Sermon Tone Analysis

Title: Spiritual People

Imagine if someone came to you promising that you could maintain your lifestyle eat anything you want not exercise by only taking a pill would you buy it?

What if they said you could achieve a healthy and fit body by only spending about 1 hour a week thinking about exercise?

How does this relate to our spiritual lives?

Imagine if someone came to you promising that you could maintain your lifestyle eat anything you want not exercise by only taking a pill would you buy it?

What if they said you could achieve a healthy and fit body by only spending about 1 hour a week thinking about exercise?

Have you ever had the thought it’s time to get into shape?

Being unhealthy is a multifaceted thing and usually cannot be overcome by pills, or fad diets, or gym memberships.

I actually bought a book called the one minute workout because that is my biggest excuse for not working out, time.

I don’t know if you have ever heard of the ROM exercise machine, it advertises a full body 4 minute workout.

All you need to do is work out 4 minutes a day and get into incredible shape.

Even the First lady made it a national conversation for the sake of our kids growing up in an increasing obese society.

We are all looking for the miracle pill which would change our bodies.

We sort of know that an unhealthy diet, which is part of an unhealthy lifestyle will not be cured by a magic pill or a 4 minute workout.

The conversation has even shifted from weight loss to health, weight loss is a short sighted goal in fact we understand that the goal is not a weight but a healthy lifestyle and weight is a by product.

The problem is not that we don’t know that, in fact being told that is just condemnation.

We need something more guilt and condemnation only lead to death.

We need a different motivation and message.

Spiritual health, strength and growth are akin to physical growth in fact they are a clue to help us understand what Spiritual maturity looks like.

Jesus when confronted with his own physical hunger is tempted by the enemy to use a miracle to turn stones into bread.

He answers, quoting Moses, man does not live by Bread alone but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God.

Here he demonstrates the Spiritual maturity we are called to as a Church, and as the Family of God.

Now go back to my initial question, what if a pastor, or spiritual leader told you that you could have a healthy spiritual life by only thinking about God about one hour a week?

Or you went to a marriage counselor who shared that a healthy marriage relationship could be maintained by spending one hour a week with your Spouse?

See where we are going?

This is a recipe for a moribund spiritual life, spiritual immaturity or unhealth.

Harambee this is not what God has called us to.

He intends for us to have new life, an eternal life, life in the spirit.

Jesus went through everything he did not so that we could retain our way of life and tack on religious habits, but to give new life.

This new life is founded on spiritual blessings, and God’s plans.

Having been raised to new life we now no longer walk in the deadness of our sins rather we walk in the Spirit having been given God’s empowering presence.

Having been blessed with knowledge of the Good news of Jesus, given a place in God’s family guaranteed by His Spirit we now have a purpose God’s purpose that we would praise and glorfiy him in our lives, this is Spiritual Maturity a process of ongoing spiritual growth, a Spiritual walk.

When I use the term Spiritual maturity what do you think of?

How would you define it?

Lets look into the Process of Spiritual Maturity.

Here is what I want to express today.

Full Vision/Mission Statement (What do we see?)

By the grace of God we are a diverse family renewed and reconciled together with God by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our sins.

Because of the love of Jesus we are compelled to share His message of reconciliation and renewal so that everyone in our community would experience the love of Jesus and be empowered to follow Him into eternal life.

Mission Tagline (What are we about?):

Working together for the reconciliation and renewal of all people in Jesus

Life Groups To accomplish our vision Harambee Church regularly Gathers for corporate Worship, and in LIFE groups.

LIFE groups cultivate a discipleship environment by providing authentic community to love one another, experience growth together, and engage in our community.

Vision Outcomes/Values (What does success look like?)

New Birth: Planting seeds of the good news of Jesus Christ to see God bring about new birth in the kingdom of God.

Spiritual Maturity: Teaching people to obey and follow Jesus in the everyday things of life.

Healthy Family: Leveraging godly wisdom, counsel, and instruction for building healthy families and relationships.

Authentic Community: Forming a people marked by unity in truth and love and diversity in expression.

Gospel Saturation: Developing leaders that would go out and start new expressions of God’s church in other places.

Measures:

Multiplication

Community

New Birth

Family

Maturity: Teaching people to obey and follow Jesus in the everyday things of life.

Loving God and loving/serving others.

Measures: Engagement in personal prayer and study.

Repentance.

Gathering attendance.

Giving.

Loving and serving “the least of these” and other needs-based ministry.

Spiritual blessing: God’s plan

Spiritual walk: God’s presence

Spiritual Maturity: God’s purpose

Spiritual blessing: God’s plan

Where does maturity begin?

Does maturity naturally happen or is it guided.

Physical maturation is inevitable, we as humans grow up our bodies get bigger and older.

This physical maturation or growth as we all know does not necessarily mean we also will mature cognitively.

physical maturation requires cognitive maturation, compels it, these are a clue the reality of spiritual maturation.

we plan for the first two, but God has laid plans for the third.

In fact God has a step by Step process built on the foundation of His love worked out in the Gospel.

The Good News is relationship with God is reestablished in our lives through this message which is the power of God to salvation.

God knows us, He has made plans which include us.

this is an echo of the creation story, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

God’s plans are well established and are for our Good.

He has also made a way to know Him.

He has given us Nature: Romans 1:19–20

His True Word: 2 Peter 1:3–4

3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.

These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

God desires a relationship with us, this begins with knowing about God, but is aimed at knowing God.

The path to spiritual maturity starts with God’s power in every spiritual blessing we have recieved because we are united with Christ and we will see is carried on by His Empowering presence.

Paul prays for us:

I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God

This Plan of God blesses us with every spiritual blessing, establishes us as his family and fills us with His presence, The Holy Spirit.

Most importantly for us to understand and pursue is the new community we have been united with.

in Eph 021921

You are members of God’s family.

20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.

And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.

21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.

Spiritual walk: God’s presence

New Living Translation Chapter 1

And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.

14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people.

He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

The spirit brings new life - we are new creations, not at individual organism but are born into a new family our individuality is a gift to the new community united in the Spirit.