Growing in Christ

Growing in Christ  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  38:00
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Expectations of Growth

Embedded in all life
++Desire to grow
++Pathway of growth
Everything grows
++Plant life grows together
++Animal life grows apart

Humanity is different

Man has the capacity
++To grown in community
++To grow in isolation
Man is not limited in this way

God has given him the power to choose.

Deuteronomy 30:19 ESV
19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,
Man can see and know something is wrong and still chose it.

Moses set for all the options

Before you is set
++Life
++Death
++Blessing
++Curse

You have a choice

Joshua 24:15 ESV
15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
God’s way
++Doesn’t always look the best
++Won’t always feel the best

Life will always be filled with choices

Israel is in a new place
++A land promised by God
++A place flowing with milk and honey

Even in this place there are choices

In this land of promise
++There are options apart from God
++You are bringing baggage
++You can still follow the ways of your fathers
Hebrews 3:17–18 ESV
17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?
You can follow them
++That provoked God
++Follow after sin
++That died in the wilderness
++That found no rest

These are those that put there trust in themselves.

They allowed
++There feelings to guide them
++There emotions to lead them
++There own lust directed them
...But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua chose
++Not in behalf of the people
++Not in behalf of the community
++In behalf of himself and his house

This the nature of true growth in Christ.

This growth is first be inward

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Romans 8:1–2 ESV
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
Condemnation is connected
++To the law of sin
++To the law of death
Romans 3:23 ESV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 ESV
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Life is connected to the law of the Spirit

The law of the Spirit
++Brings deliverance
++Brings liberty
++Brings life
John 6:63 ESV
63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

This growth is upward

Colossians 3:1–2 ESV
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Upward growth
++Places God’s desire first
++Seeks to please God
Matthew 6:33 ESV
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 16:18 ESV
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Jesus said
++I determine who you are
++I will build my church
Proverbs 3:5 ESV
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:6 ESV
6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

This growth is outward

James 4:10 ESV
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
1 Peter 5:6 ESV
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
1 Timothy 4:15 ESV
15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.
This growth is
++the most noticeable
++the most public
Outside growth is the most visible
But it is just an illusion apart from inward and upward growth.
John 12:32 ESV
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
Growth is not a destination
Growth is natural process
Growth is in the hands of God
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