the fruit

then live it.

Have joy

have peace

have love

and patience

for one another.

And when you do it

do it for the glory of God.

The final phrase, ’to the glory and praise of God’.

So I want to ask.

Are you living for the glory of God?

Do you come to church

for the glory of God

or for yourself?

Ask yourself

why am I here?

I pray

that it is for

the glory of God.

Because a Christian

who is holy

who lives for the glory of God

is a Christian who has grown.

If you want to grow as a Christian

students

you have to actually

live it out.

You have to be holy.

Gospel/conclusion

Because a world full of mature Christians

is God’s design (slide)