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When it comes to our relationship with God, we’re called to own our growth. We need to be active participants in what God is doing in and through us. We need to own our growth.
Short Clip
If you follow me on the Gram (Instagram) or if we’re friends on Facebook, you may have seen a photo I posted of Sara and me going to get memberships at the Y in town.
Here it is. She says she wants to get busy working out so she can still enjoy those brownies.
That day, was a build-up of an entire process that led up to it and it was the beginning of a new process going forward.
You see, one of the many life-changes we experienced in 2018 was paying off our debt outside of our home.
We had wanted to get a gym membership for some time, but we didn’t want to go with a cheaper gym like Planet Fitness because while it’s nice not having a contract, it wouldn’t work well for us because we would need to take advantage of the childcare while we work out. And typically, those gyms require a year-long contract, like the Y.
So before we got to grab our family membership at the Y, we went through a process of paying off our debt, moving here, and then saving up for the registration fee and first month of membership fee.
It was a process.
And now we’re engaging in a new process. The slow, steady, consistent, difficult process of getting into shape.
And it’s been pretty cool because my dad has been working out a lot and so we’re talking about that together and are sharing what we’re doing.
Also, Sara’s mom, Jerica, has started to go to the gym with her.
But for those of you who are used to going to the gym, staying fit, and eating well, you know that the process is only beginning for us.
This is just the beginning. It’s a path that requires many steps. It’s a plan that requires work.
It’s a process.
And the same is true for our walk with God. It’s a process.
Life with Christ and life in Christ is a process.
Growing in our walk with Him is a process.
Renewing our minds and being transformed is a… process.
It’s not a moment. It’s a series of steps down a long path.
Here at FCC, we want you to grow.
We want to help you take those steps with God.
We want to help you grow in your devotion to Him.
We want to help you walk the good walk with Jesus.
We want to help you keep stepping after Him and develop into a kind of follower of Jesus that follows Him Gradatim Ferociter. What does that mean? It means step-by-step ferociously. Following Jesus step-by-step ferociously.
Jesus said to walk this way? Here I am walking.
Jesus said go serve them? Here I am serving.
Jesus said grow? Here I am growing.
Here at FCC, we want to help you be a disciple of Jesus and help you make disciples of Jesus.
That’s a process and we want to be a part of it.
Mission: Advance
This is week 3 of our series, Mission: Advance where we’ve been considering our why. Why do we exist? Because as I’ve said before, when we lose our why we lose our way.
So we’ve been walking through our newly clarified and stated mission statement:
The mission of First Church of Christ is to lead generations into a life-changing, ever-growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
We exist to lead generations into an ever-growing relationship with Jesus, our King.
If you have a Bible go ahead and grab that and turn toward the back to 2 Peter 1.
2 Peter 1:3-4
3 His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.
Peter is saying that everything we need to live this new life, to be godly, to move forward has been granted to us.
In other words, when we experienced life-change through Jesus when He rescued us, God gave us everything we would need to live the new life that He gave us.
We have received amazing promises and are able to now partake and participate in a new nature, a new life, a new way, a new direction—a divine nature, a divine life, a divine way, a divine direction.
And then he speaks to the weight of our reality. We live in a corrupted world, but through Jesus and walking with Jesus, and following Jesus, we have escaped that corruption and have overcome.
But now… Peter is going to show us how to grow. If you’re a Christ follower, you’ve received life-change. And now? It’s time to grow.
2 Peter 1:5-7
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, 6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, 7 godliness with brotherly affection,and brotherly affection with love.
Our faith needs a steady dose of supplies
Peter, having walked with Jesus, prayed with Jesus, having been called Satan by Jesus, rebuked by Jesus, and having been reconciled with Jesus, tells us that our faith NEEDS supplies.
He’s saying it’s not enough to just have some belief. That faith must be supplied.
That faith must work. That faith needs some seasonings.
Camping and Supplies
Any of you enjoy going camping?
Sara and I like to go camping and we’ll return to that at some point in the future because camping with babies is a bit difficult.
BUT, when we do get back to camping, we know that it’s not wise to just walk out into the woods and plan on staying there overnight or even for a few days and not bring any supplies.
That’s not smart, right?!
Hocking hills
The last major camping trip we embarked on was out to Hocking Hills in Central Ohio. It’s really a beautiful place and one of the great things about it is that there’s absolutely no cell phone coverage so you’re forced to be off the grid.
But when we were getting all of our stuff together to go on this trip, Kairea was like two years old and Sara was like seven or eight months pregnant with Piper.
So we packed up the tent, the blankets, the pillows, the firewood, the lighters, the food, the water, the coolers, clothes, and many other things and drove up to Hocking Hills.
Now, one of the big things to do out at Hocking Hills is to go hiking. Like that’s the best part. They have caves and waterfalls and all kinds of great spots that you’d be really surprised seeing in Ohio of all places.
The problem was, we didn’t do any hiking. Because there were a couple things we forgot to bring. And not only did we not go hiking, we actually cut our trip short because we didn’t have these two things.
- An off-road scooter for Sara so she didn’t have to walk (remember, she was very pregnant and it was hard for her to even walk down our little campground street).
- Sanity. Yeah, we forgot sanity. Because our little two-year-old Kairea was all over the place.
When you go camping, it’s supposed to kind of be relaxing, right? Well, chasing your two-year-old and making sure she doesn’t get hit by a truck or run under a camper is not the most relaxing thing.
So yeah… Camping. It’s important to have the right supplies.
And the same thing is true about our faith. Our faith needs a steady dose of supplies.
2 Peter 1:8-11
8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. 10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election,because if you do these things you will never stumble. 11 For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.
v. 8 – not working the ground & No fruit
Let’s go back to verse 8. Notice the word ineffective? In the original language, that word carries with it the thrust of not working the ground.
Now, I’m not going to pretend to be a farmer or a gardener, but I do know that if you don’t work the ground then you’re going to have a really hard time growing anything.
So he’s saying that if we aren’t making every effort to supply our faith with the virtues he’s listed then we’re essentially taking our faith and letting the weeds crop up and choke out our walk with God.
In fact, the next word that follows ineffective is unfruitful which makes sense in this context because if you don’t work the ground, if you don’t work the soil, you won’t see any harvest. You won’t see any fruit.
The Christian life takes work
So he’s simply saying, hey, this new life requires some work. You’ve gotta work it if you want to grow anything good.
It requires attention and tilling.
How’s the soil of your heart?
Think about that. It requires attention and tilling.
How’s the soil of your heart?
Is it broken up and ready to receive seed from the Master Gardener, Jesus?
Or is it covered in thorns and weeds?
Peter’s message here is that if you expect to walk by faith then you’ve gotta get low and attend to the soil of your heart, the soil of your life.
If you want to respond to people like Jesus wants you to, you’ve gotta be busy doing heart work beforehand.
Too Many of us Expect to grow in Christ without any effort
I believe too many of us expect to grow in Christ without any effort on our part. We pray, God help me, change me, do a mighty work in me.
But while we’re praying for Him to change us, it appears that He is speaking through Peter and telling us that we’ve got all things pertaining to life and godliness. We hav what we need. And God has given all that to us. The Holy Spirit is ready to work through us. But we need to open our toolbox, our gardening bucket, and get to work.
Growing in Christ is a walking alongside of Jesus, it’s not Him dragging us. We’ve gotta participate in this.
v. 10 – Practice these qualities
Let’s look at verse 10 again…
Practice these qualities. What qualities?
Virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love.
And here’s the great thing. We are not alone in this. These are the things the Holy Spirit wants to lead us toward.
He wants us to pursue right things, to grow in knowledge, to be self-controlled, to keep going when things get tough, to always honor God in our devotion to Him, to be kind and compassionate to those around us, and to love like Jesus loved us.
That’s where He wants to take us. But we have to be willing to go to those places on a consistent basis.
Brain science can help us here
I’m fascinated by brain science and I think it can be helpful here.
The human brain is made up of an estimated 100 billion neurons making a total of 100 trillion neural connections.
And the great thing is that our brains have what is called neural plasticity. In other words, our brains can change.
So when Paul says be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that’s not just a spiritual statement. God wants all of our being to be under His Kingship. And one way God works in us to do that is by creating new brain pathways.
Think about it like this:
Hiking trails are similar to your brain pathways. Just as a grassy path becomes flattened, matted and worn away every time a hiker walks over it, as you focus on something with your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, you strengthen your brain pathways. Over the days, months and years a well-traveled hiking trail becomes a well-worn pathway. Compare this to a trail that is not well-traveled or perhaps a faint trail made by small animals. These trails might be noticeable to the naked eye, however their visibility pales in comparison to the trails that get higher foot traffic.
The more we supply our faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love, the more we will be strengthened in our faith and in so doing, confirm our calling and election.
And the more we supply our faith with these things, the more we will become like Christ.
And the more we become like Christ, the closer we become to who God wants us to be.
What’s at stake?
For Peter, he knew what was at stake for the believers he was writing to.
He knew that if they didn’t take their relationship with God seriously, they could fall away from God.
He knew that their circumstances could easily strangle their faith just like a weed strangles a plant. He knew that they needed to get down in the dirt and work it if they were going to follow Jesus.
He knew that they were living in a divided age much like we live in today and that it would be easy to begin living in fear or to begin living with a pessimistic outlook on life.
But he also knew that if they supplied their faith like he knew they needed to, then there is a rich reception in store for them.
Passive and Active
What we often discount is the fact that our walk with God is both a passive and active endeavor.
We receive from Him new hearts, His presence through the Holy Spirit, a new path forward, and everything we need to walk down that path.
But we are also active participants in this.
Being fed vs Hunter/gatherer
Maybe you’ve heard this or even have said it before…
I’m just not being fed…
Have you ever heard someone say that? Yeah, I’m not being fed.
Now, I have grace for someone who is new to the faith and doesn’t yet understand fully this passive and active aspect of their faith. But the most saddening thing is when I hear someone say this who has been walking with God or at least attending church for years or even decades.
When I hear those words, you know what I think of? Kids.
I’m hungry. When are we going to eat? I’m hungry. I’m hungry.
What Peter is saying is that if you’re hungry then start eating. In fact, make EVERY effort to supply your faith with the proper nutrients it needs.
And guess what?
Between the word of God, your access to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit indwelling you and leading you, and the people around you who make up the bride of Christ, there are plenty of opportunities for you to grow and get some good nourishment.
The problem is, too many of us don’t grab the perfectly grilled steak—fully marinated, juicy and ready to be consumed—we don’t grab it and eat.
FRIENDS, we have everything we need to grow in Christ.
Grab a fork and grab a knife. Eat up. Don’t wait for the pastor to cut the steak up in nice bite-sized pieces and say ahhhh, and do the airplane trick to get you some nourishment.
Own your growth.
Own it.
If the only time you’re in God’s word on Sunday morning, you’re stunting your growth. You’re leading yourself down a path that only leads to ineffectiveness and unfruitfulness.
Peter says MAKE EVERY EFFORT. That means it’s gotta be one of our sole focuses in life. GROW.
Own your growth.
Inside and Outside
And notice, too, the inside and outside virtues Peter points us to.
Things that happen inside us? Virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness.
These are all things that have an internal focus.
But there’s also an external aspect to the things he mentions to make ever effort to supply your faith with…
These things happen outside us and are others-centered: brotherly affection and love.
Brotherly affection
And understand, when Peter says brotherly affection, he means the kind of care that should happen within a family. He’s saying that we ought to have that toward our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Love
And here is love again.
Our faith is both an internal and external thing.
Faith moves us to love people. So make every effort to supply your faith with all these things.
How to best help you grow
So the question is, what’s the best way to grow? How do we as a church participate in the supplying of our faith as a group of believers?
Those are great questions and I’m glad you asked.
See, I’m convinced that simple things done consistently and over a long period of time are the best paths for growth. And that seems to be what Peter is saying too.
Clear path of involvement
So we want to provide clear paths of involvement that lead you toward growth, both internally and externally.
What that means is, we need to have clear opportunities for those who are new to FCC and those of you who have decided that FCC is your home, we need clear opportunities for us to take our next step with God.
I’m all about steps when it comes to our faith.
And at the most basic level, there are four core next steps that, if they are done consistently, will grow your faith. They are:
- Serve on a ministry team
- Be a part of a small group
- Practice generosity
- Practice spiritual disciplines (i.e. Bible reading, prayer, solitude, etc.)
My goal is for us to develop clear paths for any and all to take these steps. Because once someone surrenders to Jesus, I want to make sure we have spaces for them to SUPPLY their faith with all the things Peter is talking about.
But in order for us to do this to the level I believe we need to do it at, AND to fill another need that we have…
Announcement: Worship and Connections Pastor
I’m excited to announce that we will begin a search for another full-time staff member, a Worship and Connections Pastor.
They will be responsible for leading and equipping our worship ministry and for leading us in worship on Sunday mornings. But in addition to that, they will be responsible for making sure that all of us have clear next steps so that we can grow as disciples of Jesus.
We will be assembling a search team to identify the person God is calling to FCC for this unique, but immensely important role.
And as you know, Amy Chaplin has been doing a great job leading our worship ministry in this interim period and so many of the members of the worship team have stepped up in tremendous ways so let’s all show our appreciation for Amy and her team!
Many exciting things are happening at FCC.
And while we don’t have those clear next step pathways developed, please know that we are working on them.
But in the meantime…
2 Peter 3:17-18
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you know this in advance, be on your guard, so that you are not led away by the error of lawless people and fall from your own stable position. 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.
Much like those Peter was writing to, we live in a time filled with lawless people and lawless teachings.
So we must grow our roots DEEPER and DEEPER and DEEPER so that we can stand firm as we follow our King, Jesus.
2 Things For Us Today
- Own your growth.
- Be in prayer for our two search teams as we seek out who God would have join this family to help lead us in leading generations into a life-changing, ever-growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
