July 3, 2005

God’s Helping Hand:
Five Things that Will Help You
Grow in Christlikeness.

Texts: Ephesians 5:1-2; 17-19; Philippians 2:12-13

Introduction:

In the book The Fisherman and His Friends, Louis Albert Banks tells about a man who was spending a summer near the shores of Lake Superior. One day he came upon an old pine that had been blown down by a recent storm. Knowing something about trees, he was intrigued by that huge evergreen lying on the ground. He examined it closely and figured it was at least 250 years old. What impressed him most, however, was what he discovered when he stripped away the bark. It was evident to him that on the day the tree fell it was still growing.

That’s the way it should be in the life of the believer. The years pass and our physical strength declines. The outward person perishes but the inner person should keep on developing—mentally, emotionally, and above all spiritually—until the day we die. In fact, the Word of God is quite clear on the subject of growth. God wants the Church to grow and expects the Church to grow right up until the very end of the age.

Acts 2:46 records that following Pentecost, believers continued to meet together, breaking bread in their homes, praising God, and enjoying the favor of all the people; and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. That is numerical growth through outreach and it is a sign of a healthy, vital church. God expects us to do all we can to reach out with the gospel. That’s why I preach evangelistically, why we present the Passion play, Rainbow Express, York Fair, radio, send mass mailings and support world missions, all so that men and women and boys and girls will come to know Jesus Christ as their personal savior. God expects it. He commands it. “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). But there is another kind of growth God expects of the Church after a person comes into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is growth in Christlikeness: spiritual growth, Christian maturity, and the Scriptures are filled with both expectations and examples of in-growth (growth in Christlikeness). Jesus himself grew in body, person, and spirit: “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). Paul knew that growth in Christlikeness is normal for the believer and brings about changes for the better. “When I was a child I spoke as a child, but when I became a man I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11). Peter exhorted Christians, “Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). It’s a fact. God wants and expects the Church to grow both numerically and spiritually, outgrowth and in-growth, to grow in Christlikeness.

You will be interested to know that your pastoral staff met with me this past week in a retreat setting for 24 hours of vision casting, planning, evaluation, and prayer. And most of the retreat was spent in asking this question: “How can we help the people of Stillmeadow grow in Christlikeness?”

That is our calling, by the way. Paul says in Ephesians 4:1-13, “Christ who gave some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” We want to become God’s helping hand to help you grow in Christlikeness. That is our desire. The big question is, “How? How does one grow in Christlikeness?”

The Word of God is quite clear on this too. It’s as simple as the fingers on your hand. Five things are essential for your spiritual growth—growth in Christlikeness. I will introduce them today and expand on them throughout the summer.

1. Devotion: To grow in Christlikeness, you must spend time with God in prayer, Bible discovery, and praise every day. Jesus wants to meet with you every day. He said: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” If you’re not growing spiritually, chances are you do not have a satisfying, fulfilling devotional life—you are not spending time with the Lord in prayer, Bible discovery, and praise. We give you a devotional guide every quarter called “Come Ye Apart.” We’ve given you a prayer journal and an Advent devotional guide. But we want to do an even better job in helping you grow in Christlikeness through a devotional life.

2. Worship: To grow in Christlikeness, you must enter into at least one weekly, corporate worship experience. Worship is the acknowledgement of the worth-ship of God. We express God’s worth through prayer, praise, and the proclamation of God’s Word through preaching. It is God who calls us into worship. The writer to the Hebrews said, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

3. Discipleship: The Scripture says that we are to make disciples. How did Jesus make disciples? He gathered 12 people together in a small group for the purpose of sharing His words with them, prayer, mutual support, and accountability. This was the Master’s plan, according to Robert Coleman: selection, association, consecration, importation, demonstration, delegation, supervision, and reproduction. That was Jesus’ method and I’m not sure it can be improved upon. We, your pastoral staff, believe every person associated with our church needs to be in a small group, a church within the church, for the purpose of prayer, Bible discussion/learning, community building, and accountability.

4. Witness: Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” Witnessing helps you to grow in Christlikeness. It’s our church’s responsibility to encourage you to witness and help you share your testimony witness with others. (Contagious Christian training, the Andrew Society, special events, the Passion play, and revival speakers.)

5. Service: Remember our Vision ’96 theme, “Have You Found Your Ministry?” Why? Because so many Christians, as Evelyn Underhill suggests, “Adorn Christ’s head while neglecting His feet.” In other words, we are far more likely to adorn Christ’s head through worship than we are to wash His feet through acts of service. Our task as your pastors is to equip you for ministry as a way of growing in Christlikeness.

Conclusion (Questions)

General

1. Are you more like Jesus than you were a year ago?
Specific

2. Are you thirstier for God than ever before?

3. Are you more and more loving of God and neighbors?

4. Are you more sensitive to and aware of God than ever before?

5. Are you governed more and more by God’s Word?

6. Are you concerned more and more with the physical and spiritual needs of others?

7. Are you more and more concerned with the Church and the Kingdom of God?

8. Are the disciplines of the Christian life more and more important to you?

9. Are you more and more willing to forgive others?

If the answer is ‘yes’ to most or all of these questions, it is because you intend to grow in Christlikeness, and because of your commitment to devotion, worship, discipleship, witness, and service. You are sowing seeds in the Spirit. If the answer is ‘no’ to most or all of these questions, then isn’t it time you made these biblical disciplines a regular part of your life?

I have commissioned our pastoral staff to enter into conversation with you about these five things. We want to be God’s helping hand in your life. It is our desire that you grow in Christlikeness.