Sermon Promo –

Growth is Gradual

Do you remember the 1988 movie “Big” staring Tom Hanks? A pre-teen boy makes a wish to be an adult and low and behold, he wakes up the next morning a 30-year-old man.  As you can imagine this boy gets himself into some interesting situations trying to live as a man, discovering that his quick movemet into adulthood was not the good thing he thought it would be. That movie is fictional because physical growth doesn’t happen like that. And neither does spiritual growth. Spiritual growth happens gradually throughout our entire life as we mature and become more like Christ. In 2 Peter 1:5-8 the Apostle Peter outlines a number of areas the believer is to grow in . . . gradually. The interesting thing about spiritual growth is that it happens through the hard things of life: our failures, hurst from others, our disappointments, and just the stresses that come from living in a fallen world. But that’s the point . . . growing spiritually is growing beyond dependance on the natural world to greater dependance on Christ. Join us Sunday for this important message from Pastor Andrew.

We often refer to the birth of a child as a miracle. When you stop to think about what actually happens in a mothers womb from the time of conception until the child is born it is nothing short of miraculous. Science tells us that immediately the DNA and gender of that person is determined. Soon a body and head start to form and then at 6 weeks a heart starts to beat. While still very dependant on the mother for life this child is now walking (actually swimming) to the beat of their own heart. Legs and arms followed by toes and fingers the child starts to look like a person. The 3D ultra sounds depict this young life in all their human splendor! As any woman that has carried a baby can tell you, the child in the womb has emotions and personality, acting and reacting in ways that are unique to that child. And when the child is finaly born, we gaze upon this life we can finally see and wonder in the miracle of life.

There is a parallel in the spiritual realm. Being a disciple of Chirst begins with a moment of spiritual birth. Jesus said plainly in John 3, “you must be born again.” A secon birth – a spiritual birth. If we consider the conception, development and physical birth of a child as a miracle, how much more so should we think of the second birth as a supernatural act of God. The Spirit of God, together with the Word of God works to convict and lead a person to conviction about God, our sin and how we can be restored in our relationship with God. Then comes the point when conviction gives way to the surrender of our lives to God’s wonderful provision for us in Christ and we are born a second time – born spiritually. Being a christian is not a further development of our natural selves. Being a christian is a New Kind of Life that God has supernaturally provided for us. Join us this Sunday as we look in 2 Peter 1 to discover The New Kind of Life the christian is supernaturally given from God.