Sermon Tone Analysis

“Boys to Men”

Text:

(VIDEO) … Being a Man

My ILLY: When I was a boy (about 5 years old) I used to love to play “Mannix”.

(The Detective)

Question: What if you happen to drop by my house tonight and found me still playing “Mannix”?

You would think …“Something’s Wrong!”

The sad truth is… We have men in the body of Christ have been saved for 5-10-20 years and they’re still playing Mannix!

· Their spiritual growth has been stunted!

· They’re still playing with childish things!

In the “spirit” they are still “little boys”!!!

Men… What I want to say to us today is this… There must come a time in our life when we make a decision…

· It’s time to grow up!

· It’s time to “put away childish things”!

We must grow from Boys to Men!

All of us in this room are at different stages in our spiritual growth and development.

-- Just like its true in the natural, so it is true in the spiritual.

-- Healthy & Normal Christians are supposed to have

spiritual growth, not stunted growth!

Example: Kaitlin

...at 18 months to about 3 years old… “Teletubbies.”

...from 3- 6 years old … “The Wiggles & Sponge Bob”

…from 7 - 12 she liked to watch… “Cheetah Girls”

She’s 20 years old now.

You’re not going to find her watching the “Teletubbies”.

If she was… there might be something a little abnormal in her growth!

Her

psychological growth would be stunted (not normal).

So it is normal for her to grow out of that stage and put away

childish things.

The Bible says… we ought to put away some childish things in our lives.

And the apostle describes what those childish things are in verse 11. “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.’

(, NKJV)

Notice those three words:

I SPOKE

I UNDERSTOOD

I THOUGHT

Those are the three main areas that control our life:

1) Our Words

2) Our Mind

3) Our Reasoning

The way we respond to these 3 areas of our life… we will either spur us on to spiritual growth or stunt our spiritual growth.

They will create health or they will create harm in our walk with God.

Let’s talk about these 3 key areas this morning:

The first area has to do with our…

1) “WORDS” - the way we speak

A. Paul says, “I used to speak as a child speaks.”

· How does a child speak?

(think about it)

o They speak without thinking

o They spew out whatever is on their mind!

o They repeat things they shouldn’t repeat at

inappropriate times!

My Example: My Dad’s “T-Shirt in the box” @ x-mas

Paul says… “This is the way I talked when I was a child… but now I’m a man and I put away childish talk!”

B. Men… The Bible has a lot to say about our WORDS!

Let me just a read a few things the Word has to say to us:

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

” (, NKJV)

· Do you know that you can set the atmosphere with your words?

o In your home

o At your workplace

o Here at the Church

· You can bring a spirit of death or a spirit of life into any environment… based on the words that are coming out of your mouth!

C. Men… let’s be honest today:

Sometimes we are “hung by our tongue”!

“A fool’s mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul.

” (, NKJV)

Did you hear that?

“your words are a snare to your soul”!

Sometimes the reason you’re depressed or in a bad mood is a direct result of what you’ve been speaking all day!

· “Yeah, the boss says, they’re gonna lay a few people off

at work.

Yeah, its probably gonna be me.”

· “Oh the economy is so bad! Probably gonna lose my car and my house next.”

· “Gloom, despair, and agony on me!”

“A fool’s mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul.

” (, NKJV)

“Whoever guards his mouth and tongue Keeps his soul from troubles.

” (, NKJV)

Here’s a great prayer we ought to be praying over ourselves everyday:

“Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

” (, NKJV)

Men… your mouth will stunt your spiritual growth and hinder you from becoming a man of God!

Closure: Paul says… “When I as a child, I spoke as a child, but when I became a man… I put away childish things!”

The next area Paul point out to us is our…

2) MIND -- this has to do with our thought life.

Paul says… “When I was a child, I thought as a child….”

A. If there was ever an area that ruins more men than any

other… it is this area of the mind!

· That’s why God’s Word tells us to guard the gate of our mind!

Watch out what we put in there!

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, ” (, NKJV)

B. Keep in mind Paul is comparing spiritual growth to

moving from being a child to a man!

· Think about the mind of a child:

o They let anything enter their mind!

o They watch anything on TV

o They listen to anything on the radio!