That’s Growth

Setup to Series:

The bible has a lot to say on the topic of growth. Throughout the scriptures we see a word picture relating plant life to our spiritual growth and vitality:

— In Ps. 1 we see how God describes a blessed person

Psalm 1:3 (ESV)

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

— In IS. he prophesies the result of Jesus ministry in our lives..

Isaiah 61:3 (ESV)

to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

— The prophet Ez describes the river that flows from the throne of God.. Those who are planted along that river are His people…

Ezekiel 47:12 (ESV)

And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

— Drawing on the same image, in Rev. John speaks of growth along this same river..

Revelation 22:1–2 (ESV)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

In Jer 23:5, we see Jesus referred to as a branch..

Jeremiah 23:5 (ESV)

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

And in the gospel of John, our growth is related to our connection to Jesus where this picture of us being the branches that are connected to the vine where the result is growth..

John 15:5 (ESV)

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

— Today, we will look at a portion of scripture that deals with the Kingdom principle of sowing and reaping..

Galatians 6:6–10 (ESV)

Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Prayer

Story: Homeschool event, we quoted a poem called

“The Song of Hiawatha” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

On the shores of Gitche Gumee, Of the shining Big-Sea-Water, Stood Nokomis, the old woman, Pointing with her finger westward, O'er the water pointing westward,

— We also did a small play about the pilgrims..

— My job was to shiver around a fake fire…

— This whole Thanksgiving origin story being that Squanto helped the pilgrims who couldn’t GROW food..

Before learning the best crops to grow in their new home, the Pilgrims would have probably tried (and failed) to grow rye, barley and wheat and a variety of English garden vegetables

The Wampanoag grew corn, squash, and beans – crops known as the “Three Sisters” that make a potent growing team, especially in poor, sandy soil that doesn’t retain nutrients or water. The three plants work well together to create fertile soil. Beans are nitrogen fixers, pulling nitrogen from the air, and with the help of soil microbes, turning the nitrogen into plant food. The corn provides the beans a support on which to grow and the squash helps in water retention and with weed control.

The Wampanoag also used wood ash and fish as plant fertilizers. Sauer says wood ash “would have been a relatively concentrated nutrient source” that contains calcium, which acts as a liming agent to raise the pH level. It also contains potassium and smaller amounts of phosphorous and other nutrients.

Transition:

— For the pilgrims, vegetation growth was a life or death thing. They had help. They had tried to make things happen on their own, but they were limited in their understanding of the local soil conditions etc, so they needed help! If they hadn’t got the help they needed we wouldn’t be talking about Thanksgiving today! The fact they had a crop that Grew, the nation grew.. They had a lot to be thankful for..

— For us, growth is a life or death thing as well!

1. sowing what?

— Paul here is clearly talking about finances, but it’s not just finances.

— 6: Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.

— “All good things” include finances but are not limited to them.. It’s TIme Talent and Treasure..

— The whole reason Paul is writing the Galatians to begin with was because of false teaching..

— He wanted them to invest in bible teachers / pastors that were paid so they could devote themselves to proper study..

— Then he gives the reason that he wants the Galatians to have good teaching, he speaks to the broader concept of sowing and reaping..

— He shows them that false teaching is a detriment to their lives, because it’s “sowing to the flesh” no good can come from that.

— 2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

— How do we have teachers that suit our own passions?

— How do we even know that we are being taught wrong?

— Paul tells Timothy to PREACH THE WORD.

— When it’s not the Word of God being taught it is something else.

— The deception taught to the Galatians, “follow the Mosaic law and you will be saved”— Today, it can be the prosperity gospel. GIVE to my ministry and you will become wealthy and healthy.

— There are other teachings that pretty much just use the Bible as a launching pad into really strange things.. Basing whole ways of life off of supposed dreams or prophecies.. Esoteric knowledge, hidden knowledge.. the same lie that Satan told to Adam and Eve,

++Gen. 3:5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

— False teachings take us away from the simple GRACE that Jesus saves us. Proper teaching will point you to the finished work of Christ.

— If you sow to your “itching ears” the results are corruption/ death..

— If you sow to the flesh you reap corruption isn’t JUST limited to false teaching, it’s also a broader concept or principle.

— If you sow to the flesh, it doesn’t just speak to eternal death. It means difficulty and trouble now..

—++ The alternate to this message is “THAT’S GROSS”

— We become de-sensitized to sin. We have crumbling emotional well being, we have wrecked relationships.. That’s not growth.. that’s gross!— God is not mocked. This is the way of the jungle. This is the way it works..

— I have seen first hand corruption in people’s lives when they embrace false doctrines. It leads to all sorts of trouble, heart ache..

— There was a pastor that taught the health and wealth message. God will ALWAYS heal every thing (He heals still, but can also allow suffering) The pastor got cancer and died.. The church did not know how to process that loss. They didn’t have a theology of suffering, so many lost their faith..

— But, When you have proper teaching you will grow!

— “but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life”

— I like this Word ZOE, LIFE. You want John 10:10

John 10:10 (ESV)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

— So, how do we apply this?

— There is clearly a communal sense we get from this text. There are pastors and teachers, but there are engaged people in the church serving and giving..

— So, we engage in our community of faith. We learn from the WORD.

— We avoid false teaching.. How? Being exposed to the real thing..

— Another way to figure out if there is false teaching Jesus says is to observe fruit in the teachers life..

— 2 Peter 2:1-3

2 Peter 2:1–3 ESV

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

— Money, Fame, Sex.. These are ways to identify false teaching..

— But we are engaged in the community of faith (not just consumers) and we are investing into getting the WORD of God into our lives..

2. stick with it

— So Paul encourages the church, the leaders the people to stick with it to see results.

— what he’s saying here is that people give up on the process a little early..

— they’ve been serving, they’ve been giving. They’ve been engaged, but they let off the gas

— I have heard burnout defined not as just being stressed out, but you’ve tried and tried, but your tires are spinning..

— The idea here is that they haven’t seen much resulting from their collective sacrifice of treasure, time and talent.. Probably because they were getting bad theology..

— But regardless, sometimes the progress is slow!

— We are a people more so than ever that expect results now. We want that quick dopamine hit from those short fb videos..

— We need to recognize that you DON’T REAP IN THE SAME SEASON YOU’RE SOWING.

— that is for good and for bad! If in the last season in your life you ate nothing but ho-ho’s and Doritos you will have maybe health problems and a little extra (i call it my toboggan). When you start to change the inputs now you won’t see the results for a while..

— Can God do immediate results? He can and does! You can be immediately saved. You can be set free from an addiction..

— Usually it’s a mix (Now or later, but often later). For instance, You may have incredible anxiety in this season, because for years it’s been difficult to really receive on a gut level the truth of God’s love for you.. It is going to take a season of reminding your soul of His love, of learning how to “cast your cares on Him” to have the result of an anxiety free life..

— But the results take time.. There’s a saying when things go slow, “IT’S LIKE WATCHING GRASS GROW’.

— We expect something to happen fast.. I’ve been going to church. I’ve been in the WORD. I have been held accountable.. I’m watching that grass grow..Nothing, Then I give up too soon!!

— God is looking for people that can be STEADFAST James 1:12

James 1:12 ESV

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

— It feels slow, but God is doing stuff!! Keep planting the seed. Keep doing what God is calling you to. Keep being engaged in the things God is asking you to do..

3. measuring stick

— how do we go about not growing weary?— There is a harvest coming!

— We need to measure in a healthy way..

— By creating a celebratory/ thankful culture of just doing the stuff!

— 1 Thess. 5:11

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (ESV)

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

— You showed up today! You got in your word regularly for the first time!

— MEASURE THE INPUTS Just as much if NOT more than THE OUTPUTS /Celebrate the little wins.. That’s why we celebrate our kids workers. They are doing the stuff.. That’s why celebrate that yesterday some people helped a person in our church move! That’s great! We had a bunch of ladies put together an amazing heart and soul night! Way to go! Celebrate that we are launching a men’s group.. We hope for a great harvest, but celebrate the attempt!

— Then, when we do begin to see outputs, fruit we go wild!

— Last week, we had 125-150 people attend our friends giving!

— That is a result of you doing FIND TELL BRING. that is awesome!

— Even if the results are small, rejoice in that.. If you see a little bit of fruit in your life..

— I have this little gauge that measures down to … mm! Just like how we measured our kids growth on the wall, even a tiny amount of growth is GROWTH.

— Gal. 5:22

Galatians 5:22 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

— Speaking of grass, we had the worst grass.. Bald spots, white chalky weirdness, etc.

— We did everything we could! It was a learning experience! We didn’t just give up! We tried different things, we finally figured out it was bugs eating our grass. We took care of the bugs and finally we got the growth.

— You might be in a season now where you aren’t liking what you see in your life it may be “GROSS more than Growth.

— That’s ok. do the stuff. Stay in the game. God will lead you as you stay engaged.

— Phil. 1:6

Philippians 1:6 ESV

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

— He is working in you! He is doing a new thing.. He will be faithful to you, so keep walking with Him and in Him, and He will help you GROW