It Is Time To Grow Up

January 25th, 2004

Let us pray

Welcome...

Our theme this year is, Glorifying God, and the word glory means to give glory, honor or high praise to, exalt. To give glory especially through worship. Our key verse for the year is taken from Matthew 5 verse 16.....Let’s say it together, "Let your light so shine before men....." Each week we have a verse of the week to memorize, and our verse this week

is taken from Psalm 34 verse 19 - Let’s say it

together...."Many are the afflictions............."As a child of God there is deliverance for you.. ...............elaborate....

Our objective for this year is to improve our spiritual growth and personal growth

and development. In keeping with our objective, I will be speaking on the topic, It is time to grow up. Please turn with me in your bibles to 1

Corinthians 3 verses 1 through 9. Let’s all stand and read together. Please tell someone, Growing Up Is Hard To Do. There are people today who just like to remain young or just like to be babies, and just do not want to grow up. They like to be babies all the time, just to eat, play and sleep, and have nothing to worry about, but I want someone to know

today, it is time to grow up.........elaborate...

By the way, how many of you ladies here today like to play with baby dolls?.....How many of you men like to play with toy cars?......How many of you adults like to go outside and jump or skip rope?.......

Just supposed all the ladies came in the sanctuary this morning with a baby doll in their hand, and came and sat in the front........

Just supposed all the men walked in with a GI Joe in their hand..........Just supposed as the choir marched in they had a ABC book in their hand, and a pacifier in their mouth, and marched up to the choir stand..............

Just supposed as one of the ministers were asked to pray, the prayer was, "now I lay me down to sleep...."

Just supposed in our praise and worship, we started to sing, "Mary had a little lamb, and London Bridge is falling down...."

What do you think people would say as they see the ladies with their baby dolls, the men

with their GI Joes, and the choir with their ABC book and pacifier in their mouth? I am sure people would say those folks are crazy, they are acting like babies, they are immature, and it is time for them to grow up................elaborate....

The apostle Paul in our text is writing to the church in Corinth, and these saints were spiritually immature. In the previous chapter, Paul has just been talking about the difference between the spiritual mature who can understand spiritual truths, and the natural man whose interests and aims and ideas do not go beyond earthly and physical life,

and who is unable to grasp spiritual truth. In our text for today he accuses the Corinthians

of still being at the earthly and physical stage. This church in Corinth was filled with all

sorts of problems. The problems existed not because the church was in Corinth, but because of the maturity level of the believers who make up the local church. These believers were acting like babies, and they needed to grow up........elaborate...

Let’s look at verses 1 through 4 of our text (read) Paul was saying that these saints in

Corinth were still babes in Christ, they had not grown up, they were still carnal, still

controlled by the flesh. Babies are supposed to act like babies, but they should not be babies all the time. As time goes on they begin to feed themselves, they begin to walk,they begin to talk, they will fall and rise, they will get cuts and bruises, but they will keep on going because they are growing up. Sad to say, there are many Christians who do not want to grow up, they want to remain babies............ elaborate...

Babies cannot eat solid food, they must have milk. If they try eating solid food they will choke. Spiritual babies can only handle the milk of the word, but as time goes by, they should know more than John 3: 16 and the Lord’s prayer.......elaborate...spiritual

babies should be growing up.....

What do babies do? Babies fight for their way. Take away their toys and see what happen? When a baby is hungry, or wet, or bored or tired, what will the baby do? That baby will cry, that baby will fight and fuss, that baby want to have it their way. My granddaughter McKale is not very fussy, but if I took her toy away, I am sure she would

cry and fuss............elaborate.....quite likely she would be calling out for grandpa......