Grow Like Jesus
#ThisYearCanBeDifferent
WELL – welcome to 2019, I’m glad you made it!
NOW THIS MORNING – we are kicking off a 4 week series, that I am calling… ‘This Year Can Be Different.’
1/6 – Grow Like Jesus
1/13 – These Three Things
1/20 – What Does It Matter
1/27 – Redeem The Time
OKAY – confession time… let me tell you how this series came about… Basically I spent time asking God what I needed to hear, learn, do… so that my 2019 can be different.
AND YOU KNOW – when the…
• The ball dropped in Times Square
• The peach dropped in Atlanta
• The giant peep dropped in Bethlehem, PA
• The huge chunk of cheese dropped in Plymouth, WI
• The pickle dropped in Mt Olive, NC
• The massive potato dropped in Boise, ID
• The guitar dropped in Memphis, TN
AND – everyone cheered, shouted and celebrated.
ISN’T – that what they were all hoping for…
THAT – this new year would be different, that it would be better.
I MEAN – do you really think that anyone was hoping that their new year, that 2019 would be a terrible year for them?
QUESTION – what do millions of people make every New Years Day, in hopes that the new year will be different, better.
They make new years resolutions…
NOW - the tradition of the New Year's Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C., when Janus a mythical god of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar.
Janus was the god of beginnings and transitions… and presided over passages, doors, gates and endings, as well as in transitional periods such as from war to peace.
He was usually depicted as having two faces looking at opposite ways, one towards the past and the other towards the future.
Over time Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.
NOW - some say making new years resolutions goes back even further, about 4,000 years to Babylon in 2000 BC…
The Babylonians celebrated the new year at the beginning of spring (in March) with an 11 day festival.
Like today, the Babylonians thought of New Year's as a time of reflection on the year past and looking ahead to the future.
They believed what they did on New Year's Day would effect the rest of the year. They also made New Year's resolutions, most commonly to return borrowed farm equipment.
OKAY – but, whatever the history is, we all know that January the first is the time that many people make new years resolutions…
IN FACT - about 60% of all Americans make resolutions at the beginning of a New Year… but only about 8 percent of us are successful in achieving them. Regardless of whether we achieved our previous resolutions, most of us go right ahead and make a new set of resolutions -- hoping for the best.
Here are a few more interesting facts about New Year's resolutions:
• Saving money is one of the top five New Year's resolutions and also in the top five for most commonly failed.
• Over 80% of respondents said that they fail their resolution before January 31.
• Women make health-focused resolutions while men pledge to find a new job and lay off the alcohol.
So, what are we all wishing for in 2019?
Here are the top 10 New Year's resolutions according to a recent survey….
#10 Spend more time with family and friends (13 percent)
#9 Drink less alcohol (15 percent)
#8 Find another job (16 percent)
#7 Read more (17 percent)
#6 Quit smoking (21 percent)
#5 Learn a new skill or hobby (26 percent)
#4 Save more and spend less (32 percent)
#3 Lose weight (54percent)
#2 Exercise more (65 percent)
#1 Diet or eat healthier (71 percent)
QUESTION – are there any of yours on the list?
NOW - statistics indicate that…
• after only week, almost 25% of us have bailed out on whatever it was we had resolved to do;
• after a month, more than 50% have given up;
• and not long after that only 20% still hang in there –
• and by years end only 8% actually kept them.
There is an old Irish toast that says, “may your trouble in the coming year be as short as your New Year’s Resolution.”
BUT LISTEN - even though people fail to keep them, most people still keep making them… Why?
BECAUSE - there is something in us that looks forward to new beginnings, isn’t there?
YES - there is something in us that desires change, something deep within that longs to reach higher and dreams of better.
YOU SEE – in most of our lives there is a nagging sense that things are NOT, as they should be or could be.
MGCC - this year can be different…
AND LISTEN - we just can’t wait another year.
BECAUSE – our time really is running out…
HEY – check this out, If you're an average American, using a clock as an illustration of how many years you have left in your life… It’s 12 am when you are born… (80 years).
Divide your age by 3.33…
• 16 – 4:48 am
• 18 – 5:24 am
• 21 – 6:18 am
• 30 – 9 am
• 40 – 12 am (1/2 way there)
• 50 – 3 pm
• 56 – 4:48 pm
• 60 – 6 pm 65 – 7:30 pm 70 – 9 pm
OKAY - 2 quick points here;
1. Whatever it is that we are going to do with our life, we’d best get moving, because time is running out.
Like sands through the hour glass….
HEY CHECKOUT - how God describes our lives in His word…
Why, you don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. - James 4:14
The psalmist writes about the brevity of life several times;
My days disappear like smoke… - Psalm 102:3
For we are like a breath of air; our days are like a passing shadow. Psalm 144:3
AND Job said it like this;
My days are running out quicker than the thread of a fast moving needle…my life is just a breath… - Job 7:6,7
QUESTION – wouldn’t you agree with me, that life is unspeakably precious and unbelievably short?
I MEAN – the needle of our lives just keeps moving faster & faster.
NOW THE TRUTH IS - we don’t know when our time on this earth will be up, but the thread is quickly running out.
IT - could be next week or next year or it could be decades away. Only God knows. Our lives are in His hands.
HE IS – Sovereign and is in control.
NOW – King David totally understood this (time is running out thing) that’s why he wrote these words in Psalm 39.
Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. – Psalm 39:4
YOU SEE – David knew that God was in control and that only He knew the number of his days.
AND – you know, as I try to read behind the request of David, I hear him saying,
Lord please continually show me and constantly remind me of how quick (how fleeting) this life really is – because I don’t want to waste it, focusing on things, that in the scope of forever, do not really matter, LIKE…
• Being consumed by what other people think of me
• Or getting angry with someone and stewing over it for years and years
• Or just living in a state of constant anxiety about something.
• Or letting fear control or limit us
• Or walking through life wearing the blinders of cynicism and negativity… so that we are unable to see the awesome wonder and beauty that God surrounds us with every single day.
AGAIN
#1 - Whatever it is that we are going to do with our life, we’d best get moving, because time is running out.
But not yet…
#2 - If you're not doing something significant with your life, it really doesn't matter how much time you have left anyway.
QUESTION - how many of you would like 2019 to be: different/better than 2018?
(stand… 3 high fives “this year can be better!)
I MEAN – who wouldn’t would 2019 to be better even if 2017 was a great year…
BUT MAYBE - for some in this room, 2018 was not so good… MAYBE - it was a year of challenges, a year of choices, a year of changes, of crises.
YES – the fact is, that for some of you in this room, 2018 wasn’t so hot, it wasn’t your best year, it wasn’t what you hoped for… BUT - the good news is this: We get to start over!!!
UNDERSTAND - God brings us life in bite sized pieces, in hours and days and months. And every year, God just says,
“Okay guys, it’s time to wipe the slate clean
and start over with a brand new year.”
(hand motion, let’s wipe it clean)
SO TODAY (1/6/19)… I think it would be could to take God’s advise given through the prophet Isaiah.
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland… Is 43:18,19
NOW – this morning the first Sunday of 2019… I want to talk about how to make this new year different, better, bolder, brighter in a conversation that I am calling, ‘Grow Like Jesus…”
YES – this year can be different…
AND LISTEN… the first thing we need to do to make it different is to…
Clarify What You Want
Bottom Line – we must decide what's important in our life and what isn't important.
UNDERSTAND - God has given each of us an incredible gift, it’s called the freedom to choose.
It’s part of being made in the image of God.
I MEAN - we see this from the beginning, in the garden with Adam and Eve.
LISTEN – one of the most spiritual activities we will ever engage in is the power to choose…
YOU SEE…
BEFORE – you pray, worship, serve, celebrate, give, forgive, share…
BEFORE – any of those actions come to pass, you have to choose.
CHECKOUT – what Job says in the 34th chapter of his book…
We can choose the sounds we want to listen to. We can choose the taste we want in food. We should choose to follow what is right. But first of all we must define what is good. - Job 34:3,4
CIRCLE - define what is good…
LISTEN - that means you need to clarify what you really want.
Which then becomes the foundation, the internal operational system (if you will) for our choosing.
BUT UNDERSTAND - we can't choose what's important until we clarify what's important.
AND IF – we don’t clarify what we want in 2019…
WE ARE - going to be pushed and tossed around by the pressures of life (doing this & that, going here & there)…
AND THEN – before we know it 2019 will be gone (just like 2018) and we'll be left feeling like we didn’t get anything done, and we will still be stuck in that same old place.
A few years ago, George Gallup did a survey and discovered that the number one stress factor among people today…
• is not that we don't have enough time,
• it's not that we don't have enough money,
• and it's not that we have relational conflicts, but rather
The number one source of stress is "incongruent" values.”
IN - other words, we say we believe one thing, but we act in a very different way.
And this gap between what we say is important in life and how we are actually living, causes stress.
For Example…
WE SAY - "Family is important to me."
BUT - do we put work and everything else ahead of it?
Do we give our marriage & family the time and attention they need?
WE SAY - "Health is important to me."
BUT – do we watch our weight? Eat right? Exercise? Practice good health habits?
WE SAY – “materialism is bad”
BUT – are we saving anything? Are we spending all we get?
Do we give generously or are we simply storing up our own treasures?
WE SAY - "God is first in my life,
BUT - do we take the time to know Him personally - do we consistently read our bibles and pray …
WE SAY – “His church is important to me”
BUT - do we ‘really’ give the church (this church Maple Grove) the first fruits of our time, talents, energy and financial resources...
YES - many of us (in fact most, if not all of us) have incongruent values...
AND - when you have incongruent values
(when what you say you believe, does not match how you live)…
IT - causes problems - it creates stress...
AND – not only that, but we will also end up at a destination we never intended to go.
REMEMBER…
Direction not intention, determines our destination
IN OTHER WORDS – we will always end up, where the road we are on is taking us, regardless of our intentions.
LIFE – if you leave here intending to go to Ruckersville, but you take a left at Proffit and Hwy 29… you are not going to get to Ruckersville.
My observation (and experience, for that matter) indicates that humans have a propensity for choosing paths that do not lead in the direction they want to go…
They’ve come to believe the popular notion that as long as their intentions are good, as long as their hearts are in the right place (whatever that means), as long as they do their best and try their hardest, it doesn’t really matter which path they take. They believe somehow they will end up in a good place… But life doesn’t work that way…
- Andy Stanley (The Principle Of The path)
B/S – if you want 2019 to be different… you need to clarify what you really want… you need to clarify what is of ultimate importance in your life…
BASICALLY – you need to discover and define our core…
NOW – I am sure you have heard of the importance of ‘our core’ on physical training. The following article is from Harvard Health..
Think of your core muscles as the sturdy central link in a chain connecting your upper and lower body. Whether you're hitting a tennis ball or mopping the floor, the necessary motions either originate in your core, or move through it.
No matter where motion starts, it ripples upward and downward to adjoining links of the chain.
Thus, weak or inflexible core muscles can impair how well your arms and legs function. And that saps power from many of the moves you make.
Properly building up your core cranks up the power.
A strong core also enhances balance and stability. Thus, it can help prevent falls and injuries during sports or other activities. In fact, a strong, flexible core underpins almost everything you do…
The same is true with our spiritual core.
UNDERSTAND – our values are like to core of an athlete.
A WEAK SPIRITUAL CORE – impairs and saps power.
A STRONG SPIRITUAL CORE – cranks up power, enhances balance and stability when having to deal with heavy weight, prevents falls and injuries and underpins almost everything we do.
Core = Convictions we are willing to risk everything for? Anchor points that have the power to keep you grounded even in the midst of the most powerful storms.
OKAY – here is how it works….
FIRST – we define and clarify our values/our core.
SECOND – we adjust the direction of our life such that it aligns with what our - values, core and intentions.
THE RESULT - our stress level will go dramatically down, our peace of mind will go dramatically up…
AND – we will actually arrive at the destination we intended to go.
AND LISTEN – when it comes to defining our values it really comes down to 2 options.
WE ARE EITHER - going to get them from either the Word or from the World. FROM - Christ or from culture.
OKAY
Here is the bottom line - if we want this year to be different…. it is essential for us to clarify our values.
AND - what I challenge all of us in this room to do (and some of you won’t do it)…
IS TO - to get alone sometime this week with a pen and the Values and Goals Sheet that I put together.
1) What do I value MOST? What is my central CORE?
2) What type of person do I want TO BE?
3) What ADJECTIVES would I like to describe me?
4) What would I like people to say at my eulogy?
THIS WEEK…
I listened to a ‘TED Talk’ (by David Brooks) and read a few articles that posed the question… Should you live for your resume or for your eulogy?
I found it a very compelling question… here are a few quotes form one of those articles (this one written by Dr John Hall
Resume virtues… make you competitive in the job market, and contribute to external success. They are the measure of success in our culture. They read something like this:
- Graduated from X prestigious school with a degree in X
- Held prestigious job X from this date to this date
- Certified in X sought-after technology/method
- Led the charge for company X growing X% year over year…
Resume virtues aren’t necessarily bad in themselves, but when we step back from the hustle and bustle, when we quiet our mind and soul, we feel a vague sense that something is missing…
Resume virtues, by themselves, leave us feeling empty, fragmented, disconnected, and sometimes seriously physically compromised. We may achieve external success, but at the cost of a deeply meaningful life and the capacity to thrive.
Eulogy virtues, as David Brooks calls them, foster meaning in a fragmented world. These are the virtues that lead to a life well lived—kindness, compassion, love, humility, wisdom, courage, and integrity to name a few.
In her recent book, Thrive, Arianna Huffington makes an important observation:
“Have you noticed that when we die, our eulogies celebrate our lives very differently from the way society defines success?”
Resume virtues are good when they are pursued with wisdom—in the right way and for the right reasons. But they must be built on a foundation of eulogy virtues.
We don’t create resumes with eulogy virtues. We don’t talk about them much, especially when it comes to the work context. If we did create resumes with eulogy virtues, they would read something like this:
- Sacrificed a promotion to spend more time with his kids at a critical stage in their lives.
- Consistently put the interests of his co-workers above his own interests.
- Volunteered in his community.
NOW – that would be so much better than hearing things like…
"What everybody loved most about her was how she ate lunch at her desk. Every day."
Or:
"He was proud that he never made it to one of his kid's Little League games because he always wanted to go over those figures one more time."
Or:
"She didn't have any real friends, but she had 600 Facebook friends, and she dealt with every email in her inbox every night."
Or:
"But he will live on, not in our hearts or memories, because we barely knew him, but in his PowerPoint slides, which were always meticulously prepared."
UNDERSTAND - no matter how much a person spends his or her life burning the candle at both ends, chasing a toxic definition of success and generally missing out on life, the eulogy is always about the other stuff: what they gave, how they connected, how much they meant to the lives of the real people around them, small kindnesses, lifelong passions and what made them laugh.
So the question is:
Why do we spend so much time on what our eulogy is not going to be on those résumé entries, which are gone as soon as our heart stops beating.
What do I want people to say at my eulogy?
5) Does my life (how I use my; time, efforts, energies, actions, money...etc) reflect that these are what is most important to me? Does the DIRECTION of my life (the things I am doing, the place I am heading) match my CORE and my INTENTIONS.
6) What in my life is TRIVIAL and what is ESSENTIAL, what should I hold onto and what should I let go of in my life?
So, will you take the time to fill out your values survey? Yes/no
Write it down. Pray about it…
Review it often during 2019...
Share it with someone
Then watch God unleash His supernatural power and finish the good work that He began in you.
YES – this year can be different…
IF… you
#1 – clarify what you want
and #2 if you
Don't Wait To Begin
Ecclesiastes 11:4 “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.”
YOU SEE - a turning point in your life and mine is when we come to the realization that life must be lived under imperfect circumstances. (Repeat)…
“If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.”
NOW - here is what usually happens…
WE HEAR - somebody say something like I’m saying today
AND WE - get a little motivated – (and we start thinking)
• I'm going to do that this year.
• I'm going to write down some goals,
• I'm going to make my life count,
• I'm going to use my time wisely,
• I’m going to take some time this week to plan ahead for 2019… so that the way I live out my life will have an eternal impact.”
HOWEVER - those best intentions fade away rather quickly. Because for many of us the moment we walk out of here, we're going to get distracted by something “L.I.F.E”
AND – it seems like before we even can blink our eyes…
It’s March or April and we still haven't set any goals yet.
DO – you know what’s crazy?
MOST – people spend more time planning; vacations, road trip, events, dinners and parties…
THEN – they spend planning their life. That’s crazy!
BUT B/S - this morning I want to us turn back the tide on this insanity…
AND LISTEN - if you're a Christian, your ultimate goal is to become like Jesus Christ.
We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. -Romans 8:29
So how did Jesus develop and grow?
WELL – there is a verse in Luke chapter 2 (a verse that actually spans 18 years of the life of Jesus. So it goes all the way from when Jesus is 12 years of age to when He is 30 years of age. It’s Luke 2:52.
We’re gonna begin reading in Luke 2:51, and we’re gonna see how it is that Jesus grew. So it begins by saying in verse 51, “Then he went down to Nazareth with them (talking about his parents) and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.” Verse 52,
Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and favor with man. – Luke 2:52
AND IF - we want to become like Christ, we must GROW in the four ways Jesus developed…
• He grew in wisdom – that's intellectual development.
• He grew in stature – that's physical development.
• He grew in favor with God – that's spiritual development.
• He grew in favor with man – that's relational development.
IF WE - want to be well rounded and balanced, then we need to set at least one goal in each of these four areas.
NOW – those top ten resolutions that I shared earlier are really more of purpose statements than goals.
A purpose statement is much broader. It’s a little bit vaguer.
It carries with it the idea of, “Well, I hope to accomplish this.
I want to get fit. I want to eat healthy. I want to reduce stress.” But it doesn’t really quantify what’s going to have to take place for that to happen.
But a goal…a goal is much more specific.
Perhaps in some seminar in the workplace maybe you learned about making or setting “smart goals.” You know what a smart goal is. It’s an acrostic there.
The “S” is for “specific.”
The “M” is for “measurable.”
The “A” is for…it’s “attainable.”
The “R” is that it is “relevant.” You can actually do it.
And the “T” is that it’s “time-related.”
And that’s what I want you to do. I’m gonna challenge you this week, to prayerfully come up with four different goals…
YES – this year can be different, if we grow like Jesus.
Prayerfully Set A Few Intellectual Goals
Jesus grew in wisdom
Ask yourself, “What do I want to learn next year?”
God gave you your mind. It's a gift. It's like a muscle.
If you use a muscle, it gets stronger. If you ignore a muscle, it gets weaker. Same thing with your brain.
Do yourself a favor and learn all you can. Remember what you've learned and you'll prosper. - Pr 19:8
As a Christian, you must constantly be challenging yourself to grow and to develop. Ask yourself, “What do I need to learn this year?”
MAYBE - you set a book reading goal and say you're going to read a certain number of books this year.
MAYBE – if you are in school… it’s I am going to make the dean’s list or honor roll
MAYBE - it’s taking a class over at a college or online
Maybe – it’s developing a new skill.
MAYBE - it’s learning a language.
MAYBE – it’s doing some studies or watching some conferences on right now media
B/L - we need to set some kind of intellectual goals that will challenge and stimulate us so that a year from today we're smarter than we are today, we know some new stuff.
STUFF – that God can and will use for His glory and our good.
Physical goals
Jesus grew in stature
What will improve my health next year? Lose some weight? Go to bed earlier? Get on an exercise plan? Change my eating habits? Develop some kind of stress relief? Start walking everyday?
Develop a physical goal.
Some people feel that whenever you talk on the physical it’s less important. It’s not as spiritual.
But the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19,20
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
So we have no choice but to sit up and to take notice of this important responsibility. Stewardship demands it.
God has blessed you with a physical body.
The Bible says Jesus “grew in wisdom and in stature.”
Stature is defined as “the quality or status gained by growth or development.”
Some people totally tune out when I start talking about the physical. There are others who totally tune in and they kind of O.D. on it.
Here is why: We are a nation of extremes, and so we choose to camp out in either one end of the spectrum or the other—either worshipping the body or neglecting the body—and God wants us to be somewhere in the middle.
So make an effort. You’ve got to start somewhere. We’re all at different points. Believe me, we’re all at different points when it comes to setting a physical goal. So this week prayerfully figure out how you can develop some physical goal.
NOW a purpose statement might be: “I want to get in better shape.” But we’re not looking for a purpose statement.
We want to set goals..
SO - a goal from you might be:
• “I want to walk ten thousand steps a day.” Or,
• “I want to work out for at least 20 minutes three days a week.”
• “I want to lose ten pounds by March 1st.” Or,
• “I’m not gonna eat anything after eight o’clock at night.”
• Or maybe, “I’m only gonna drink sodas on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”
• Or, “I’m only going to eat desserts on the days that end in ‘y.’”
Spiritual goals.
Jesus grew in favor with God.
ASK YOURSELF - what will deepen your relationship with God? What one or two things would make the biggest difference in my relationship to God in 2019?
Not ten things – a couple of things.
NOW - it might be something that you have known for along time that you have needed to do but you keep putting off.
Have you been baptized? If you haven't maybe that will be your first goal.
What an awesome way to start a New Year to surrender to Jesus in baptism…
Maybe what you need to do is to join a church family.
You can join here at The Grove by taking our next BELONG CLASS on 2/17….
Put down some roots in a church family - this will help you grow spiritually in the new year...
OR maybe your spiritual goal should be…
• To join a life group...
• I’m gonna be in church every Sunday
• Start tithing.
• Start having a regular time alone with God. (FCFH)
• Memorize a certain number of Scriptures or a long passage
• Serving in the church
• Share your faith with someone, to really commit in 2019 to Pray For One (Lord, give me one person that I can share your love with today)
This year set something specific, write it down so that this year can be different…. so that you will grow like Jesus.
Fourth set some
Relational goals
Jesus grew in favor with man
THIS – is where you ask yourself….
How will I deepen my relationships with people inside and outside of the church?
Understand - relationships have always been at the top of God’s list…
So what can you do in 2019 to help others and to deepen some relationship…
• Set aside a specific time to be with individual members of your family
• Start meeting regularly with other believers who are on the same path as you are (you know, running buddies) and together sharpen and be transparent with each other
• Join a life group
• Find someone that you can mentor and pour your life into
• Ask someone who is a few steps ahead of you, if they would help you in your journey
• Help someone in need in the church
• Help someone in need in our community
• Volunteer somewhere in the community.
• Have people over to your home for a meal
• Make an effort to get to know a few neighbors or co-workers
Just set some relational goal so that this year can be different as you grow like Jesus.
AND HEY - as you think of relational goals - if you have a broken relationship - maybe a good goal in 2019 will be to fix it… As God says; “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” – Rm 12:18
B/S – this year really can be different…
IF YOU…
• clarify want you really want
• set some goals (intellectual, physical, spiritual, relational) and grow like Jesus
• don’t wait for it to begin, but instead do it now, this week
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland… Is 43:18,19
