Grounded and Growing

Turn to your neighbor and say man I’m glad I’m sitting next you. Now turn to your second choice. Tell them although you are my second choice its not personal. I saved the best for last. I’m happy to...

I want to thank our pastors for the opportunity to bring a word.

SCRIPTURE:

We see Paul encouraging the Ephesians to grow up into Christ. It’s centered around what this new life should look like in Christ. This further supports the previous chapter in Ephesians where he talks about walking in a manner worthy of their calling.

Ephesians 5:1–4 NLT

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.

Ephesians 5:8–11 NLT

For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

TITLE: Grounded and Growing

My hope is that this message would serve as a helpful starting point for new believers and a reminder for the seasoned believer. So if you made a decision for Jesus at Good Friday

PRAY

STORY:

I was thinking about my childhood recently and there is only one time in my childhood where I was actually in fear of my life and I wanted to share that experience with you guys cause I really think it’s important to be open and honest with my church family. My parents did an amazing job raising me but this particular situation really scarred me as a kid and I’m still working through some of it today. It was the day I went to my first Karate class.

There I am with my karate uniform and my white karate belt on. Ready to go.

We walk into a room full of kids and various karate instructors. It was a screaming match with aggressive movements and I was not about it. I 100% thought one of those kids was gonna assassinate me on the spot. (Act it out)

I got 5 minutes into the class and got overwhelmed and started crying. I told my friends last week listen I am never doing that ever again. I liked the uniform but was not about learning karate. nah, I was about 7 or 8 years old. But it clearly was not my vibe. “Let’s go learn how to fight?” How about we sit down and draw in a coloring book and eat lunchables. Cause at this point that sounds like more of my speed.

You know the one thing that’s interesting about karate is you imitate those around you while following instructions and that becomes the quickest way to start learn the basics of the movements and how to control your own muscles and body.

It is the same when it comes to our faith in Jesus. Imitating God is the best way to learn how to function in this new life we’ve been given! We have the opportunity to take after our father.

You may be brand new to faith and you are asking where do I start? Read everything you can find about Jesus in the bible and study how he lived his life and imitate him. Take after his example.

Why? This is how we stay grounded in God and grow!

POINTS:

I want to give a couple points on how to start well and maintain a faith that will keep you grounded and growing

POINT 1

Walk

There are two themes that he mentions in this scripture and we are going to revisit the first one in Ephesians 5:1-2.

Ephesians 5:1–2 NLT

What an amazing example of love on display. Christ shows his love for us by willingly giving up his life for those that would believe. The righteous died for the unrighteous and it is only through that exchange where it became an offering to God. A pleasing fragrant to our Heavenly Father. This sacrifice made a way for our salvation

The fact that we are God’s children is absolutely crazy to me.

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Do you know that you are loved and he calls you his own?

*In the first verse Paul addresses the group of believers in Ephesus as beloved children. The word “dear” is used here to describe the fact we are dearly loved or valued by God. We are God’s beloved children!

So we can walk in love because God is the very definition of love and continues to be so loving toward us!

Another passage that we can look at is in Mark 12

A teacher of the law confronts Jesus and asks him a question

Mark 12:28–31 ESV

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

So we are commanded to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Which is a part of our DNA as a church “To love God and love people!” We are a Mark 12 type of church!

*There are two parts to walking in love. Love your God and love your neighbor as yourself! The beautiful thing about it, is that when you operate in the first commandment it will naturally influence the second commandment!

Regardless of the situation…we should walk in love!

*Quick word to all of the men out there. When you and your wife have spent 47 minutes trying to decide what to eat for dinner. Walk in love. You know while we are on that topic. We all know that deep down you have a preference. So when your man has boiled it down to Italian or Mexican and you tell him neither. Instead of waiting to tell him that information, let him know 46 minutes earlier. But regardless walk in love.*

Regardless of someone’s political views, thoughts on current events, or thoughts on anything in our society… we are ALL called to love no matter what their views are or where people are at on the journey. The love we have recieved is not what we deserved. So with a thankful heart we can operate from that love that we have been given.

*What does it look like for us to love in all areas of our lives? We are called to walk in love and take after our father and we can accomplish that by spending more time with God.

*So we are to walk in love but the second theme is to walk in light.

Walking in light is mentioned later on in the passage (15 min)

Ephesians 5:8–11 NLT

When we walk in light the fruit of that life becomes goodness and righteousness which in return shows God’s character to others. So as children of the light we are called to examine test and approve what is pleasing to the Lord. Again we look to the word of God and how Jesus lived his life to do this.

SHARE EXAMPLE:

Share about the prop from the Exchange.

Glass of water represents your life and the food coloring is everything that is apart from God. Our flesh, sin, negativity, etc. A few drops effects the whole. Before you know it the whole glass turns the color of the dye. But as we add more water (His truth) and goodness, the things that were never meant to be a part of our lives gets flushed out.

The more light you put in, the more what needs to leave will but pushed out.

POINT 2

Retreat

A challenge for all of us is give God our undivided attention and withdraw more often.

How do we imitate God by looking at the example of Jesus? Jesus got away and retreated often and we should as well.

Matthew 14:13 ESV

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.

Mark 1:35–38 ESV

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”

Jesus got away with God but even he was faced with interruptions. If was good enough for Jesus to retreat and spend time praying then it is good decision to do the same thing. This is one of the many ways we imitate God, by taking after the example of Jesus.

I thought this quote was interesting written by Blaise Pascal

“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” —Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)

Which speaks to our inability to exercise focus with no distractions. Although I don’t believe all of our problems are caused by this, I do believe the vast majority would be taken care of if we retreated and got alone with God.

Its true we live in a loud and busy world. There is always going to be another news article to read and notification to check or Disney + show to watch and it can easily become a little overwhelming. We live in a distracted society and unfortunately social media is diminishing the time we are able to focus on something.

According to an article written in 2021

“...The average human attention span is now shorter than a goldfish’s. A recent study found that the average human attention span has fallen from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds today. It is reported that goldfish have a 9-second attention span.”

* So prayer and our daily reading of the word is essential to the christian life!

Our bible reading is the primary way we grow in our faith.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

This is one of many reasons why it is vital for us to get our daily bread. For us to be rooted in the word of God. Its benefits are everything we need for our lives.

Donald Whitney refers to this as our “bible intake”. He stresses the point of hearing and reading the word. Reading has its benefits but hearing brings in a new element that is also needed.

Many of you have heard me quote Romans but it never gets old for me because it is a practical and spiritual step that we can all take to grow in our relationship with Jesus. ********

Romans 10:17 ESV

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Question: Are we meditating on the mess or scripture that can be spoken over your situation? That comes with study and a commitment to reading. Jesus said time and time again…It is written! Which is pretty confronting for me. Because the means that he knew scripture by memory.

One of the best things we can do is memorize scripture and speak it out loud over our situation.

In the middle of a difficult situation is we can remind ourselves of who God is and what he has done in our lives. Who God is, is written throughout the pages of our bibles....Calling to memory what God has done will also help raise our faith.

ENERGY *Sometimes we need to look back on our lives when it could have gone south, God came through like he always does. And remind your soul of what he has done. In those moments you can remind yourself “God I’ve seen too much” God I’ve seen too much to believe anything other than (you are faithful!) You did it before and you will do it again!

POINT 3 25 min

When we share we are imitating Christ because we share through servanthood. This is one of the basics of our faith.

Even when we spend a little bit of time reading the New Testament it won’t take us long to discover that Jesus was focused on serving people. We saw it in Mark chapter 1 that we just read earlier. He went to a desolate place and then he went to the next town to preach the good news.

He would share a parable that would help people understand what the kingdom of God was like. Sharing his time and energy in order to attend to people’s needs. Sharing his wonder working power. He would share his compassion and caring heart.

I’ve got a list of things we can share in our walk with Christ.

Our testimony

There is power in sharing your story. I’m reminded of what Ps Aaron shared a few weeks back. He spoke about the woman at the well with Jesus. The significance of this story that doesn’t get talked about enough is the fact that her decision to share her story of what Jesus did helped pave a way for many Samaritans to say yes to Jesus.

Encouragement

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

As believers we are meant to build up stir up and cheer up. Ask the HS to give you an opportunity and he will.

Our faith

We can share that mustard seed faith.

In a moment of prayer

Ephesians 6:18 The Message

In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

Through generosity

The bible talks about how we should be cheerful givers.

The good news

Story:

I remember one of my neighbors that was in the same grade as me at the time. We would hangout all the time. But I will always remember one particular day where he started talking to me about Jesus. IN that same conversation he gave me a pocket bible and encouraged me to read. It had the new testament and remember at that age holding onto it. Obviously it was a moment that God orchestrated but I am fully convinced during that time a the seed was planted and it is one of the reasons why I am standing here today. It was because of my friend Tyler.

Let’s share generosity, lets share our testimony, lets share encouragement as we walk in love and get away with God. Amen

*Pray for new believers and seasoned believers. Whether they’ve been a christian for 10 days or 10 years.

Altar Call:

Reference verses

Ephesians 2:13 ESV

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Because Jesus did something we could not do for ourselves we now can be brought near to God . The righteous died for the unrighteous.

1 Peter 3:18 ESV

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

And two to reveal God’s character to us. His love!

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

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