Learning Intentional Growth

Exodus 39:32–43 NASB95

32 Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was completed; and the sons of Israel did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; so they did. 33 They brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings: its clasps, its boards, its bars, and its pillars and its sockets; 34 and the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and the covering of porpoise skins, and the screening veil; 35 the ark of the testimony and its poles and the mercy seat; 36 the table, all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 37 the pure gold lampstand, with its arrangement of lamps and all its utensils, and the oil for the light; 38 and the gold altar, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the veil for the doorway of the tent; 39 the bronze altar and its bronze grating, its poles and all its utensils, the laver and its stand; 40 the hangings for the court, its pillars and its sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court, its cords and its pegs and all the equipment for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; 41 the woven garments for ministering in the holy place and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests. 42 So the sons of Israel did all the work according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses. 43 And Moses examined all the work and behold, they had done it; just as the Lord had commanded, this they had done. So Moses blessed them.

INTRO: Do you remember those old Public Service Announcements on TV? You’d be watching cartoons or reruns of Knight Rider, and suddenly—bam!—a serious voice would interrupt with something like: “It’s 9:00. Do you know where your children are?” As a kid, I always thought, “Well, I’m right here. Ask my mom.” But apparently, in the ’80s, children had a habit of disappearing between sitcoms. This morning, I’ve got a spiritual PSA for you, and it’s not about your kids—it’s about you. Ready? “It’s Sunday—do you know where your soul is?” I’m not asking if you’re in church (clearly, you are). I’m asking: are you growing? Are you moving forward in your walk with God?

Because if we want to be used by God to reach every household in Little River by 2030, it won’t happen by accident. Healthy Christians don’t just appear—they’re built through intentional, Spirit-led growth.

Now, that’s not a new announcement. Paul gave a similar PSA to the Philippian church, Philippians 2:12 “12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;”

You know, there are a lot of folks who think Christianity is just about that prayer they prayed one day or the baptism they experienced. But Jesus called us to follow Him, and that naturally means that we should be growing. Healthy organisms grow.

But not all professing Christians are healthy. In fact, for some of you here this morning, If your physical maturity matched your spiritual maturity, you would fall off the pews because you are infants in the faith!

Unlike our physical bodies which grow naturally, we must take intentional steps to grow spiritually, submitting to the Holy Spirit as we spoke last week and applying His teaching to our lives.

Over the next several months, we will work toward this growth together. We will do that by introducing a pathway for discipleship this Fall and solidify it through intentional growth opportunities, including a strategic evangelism initiative in the Spring.

But strategies and initiatives alone are not enough. I need your help. Do you believe that God can change lives? Do you believe that God has called you here for a purpose? I do. And I want so badly to see God accomplish the work of revival and life-change in this valley!

Listen, I know that the thought of sharing the gospel with every family in the community might sound overwhelming. But it begins with one step after another. Jesus described the Kingdom of God like a mustard seed- small and insignificant at first. The thought that such a tiny seed might bring shade and even house birds seems impossible. But, when planted, it grows larger than any other plant in the garden.

Likewise, when we plant ourselves in this church, dying to ourselves and seeking God’s will, we too will see great growth.

So in our time together today, we will look to the Israelites and their growth and glean from this passage three intentional actions that we can take to invest in our spiritual growth.

If you picked up a bulletin, I invite you to make use of the enclosed sermon guide. The message is titled, “Learning Intentional Growth”

The first intentional action you and I can take to grow as Christians is to:

Pursue the Vision (32-41)

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God gave Moses the vision of the tabernacle. He in turn cast the vision to the Israelites and called them to action to bring it to fruition. This wasn’t just a construction project. It was the construction of God’s dwelling place—the place where heaven would touch earth, and where Israel would meet with their Redeemer.

You see, each element of the tabernacle was described in great detail. God prescribed how the Israelites could commune with Him and worship Him. Each piece fit together for one big vision. Moses not only shared the big picture vision of a tabernacle, but he gave instructions for the many elements that made the tabernacle whole.

Now, I want you to notice their response: (32) They didn’t tell Moses no or say, “I dunno… we’ve never done it like that before.” They didn’t complain about having to help or talk about all the reasons that this would not work.

No, they grasped hold of the big-picture and put their hands to work. Not only did they do the work, they did it well. They were worshiping God through their obedience, pursuing the vision that they were called to be God’s special people. Pursuing the vision of relating to a perfectly Holy and sovereign God, a testimony to the nations.

Look here, pursuing the vision meant trusting in God- that He would honor their obedience and efforts. Can you imagine all the gold and investments into building this thing? It would’ve been so easy to whine and say, “What if God doesn’t invite us in or meet with us through this tabernacle?”

But they also had to trust Moses. Right? They didn’t receive the vision from God, Moses did! He was the leader called to guide them. Now, there were plenty of times they groaned against Moses, but when he laid out this vision for their spiritual growth, they trusted his leadership and pursued the vision.

Church, it’s the same idea for us today. God has not changed. He gives vision and direction and calls us to pursue it. And look here- we can see His heart written in the Bible and so as He gives vision to pastors for their churches and communities, especially vision that is obviously aligned to God’s desire for the whole world to come to repentance, what do you think the church’s response should be?

Pursue the vision. Chase after it. Give yourself to it, believing that God will honor your efforts and be glorified through it all.

What would it look like for you to give yourself to the vision of reaching the 2000 households in LR in the next 5 years with the Gospel of Jesus?

Friends, if we give ourselves to the vision of reaching this community, God will revive our church, bless our families, and we will experience His awesome presence and grace!

The first action step we must take to grow is to Pursue the Vision. The second action step is to:

Submit to Accountability (42-43a)

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The Israelites accomplished the goal and brought their work to be inspected by Moses. This is important- You see, the Israelites were given such a clear picture of their responsibility as it related to the vision that they were able to see the results. And look here, they didn’t try to hide their work or pass off subpar work. Why? Because they had a standard and they expected their work to be inspected.

That’s accountability. Accountability is when we allow others to inspect our work or even our lives against a certain standard.

If Moses did not inspect the elements of the tabernacle, a lot of bad things would be probable.

They might be wrong, and the tabernacle could fall down or be missing parts.

Moses would not know whether the vision was actually accomplished

The Israelites would have felt that their work did not matter to Moses or even to God.

Let me tell you something:

Accountability is the secret superpower behind personal growth. A study by the American Society of Training and Development found that if you have a specific accountability time and person/group to report to, you'll increase your chance of success by up to 95%.

Think about this: If you have a list of goals and you are the only one who knows them, there is little if any risk or responsibility to actually accomplish them. If you are an employee and never get reviews or evaluations, you will not likely get better. Actually, the lack of accountability devalues the work and removes meaning.

If you are stalled out in your Christian walk, it’s likely because you have nobody holding you accountable.

On the flip side, people who have regular accountability not only accomplish their goals, but they tend to be more committed, more content, and more confident.

Let’s return to the vision of reaching every household in LR with the Gospel by 2030. If we took the number (2000) and divided it by 5 years, that’s 400/ year. If we took that number ad divided it by 75 members of LRBC, that would mean everyone in here needs to share the gospel with 5 people each year to meet that goal.

That’s less than one gospel conversation every 2 months. Now, you might think- “I could do that!” Well, what if you were in a group of 4-5 people (life groups) and you each covenanted together toward the vision. And each month you met and discussed your responsibility and inspected the results.

You know what I think would happen? We’d reach every single household in Little River by 2030!

Doesn’t that excite you? The hope of Heaven delivered to our neighbors! Growth happens when we INTENTIONALLY Pursue the Vision and Submit to Accountability. The final action step for

Anticipate Consequences (43b)

When we hear the word consequences, we often associate it with a negative. That might be because when we were growing up, mama would tell us to behave or face the consequences… and the consequences were never brownies and ice cream.

But consequences are simply the result of something- good or bad. Look here at 43b - Moses blessed them. They did well, and were praised for their obedience. Now, I know that this might feel like a stretch, but once again, we must understand our context. Moses’ blessing affirmed that they were on their way to enjoying the presence of God in the tabernacle.

The Israelites, looking to the vision, submitting to accountability, now looked to the implications or consequences of their obedience. You see, now the tabernacle could be raised. Now the priests could serve with sacrifices, incense, candles, oil- everything that God prescribed so that Israel could commune with God.

Furthermore, they could anticipate the blessing of knowing that they were faithful. Now, if they would have brought a bunch of poor crafted items, I contend that Moses would have had them march back into their workshops and try again!

But you see, they knew the expectation and stepped out in faith, anticipating the blessing of Moses and of God because Moses’ vision was from God and God is faithful. God made a covenant with them and they could be confident that when the tabernacle was erected, God was going to uphold His end of the deal.

If you think about it, we anticipate consequences everyday. It’s how we decide what to do or not to do. As I get older, I find myself always weighing out the consequences of my food choices. They can be good or bad…and in some cases, very bad.

But when it comes to our spiritual growth, the consequences are multi-layered.

First, there are the personal consequences. Our growth is an act of obedience and stewardship. Do you remember the parable of talents? The one servant who chose not to invest the money given him was condemned. God has commanded us to steward what He has given us in the way of time, talents, resources, etc. so that we would look more like Jesus. The consequences are severe- you might hear, “You wicked servant” or “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

But, you need to understand something: It’s not just about you.

Your growth will have a measurable impact on your marriage and your family. We live in a time where Satan’s rule is evident and we can see that majorly in the home. Immature Christian husbands are not loving their wife like Christ loves the church. Immature Christian parents are not modeling strong faith for their kids. BUT, those who are investing in their growth are seeing stronger, happier marriages, more resilient and joyful families, and are healthier mentally.

Additionally, your growth has a major impact on the church. When you grow, the church grows. If you are stagnant, the church will be stagnant. Because, when Christians are healthy, the church is healthy.

Let’s revisit our 2030 vision. When we reach all 2000 households in LR with the life-transforming Gospel - If only 5% of the 2000 responded in faith to the gospel, then, praise God, 100 saints would be added to the Eternal Kingdom of God!

Listen to me, the span and impact of the ministry of this church is a direct consequence of the health and growth of every individual in this room. And I want to see you grow and fulfill God’s desire for your life and this church. The consequences are life and death.

In the coming weeks and months, I am going to give you simple steps to get you on the trail and growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I’m going to give you tools and training to equip you for your role in the vision, including accountability.

But today, I am asking for you to commit yourself to intentional Christian growth; Go all-in to pursue the vision, submit to accountability, and anticipate the consequences.

Just as Israel brought their finished work to Moses and received his blessing, may we bring our lives before the Lord—faithful, surrendered, and ready to be filled with His presence.

Pray

Discuss: How do you think your personal obedience contributes to the health and mission of the church?

Discuss: Who currently holds you accountable in your spiritual walk?

Discuss: What are the positive consequences of spiritual growth in your personal life, family, or the church?