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This morning we're starting a new series of messages on spiritual growth
if a child doesn't grow up that is a tragedy
if the Christian doesn't grow to spiritual maturity that is a tragedy too
our Scripture passage this morning makes it clear that God's design is that we grow and mature
spiritually
in every area of our life in every way that we can
As we look at this very profound and personal issue please open your Bibles or message
outlines and following as I begin reading Ephesians chapter four verses eleven through
sixteen
now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists
and the pastors and teachers
their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church the
body of Christ
this will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's son
that we will be mature in the lord measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ
then we will no longer be immature like children we won't be tossed and blown about by every wind
Of new teaching
we will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound
like the truth
instead we'll speak the truth and love growing in every way more and more like Christ who
is the head of his body the church
he makes the whole body fit together perfectly
as each part does its own special work it helps the other parts grow
so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love
I've been revisited by the bug
I had it a few weeks ago
it showed up again last Saturday and I'm still fighting it
so
bear with me if I have to go get a little more
a little bit more coffee along the way
The previous series of messages
that we just completed was really on spiritual disciplines
Now I didn't tell you they were spiritual disciplines
because for some of us that doesn't
conjure up a very good pictures
when I hear spiritual and disciplined that takes me back to being paddled in mother superior's
office
I was
truly
and if you're a little rebellious the idea of discipline, you don't want any of
that
but I think the way we presented
the spiritual disciplines we're able to see the great benefit that they are
in our life
the spiritual disciplines are
are what work to do
and this series of messages about spiritual growth
is how we are to do that
The context in which
we practice those spiritual disciplines
what is the context?
simply the context for our spiritual disciplines
is
our spiritual growth
our spiritual maturity
And the Bible has a few very insightful things to say about
spiritual growth and spiritual maturity
the first is that
you really were designed by God to grow spiritually it's our scripture passage
this is the Phillips translation of verse twenty four
we are not meant to remain as children
at the mercy of every chance wind of teaching
but we are meant to hold firmly to the truth and love
and to grow up in every way
Notice it says every way not just some ways
not just the easy ways
in every way
Every way in Christ who is the head
God designs you for Him to be in a relationship with you
and that relationship is one of growth and one of maturity
it's not only about knowing more it's about experiencing more
it's not just about experiencing more it's about sharing more
doing more
and that's God's
design for you, Got wants to get you ready for heaven and I know you don't want to go
there any quicker than you have to
but this life is really the training ground for eternity
and spiritual growth and spiritual disciplines are what
Move us forward in preparation
that's what equips
for spending eternity with God
now you may not know this but I'm responsible
for your
spiritual growth
The Bible makes that clear
first peter five two, here peter you see shepherds but it's the same word as pastors
Shepherds, nurture guard and guide
the flock of God that he has entrusted
to you our responsibility
God has entrusted you to me
in fact the Bible makes it very clear that when I get to heaven
he's not only going to talk with me about what I did
with what he gave me
but he's also going to question me
hold me accountable
for what you did
with what God gave you
that's right and when I get there
some of you are going to hold me up a long time
I'm going to have some explaining to do
Right?
and I want that to be a very short conversation
I'm like you, I just want to hear well done good and faithful servant
and for that to happen
I have a responsibility to encourage you and to
lead you, to pastor you
towards
spiritual growth
And maturity. We're not supposed to be like
little kids any longer
were supposed to grow up into our faith
and you're all aging
I can see that from here
because you don't have a choice about that but maturity is really a choice isn't it?
my responsibility
your spiritual maturity
it's God's goal for you and it's my goal for you, I want you to grow spiritually
Colossians one
twenty-six
It is one of those
I've taken Sudafed so I don't
see everything just right now
I feel better
we continue to preach Christ the each person using all wisdom
To warn and to teach everyone
In order bring each one in to God's presence as a what?
mature person in Christ that's the goal
that's the goal
now we have a few myths about spiritual maturity and spiritual growth
it's not automatic
not instant
it doesn't happen by just showing up in church on Sunday morning
doesn't happen all on your own you need a few other people around you
a few other Christians around you to really mature
what are the
the dynamics the spiritual dynamics the practical dynamics?
a spiritual growth I think the Bible points out five
number one is it really and truly is about
uh... your intentionality you're choice
I love what Rick Warren says it just jumped off the page
when I read it
he says you are as close
to God
You are as close to Jesus Christ as you choose
to be
wow
I thought God was sovereign
I thought God was doing all the work
but he will not
supersede your choice your free will
He cannot make you grow 'cause if he could he would do it
He know that's the best thing for you
and so we must choose
we must be intentional
about choosing
to grow spiritually
It is a personal commitment that we need to make
look at Colossians two
six and seven
just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord now
I call that jumping the hoop
crossing the line
We don't have Jesus Christ as the leader of our life
and then we choose
we decide
that we're going to be committed to Christ and we're going to let him be the leader of our
life
that is not the end
of what it means to be a Christian
that's just the beginning
of what it means
to be a Christian to be
are fully devoted follower
of Jesus Christ
it's a little bit like a marriage. People come here in they have me uh... witness their
vows to one another
and I do you pronounce them a husband and wife but you know they're not really married
yet are they
all I've really
done is given them now permission
to go and make a marriage
and you need that decisive commitment yes
but that's not the end of marriage that's just the beginning of marriage
the same thing is true spiritually
we must continue to live in obedience to him
there's that word we don't like obedience
but you'll notice I mentioned that a few times in the last series
let your roots grow down into him
so that you could draw up nourishment from him
the illustration there is really
A tree
a tree must have roots for it to properly do what trees are supposed to do
I learned that
in my when I had my first garden
I had a try graft
apple free
pretty good endeavor for a city boy right?
and my try graft tree looked beautiful but it was not bearing fruit
so I called a friend of mine, Boon
Who understood trees and how they grow and
I brought them over and I said this one right here it's not doing its thing
I want apples and I'm not getting many apples
and he looked at for moment and he said get me
a ladder
I got a ladder and
as you might imagine he had his pruning shears on his belt
got those shears out
and he started cutting everything he could see
and I thought for a moment, Boon, you have no idea what you're doing
you're going to wreck my three
I wisely kept my
inexperienced opinion to myself
and
When he finished I said ok why did you cut all those branches off?
I mean he turned a beautiful three into a little Hedge
Little ball
and he said here's your problem
he says the roots of the tree
had not gone far enough down into the dirt
and because the root system is not deep or complex yet
all the nourishment that's coming up through the roots it's all being used to make limbs
and leaves
there's not enough energy left over
to make the fruit
so I've trimmed it so that the roots grow down deep
The next season
I had apples three different three different kinds of apples
uh... all because it got pruned
if we want to grow spiritually if we want to bear fruit
and that's what the Bible calls doing the good things that
you can and should do
you've got to be
committed
what happens to a plant and now I want to talk to the shoppers and the hoppers
who are here today
and... if it is your first time you've come
God bless you
that's a good thing for you to come and check it all out
but at some point you have to stop shopping and hopping
because if you keep shopping and hopping all the time it's like your plants being transplanted
over and over again
and what happens every time you have to transplant a plant
part of the root system
is destroyed
and you know what happens when you transplant a plant after you transplanted it goes
through this ugly stage
you don't want to go through that more often than you need to right?
so it's not only a personal commitment
but the intentionality to grow spiritually is a commitment to the church
the commitment to
other Christians
Who as well want to grow
and mature and again the Bible's very clear about that, why do we need each other?
each part does it's special work
it helps the other parts grow
so that the whole body is healthy growing and full of love
now let's work that backwards for just a minute
what Paul is doing is describing what the church ought to be. it ought to be
healthly
it ought to be growing and it ought to be full of love
so I use that as some indicators as a pastor
are we full of love
as a church?
are we marked by loving relationships with one another
are we
are we a growing church
and we are grow in
quantity and quality
one doesn't compete with the other in the church
people ought to be deepening and maturing in their faith in there ought to be a few
new people showing up
hopefully some people that don't know whether the
the spiritual ball is pumped or stuffed
they don't know much of anything that's great
where are they going to learn about Jesus Christ
out there?
not out there
You learn about Jesus Christ here
they're going to learn about the truth of the Bible here they're going to discover and experience
God's love here
that's why we need to link and invite people here
are we a healthy church?
do we have healthy relationships with one another that doesn't mean we're always going
to get along with everybody
all the time
but there are healthy ways to be with one another
a sense of independence and a sense of dependence
It is called interdependencies
and a healthy church should have some interdependencies
we can't grow all on our own
were more like
redwood trees
then we are like a lone pine
redwood trees have to grow with one another
they intertwine the root system
and a tree way over there feeds the tree way over there
and then the heavy winds com
the lone pine gets knocked out because it's all alone but the redwoods what stand up
In they become stronger in the wind
because
of the force against them
it builds strength like weightlifting
the whole body is healthy
growing and full of love
number two
growth is incremental
uh... it it doesn't happen all at once
uh... there isn't a a you know
A way for you to grow and mature all at one time
and so we need some plans
and some goals when it comes to our spiritual growth
and I believe you're never
done with
setting new goals
and and having a new action plan for spiritual growth in your life we as a staff went to
Saddleback down in southern California a couple of weeks ago
to a pastor's staff conference
and while I was there you know I was not on automatic I was taken all of it and then actually I
was exhausted after that week
wrestling with everything intellectually emotionally spiritually man I was so full I was
uh... I was fried after that week
and while I was there the holy spirit tapped me on the shoulder and said Scott this
is what I want you to do next
Here are a couple of goals I want you to enact in your life and so since I returned
I've enacted those
goals
in my life have changed a few things
Added a couple of things
uh... to my spiritual disciplines
if I'm not growing, you're not going to grow and tell you that if I stop growing
it'll be an awful Sunday morning listening to me
and you might think well you're the pastor you should be mature and you should have it
all together
I'm a Christian just like you
and I need to grow to mature
aging
is not an option
maturing
is a choice
it happens incrementally it does it happen all
uh... all at once
what is the Bible say
2 Corinthians 5:9
we make it our goal to please him
And I'll just
simply ask you do you have some goals about pleasing God now here's an interesting thought
the week is coming up I can
virtually guarantee that everyone in the room
has some plans and some goals
To please yourself
I do
and it's not that you're not allowed to have some goals to please yourself but I'd ask
you
do you have any goals for pleasing God in the week ahead
Do you really have some plans
after this morning of what you're going to do to really please God
put a smile on his face
our goal is to measure up to God's plan for us
notice it doesn't say measure up to
my plans for me
my spouse's plans for me
somebody else's plans for me uh... our goal is to measure up to God's plan
God's plan
are we measuring up to God's plan
the CLASS system
Christian leadership and service seminars
are designed
to help you with incremental spiritual growth
101 really builds
Then 201
builds on 301
you start
by being committed to Christ and committed to one another the church
then you develop spiritual habits
you learn your unique
shape for ministry
then you learn about your mission as close as across the street as far as the other side
of the world
we've added 501 because you need to learn how to deal with your money
and the more you have the more responsibility you have the Bible says
and so we've added
501 recently so that we can understand
Biblical principles of money management
Biblical principals
and if you go through all five of those there's a little guarantee that
that you've
equipped yourself that you
got yourself moving forward in spiritual growth
it's not an ultimate guarantee but I have some idea of quality control
when you've been to all five of those
why because it's incremental growth
in the end the right direction and the very best right
spiritual maturity and growth is personal
one size does not fit all
and the reason for that is we all have different
you know
uh... different things that were good at
let me explain to you this way you have a handout that I give you on Sunday mornings
have you ever thought about why I do that?
it's actually very difficult to be a speaker and give you ahead of time
everything I'm supposed to say
because you know when I
miss something
Mispronounce, because you have it right in front of you
the reason why give you an outline of what I'm doing this I want you to learn why you're
here
some people learn
auditorally
through the ear
and I could just talk for them and they get it and they leave and they can remember it in a couple
of days
some of us are visual people
we have to see it
so I want to give it to you so that you can see it
and that helps you remember
some of us are kinesthetic learners which means we
we learned by doing
and that's why I give you a few blanks to fill it
I give you a few blanks to fill in because some people learn best when they're taking
notes
when they're physically doing something
the other thing that's true educationally is if you multiply the channels of learning
you'll remember more you'll remember it for a longer period of time
our spiritual growth is as individual as we are
and again the Bible makes that pretty clear
Job says your hands have formed and shaped me
Everybody's shape is a little bit different
both physically and spiritually
God has given each of you some
special abilities and you need to know what your special abilities are
you need to know what your spiritual gift is
what is your spiritual gift what are our your special abilities that God has given you to
contribute to the whole
you are irreplaceable in the body of Christ
without your commitment and your participation the rest of us are missing out
were missing out
personal its practical
spiritual growth
teaches you
uh... good habits
there's not a
Thing in the Bible that will give you a bad habit
everything the Bible tells you do it's good for you
those spiritual disciplines are good for you
we're all looking for more meaning and purpose in life aren't we?
were looking for stability and security
when difficulty comes our way
we want a clear conscience
we want to be in a healthy relationship with other people that's all here in the Bible
if my job is your spiritual growth I want you to know the Bible makes it easy for me
all I need to do is read it and come to you and say
here's what the Bible has to say
and I know you're practically going to walk away with something
that you can enact in your life
right away
some of the stuff I tell you need to enact before you can get to the car
God wants to equip us in a very practical way look at second timothy 3:17
God uses it the Bible
to prepare and equip his people
to do every good work
is there anyone here that wants to miss out on the good work
that God has in store for them
in the week ahead?
anybody want to miss out on it?
nobody does
everybody wants to enjoy the blessing of God and I think most people want to share that blessing
with those around them
if we don't grow spiritually if we don't let mature were going to miss out
on some of the good things that God intends for us
the practical things that we need especially
when our world gets turned upside down
and finally
spiritual growth is relational
I love uh... Hebrews
it's a great
a great book
listen to what uh... Paul says
let us be
concerned for one another help one another with love and good deeds
let us not give up
the habit of meeting together
because we ran into a few crabby people only showed up once
let me tell you this
this church is not perfect
don't tell anyone but you're not perfect
if you want the perfect church
and you find it
and you join it
it won't be perfect anymore
good healthy loving
you notice it doesn't say perfect
you've heard me say this before
Christian maturity
happens best in small groups
not in large groups I'm not kidding myself about what goes on in a Sunday morning
you're like in a bus
and I'm your spiritual tour guide
And you are intellectually learning some good practical things
but you know there's a time on a tour where you take your tour book in hand
and you get off the bus and you discover it for yourself
and we need to be discovering our Christian faith
for ourself
as I call it we need to get our hands dirty
ourselves
and I know that you're not doing that on Sunday morning not completely not fully
only in part
we must be committed to one another
to encourage one another in faith and good works
to be a
good healthy loving church that's about commitment to one another
and we need to be in a smaller group
a small group, a ministry team, a Bible study
where we can be known and get to know other people
where we can take that
unique shape that God has given us
and use that for his glory and the benefit of someone else
and I could tell you that's not happening by warming a pew on Sunday morning
it is not, don't misunderstand me
it's not a bad place to start
but there is so much more
to enjoy in your faith
that if Sunday morning's the only time you're plugging in you're missing out
your missing
God's design
my desire
is that each of you grow to maturity
that you're able to put down roots
and the fruit that you display as a Christian
would stand out
in the community that we live in
because when you
Demonstrate your fruit
that the Holy Spirit is bringing to your life
away from this building
other people are attracted to
Jesus Christ
and it is all about eternity as I mentioned the other week
God's design my desire
is that you don't just get older
in front of me
but that you would truly grow
and mature
in Jesus Christ
Let us pray
Lord you know what
the next step is for us in
spiritual commitment to you and I pray that we
can take that step this morning through the encouragement and empowerment of your Holy
Spirit
Lord we often see some obstacles
when it comes to spiritual growth and
Lord help us to put that obstacle in perspective and see it for the small thing
that it is
that it should not
keep me from moving forward
it should not keep me from being equipped for every good thing it shouldn't keep me
from taking my place in the church
it shouldn't keep me
from building other people up in love
For Lord our desire
is to be your church you're the head
and we want to grow up
Lord thank you for calling us to
a deeper
commitment
a deeper relationship
Lord once again we're thankful for the reminder that you
do love us
and you do have
a plan and a purpose for each and every one of us. Amen
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