Green 3.0 Series

Green 3.0

“This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit,

explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 1 Corinthians 2:13

Intro: The past couple of weeks the sermon has centered around one word.

That word summarizes what God wants us to do.

That word is “Green”

The color Green represents growth.

When you see the color Green think about making new Christians.

Anywhere you see the color Green think about growing in our own individual spiritual life.

Part of our offerings today go to support the United Methodist Children’s home.

The featured story for this week is about a young girl by the name of Misty

who was placed by social service to the Methodist Children’s home.

She had deeply rooted anger.

She had witness her mother being physically abused by her step-father on a daily basis.

See suffered a violent childhood.

Needless to say she was not a very happy child.

Also she had little respect for authority figures.

Misty was verbally aggressive.

She challenged everyone who tried to take care of her.

She was a danger to herself and to others.

But the staff and teachers kept trying help this child who did not want help.

Despite all the help she was receiving her life continued to spiral more and more out of control.

Misty said, that one day remembered one of the staff saying,

“We will never give up on you no matter how much you try to push us away.”

Misty said, it finally hit me. They really do care.

That’s when not only the emotional healing began but the spiritual healing as well.

Misty graduated the program and is now happily married and employed at a pediatric medical assistant.

She said, “I learned that with God anything is possible.

If you believe and have faith God will get you through the most difficult times.”

All of us have things happen that are painful.

Sometimes we have to be helped out of those really bad environments.

But no matter what you have gone through or are going through right now.

The church and relationship with Jesus Christ will help you overcome and claim victory in your life.

You are capable of becoming far more that who you are right now.

How do I know what I am capable of if I never get beyond what I am comfortable with?

Tap someone on the should and say, “You are capable of doing more.”

“We can reach the level of spiritual growth God wants for us.”

What I have learned about church people and I have been working with church people for long time.

That people will say they want to grow.

But then they don’t want to be changed.

The kind of change that comes along with growth.

Some people come to church and they already have a list of things they will do

and things they will not do.

I will come to church and I close my eyes when they say pray.

And I will open a hymn book or stand when they say sing.

I will look forward and listen to the sermon

but you have already set the limit on what part of the word of God you will believe

and what part of the commandments and commissions you are willing to do.

I will tap someone on the shoulder

But I want talk to anyone on the street

I will tell it in the Sunday school class or youth meeting

But I want go tell it on the mountain.

What if I help you see that there is something within you that is beyond you.

How can you be content with where you are

and YET BELIEVE IN A GOD WHO IS ABLE TO DO MORE than you can possibly imagine?

Think about all the things in your life you have convinced yourself that could not do but now you are doing.

How many of you had said to yourself

I will never be able to do that but now you are doing.

I will never be able to make that shot.

I will never be able to lift that many weights.

I will never be able to ask that person out on a date.

But you did it.

Come on now.

You said to yourself I will never be able to do that

but one day you found yourself doing it.

That is because of growth.

It is crazy what you convince yourself you can’t do.

Someone can say something to you one time…, JUST ONE TIME.

You can take what they say as gospel truth and believe what another person says more than you believe God.

All of us come into church with this little of box of what we think we can do