Growth by Addition
“Faith”
It’s hard to believe that summer is almost over isn’t it? As of today there are only 30 days left until we are officially in Fall. For us out here in the desert, that number is probably closer to 90 days right? (Somewhere in December)
I bring this up because we have a tendency to look at autumn or fall as a season of decay or dying off in preparation for winter. Personally, I love the fall! It’s not just the cooler weather, or the changing leaves or harvest festivals, but really more about rebirth. That might sound like spring to you, but think back to when you were a child, and the event that took place every fall—Going back to school!
The fall was a fresh start in schooling—new classes, new challenges, new opportunities for growth! Today we begin a new series titled “Growth by Addition”. Here at Faith Fellowship, Spiritual Growth is very important. If you were here last week, Pastor Geri had you read our Mission Statement, and I’d love to do that again:
It is our mission to serve God by bringing people into a relationship of worship with Jesus that is passionate and genuine allowing them to grow in fellowship, maturity, ministry and a lifestyle of evangelism.
A. Spiritual Growth is Important
I would go as far to say that if you are not growing you are not experiencing the full measure of God’s power in your life.
2 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV)
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Growth is so important in the life of the believer. No matter how old you are, or how long you’ve been a believer; we must always be growing.
Think of your spiritual growth in terms of a human birth.
In the prenatal term, God was preparing you for the moment that you would be born into His light—an almost literal “born again” experience! For some of us that was a short term; we accepted Christ as Lord at an early age.
For others, it was like a full 9-month pregnancy. We had to be knocked around by the world, make our own poor choices, but God was authoring it all to work to the moment when we would surrender it all to Him, and in that moment we were then truly Born!
It’s a beautiful picture isn’t it? God loved you long before you loved Him. But here’s the other side of it. Did God author all that just so you could be “born again”, or did God have more in mind for you? The answer is absolutely yes!
We were not meant to be a baby forever! Babies are cute when they’re young, but have you ever been around a person that gets older, but is still a baby? I’m sure you’ve seen them on TV; they’re called celebrities! Not so cute is it?! It’s time to GROW!
B. Spiritual Growth is not Natural
I know we have some golfers in here, but have you ever watched Professional Golfers play? They make it look so simple and easy, it almost seems natural. I mean who hasn’t said, “It’s just hitting a little ball with a metal rod and club right?”
But without any proper training or experience, it’s quite evident how unnatural the sport is to you once you hit the first tee box. What we don’t see are the hours of work and practice that go into honing these skills. It’s the same with any sport: Football, Baseball, Soccer!
You may have a raw natural talent, but if you want to see success you’re going to have to work at it—add to it! Our Spirituality is no different:
2 Peter 1:5-9 (NIV)
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
I love this passage, not only because it challenges us to grow beyond our initial “Faith”, which we’ll go into deeper momentarily, but it also tells us when we grow we avoid becoming ineffective and unproductive!
It goes as far to say if we do not grow, we’ll get to a place where we forget our salvation altogether! Is that possible? You bet. Nothing upsets me more, than seeing Christians forget they have been set free, and fall right back into the mess they were saved from.
C. Spiritual Growth Prevents Spiritual Blindness
The believer that does not grow, becomes blind and susceptible to sin and un-Godly ways of thought. It doesn’t matter:
- How Long You’ve been a Christian: You can still be an old fool!
- How much biblical knowledge you have: Knowledge without application is useless!
- How much service you give: Remember Works without faith are also dead!
2 Peter 1:10-11 (NIV)
10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Make your salvation and call more than just a good feeling—make it a testimony! How did you grow from this? So we’re going to examine further what it means to grow by adding to our faith.
The Foundation for Growth begins with our Faith
This is the starting point. It is the proverbial “infancy” of our spiritual lives. There is nothing wrong with this stage of spiritual growth because we all must start somewhere.
The problem comes when we as Christians become content to stay here. We don’t want to put in the time or effort it’s going to take to grow, to ADD to our faith.
But as we just read, we are called to Grow! Today I want to present the phrase:
“Addition by Subtraction”
I’m sure you’re familiar with it. It basically means to gain something; I’m going to have to give something up. To the believer, this is not a new concept.
When accepted Christ, I surrendered my old way of thinking; but in return I gained something far greater, Forgiveness of Sin.
So let’s address this first Addition by Subtraction:
1. Sin
If we are going to grow in our Faith, we have to make every effort to remove what separates us from God—Our Sin!
1 John 1:5-7 (NIV)
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
It is very clear: to continue fellowship with God, we must be cleansed of our sin constantly. We can’t be playing both sides here!
It is a guarantee that you are going to fall short in some way. Even the most pious appearing people struggle with some form of sin. No one person is exempt. So stop beating yourself up with guilt and do something about it!
I love to tell people who think they’ve failed that the only way they’re going to be a failure is if they don’t take this situation and learn from it.
Now let me clarify: this is not a get out of jail free card. God has promised to forgive the repentant heart, but there are still consequences for poor choices. God may have wiped the slate clean, but that does not mean you won’t get the privilege of learning from your mistakes with consequence.
For some, “The Hard Way” is the only way they will finally learn. Regardless, in order to grow, we have to learn! Otherwise…
A. We’re Missing Out on Wisdom
1 John 1:8-10 (NIV)
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
The drunk husband snuck up the stairs quietly. He looked in the bathroom mirror and bandaged the bumps and bruises he’d received in a fight earlier that night. He then proceeded to climb into bed, smiling at the thought that he’d pulled one over on his wife. When morning came, he opened his eyes and there stood his wife. “You were drunk last night weren’t you!” “No, honey.” “Well, if you weren’t, then who put all the band-aids on the bathroom mirror?”
SermonIllustrations.com
We know our shortcomings. We know how we fail. And when we return to it, we are turning our backs on wisdom and accepting our role as a fool.
We all seek God’s Wisdom. (If you don’t, you should! You need it!) Look at what verse 10 tells us: When we condone the sin in our lives by returning to it, we turn our back on God’s wisdom. Our sin is one of the first things that will block out God’s voice. Confess, be purified! Subtract that Sin!
2. Doubt
Subtract Doubt! Doubt is the complete opposite of Faith. And when we allow doubt to creep in, we once again begin to separate ourselves from God.
I am not saying, “Don’t ask questions.” I believe when we ask questions, we are seeking to increase our knowledge. In a few weeks we’ll add knowledge to our growth in faith.
However, we can begin to rely on ourselves and feel overwhelmed, ultimately equating God with this feeling, thus allowing doubt to rule.
But God is greater. He has proven time after time his power and might. I want to show you two different examples listed in the bible:
John 20:30-31 (NLT)
The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.
Here it’s pretty self-explanatory. The miracles and wonders Jesus performed were meant to show His power, and strengthen the faith of those who witnessed it. In Psalm 105 we have a recounting of the awesome displays of power God provided in delivering Israel from Egypt, and it concludes with this:
Psalm 105:45 (NLT)
All this happened so they would follow his decrees and obey his instructions. Praise the Lord!
God shows His power so that we might believe and not doubt. It’s no different today. I can look around this room and see the testimonies of God’s Power at work!
If you want to hear these too, ask someone! “Why do you trust God?” Read the accounts in the bible of how God comes through in the clutch time after time!
Jeremiah 32:27 (NIV)
“I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?
If you read this chapter in Jeremiah, you’ll see Jeremiah is praying to God and feeling overwhelmed with a lot of obstacles that are in the way of what God has promised. Jeremiah even goes as far to recount the ways God has come through, but still has some doubt, then God responds: Read verse again
Believe, and do not doubt. This doesn’t mean that you’ll understand why everything happens. It simply means that you will trust that God is Good and will do things for His Glory!
3. Leave Yourself Behind
I am aware that there are different levels of faith: Stepping in, Running in, Jumping in…
But I will say this, “If you want to truly experience growth in your Faith, than jump in face first.” God tells us to test him. He’s not going to let you fall.
James 4:14-16 (NLT)
How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. 15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16 Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. 17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
That last verse is takes this passage from a “I dare you to move” to “I’m commanding you to move” doesn’t it?
So what are we waiting for?
- Remove all pride and selfish thought
- Pray the “Search Me” Prayer to be cleansed of all sin daily
- Trust in the Lord ALWAYS (Remember what He has done)
- Seek God’s Wisdom, then boldly walk in it
God’s telling us all it’s time to Grow!
-Closing Prayer
Go Further! – Personal Study Questions
1. In the theme of “Addition by Subtraction” what specifics in the areas of sin, and doubt do you need to turn over to God?
2. What are some “wonders” God has shown you in your life to strengthen your faith?
3. Read Hebrews 11. In what ways does this inspire your faith?
