It's Time To Grow Up! Part I Series

Disclaimer:

Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible. Thanks to Rev. Anthony Mancina for some of the ideas for this sermon. His sermon may be viewed on Sermoncentral.com and the title of his sermon is "When I Was A Child".

Pastor James May

IT’S TIME TO GROW UP!

Sunday, December 08, 2002 PM

One of the greatest problems that the church faces today is that there is such a huge lack of spiritual maturity. Too many people are immature and unable to handle the work that God desires them to do because they haven’t grown up in Him. It’s high time that we learn to grow up in Christ so that we can become profitable servants in His house.

What things can we recognize as marks of immaturity and what changes can we make in our walk with the Lord to ensure that we will mature in strong Christians and act like it?

1)Learn to put away childish things. In other words, quit acting like spoiled brats!

1 Corinthians 13:11, "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

How does a child act?

Impressionable – it doesn’t take much to impress a child. You can offer them most anything and they will take it. Likewise, when we act as children in the things of God we are unable or unwilling to think it through and then we are carried around like a flag in the shifting breeze and we flap our mouths in whatever direction the devil pushes us.

Have you ever been around people who didn’t know what they really believed? That is because most have never taken the time to grow in the Word of God and to establish their heart and mind in His Word. They are easy targets for Satan as he spreads every wind of doctrine. These are the immature Christians who cannot rightly divide, or correctly interpret God’s Word and so every teaching they hear can easily make an impression on them and they can easily be led astray by following other immature people.

Gullible – Another characteristic of a child is that they can easily be convinced of just about anything if you can get them to trust you, and they trust everyone for a while.

In recent days there has been a rash of kidnappings and attempts at kidnapping. With pedophiles roaming around preying on young children and teenagers we must be ever so careful of allowing our children and youth to walk the streets or even play in the yard.

It is so easy to kidnap a child because they are so gullible and trusting. They can be made to believe any story, accept any lie and they can be led by a simple promise.

I know too many Christians who act that way too.

Just let a better offer come around for a job, for a position in the church or for a little recognition and self-gratification and you will see multitudes of preachers applying for the job. Let some preacher come along that has a little more charismatic personality and people will flock to him. Let the news spread that there is a great revival happening somewhere and people will travel for many miles to get in on the excitement.

Let the laser lights flash and pyrotechnics explode and the crank up the music and you will have teenagers flocking by the thousands even though the truth of God’s Word is buried deep within the glamour and glitz of the event.

Remember this youth ministers, if you have to reach them that way, then you’ll have to keep getting bigger light shows and more flashy pyrotechnic shows and louder and louder bands to keep them because those things don’t have the anointing of the Holy Spirit in them and there is no power to change lives in firecrackers and laser lights.