Taking It To The Next Level 2
“The Procedure of Performance”
By: Pastor Donny Granberry
Good morning and welcome to Central. A special thank you to all of our guest’s this morning. Be sure to stop be the information booth to receive your gift for being our guest today.
This past Sunday Morning I began a message series on ‘Taking it to the Next Level.”
The word of God tells us, “From glory to glory He’s changing me.”
Can I add that if it is God who is changing us, He is changing us for the good and taking us to the next level.
Last week our topic on ‘Taking it to the Next Level,” was “The Process of Progress.”
To grow in life we must have continual progress as we go from day to day.
We must remember something; progress does not always have the physical appearance of progress.
Hebrews 6:1 NIV
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God.
Philippians 3:12-14 NIV
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
There are a couple of things we must understand about the procedure of performance.
1. The Leaving
Hebrews 6:1a “Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity.”
When you left the teachings you learned in Elementary School and went on to Intermediate School, you did not forsake, or abandon those teachings, you added to, or built upon those teachings.
Here in our text this morning, leaving does not mean to abandon, but to move beyond.
It means letting go of one to embrace another.
ILLUSTRATION
Most all little boys play war. I know we did when we were young boys.
We would get out our toy soldiers, tanks, guns, and arsenal of weapons that the toy store sold, and go out into the neighborhood and woods and have battle after battle.
If you were to go to Iraq or Afghanistan today, you would not see our fighting men and women put down the weapons they have been issued, and pick up toy guns, helmets, tanks, and soldiers and go off into the fight.
Another thought, if you were to look across the congregation today, you will not see grown ladies playing with baby dolls.
Moving to the next level requires:
• Letting go
• Having a willingness to change
• Leaving your comfort zone
• Being dissatisfied with the status Quo – which leads to repression, not progression, to stagnation, not acceleration.
ILLUSTRATION
This week, in my physical therapy, they had me start riding a stationary bike.
I get on that thing and peddle my heart out, yet I do not go anywhere because it is stationary.
One thing that will keep you stationary (stagnant) and not accelerating is not, “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.”
We cannot live in the past and still advance.
Have you ever heard anyone say, “My past keeps catching up to me?”
That is only possible when you atop accelerating.
If you lag behind, you will not advance to the next level.
If people continue to live in their past, they will never have a future. They will quit. Trying to hold on to the past and accelerate into the future will tear you apart.
ILLUSTRATION
I heard the story of a boy trying to learn how to ice-skate.
He had fallen so many times that his face was cut, and the blood and tears ran together.
Out of sympathy, a man skated over to the boy, picked him up and said, Son, why don’t you quit before you kill yourself?
He wiped the tears from his face and told the man, “I didn’t buy these skates to learn how to quit; I bought them to learn how to skate.”
To take it to the next level you cannot loiter, linger, or lag behind.
2. THE GOING
Hebrews 6:1 NIV
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God.
The writer of this text was confident that he would progress with the help of the Lord.
God is always urging us on to the next level, and the next.
a. The only way to reach the next level is by moving, not standing still.
• The 10 Lepers – Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the Priests. (They still had leprosy) “And as they went, they were cleansed.”
• The woman with the issue of blood – She went to where Jesus was. She pressed through the crowd. She touched the hem of His garment.
• The man born blind – Jesus spat in the dirt, made some mud, and put it on the man’s eyes. Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam. “The man went and washed and came home seeing.”
All of these received their healing when they started moving and obeying.
So, get moving, the next level awaits.
b. Moving Requires:
(1) Motivation.
We become motivated when wee see a need, and the
benefit of doing something.
Our motivation must be internal and provided by:
• The Promise of Scripture.
Joshua 1:3
I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.
• The Prompting of the Spirit. (Jesus speaking to His disciples)
John 16:13
When He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; he will speak only what He hears, and will tell you what is yet to come.
• The Providence of God
Philippians 2:13
For it is God who works in you, to will and to act according to His good purpose.
Not only does moving require motivation, moving requires;
(2) Resolution
Philippians 3:12 “I Press On”
We must have resolve because our dedication and determination will be tested.
You might ask, “What Will Test ME?”
(A) Stumbling Blocks
• Those who would hold us back: Peers, family, friends.
• Things that hinder: Mark 4:18-19 NIV
18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
• Our adversary, the devil, does not want us to advance, to go further with God.
• Self – Self-complacency and apathy – is our biggest hindrance to reaching the next level.
Elisha was tested, 2 Kings 2:1-14, yet he resolved to go on.
You will be tested by stumbling blocks, and you will also be tested by:
(B) Stepping Stones
• God’s people: pastors, church people, etc.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NIV
Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers.
To prepare God’s people for works, to reach unity in faith, to become mature, to become the whole body.
• Means of Grace: church, prayer, etc.
Acts 2:42 NIV
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
• Trials are blessings in disguise.
Psalm 119:71 NIV
It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.
