Growing in What We Do Well
What We Do Well • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction:
One of the most encouraging things about reading Paul’s letters is seeing how he praised congregations for the good they were already doing - and then immediately encouraged them to grow even more.
Paul told the Thessalonians—
9 But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; 10 and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more;
The idea that you are to increase more and more was not only familiar to Paul but was also familiar to Peter when he wrote 2 Peter 1: 5-11 .
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Add to your faith suggest a continual growth process.
Notice verse 12
12 For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.
“Though you know and are established in the present truth.”
Then notice in verse 13 “Yes I think it is right.”
13 Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you,
The timing as to when it was right was as long as he was “in this tent.”
His intent was to “sir you up by reminding you.”
His real reason for doing this is found in verse 14.
14 knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.
He was going to put off his tent
He was reminding them so that they would alway have remembrance of those things after his death.
15 Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.
Our congregation is blessed with many strengths.
We serve one another. We serve our community. We Support missions. We rally around the sick. Our ladies are active. Our men are willing.
But just like the churches Paul wrote to, we are called not only to recognize what we do well, but to grow in those things — and to grow in the areas where we are not yet strong.
This lesson is about how we do that.
Body:
Growth begins with deepening our roots in God’s Word.
Every strength we have as a congregation flows from one source: the Word of God dwelling richly among us.
Paul told the Corinthians—
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Growth begins when Scripture moves from being something we read occasionally to something that shapes our thinking, our habits, and our hearts.
Reading the Word
Like Israel in Nehemiah’s day, we grow when we give attention to scripture (Neh. 8:3).
3 Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.
Paul told Timothy...
13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
One of the strongest criticisms of Jesus to the Pharisees was “have you not read.”
He said this on several different occasions.
In Matthew 12:1-2 Pharisees were accusing Jesus of allowing his disciples to do what was not lawful on the Sabbath.
1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”
Jesus’s answer was “have you not read.”
3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?
Jesus implication was if you had spent more time in the scriptures reading them you would understand.
The Pharisees in Matthew 19:1-9 were testing Jesus by attempting to create a conflict between the Mosaic Law and Jesus teaching, hoping to damage the credibility with the crowds; Jesus decisively rebutted them by appealing to God’s original design for marriage rather than engaging their traditions, thereby establishing that divorce violates God’s foundational intention for humanity.
1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there. 3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” 4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” 8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”
The Pharisees question in Matthew 19:3 showed their ignorance of God’s law concerning marriage.
3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”
The Pharisees could have understood the law if their heart would have been right.
God never intended divorce.
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Divorce is messy.
12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob The man who does this, being awake and aware, Yet who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts! 13 And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. 14 Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. 15 But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. 16 “For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.”
In Malachi 2:12-13 God says I am no longer going to accept sacrifice from Isreal anymore.
12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob The man who does this, being awake and aware, Yet who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts! 13 And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.
In Malachi 2:14 he gives the reason.
14 Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant.
In Malachi 2:15 God say’s I did not make you one for you to deal treacherously with you wife.
15 But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.
In Malachi 2:16 God points out that this treacherous action is divorcing your wife inappropriately.
16 “For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.”
Divorce covers one’s garments with violence.
This should have been the Pharisees answer to their question and it is also the reason why Jesus said “have you not read”.
In Malachi God says I am going to stop receiving your sacrifice because of this treacherous action against your wife.
In 1 Peter God says I am going to stop hearing your prayers if you are not treating your wife right.
7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.
Malachi 2:12-16 should have shown conclusively that God does not permit divorce for any reason.
1 Peter 3:7 as well as Ephesians 5:28-33 also show this in the New Testament.
28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
This would be impossible to do and treat her treacherously at the same time.
Notice the depth of the statement “have you not read.”
Memorizing the Word
Memorizing Scripture is one of the most powerful — and most neglected — tools for spiritual growth.
When Paul told the Colossians, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” he wasn’t talking about casual familiarity.
He meant storing the Word so deeply in our hearts that it becomes part of who we are.
Memorization is not about impressing others.
It is about arming the heart, renewing the mind, and preparing the soul for every good work.
Memorization Strengthens Us Against Sin.
David said, Psalm 119:11 “11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”
When scripture is hidden in the heart, temptation loses its power.
The word becomes a shield we carry everywhere — even when the Bible is not in our hands.
When anger rises, memorize scripture reminds us to be slow to speak (James 1: 19 - 20).
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
When fear comes, memorize scripture reminds us God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1: 7).
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
When discouragement hits, memorize scripture lifts our eyes to hope (2 Corinthians 4: 16-18).
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
A congregation that memorizes scripture becomes a congregation that stands firm.
Memorization equips us for service.
Job said, Job 22:22 “22 Receive, please, instruction from His mouth, And lay up His words in your heart.”
When the word is stored in the heart, it flows naturally into our conversation, our prayers, our teaching, and our encouragement.
Men who lead prayers become more confident.
Teachers become more effective.
Evangelism becomes more natural.
Encouragement becomes more powerful.
Counseling becomes more biblical.
You cannot give what you do not have — but when Scripture is memorized, you always have something to give.
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
Meditating on the Word
Joshua was told to meditate on the law day and night (Joshua 1: 8).
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Meditation is not quick reading nor is it studying the word - it is slow, thoughtful thanking on Scripture, like Psalm one describes.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
This is taking part of the scripture and really just breaking it down in your mind throughout the day.
What does it mean for them and how do I apply it to my life?
Studying the Word
Study is where we get our material for meditating on it day and night.
Study is diligently looking into the word.
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Study is searching the scriptures daily to find the truth.
11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.
The order of this in order to grow should be.
Read
Study
Meditate
Conclusion:
When Paul and Peter wrote to the early Church Common they praised the good that God’s people were already doing - but they never stopped there.
They urged Christians to increase more and more, to add to their faith, and to abound in every good work.
Growth was not optional.
It was expected.
It was commanded.
And it was possible because God himself supplies the strength.
Our congregation is blessed with many strengths.
We serve well.
We love well.
We support well.
We encourage well.
We participate well.
These are evidences of God’s grace among us.
But the message of the scripture is clear: do not stop where you are.
Growth begins with the Word of God:
We read it so we can hear God’s voice.
We study it so we can understand His will.
We meditate on it so it can shape our hearts.
We memorize it so it can guide us in every moment of life.
When the word dwells richly in us, everything else grows:
Our worship deepens.
Our prayers strengthen.
Our service expands.
Our unity increases.
Our life becomes more powerful as an example.
Our love becomes more like Christ.
May God help us to grow - not for our glory, but for his.
May He strengthen our hands common deep in our faith, and enlarge our love.
And may this congregation continue to shine as a people who do well… and who are committed to doing everything better for the Lord.
