Bible Reading Today

Exodus 9,10 - The story of the 10 plagues always amazes me. It isn't so much the details of the miracle plagues, but the "behind the scenes" discussions between God and Moses, and between Moses and Pharoah. One of the toughest phrases for us to accept in this story is found in several places, including (9:12; 10:1,20,27): "The LORD hardened Pharoah's heart." We also see that Pharoah hardened his own heart, showing that he was responsible for his sin; and yet God was very clear: "I will harden his heart, so that Pharoah will not let my people go." We might ask:Why? The text answers:"...so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth...But for this purpose I have raised you [Pharoah] up, to show you my power, so that my name [the LORD] may be proclaimed in all the earth."(9:14-16)

God does what He does for one primary reason: To glorify Himself. And He is completely right, just in doing do. It isn't primarily for my deliverance or comfort or happiness, but for His glory. And He will do whatever is necessary, including the hardening of hearts, so that the timing and outcome of life's circumstances will all go to His praise and glory. The challenge for us as mere humans, is not to get discouraged or confused by this. We simply cannot fully understand the mind and purpose of God; and we need to leave that for Him to figure out.

What I must do is to trust Him. I must praise Him for His power, such as was displayed in the plagues, for His love for His people, as demonstrated to Israel; and for the fact that all things will work out for my spiritual, eternal good and God's eternal glory. I can rest in those facts even with whatever I will face today.

ESTABLISHED IN THE FAITH

This is the fourth message in this series on discipleship and the third stage of our discipleship process. Once again, it is my desire in this messge series to be as personal as possible in the large group setting, and just to share my heart about being a more fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. If you can focus, not on checking things off a list of dos and don'ts but instead on a heart attitude that is growing in knolwedge and grace, this can be a beneficial process for you. When the Video: Footprints revisited comes up in the manuscript, feel free to go to sermonspice.com , search for Footprints revisited, and watch a preview of it for free. May God strengthen your heart as you follow Him and become established in the faith.


ESTABLISHED IN THE FAITH

Please turn in your Bible to Colossians 2. In the Bible in front of you, it is page 1020 or 1046.

Every new year, we are reminded of those whose lives ended in 2007.
· Eddie Robinson died April 3 at the age of 88. He was established as the football coach at Grambling State University in Louisiana for 57 years!
· Jerry Falwell was 73 when he died on May 15th. He was established as the initiator of the Moral Majority movement, the pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church and the leader of Liberty University.
· Dan Folgelberg died at age 56 on December 16th. He was established as a famous singer and songwriter.
· Lady Bird Johnson died at age 94 on July 11th. She was established as the First Lady with her husband, President Lyndon B. Johnson and as an environmentalist with many flower planting projects.
· On August 12th, Merv Griffin died at age 82. He was established as the host of the Merv Griffin show for more than 20 years and the creator of the popular games shows: Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.
· Ernest Gallo was established as the man who took $5,900 and a wine recipe from a public library and turned it into, what was at one time, the world’s largest winemaking empire. He died on March 6th at age 97.
· This man had a quest to serve quality sausage to truckers who filled his 12-stool, 24-hour-a-day diner in southeast Ohio. He established himself and created a restaurant chain that bears his name. Bob Evans died on June 21 at age 89.

These people were fairly well known, and they were established in some things that produced a lot of profit, brought a lot of joy, and helped others in many ways. But, the real question, the more important question is this: Were they established in the faith? These people gained fame for something while they lived and they may be remembered for a long time. But, if they were not established in the faith, their influence is merely temporal and does not have an eternal, lasting, spiritual impact.

Another man died in 2007. On April 20th, at age 71, Dr. Jack Jacobs went home to be with the Lord. He was the senior pastor here for more than 17 years. I did not know him very long, but I knew him long enough to say this: From my observation, Dr. Jacobs was a man who was well established in his faith. I’m sure Nancy would tell you that he was not perfect; but I believe she and those who knew him best would back me up here: he was established in the faith; and leaves us a great example to follow.

Now, you might say, “well, I can’t be like Dr. Jacobs – I will never know as much Scripture as he did”. That might be true. I can certainly say I cannot be like Dr. Jacobs. I could never preach like he did. I also don’t have the depth of knowledge he did or the ability to communicate it the way he did. But, you know what? Here is the biblical truth. You can be like Dr. Jacobs in this one way: You also can be established in the faith. Yes you can.

In our brief message series on discipleship, we are using Colossians 2:6,7 as our theme verses:

Colossians 2:6,7 - –“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

This series is geared towards those of you who have already decided to follow Jesus Christ. It is your desire to live for Him. If you have not made that decision, you can certainly listen in and hopefully gain something, but until you take that step to come to Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and become His follower, there is no way to grow in a discipleship process of which you are not a part.

Let’s review for a few moments, using these banners hanging above. We are looking at a discipleship process, using these phrases from Colossians 2:6,7. And this pictures the growth of a tree and compares it to the Christian life. The first stage is being “rooted in Christ”. When you come to Jesus Christ for salvation and trust in Him alone for it, you become rooted in Christ. However, the idea here is that just like a tree that needs a strong root system to grow, so we need to grow deeper and stronger in Jesus Christ. And using our church theme verse of II Peter 3:18, we are using the phrases: Growing in Knowledge and Growing in Grace to apply these descriptions of growth.

[on the screen]
For Rooted in Christ, these may be some signs of growth:
Growing in Knowledge:
· Learning basic truths
· Having assurance of salvation

Growing in Grace:
· Reading the Bible
· Praying
· Baptism

After being rooted in Christ, the next phrase is: “built up in Him”, that is, Christ. Our roots are going down, and now we need to come up out of the ground and begin to grow, showing some signs of more growth in our relationship with Christ. Some of those signs might be:

Growing in Knowledge:
· Learning personal Bible study
· Understanding what to believe and why

Growing in Grace:
· Giving
· Serving
· Applying truth to life (asking the SO WHAT? question personally, taking what you hear and read from the Word of God and make it real in daily living)

This morning, we are focused on the next phrase in Colossians 2: “established in the faith”. And then, next week, we conclude with the word: “abounding”. I have asked one of our members, Phil Dawson, to help me out with my message next week. I normally try to illustrate the message, to help communicate it to the listeners. Next week, Phil, the place kicker for the Cleveland Browns, is going to share with us some of his experiences from this past football season; and we are going to talk about how those experiences relate to our process of discipleship. I mention this not only so that you can be relieved that you won’t have to listen to my voice the whole time, or excited that we are going to talk a little football; but primarily for this reason: you may have a friend or family member that would not want to come to our church. However, if they knew that a professional athlete, especially one of our own Cleveland Browns was going to talk some football, they might come. If you want to use that in inviting someone for next Sunday, feel free.

Let’s look again at Colossians 2:6 and the phrase: “established in the faith.” The word “established”, here, means to make something stable or to confirm something. In our spiritual analogy of a tree, we are looking at a tree that has a strong root system and is showing itself to be a stronger tree, with fuller branches. It doesn’t look like a tree that is going to fall over in a strong wind. It is stable, confirmed, established. This is a stage of growth by which we can evaluate ourselves.

We are to be established, stable, confirmed. Certainly, some of the things that we talked about last week can lead to that. But, first, we have to make sure we know what we are to be established in. It says here in Colossians 2:6 that we are to be “established in our faith.” This word faith refers to our trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation and then the constancy of that belief in any circumstance. Trusting fully in Christ allows us to have faith in Him, in any circumstance, including when life is over. But, you probably know this doesn’t happen automatically or easily.

We are talking about a stage of spiritual growth, where you no longer are fully dependent on someone else to tell you what to believe. You are not completely confused and deceived if someone were to tell you something that is biblically untrue. You could discern that something is wrong and you are not tempted to abandon your faith. You still sin and you still struggle and you still deal with doubts, but you are firmly established in your faith. Because of the Holy Spirit that lives in you, and the work of His Word in your life, your faith is not going anywhere. It is not divided. It is strong.

Please turn back 3 books to the book of Galatians, and chapter 1.

Before I list for you this morning some of the signs of growing in grace and knowledge in this stage, let me make sure something is very clear. The work of being established in the faith begins and end with one person, and its not you…and its not me. Let’s read some crucial passages of Scripture together to be reminded of who really does this work of establishing and strengthening our faith. Please read in unison the sections that are bold lettering (highlighted):

Jude 24,25 – “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

I Peter 5:10 – “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

II Thessalonians 2:16,17 – “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.”

Romans 16:25-27 – “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith. To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.”

These passages of Scripture and many more tie the establishing and strengthening of our faith to the person of Jesus Christ. It is God who establishes us in our faith. He is the One who makes us strong in faith. This is the work of God, and yet we are told to respond. With this last passage in Romans, it begins with God being the one who can strengthen us, but at the end, it says: “to bring about obedience of faith.” That is our part – to live out our faith in obedience. This is what shows that we are being established, by God, in our faith.

Are you familiar with the Footprints poem? Some years ago it was very popular and you might have it hanging up somewhere today. The poem talks about two sets of footprints in the sand, seeing it as walking the journey with Jesus. Then, all of a sudden, there are only one set of footprints in the sand, and the person wonders why Jesus left his side- especially during a tough time. Then, the poem ends by Jesus saying that He didn’t leave him, but carried him through the tough time, leaving only one set of prints. Let’s take another look at that poem together:

VIDEO: FOOTPRINTS REVISITED

Sorry for you footprint poem fans out there if that ruined it for you. This was not blasphemy. It is just a poem. I liked this video because it demonstrates the both/and aspect of responsibility in walking with God. God does carry us, yes. But, He also expects us to walk; and when need be, He might drop us on our butt to wake us up and teach us how to follow Him.

Let me share with you some of the signs of a person who is growing in knowledge and grace as they are being established it the faith:

Growing in Knowledge:
· Discovering life vision and goals

At some point, in the stage of spiritual growth as a follower of Christ, you make the call of God very personal. You begin to take personal responsibility for fulfilling the vision, the plan, God has your life. If you read the Scriptures, you know that God called particular people for particular tasks. He called Moses to lead the people of Israel to the promised land. He called Abraham to father a child that would begin the nation of Israel. He called people to be prophets, kings or priests. He called Paul to give his life sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with others. You are turned to Galatians 1. Please look at what Paul said in:

Galatians 1:15,16 – “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles…”

God had given Paul a particular vision for the rest of His life.
Although there are things that all believers need to pursue, God has a particular vision for your life, even if you would never consider yourself to be like the people He called in the Bible. The fact is that you are saved by His grace, called by His grace, and the plan He has for you is carried out by grace. This is still God’s work, but He wants you to recognize what he has given you to do, and to go after it with all of your heart.

The message I shared with you on December 30th was all about this. The recognition of God’s Chazown (vision) for you leads to goals being set and a focus for your life, when there are so many things vying for your attention and trying to distract you – even good things! I won’t say much else about this today, since I talked a lot about it on December 30th. However, I do think this is a sign of growth. You are looking for what specifically God has given you to do for Him, and you are willing to sacrifice in order to pursue it.

Please turn in your Bible to Mark 12. If you are using the Bible in front of you, it is page 879 or 897.

Growing in Knowledge:
· Understanding the discipleship process

There is something that takes place in the thinking of a person who has grown to be established in the faith. In the beginning, he is completely dependent on others for his spiritual growth. He really doesn’t know where to begin or how to grow. Others come alongside of him to help, to teach Him how to study the Word of God and much more. There is a lot of focus, in the beginning stages of growth, with receiving instruction, getting help and appreciating what others can do in building into his spiritual life.

But, at some point, the attention and focus goes from inward to outward. It goes from receiving to giving. It goes from learning to leading, from seeing the general calling to seeing the personal calling of where you fit into God’s plan. And, this person can see the bigger picture of discipleship rather than just how it relates to their salvation. They understand more of how a person can go from a new believer to a more fully developed, mature follower of Christ.

In fact, this believer is thinking about others, how to bring others to Jesus Christ, and then how to help them grow in their faith. Let’s move on now to:

Growing in Grace:
· Giving sacrificially

In the stage of being “built up in Him”, we introduced the issue of giving. A person growing as a follower of Jesus Christ begins to give to God from what God has given her. In this stage, everything goes to a new level. This is not the person who is just giving the required 10% of what they earn each week; but this person is sacrificially giving more in tithes and offerings.

One of the stories about Jesus’ view of giving is here in Mark 12. Look at:
Mark 12:41-44 – “And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had all she had to live on.”

This illustrates sacrificial giving, doesn’t it? Jesus was not concentrating on the particular amount that was given, but how sacrificial that amount was to the giver. This widow who didn’t give very much at all, had given more than those who put in a lot of money. Why did God view it that way? Because the widow gave money that she could have used for other comforts and needs in life. The others gave the extra money they had lying around – no discomfort, no sacrifice.

This is a tough lesson for most of us. If I have an extra dollar sitting around, it is not difficult for me to give it to God through the offering. However, if the dollar I have was set aside for me to have a dessert or to buy something else for myself, it would be a sacrifice for me to give it to God instead. It would be a sacrifice, even a small one.

The person growing in grace is thinking about how she can impact the lives of others with what God has already given her. She is thinking of using her resources, primarily, to benefit others and promote the gospel of Jesus Christ. She fully believes that God will meet her needs, and as God brings a need to her mind and heart, she responds generously, with joy.

But, this is not only about our money. The growing believer who is established in the faith, is going to give sacrificially of their time and their talents. He is now thinking about how to invest in the lives of others rather than his own comfortable future. So, he volunteers his time and whatever abilities he has to serve God and others while most of us think he might be wasting his time and abilities – thinking he could use those abilities to make more money and use his time enjoying himself more. Well, the fact is: the growing follower of Christ begins to find that some of the most enjoying times he has is when he is giving to others of himself – not much different than Christ, is it?

Hebrews 12:2 – “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Jesus was able to give completely of Himself with joy because He could see beyond the sacrifice to the incredible blessings of salvation for us and eternity with the Father. The growing follower of Christ, established in the faith, has this type of eternal perspective that allows him to look beyond the temporal. No, you don’t have to be perfect or think you’re holier than everyone else to be established in the faith. But, you do have to be growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Please turn back one book to the book of Matthew and chapter 28.

Growing in Grace:
· Leading in ministry

In the previous stage of “built up in Him”, we mentioned that the growing believer will start to serve. But, at some point in spiritual growth, the person will continue to serve in a greater way by leading others in serving. This doesn’t mean that just because you are in a leadership position that you are established in the faith or if you don’t have a particular leadership position that you can’t be established in the faith. It means that as you grow in Christ, you will find yourself leading others toward Christ in some way. This can happen in your family, in your work place and in the church.

You are no longer satisfied with just serving yourself, but you are interested in leading others to serve as well. Do you see the pattern here? The emphasis starts becoming a great concern about others spiritual development and not just your own. If you think about the first disciples of Christ, you can see that it was a process for them as well. At first, it was all about their own development as they learned from Christ Himself, began to think differently, grow and serve. But, eventually, Christ left them the Holy Spirit and sent them out to disciple others and change the world. They were still the struggling, sinful, followers of Christ – but they were growing, maturing as His followers.

Growing in Grace:
· Experiencing Missions

This may sound strange to you, to put this in this stage; but I think it fits with the changing emphasis of a growing follower of Christ who is being established in her faith. Of course, she may have gotten involved in missions to some degree as a new believer and hopefully did. However, as she grows in Christ, she, once again, will be thinking outside of herself and her own salvation, to the spiritual needs that others have.

She will begin to be deeply concerned for the salvation of her friends, family and others. She will start to think of the need for discipleship in her own family, church, community, and throughout the world. This will lead her to go on missions trips, perhaps support missionaries outside of the ones her church supports (or give more than her church gives), and pray that if God wants her to be a missionary outside of where she is now, she is willing to go where He leads.

The last thing Jesus said to His followers before He left to go back to Heaven was this. You are there in Matthew 28. Please look at:

Matthew 28: 19,20 – “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

You might think that every believer would do this, but the reality is that very few come to the place of being established enough in faith that they completely surrender themselves to being missionaries of the gospel where they are, getting involved in the missions of their church, the missionaries lives themselves, experiencing all kinds of different mission opportunities, and praying that God would lead them. But, all of us, who are disciples, followers of Christ, are to be all about making other followers of Christ.

I remember surrendering my life to God for whatever He wanted me to do, including missions. Now, mission leaders might tell you as they told me that if you are willing to go, you should just go and be a career missionary. I understand why they said that, because it is a part of their heart passion. But, it is important that each of us, experiencing missions here and abroad, are always open to where God is calling us. That person is a growing follower of Christ, established in the faith.

[go back to the banners] – Each week, as we have walked through these stages, I have shared with you one ministry emphasis that we offer as a church to correspond to the different stages of spiritual growth. Of course, this is not a perfect fit. These ministries can be great helps to people at all different stages of spiritual development. However, it helps us in leadership to know where to put our resources and efforts, as well as work hard at making our programs and ministries fit into a discipleship process rather than the other way around. And we emphasize just one ministry to keep everything simple – and doable!

For Rooted in Christ, we have the ministry emphasis of our Sunday morning worship service. It is a large group setting with people of all physical ages and all stages of spiritual development, including those who have not yet made a commitment to Christ. Although everyone can worship in our services in a variety of ways, we want to make sure that those who are new to Christ or are in their first stage of spiritual development can fully understand everything that we are doing in our service and that it assists them in their growth process.
For Built Up in Him, our ministry emphasis is our Sunday school. Rather than a large group setting, this is a mid-size group setting, with a teacher and student relationship. This gives everyone, normally with people at their same stage of life, an opportunity to interact with a teacher and learn how to apply the deeper teachings of the Word of God.

For this stage, Established in the faith, it gets even more personal. The ministry emphasis we have is not a large group or a mid-size group, but now a small group. Our ministry emphasis is our Life Groups. This doesn’t mean that we won’t have people uncommitted to Christ in life groups or people who are still in the beginning stages. But, it does mean that we are focused on helping people become established in the faith. That is why our life groups have to remain small, 12 people or less. This is why if you go to one of our life groups, the emphasis is not on sharing your deep knowledge of the intricacies of the Scriptures, but being accountable for what you already know.

This is why when you go to a life group, we are not asking questions about Greek and Hebrew words or what everyone thinks a particular passage of Scripture means. This is not a Bible study. This is a group for those committed to applying the Word of God to real life, to the point where they are willing to have some tough, personal, penetrating questions asked of them. This is about transparency, humbly evaluating in a group setting, where we are with God and how to take another step toward Him.

The ideal scenario is this: You come and listen to the Sunday morning message. That night, you go to life group. Hopefully, before you ever get to life group, you have thought about what the Word of God had to say that morning, and you have asked God to help you apply it. You may even know what that specific application ought to be. In life group, questions are asked to make you interact with the message and consider how to apply it. At some point, you share with the group how your life matches up with that particular topic or passage of Scripture. You also share how you want to grow in that area. They may even help you be very specific on what that might look like and what specific step you can take over the next couple of weeks. They then pray specifically for you about that. They continue to pray on their own for you over the next couple of weeks, perhaps even contacting you to check on your progress. And when you get back together two weeks later, they ask how it went for you and encourage you, whether you took the step or not.

This is also the greatest resource we have right now for personal care for you and your family. It is impossible for Steve and I to personally care for 200 plus people in their life issues. But, members of a life group can truly care for the other 6-8 people in their life group and their families. We have already seen that happening in some of our groups.

This is an environment, where we can see how God uses others to help us be established in our faith. Our Life Groups can certainly improve, but this is the ministry emphasis we offer for this stage. If you are not currently in a life group, they are always open to adding people; and all you have to do is let me know you are interested.

SO WHAT?
Based on these principles from God’s Word today, what is He asking you to do?
Let’s take a few moments to have silent prayer and talk to God about it.

My prayer requests and praises for February, 2008

Greg’s
Prayer Requests and Praises
February, 2008

Praises

1. Psalm 18:2 – “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

2. My mom was able to come spend a few days with us, and watch our children while Teresa and I got away for a couple days. Thanks Mom!

3. Our church finished about $200 “in the black” for 2007.

4. Our constitution revision is almost ready to go to our people for a vote.

5. I have been encouraged recently by time I have been able to spend with friends in the ministry.

Requests

1.That once I receive my rough draft back this month, I will be able to make a plan to write and complete the final draft on time. It is due March 1st.

2. A group of men is meeting on Wednesday mornings, at 6 AM, for 3 months, to discuss a book and share our lives together. Pray we will grow in Christ.

3. On February 10th, we have a lunch and program to honor everyone who serves at Grace. Please pray that it will encourage the hearts of those who currently serve and motivate those who do not.

4. Our outreach basketball league continues this month (games on Tuesday nights). All the guys on my team are non-believers. Please pray that God would see fit to use me in sharing the gospel with them this year. Pray also that I will recover from my groin injury fairly quickly.

5. Upcoming messages: February
3 – GROWING IN GRACE – Step 4 - Abounding
10 – VISION FOR GRACE - 2008
17 – Habakkuk 1:1-11
24 – Habakkuk 1:12-2:20

Bible Reading

I love this story. In the story of Joseph, he had been sold into slavery by his own brothers, lied about by Pharoah's wife, cast into prison unjustly, forgotten by the man for whom he had interpreted a dream favorably. And yet, through all of that, God was leading him by providence, to the place of leadership He wanted him to be - for the good of God's people and the glory of God.

A great climax to one of the subplots here is when Joseph's brothers have to come to Egypt where Joseph is now 2nd in command, bow before Joseph (just as he had predicted in his dreams many years before) and ask for food because of the famine. They were in Joseph's hands. He could have had his revenge. Instead, he said this, after he revealed himself and they were afraid for their lives:

Genesis 45:5,7 - "And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life...And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors."

That is unbelievable! And yet, this is the attitude of a man who understood that this was God's doing, not man's; and therefore it was not his job to bring retribution, but instead to bring grace and blessing. That is spiritual maturity.

May I see the wrongs done to me the same way Joseph saw it in his life. May I see and point out God's providence, even in the midst of difficult or "unfair" circumstances.

May I be encouraged that God is moving, He is working - in and through me.

And the same goes for you too!

BUILT UP IN HIM

This is the 3rd message in a 5 message series on discipleship. It is my intent to make it as personal and practical as possible. I dressed more casually and used a bar stool to deliver these messages from. I wanted to communicate my heart in talking about the most personal thing there is: our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Where you read about a video, you can go to bluefishtv.com and put in the search: The Offering Plate and view it for free.

Read carefully, because there are a couple times in this message where I go to the pulpit and preach a section that I do not believe, in order to make my point.

May you be built up in Jesus Christ as you pursue the growth in knowledge and grace.


BUILT UP IN HIM

Please turn in your Bible to Ephesians 4. In the Bible in front of you, it is page 1014 or 1040.

530 feet below the surface of Lake Superior, just north of the International Boundary in Canadian waters, rests the two largest sections of the famous SS EDMUND FITZGERALD. On November 10, 1975, the National Weather Service forecast a weather front that would bring extremely high and dangerous winds. And they were right. The FITZGERALD sunk, killing all 29 crew members, 2 of which were from this area.

But, the questions remained: Was it a lack of experience that brought the tragedy? Was it a matter of ill-advisement? Could there have been some overlooked design in the vessel? Human error? Those questions no doubt plagued the families who lost loved ones that night shortly after 7 p.m. No survivors were found and no bodies were recovered.

What caused this vessel to sink? Those who have done the research have come up with 2 theories. The first one is that the FITZGERALD had faulty hatch covers allowing water to enter, the ship to list, and then be submersed by a 25 foot wave, unable to resurface. The second theory brings human error into the equation, not by intention, but by a seemingly wrong decision. Captain Earnest McSorley, a decorated Captain and navigator, made the decision to continue on the voyage by tracking just north of Caribou Island. Lake Survey Chart No. 9 warns of shoal within 6 fathoms of the surface.

Did he unknowingly tear holes in the FITZGERALD by neglecting the warnings of his maps? Here are his last recorded words: “I have a bad list. I have lost both radars, and I am taking heavy seas over the deck in tone of the worst seas I have ever been in.” Shortly thereafter the prized FITZGERALD sank, claiming the innocent lives of its entire crew.

It may be, that it wasn’t what they knew that brought destruction; but what they didn’t know. What they may not have seen, what they were not prepared for, brought death and destruction to a powerful vessel and able crew. It can be the same for a believer who has set a new course of this faith journey. At the beginning, he is excited about his newfound faith and about learning and growing in Christ.
But, over a period of years, or maybe even sooner, he becomes satisfied with what he knows. He knows he is going to Heaven. He knows God loves Him, and he knows a few things about the Bible. Isn’t that enough? And before long, without the knowledge of God and His Word, and without the grace to apply it, he finds his faith shipwrecked, and the evidence of spiritual destruction all around him.

As I mentioned last week, this is not just about an accumulation of knowledge, but applying that knowledge to living a life in the sphere of grace. This is a life that is constantly learning, changing and growing. Our theme verses for this discipleship journey and process are:

Colossians 2:6,7 –“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

We are looking at a process of discipleship, becoming a more fully devoted follower of Christ. Jesus Christ Himself asked His followers to “make disciples”, others who would learn to follow Him. And we emphasized last week that Christ’s expectations are not simply that you would say a prayer and be assured of Heaven; but that you would be His follower, continually growing, as our church theme verse says in II Peter 3:18: “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Last week, we concentrated on the first stage of growth, using the analogy of a tree. It is planted and has a need to be deeply rooted. The phrase in Colossians 2:6 is: “rooted in Christ”. We have a banner you see, that reminds us of this all important, first phrase of spiritual growth. I am not going to review everything we covered, but you can get that message if you would like to see where we started. If you would rather take the time to read or review what you heard, I normally post the manuscript of the messages on my blog every Monday.

The discipleship process does not end with the first few steps and signs of growth. It doesn’t end with the newfound joy of salvation and the insertion of a few important spiritual disciplines. The next phase of growth is described by the next phrase in Colossians 2:6 – “being built up in Him (Christ)” You put your roots deeper into Christ, but a healthy tree is going to grow, not just below the ground, but you will see signs of growth on the outside as well.

One of the passages of Scripture, I believe, that describes a growing believer and how the church fits into that is in Ephesians 4. To get the idea of the context here, let me begin reading in verse 11-

Ephesians 4:11-15 – “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”

Those who were the appointed leadership in the church were, primarily, and are, primarily, to be helping those believers who attend church to learn how to serve God in its ministry. And these leaders are to help all of us do that so that we will be “built up” (our key theme this morning), toward the goal of having unity and full knowledge of Jesus Christ. Not only that, but this is to lead toward spiritual maturity (the idea of growth). And did you notice, that part of this process of maturing means that the tree will not be wavering back and forth when the wind blows, but become strong enough to stand firm under fierce winds. In the spiritual sense, there are all kinds of beliefs and doctrines out there, that for an immature, new believer, can feel like a strong storm that can shake the very foundations of your faith. But, one of the main purposes of being a part of a church, in this passage, is that we speak the truth of God, in love, and by that, we all grow to be strong in our faith and ministry. This is not easy. It is a process.

There are a few very rich analogies here in this passage. And although we are concentrating on the biblical picture of tree growth, allow me to give you a glimpse of these other pictures as well, that might help in our understanding. The word translated by the phrase “building up”, in verse 12, gives us the picture of a house being constructed, being “built up”. You have the foundation, which is as important as the roots of a tree. And after the foundation, then you can build up the structure, the frame upon which all else will hang. A long standing, strong home has a strong foundation and well put together frame as it was being built up.

The other picture used in these verses, in particular in verses 13,14 is the importance of growing up. It talks about the spiritual picture of going from childhood to manhood, from immaturity to maturity. Now, we all know that age does not necessarily define maturity; but it is supposed to. If you are growing as you should, you do not act as an adult how you act when you are 2 or 8 or 13. I know that is not always our experience; but the idea is that you grow and mature as time goes on.

When our children are young, we have to do everything for them; and we make their decisions for them, for their own safety. But, as they grow older, they must learn to make decisions on their own; and we trust, continue to make good decisions. The same process happens spiritually. A new believer who has just been born again is fully dependent on others for spiritual growth. This baby in Christ counts on her pastor or others to guide her about what the Bible says and how to grow. But, at some point, the new believer will need to depend less and less on an outside source and instead, find out what she personally believes and why.

As last week, with each stage, we are considering some basic ways to grow in knowledge and to grow in grace. Let’s begin with Growing in Knowledge. In this stage of growth: built up in Him, a believer is:
· Learning personal Bible study

There must come a time when you no longer are completely dependent on a pastor or Bible scholar to study the Bible. But, instead, a growing believer will be able to read the Bible, study it on his own, interpret it and apply it. This does not mean that he can do all of this without useful Bible study tools; but it does mean that he can study the Scriptures on His own, without depending on some authoritative group to tell Him what the Bible says.

II Timothy 2:15 – “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

“rightly handling the word of truth.” Is this really that important? Does it really matter that you, personally, can explain the major teachings of the Scriptures and be able to recognize what is not true? Why can’t we just depend on some teacher or pastor for all of our beliefs?

[go to pulpit] - Please turn in your Bible to John 10. In the Bible in front of you, it is page 930 or 951.

Listen very carefully. Let’s talk about Bible doctrine. Let’s talk about what is clear in the Bible that you should believe. Ready? Are you listening?
There is only one God – only one. And the Bible tells us clearly who that is:

Psalm 83:18 – “Thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.” (King James Version)

It is obvious that the only name for God is Jehovah. All other names are false. The Bible says here that is name alone is Jehovah.

Some of you may be thinking: what about Jesus Christ? Well, what does the Bible say? Look at:

John 10:36 – “Do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, You are blaspheming because I said, I am the Son of God?”

Clearly, this verse has Jesus telling the others that He is not claiming to be God, just the Son of God. Don’t you see it? Please turn over to chapter 14.

John 14:28 – “You heard me say to you, I am going away, and I will come to you. If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.”

Did you see that? Jesus said, God the Father is better than I am. So, this proves not only that God and Jesus are not the same person, but that God is greater than Jesus.

In fact, the Bible tells us where Jesus came from:

Colossians 1:15 – “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

He was born. He was created, just like the other creations; and is therefore subordinate to God. Who is Jesus?

Revelation 1:5 – “And from Jesus Christ the faithful witness…”
Jesus Christ is simply a witness, telling others about the one and only true God: JEHOVAH. And not only that, but all true believers are described in this way:

Isaiah 43:10 – “You are my witnesses, declares the LORD [Jehovah]…”

We are all supposed to be Jehovah’s witnesses! And don’t forget what the Bible says in Acts 28:22 – “We want to hear what you believe, for the only thing we know about these Christians is that they are denounced everywhere!” (Living Bible)

So, if we are true Christians, then we will be denounced in all places. And all kinds of people denounce we, who are Jehovah’s witnesses!

[back to the stool] – Are you confused? I hope not. After telling you to listen carefully, I have given you false information. Yes, I used the Bible and did not make up verses; but I used those verses out of context and in a way that proved my particular point – the points of arguments from those who are Jehovah’s Witnesses. You see, when they come knocking on the door of a new believer or someone who is lives like a new believer, they talk and act like true Christians. In fact, this cult and many others have great smiles, are very friendly, and talk about being true Christians, saved by grace through faith! But, their doctrine reveals the truth: they do not accept Jesus Christ for who He truly is, and they believe you must earn your way to eternal life. Very tricky, very deceptive; and for the person who is not growing in their own knowledge of God’s Word, very confusing and possibly destructive.

You see – you can learn from the Bible that Jesus is God and that doing good works of any kind (including being a part of a religious system) cannot earn you a spot in Heaven.

I did want you to have an example of why it is crucial to study the Bible for yourself; and secondly, under the area of Growing in Knowledge:
· Understanding what to believe and why

Yes, as a child, we are to believe what our parents tell us and teachers tell us, without having to understand or question it. But, as we grow, we must know what WE believe and WHY we believe it. At some point in your spiritual growth, it is not acceptable to answer the question: why do you believe this? In this way: “I believe this because my parents believe it. I believe it because the church constitution says so. I believe it because a television preacher was so convincing!

No, at some point, you need to grow to know what you believe and why, based on the Scriptures, in their context. Yes, good teachers and pastors are important to guide us, but your faith and the reasons for your faith must become your own. Why do many young people graduate from high school and leave the church and their faith? I have read statistics that say that around 80% of all high school Christian kids in America abandon their faith within four years of graduating high school. Why? Because, in most cases, it was their parents faith, their pastor and church’s faith, their friends’ faith; and not their own. This is the sign of an immature believer that has not grown past the first stage of spiritual development. What are you doing to grow in this area?

[back to the pulpit] – Please turn in your Bible to I Corinthians 11. In the Bible in front of you, it is page 994 or 1019.

Let’s talk about some of the most simple, clearest teachings of the Bible that you will ever see:

Deuteronomy 22:5 – “A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.”

It’s pretty clear, isn’t it? A woman who wears pants at any time, which is of course a man’s garment, is sinning against God! There aren’t any women in pants here today are there? What other clear teachings of God’s Word can we find?

Mark 16:16-18 – “Whoever believes and is baptized will be save, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Pretty clear as well isn’t it? You have to be baptized to be saved; and whoever is truly saved will cast out demons, speak in tongues, not get bitten by handling poisonous snakes and drink poison without even getting sick. I trust all of you who claim to be true believers have done these things! Please look at:

I Corinthians 11:6 – “For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head.”

I Corinthians 11:14 – “Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him?”

Obvious, isn’t it? A woman is to have long hair and, in church, to have her head covered. And a man should not have long hair that touches the ears.
Last one: turn to chapter 14. This is my favorite command of the Bible – very clear command, by the way.

I Corinthians 14:34, 35 – “The women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.”

Crystal clear, don’t you think? Ladies…in church…SHHHHHHHHH! Don’t talk!

Please turn in your Bible to II Corinthians, one book over, and chapter 9.

[back to stool] – Hopefully, you figured out very quickly on this one that I don’t believe everything I just said behind the pulpit. But, believe me, there are individuals and churches that teach those very things, using the very verses that I used. If you do not know how to study the Bible on your own, and know what you believe and why… If you do not know how to interpret the Bible as the writers wrote them, in their historical, grammatical, historical context, you are going to come up with all kinds of beliefs that are not taught in the message of the Word of God. And sadly, what happens is that people not only believe these things but they teach them as truth to others and condemn those who don’t follow.

Growing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ is not something that happens automatically or easily. It is a constant process. What are you doing to increase your knowledge of truth and application of it?

Now, let’s move on to Growing in Grace in this second stage of discipleship. There are a few things that seem to fit very well into this area. The first one to consider is:
· Giving

VIDEO: The Offering Plate

Although many people struggle with hearing about the area of giving, it is evident in Scripture that God asks us to give. Certainly a new believer may start giving right away; but we placed this in the second stage of discipleship, because it may be one of those things that needs to be taught and considered by someone who is pretty new to Christianity before they are ready to participate. But, at some point in spiritual development, giving to God through the local church and giving more offerings on top of that should become a regular part of that person’s worship.

There are a few key principles to consider in your giving, taken from:
II Corinthians 9:6-8 – “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”

A few simple principles the growing believer needs to apply in giving:
1. Voluntarily -For the growing believer, he gives not because he has to, but because he wants to
2. Joyfully – The growing believer is not thinking about all the things he can’t buy because he gives; but instead thinks of how awesome it is that he can be a part of the ministry God is doing by simply giving back to God some of the money that came from God in the first place!
3. With contentment – Paul reminded them that God would provide all their needs as they gave and that giving generously was the path of blessing. The growing believer truly knows that God is good and that He will have everything that he needs. So then, he is able to be content with what he has and be willing to give as God leads in his heart.

Yes, giving would be a sign that a believer is growing in grace. What else?
· Serving

Again, the picture of growing children comes to my mind. When they are babies, we as parents do everything for them. But, as they grow, they begin to have responsibilities, jobs, chores in the context of the family at the home. As they grow, those responsibilities grow. They are not just beneficiaries of the parents hard work, but they are a part of the family, which includes serving.

The same goes for the church. Certainly, there is a time where someone new to faith basically enjoys the ministry and service of others, pretty much as a consumer. They receive ministry from others. They come to church, enjoy the music, the testimonies, the friends, the teaching (hopefully) and all the other benefits of ministry. But, at some point, the maturing, growing believer begins to be a giver of themselves, serving God and others through the local church, rather than just receiving.

I Peter 4:10 – “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”

God has gifted each of you, but not for your own benefit. He has gifted you so that you can give your service to God and others, beginning right here at Grace. At the end of the passage we read earlier, it says:

Ephesians 4:16 – “From whom [Christ] the whole body (the church), joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part [every individual believer] is working properly, make the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

When you get involved in serving, in order to build up others, then you are helping us accomplish what pleases God – every part of the body of Christ serving together for His glory! I know that there are a lot of reasons not to get involved in ministry: no desire to be committed to the church, too many other activities with the family, too tired, don’t feel qualified, too busy, don’t feel needed, and the list goes on. But, let me just tell you, as one of the leaders here at Grace, representing all the other leaders, I am sure, when I tell you this: You are needed. You are valuable. We need your help. We will find a place of ministry for you. You will enhance this ministry for the glory of God! Don’t let circumstances or any other excuse keep you from helping to build the body of Christ.


Here are some principles for considering how to get involved in ministry:
1. Pray continually about your willingness to serve and your desire to serve as it would please Him
2. Determine what kinds of things you love to do and with what groups of people you love working with
3. Answer the question: If you could do anything in ministry and money were not a problem, what would it be?
4. Ask a pastor or ministry team leader for help to figure out where you could be a good fit for ministry at this time
5. Just volunteer, get involved, and let God lead you to a good ministry fit, temporarily or for the long term

My best advice to people who aren’t quite sure how they are gifted or where they serve is simply this: Start serving. God is powerful and wise enough to take your willingness and put you in the right ministry at the right time. If you start serving, we will be a church that honors God more than we are without you serving. Are you ready?

We value those who serve here at Grace. One way we do that is to have a special lunch and afternoon program in which we honor EVERY PERSON who serves in any capacity here in this ministry. That special day is coming up and we want all of you to involved in it, whether you currently serve here or not. On Sunday, February 10th, immediately following the morning service, we will have a lunch for everyone who signs up; and then a program here in the worship center that honors all who serve. Please sign up on your bulletin tab today and plan to be a part of that.

The final part of Growing in Grace that I want to mention this morning is:
· Applying truth to life

A growing believer not only is taking in a lot of truth, in church and in her own personal study, but is taking what she hears and working to apply the truths to daily living. This is the SO WHAT question that I many times will give you near the end or throughout one of my messages. Content and knowledge building is great. But, in order to grow in grace, we must make the truths of God’s Word a part of our living experience. The Bible says this: SO WHAT does this have to do with my life today?

James 1:22 – “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

I have seen many believers around the country think that they have gotten to a certain level of spiritual maturity, so that they can simply listen to the truth and perhaps build on their already impressive knowledge of God’s Word. People like this don’t think they really have much growing left to do; so they are not constantly asking SO WHAT questions of themselves. They sit, they listen, they discuss whether or not they liked the message; and they live their own lives, untouched, unmoved, unchanged by the truth. Don’t let that happen to you. A growing believer is constantly thinking about how to apply the truths of the Word of God to real life. It is the key to being built up in Christ.

So, with each of these stages in this discipleship process, we need to answer this question: What is the one ministry that can be emphasized here at Grace, that will help people in this stage of development to grow into more fully committed followers of Christ? Yes, there may be other ministries that can help with this area, but we believe we need to make this as simple as possible: one ministry emphasis per area of spiritual development. In this stage of the process, we believe that one ministry is: Sunday school

We go from the large group setting of the morning worship service, where we have a variety of ages and stages of spiritual development to a smaller, mid-size group, with people normally of the same stage of life meeting together. There is a teacher-student type of relationship, with learning God’s Word as the goal. Not only that, it is the teacher’s responsibility not just to dump tons of information on those who attend, but to engage them in the topic under study and to challenge them to apply what they are learning. This is true for all age levels.

We think that those desiring to grow in Christ could benefit from interacting with others in a Bible learning environment such as Sunday school. We want to make our Sunday school ministry the most effective for everyone involved that it can be. This is one of the reasons why every other quarter, we offer adult Sunday school electives. Not only do people have the opportunity to interact with others who are not normally in their class, but they may also be exposed to different teachers. However, the real advantage of electives is the opportunity it affords us to handpick the themes and topics that can enhance spiritual development at this stage. Normally, in our electives, we offer a book of the Bible study, a doctrinal theme study, a Christian living study, and a women’s only class study. Our new quarter of electives begins the first Sunday in March.

We want to continually be evaluating and looking into how this ministry emphasis can help others continue to grow to be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

How can you grow in your commitment to being a growing disciple of Jesus Christ?

I have listed some resources on the back of your outline that might be of help to you.

Resources:

Living By the Book – Howard and William Hendricks
Know What You Believe – Paul Little
Know Why You Believe – Paul Little
The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict – Josh McDowell

Let's pray.

Bible Reading

In Matthew 14, we have the account of the feeding of the 5,000, which was probably much greater than that number. It is interesting that when the disciples came to Jesus with the problem of having so many hungry people, that He said to them: "YOu go feed them." He was probably teaching them that they are not sufficient in themselves and that He was needed for them to accomplish anything. However, He was also teaching them, that through Him, they could do great things. And He did use them to give out the bread and fish. It is also recorded that 12 baskets of bread were collected after everyone was full. The text doesn't tell us this, but it seems to me that Jesus was making a point with His disciples, with one basket of bread being left over for each disciple. See what God can do.

The next story given has to do with the disciples out on rough waters in a storm and Jesus walking by them on the water! They were terrified of Him, thinking He was a ghost! Then, when Jesus got in the boat and calm the storm, they were completely amazed. In the same account in Mark, we read this: "They did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened."

This gives us insight into the story in Matthew 14. They should have learned from their experience with the feeding of the 5,000 that God can do anything. Walking on the water and calming the storm should not have been a surprise, but just an additional proof of the fact that Jesus was God and that they could fully trust Him. But, instead, their hearts were hardened. They didn't lean what they could have with the previous miracle. They also should have known that God could do through them what they could not do on their own. At least Peter had the courage to step out and walk on the water when Jesus told Him he could. But, like all of us, he quickly doubted and began to sank, crying out for Jesus to rescue Him.

This is no different than the lives we live today. We must struggle daily to know who God is and fully trust Him. We must guard against having a hardened heart that lives in fear and doubt. And as led, we must step out in faith, not seeing the path ahead, but trusting that God will guide us and do through us what we could not do on our own.

ROOTED IN CHRIST

Last week, in my message, I laid the foundation for the commitment Jesus Christ asked for from those who wanted to follow Him. I am following that message up with four more messages that take a look at a discipleship process that every individual can use for self evaluation and our church can use to evaluate our ministries as it relates to helping people become more fully devoted followers of Christ.

This first message of the four, Rooted in Christ, deals with the first stage of spiritual growth, pictured as a tree that needs to develop a strong root system. It is geared for new believers, those living like new believers, and yet encourages mature Christians to remember the importance of these foundational steps.

By the way, where it says Video: A Week in the Life of a Neglected Bible, you can view this at sermonspice.com Just search for this video and see a free preview of it.

Since you are reading this, you are not able to see what went on. I began the message dressed in First Century attire and acting the part of the synogogue ruler, Crispus, who was baptized by the Apostle Paul. Then, I went to change while Steve, our associate pastor, read passages from Colossians. I then returned, dressed a little more casually than normal, sitting on a bar stool. I wanted to bring across a little less formal atmosphere for these discipleship messages.

ROOTED IN CHRIST

Please turn in your Bible to Colossians 1. In the Bible in front of you, it is page 1019 or 1045.

Good morning. Greg is running a little late, so he asked me to begin the message time. Hope you don’t mind. My name is Crispus. In case you don’t know who I am, let me tell you a little about myself. I lived over 2,000 years ago; and I am very humbled and privileged to know that I made it into THE BOOK – The Bible! And I’m not just mentioned once in the Bible, like many people, but twice! Don’t believe me? Let me prove it to you.

I Corinthians 1:14: “I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius.”
Ah Ha! There it is! This Bible thing is so cool. When I was alive, we had just part of the Bible, what you call the Old Testament. It was great and everything, but you are so blessed to have the whole entire Bible. You get the chance to read the very Word of God anytime you desire. I bet you can never get enough of it. The New Testament is great because it gives you the specifics of the time in which I lived. It tells you about Jesus’ birth, life and death. If I were alive today, I would read this book every day, as though my life depended on it. Well, actually, your life does depend on the truths found in the Bible, doesn’t it?

You may have noticed that the verse mentioned about me in I Corinthians was connected with the issue of baptism. I have heard, that in the past 2,000 years, this idea of baptism has gone through quite a few changes. There are a lot of different ideas out there about it. For a few minutes, I just want to share my personal testimony with you.
You saw the passage about my baptism. I will get back to that. Let me take you, first, to the most important decision and experience in my life. It is mentioned in the other verse of Scripture, where you can find me.

Acts 18:8: “Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord…”
As this verse mentions, I was a ruler in the synagogue. I was a leader. I was highly religious. I knew the Old Testament! I went to church every day. I had tremendous influence. I had life figured out. But like many in America, in 2008, I was religious, but not a Christian, a follower of Christ. I was religious, but had no real relationship with God. I was worshipping God on my own terms. The major problem was, that up until the Apostle Paul walked in my door, I had rejected the message God sent me: the message about Jesus.
You have so many religions around today, its unbelievable. But, you know what I notice about them? There is one noticeable difference between what I would call true Christianity and every other world religion. The difference concerns what you believe about Jesus. It is the single fact that turned my life around 2,000 years ago.

A few verses before I am mentioned in Acts, you see the message that Paul delivered to me. It is in Acts 18:4,5:
“And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade…testifying…that the Christ was Jesus.”

Christ means Messiah; Savior. For many years, we were looking for what the Old Testament described as the Messiah. He would come to save His people from their sins. Understand something. We knew this Jesus guy. He was a carpenter’s son from Nazareth. The joke was, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” That town was notorious for being a place of “good for nothings”. So, over a 3 year period of time, this Jesus was claiming to be the Son of God. He was really claiming to be God Himself, who became man. That is why people, especially us religious types, wanted to stone Him to death. We knew, from the Bible, there was only one God; and He was claiming to be God in the flesh, the promised Messiah from the Old Testament.

This was the message that Paul delivered to me. And like most people who finally believe the simple message about Jesus, it just happened this one day. All of my defenses came down, and I simply believed the truth. Jesus was who he said he was. He was God, who became man in order to die for my sins. He rose again the third day, and offers me the free gift of eternal life. And that day, I decided to become a follower of Jesus Christ. And let me just encourage you, no matter how religious you are or how much you say you love God – if you have never trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation and have given your life to Him – do it today!

Perhaps you noticed in acts 18:8 that it says that I believed in the Lord. Then, it says that many believed in the Lord and were baptized. Have you been baptized? I realize that in 2008 America, there are many misunderstandings about baptism. Some people, I hear, teach that you have to be baptized to be saved. But, I can tell you, having been there when this baptism thing first started, that they were two completely separate things.

Just for one example, you see it as two separate actions in:
Acts 8:12 – “But when they believed [the]…good news about…Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”

If they were the same thing, then Jesus would have baptized, but we read in:
John 4:1,2: “Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples).”

Jesus did not baptize. We already read in I Corinthians 1 that Paul rarely baptized, and yet his life mission was to see people saved. Baptism follows salvation. Granted, the decision to be saved and baptism usually happened right after one another 2,000 years ago. You see, we understood what baptism was all about back then. Once we trusted in Christ, we knew that our faith had to be declared by identifying with Jesus Christ through baptism.
His disciples baptized because it was what Jesus had commanded in:
Matthew 28:19 – “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

We didn’t have to wait to understand baptism. We knew that once we publicly declared our faith by being baptized, we were risking everything. We might lose the support of our family and friends, who would see our baptism as turning our backs on the religion they raised us in. We might lose our jobs, having employers that hated the Christ we were identifying with. And we also knew that is was possible, because of our identification with Jesus Christ, that we might lose our lives. We did it because Jesus had saved us. We did it out of obedience to His command. And I am not ashamed that I did.

So, why haven’t you been baptized yet? Is it because you are afraid of going under the water? Is it because you were baptized as a baby and don’t want to offend your family? Is it because you have physical limitations? Or, is what I have heard from American pastors to be the number one reason people don’t want to get baptized? Because you are afraid to get up in front of other people. I know what you mean. I was terrified myself. But, you know what made the difference for me? And I really do think it was easier for us to overcome this fear 2,000 years ago. When I thought of the love of God for me, that He would send Jesus Christ to save me from my sins; and when I saw how people had treated Jesus and yet He loved them anyway – I decided that the fear I had of water and of public speaking was nothing compared to what Jesus Christ did for me. Please consider this important step.
It was nice to meet all of you and thanks for listening to my testimony.

Steve Strong: I am reading from Colossians 1, beginning in verse 3. Not only do these verses introduce what Greg will be talking about this morning, but they also reflect the heart Greg and I have for each of you in the area of spiritual growth and discipleship.

Colossians 1:3-6 – “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing – as it also does among you, since the day you hear it and understood the grace of God in truth.”

Colossians 1:9-23 – “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

Colossians 1:27-29 – “To them God chose to make known how great among te Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning, everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”

Colossians 2:1-10– “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have no seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in who are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”

Greg: Over these next four weeks, I want to talk to you about something very personal, and yet it is something that we must talk about as an entire church. Therefore, instead of preaching at you from behind a pulpit, I am talking with you in our living room – a very large living room! I want you not just to hear my words, but hear my heart. I asked Steve to read this passage of Scripture to you because, within it, in the prayers and desires of Paul for the people he ministered to, lies the same prayers and desires Steve and I have for all of you when it comes to spiritual growth.

Last week, we explored what Jesus did when He called people to Himself. It was not His desire that people would repeat a prayer after someone so that they could stay out of Hell and then live their lives as they saw fit. Jesus was here to make disciples. He was here to call followers. He said: Follow Me. I think His expectations are the same today of anyone who claims to be a Christian. Are you a follower of Christ? You prayed a prayer? Great. Are you a follower of Christ? You are a member of Baptist church – wonderful. Are you a follower of Christ? Once you can say: Yes, I am a follower of Christ. Sinful, failing often, struggling, but a follower, nonetheless. Then, we can talk about how to grow in that discipleship and how we as a church can help.

At the very beginning here, I must be clear about something. Discipleship is about becoming a more fully devoted follower of Christ. It is not about a list of rules. It is not about do’s and don’ts. However, in order to be a more fully devoted follower of Christ, He asks us to do certain things and not do certain things. The things we are going to emphasize are the things that God emphasizes in His Word. Many individuals and churches emphasize a list of rules that God does not. We want to concentrate on what He tells us about becoming a more fully devoted follower.

As you may know, we have chosen a church theme taken from:
II Peter 3:18 – “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

For the glory of God, we desire to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Growing in grace is not about legalistic rules. It is about pursuing the truths and application of God’s truths in the midst of His underserving favor (grace). We have tried to give some concepts of what it means to grow in grace, and I would like to remind you of those now:

GROW IN GRACE

1. Serve God for who He is and what He has done, not because you want to gain his acceptance through good works.

2. Live for God out of love and thankfulness, rather than guilt and duty.

3. Believe in biblical absolutes, but reject attempts to legislate the Christian life through human rules.

4. Accept people at their current level of spiritual development and encourage them to grow in an atmosphere of grace.

5. Commit to honesty and transparency, which models love and acceptance.

6. Place the emphasis on inner motivations rather than outward behaviors.

7. Refuse to deny or minimize the pain that comes into your life as a result of your sin or the sins of others. Allow the pain to draw you to God.

8. Learn to forgive others as Jesus did, and point people, who do not know Him, to the God of grace.

9. Understand the biblical commands as describing the life befitting a Christian already accepted by God, not as laws that bring you more merit with God.

10. View your pain, in any form or area of life, as a way for God’s power to be shown in your life and for God to grow you.

We now want to take this a few steps further. We want to introduce you to one process, one way of looking at our spiritual growth.

As Steve was reading from Colossians, I wonder if you caught some key themes in those verses:
· Your faith in Christ (1:4)
· The gospel is bearing fruit, growing among you (1:6)
· You understood the grace of God in truth (1:6)
· Be filled with the knowledge of His will (1:9)
· So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (1:10)
· In Christ, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (1:14)
· Continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting (1:23)
· Christ in you, the hope of glory (1:27)
· Teaching everyone, that we present everyone mature in Christ (1:28)
· To reach the riches of full assurance (2:2)
· See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, and not according to Christ (2:8)

These verses emphasize growth – spiritual growth. There is being assured of your salvation, understanding the truth, not being swayed by false teaching, continuing to grow in faith, becoming mature in Christ, walking with Christ and bearing fruit for Christ.

There are tons of spiritual growth analogies given in the Scriptures. But, the one Steve and I have chosen to challenge and encourage you with is the picture of a growing tree. And the very first thing that must be emphasized is the root system. I don’t know much at all about trees, but I’m pretty sure of this one. The root system is key to any tree that wants to last and wants to grow. It is the first major emphasis in the Christian’s life – being rooted in Christ.
And the theme verses we are using to describe stages of growth in discipleship gives us the picture of a growing tree. Come back to:

Colossians 2:6,7 – “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

We are using the phrases from these verses, in the midst of this entire passage in Colossians that speaks to spiritual growth, to describe a process. It is not a perfect process, but it is a process. This will allow each of us to do some evaluating. And it will allow our church to order our ministries around a discipleship process. We believe God has called every person and church to the Great Commission commandment in Matthew 28:19,20. And the basic command in those verses is: Make Disciples. That is what we must be about. So, a process of discipleship in the church is our focus for these weeks.

In verses 6,7 of Colossians 2, He makes it clear that the people He is talking to have already been saved. The discipleship process has begun. He is encouraging them to walk with Jesus Christ, their master, throughout life. And as they take steps of faith with Christ, the picture of trees are used for spiritual growth. And being rooted in Christ is the first stage of this growth. The seed has been planted, it has taken root in our hearts and we have come to Christ. Now, our first priority, as a Christian, is to be firmly and deeply rooted in Christ.

We would like to suggest, before we close this morning, of a few simple ways to be rooted in Him. And we would like to use the idea from our church theme verse in II Peter 3:18 – Growing in grace and knowledge to consider the first steps of growth. If you have been a Christian for a long time and already have these qualities, then you can concentrate on how to continue in these as a mature believer and how to pass them on to someone else.

Please turn in your Bible to Psalm 1. In the Bible in front of you, it is page 467 or 481.

Let’s begin with an attitude. The new believer and growing believer are filled with joy about Christ has done for them and they are excited to talk to others about it.
Let’s look at one story that illustrates this:

Matthew 9:27-31 – “And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David.’ When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then he touched their eyes, saying, ‘according to your faith be it done to you.’ And their eyes were opened…they went away and spread his fame through all that district.”

These men had a need. They were blind; but they also came to believe that there was one man who could heal them. They knew they deserved to be blind and much worse for their sins. But, they asked for mercy from the Son of David, demonstrating that they believed He was the promised coming Messiah. Their belief in who He was and what He could do led Jesus to say that because of their faith, they were healed.

In a spiritual sense, all of us who have come to Christ, were blind and now we see. It is a miracle of the heart, that God the Holy Spirit performs on all those who trust in Him for salvation. But, what I want you to notice the most from this incident is the natural response of what these formerly blind men did. As soon as they were healed, they didn’t go watch movies, enjoying their new eyesight. They went away and spread his (Jesus Christ’s) fame throughout the entire area.

This is a natural characteristic of a new believer, who understands what a change Jesus Christ has made and the fact that they have gone from death to life and from a spiritual blindness to being able to see clearly. That person will tell other people. He just can’t help it. Have you been around a new believer who gets this? He wants other people to know. He will talk about Christ even if it means receiving strange looks or critical remarks or worse.

If you have never been excited about what Jesus has done for you, enough to tell someone else, you need to evaluate your heart attitude. If you know for sure that you have this personal relationship with Jesus, then perhaps, you need to try and fill your mind and heart with the truths of who you are in Christ. Let me give you just a sampling from the book: Bondage Breaker by Neil Anderson. Say these out loud with me:

IN CHRIST:
· I am God’s child (John 1:12)
· I am Christ’s friend (John 15:15)
· I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
· I have been bought with a price – I belong to God (I Corinthians 12:27)
· I am a saint (Ephesians 1:1)
· I have been adopted as God’s child (Ephesians 1:5)
· I have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:18)
· I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins (Colossians 1:14)
· I am complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10)
· I am free from condemnation (Romans 8:1,2)
· I am assured that all things work together for good (Romans 8:28)
· I am free from any condemning charges against me (Romans 8:31-34)
· I cannot be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39)
· I have been established, anointed, and sealed by God
(II Corinthians 1:21,22)
· I am confident that the good work that God has begun in me will be perfected (Philippians 1:6)
· I am a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20)
· I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind
(II Timothy 1:7)
· I can find grace and mercy in time of need (Hebrews 4:16)

Meditate on those truths and see if you can’t get excited about what God has done for you – to the point that you want to share it with others you love. This is a natural sign of someone who is growing in Christ. It is harder for those of us who were saved at an early age or who have been saved for many, many years. But, there is no excuse for not having the joy that comes with being saved from our sins and the desire to talk about it!

In this very first stage of spiritual growth, being rooted in Christ, there is some growing in knowledge to do. Knowledge is not good if it puffs up and stays in our brains. But, knowledge applied to life is what makes a good, growing disciple of Christ. The first part of growing in knowledge here is:
· Learning basic truths

There are some very basic truths the Bible tells us we need to know in the first stages of growing in Christ. But, we should not think too simple here. Listen to:

Hebrews 6:1-3 – “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.”

Those don’t necessarily sound like elementary, basic truths, but they are. And if you are willing to admit that you don’t know everything about what is listed here, then you have some growing in knowledge to do. The other key issue in this stage of being rooted in Christ, when it comes to growing in knowledge is:
· Having assurance of salvation

I John 5:13 – “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Yes, it is possible to know for sure you have salvation. But, unfortunately, many people who are weak in their faith, fail and sin, and then are not quite sure if they are saved or not. The growing disciple of Christ will learn what it means to be assured of salvation, and that will be a key foundation as they continue to grow.

Now, let’s think about growing in grace in this stage. Although these are some things to do, they are not to be done in a ritualistic, legalistic way. They are to be done in the grace of God:
· Reading the Bible

Psalm 1:1-3 – “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

We are not to spend our time being influenced by the world’s philosophy and those who have bought into it. Instead, what are we to delight in? The law of the LORD – that is, the Bible.And did you notice what happens to the one who meditates on the truths of God’s Word? He is pictured as a tree, that is planted and brings forth fruit! That is what we want for our lives – it begins with being rooted in Christ through His Word.

If you read the Bible, does that guarantee that you are a fully devoted follower of Christ? Of course not! But I can guarantee you this. If you don’t read the Bible, you cannot be a fully devoted follower of Christ. Why not? Because this is not about a duty or another thing on a list of dos – I have to read my Bible; but this is about relationship. Think of your Bible as God’s love letter to you, His instruction guide for your life, and His primary way of communicating with you today.

Video: Week in the Life of a neglected Bible

It is of course, not just the single guy, who might go a full week without reading His bible, except for taking it to church. But, we all know how the media, friends, personal hobbies and fun, children, can take the place of spending time listening to and learning from God in His Word. It can happen to all of us. And don’t think of this as another rule to keep: I have to read my Bible.

See it as it is: the opportunity to grow in the most important relationship you will ever have. This is about your personal relationship with God, and the letter He has written to you, by which you will not only get to know Him better, but also know what He desires for your life.

There are all kinds of great resources and devotional materials out there. But, I must tell you, that I believe the best thing a new believer can do, the best thing any growing believer can do is to simply read the Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to use it to change us. Just read it.

Out on the welcome center table, there have been Bible reading schedules if you would like to follow one. On my blog, gregshalftime.gbcwestlake.org, there is the same schedule on the right side of the page. I also will be commenting on my own perception and application of those readings a couple times a week. This is a place to start. If you simply cannot take the 15-20 minutes it would take to read through the Bible in one year, then just start with reading for 5 minutes and move up from there.

Another aspect of growing in grace is:
· Prayer

It is through the Bible that God speaks to us, and it is through prayer that we talk to God. Many people from a variety of religious backgrounds learned the Lord’s Prayer growing up:

Matthew 6:9-13 – “Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Let’s keep this very simple. In this example prayer that Jesus gave His followers, there are a few main areas that can guide us in prayer. One simple acrostic you can use, in order to pray about the things God has asked of us is the word ACTS. Many of you have seen this and used it, but I offer it as a resource for those of you who may need something to guide you in your prayer time:

Adoration – spend some time praising God for who He is – His qualities and characteristics
Confession – Spend some time agreeing with God about your sins and failures
Thanksgiving – spend some time thanking God for all He has done
Supplication – Ask God for what you want Him to do in your life and in the lives of others

If you just use this simple acrostic, you will find that time passes quickly and before you know it, you have spent many minutes just talking to God. And please keep in mind, that at its foundation, that is what prayer is: talking to God. Anyone can do it. You can do it. And if you claim to be a follower of Christ, it is crucial to talk to God if you are going to grow in grace.

The final area we want to touch in growing in grace is that of:
· Baptism

Crispus covered that pretty well, so the only thing I will say is this: Since baptism is a command of God and a sign of submission and identification to Christ, it is important that every person who claims to be a follower of Christ is baptized. Yes, even if you are scared of water, were baptized as a baby or are terrified of people seeing and hearing you give your testimony. You can do it – with God’s help. And if you have interest in that, all you have to do is tell me, and I will walk you through the process.

With each of these stages of spiritual growth, we also want to consider one church ministry emphasis that can be utilized in helping people grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. For Grace Baptist Church, our ministry emphasis for this area is our: Sunday morning worship service. This service is the main entry point for people who are new to Grace, including those who are non-believers and new believers.

Our services have non-believers in them, but we do not gear everything we do toward them. Our services have people who have been saved for many many years and are spiritually mature in Christ. They will benefit from our services but we do not gear our services for those who already know all the Bible stories and the details of deep doctrine. Our services have all kinds of different people attending. We have children who are 8 or 9 up through adults who are pushing their 90’s. We have people who have not yet come to faith in Christ and those who have been walking closely with Him for 50 years.

Therefore, I gear my messages, and we want to gear our services for those who are fairly new to the faith so that all of us can benefit. I try to speak in a way that can be easily understood and we emphasis application of biblical truth. We try not to assume that you already know everything about the Bible and Christianity, so we focus on the simple truths that are beneficial to everyone. Even if you are mature in Christ, you have the opportunity in the morning service to worship God in many ways and continue to grow in Him.

Is there a step you need to take from this stage of spiritual growth? Would you like some help? Let us know how we can pray for you and encourage you in your growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I Must Be Super Spiritual

A few people (possibly the only people) who have read my blog have mentioned to me that they noticed I was writing at 1 or 2 or later in the morning. It may have seemed as though I had either stayed up extra late or gotten up extremely early to study God's Word, pray and submit my journal writing (blog) for the day. I suppose if someone found out that I had written a blog about my devotional time, at 2:30 or 3 in the morning, they might even get the idea that I was so devoted to God, that I would get up that early to spend time with Him.

Truth is: I have not blogged at these times ever. For some reason, even though my computer screen tells me the correct time, when I blog, it records a comletely different time. Not sure why. So, this gives me the opportunity to look like I am rising early in the morning to spend time with God, when, in reality, I am in deep sleep, dreaming of chocolate cake. What a deal!

I know the temptation there is in life to be concerned about what others think of me - good or bad. And I know of people who will say or do things (me included) that are meant to give a good impression, when the reality of life is much different. There is also a lesson for me here about perceptions. What I perceive about circumstances or people is not always reality either. Things are not always as they seem.

So, if any of you thought I was super spiritual man for spending all night in prayer, you now know the truth. Lord, help me to be transparent, real, and honest, about where I am with you and where I want to be!