Jesus GREW

Intro

We are only a couple of days away from Christmas! There’s still time! The Christmas story is the story of the incarnation.

Isaiah 7:14 ESV

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

— The word Immanuel means “God with us”.

— So, God came in the FLESH. He came as a baby, to a low income family..

— This whole Christmas story of Mary conceiving miraculously, Jesus being born in a meager feeding trough!

— We need to dispense with any imagery of there being a halo around His head, like He never wore a diaper or burped up..

— The proper looking manger scenes make it appear all formal, but it was just NORMAL.

— God came to us on our level. He had to grow up like any other child!

— Background: According to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord and offer a sacrifice, which consisted of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons due to their modest means. At the temple, they encountered Simeon, a righteous and devout man who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would see the Messiah before his death. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon took Jesus in his arms, praised God, and declared that he could now depart in peace as he had seen God's salvation. Simeon also prophesied that Jesus would be a light to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel, but would cause the fall and rise of many in Israel, and that a sword would pierce Mary's soul. Additionally, an elderly prophetess named Anna, who was about 84 years old and devoted herself to fasting and prayer in the temple, came and gave thanks to God, speaking about Jesus to those looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Luke 2:39–40 (ESV)

And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

Prayer

Story: Last week we had a special guest by the name of Ioannis.(Yanni). I struggled a bit.. I wasn’t sure if it was too heavy. Here’s what’s interesting. I preached a grace heavy sermon about 3 weeks ago, a sermon talking about the tension between grace and truth 2 weeks ago, and then last week.. We got pushed a bit. If you weren’t here, he was basically saying we need to be more hungry for the things of God. We need to come hungry to church and basically not be apathetic. He preached out of Luke 7 where a woman who was forgiven much gave an incredible amount to Jesus by pouring out her expensive perfume on Jesus feet.. The night before he preached that, I spent time worshiping and that very idea came up in a song and really touched my heart.. The next day after Sunday, I was listening to a sermon and that just happened to be what was brought up in that sermon (thought I had no way of knowing that before I listened to it) SO, specifically what might God be saying?

— Do we recognize how much we are forgiven?

— Are we growing in our prayer life and our passion for Jesus?

— Are we giving of our everything like the woman pouring out the expensive perfume?

Transition:

— We can get stagnant in our faith. And God wants to challenge us. I am learning how to challenge the church in a God fearing (not fearing man) way!

— Today, I want to look at the life of Jesus and He didn’t stay an infant He grew.. Let’s talk about His growth and how we can measure ours. I hope you came today ready to be stretched and challenged!

Setup:

— I want us to recognize here something that should be kinda obvious, Jesus could not take Himself to the temple the first time.. How did He get there? His parents took Him! Right? I mean He was a baby, there was lot He couldn’t do.. Think about this, Jesus could not FEED Himself, He could not DRESS Himself.. God Himself a baby, coming in the flesh had to grow and develop like any other human baby born on this planet!

— In the next verses Jesus is now 12 years old, and His family travels to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover.. Without His parents knowing, He stayed behind. When they realized He was missing, they went looking for Him and found Him… sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

— Ok, Here’s what I would like to point out… We see Jesus growing. He goes from a completely dependent baby to a more ambulant mobile teen who now can exercise His own agency, make some of His own decisions..

— So, He goes from a helpless baby, to a teen that is asking questions albeit an obviously gifted anointed teen.

— He would have had to grow in all sorts of ways! He had to learn how to walk, use the bathroom.. He learned multiple languages, Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek and more than likely at least a little Latin..

— He would have likely attended Bet Sefer (or House of the Book) to learn the Pentateuch..

— He would learned the family trade, The Greek word for "carpenter" in the Gospels is tekton, which can also be translated as "artisan," "contractor," or "handyman".

— He grew in experience, in understanding in all sorts of ways..

— Then, He became an adult!— Just like Jesus grew we who are living as it says in 2:20 “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.. Then we should GROW

Galatians 2:20 ESV

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

++“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become the sons of God.” CS Lewis

Someone else feeds us (baby)

Self feeding (juvenile)

Feeding others (Adult)

someone else feeds us (infant)

— We want spiritual newborns in this place!

— It says in John 3:3

John 3:3 (ESV)

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

— We are born of the Spirit.. When we believe the Gospel we turn from our old life, we follow Jesus, we have this NEW life. We are now spiritual babies

— There is nothing like a nursery. There is nothing more exciting than being a new parent! Everyone is like over involved. Grandparents, friends. Everyone is really in the babies face..

— The church is no different. We need spiritual babies.. Well, if we are going to have any kind of future we do! We would die out as a species otherwise. There is nothing like new life!

— But babies are messy! They don’t use the toilet yet. They need to be changed, burped, coddled. GEEZ!

Proverbs 14:4 (ESV)

Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.

— In other words, I would rather have new born babies making a mess because that’s proof there’s life (crops) in our midst!!

— They don’t know the language yet. They don’t know the bible yet. They are figuring out this new life.. And if you are new to Christ. I am so excited!!

— We all start there!! But, we need to grow. Other people help walk with you, spoon feed you a little bit!!

self-feeding (juvenile)

— One of my sons will come into us watching a family movie. He has no context and if he comes into an emotional scene he goes “Goo-goo” or “WAAAAH” it is the most natural thing in the world for kids to want to grow up! Not be a baby!

— When we get to this Juvenile stage.. We move to a point where we are ambling around. Where we have been led by someone else to start getting into the Word.

— Jesus was asking questions at the temple as a teen! Think about that!

— For us, We might be struggling in some areas, maybe we think at this stage we are a little more adult than we really are..

— We try some things, we fail. We forget to wear deodorant. We are still learning how to organize our room..

— We are figuring who we are going to be when we grow up

— But, just like the last stage, we can’t stop here. We must continue to the next stage..

— Many Christians don’t make it to the next stage..

— You know what’s cute. A baby acting like a baby. Cooing. We expect them to fill up the diaper.

— For those of us who should be a bit more on in our journey, people who should be adults but are more infantile.. it’s awkward!

Hebrews 5:12 ESV

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,

— Why is it that many of us aren’t “adults” yet?

— I’ve been pondering this question. I think the issue is us, the church. We have set up a system of consumerism,

— Don’t get me wrong, public worship, teaching of the Word, is important..

— But we’ve got to a spot where, “I didn’t like that song, that message was “OK”..

— When did the church become this thing where we just sit and consume? Even JFK a secular leader of our nation posed it this way, “Ask not what your country can do for you.. ask what you can do for your country”

— People who are worshipers have been given so much… Isn’t it the little drummer boy who brings what he has to baby Jesus?

— There is an expectation from scripture that we should mature..

feed others (adults)

— so what makes an adult? Someone who feeds others!

— Think about the whole purpose of Jesus life. The very shepherds that came to see Jesus were the keepers of the special lambs that were destined for slaughter..

— Jesus, being the perfect example GAVE HIS LIFE

— Speaking of feeding others, our men’s group the other night is going through Eph and we covered ch 4..

— Ephesians 4:11-15 Christ appointed apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers to equip believers for ministry and build up the church. These leaders' role is to foster unity in faith, knowledge of Christ, and spiritual maturity among believers. Mature believers are characterized by doctrinal stability and the ability to speak truth in love. The passage emphasizes the interconnectedness of believers, with each member contributing to the church's growth and edification.

— THE GOAL..

Ephesians 4:15–16 (ESV)

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

— We are leaning into the difficulties much like resistance training of becoming adults.. We are learning, growing, finding our gifts in the context of community and supplying to the whole! That is the picture of a healthy church. The danger being when we stay too long in the sit in the receive. We are to grow up and give!

— We have to stress our muscles to strengthen them! Adults learn how to grow in LOVE. Grow in AGAPE which is sacrificial love.

— Jesus laid His life down for us, the Father GAVE HIS son. Adults provide for others.

Now for a surprise:

— Maybe you thought that these are levels you get to and you then arrive..

— The reality is, if I begin to feed others and forget that I am still spiritually needy I will fail quickly!

— It says in

1 Peter 2:2 (ESV)

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—

— We need the GOSPEL, we need the GOOD NEWS. We are absolutely dependents on God. On HIS presence.

— I am grateful for the last pastor I worked for, he would begin his day by falling on his knees. I can’t do this God. This is too big for me. I am needy.

— I need to continue to be in community. I need to ask the questions like a spiritual juvenile, be self fed etc. I need to have others help me by holding me accountable speaking into my life etc..