PRACTICING OUR PURPOSE
OUR PURPOSE: TO TEACH THE SAVED
MARK 4:3-10, 13-20
INTRODUCTION:
A minister friend of mine tells this true story of his next door neighbors who had wanted a baby for the longest time. For 6 years this couple prayed that God would bless them with a child. Finally they concluded that wasn’t going to happen, so they adopted a baby boy. You can guess what happen next. 6 months after the adoption, the already new mother, discovered she was pregnant. 9 months later gave birth to, triplets! Isn’t God great? I mean, here were people who thought they could never have children and now they have 4 of them under the age of 15 months. Does God answer prayer? I think it’s great.. that’s it’s them! I mean it’s a joy to have babies- but can you imagine? 4 babies in diapers, sleepless nights.. All four of them cutting teeth at the same time? Think of bringing them all to church. Imagine a mother coming in & unloading 4 infants! How many children’s workers would run for cover? Everyone feels for those parents- what a blessing.. what a responsibility!
The analogy for the Church is obvious. Our purpose as a church is to “make and mature disciples for Christ to the glory of God.” As we discussed last week, we do that first by reaching out to the lost. We are to reproduce Christians, and we all like to be a part of a growing, dynamic Church. But that gives us a tremendous responsibility too. New-born Christians, new members and all of our church family need nurtured, fed, instructed, loved and shepherded. Who’s going to do that? How are we going to discipline, counsel and mature all that come into this part of Christ’s body?
The NT Church struggled with that issue too. The early church was very evangelistic. In Acts 2 it says that the F.C.C. started with 3,000 members. Acts 4 says that 5000 were added, and that only counted the men. And we keep on reading that more and more kept on being added to their number. But that early Church also produced an environment where they could grow to maturity. Jesus had commanded them, to go into all the world and produce disciples, followers of Jesus. After they became followers, or disciples they were to be baptized and then continue to be taught everything that Christ had commanded. So, in Acts 2:42 we read that the early Church continued in the Apostles doctrine, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayer. You see, the Church did not just specialize in obstetrics but the Church was a pediatric center where the new Christian’s could grow to maturity.
M.C.C. exists not only to reach the lost but also to teach the saved. We rejoice that we’ve had 165 new people added to our Body in the last 21 months. What a blessing, but what a responsibility! As your leaders we feel a definite duty to help you grow to maturity. And all the members of this fellowship share a responsibility to be growing disciples of Jesus. So, let’s discuss today what we can do together to help develop that maturity in Christ Jesus. Jesus’ said that the good soil will be the king that hears, accepts and produces a crop. Paul’s wrote in Eph. 4: "We no longer will be infants... but we will in All things, grow up into him who is the head, that is Christ."
I. THE PURPOSE FOR GROWTH:
Let’s begin by discussing the purpose for growth. I’m afraid that there are many believers who feel like once they have received Jesus as Savior that they have arrived, that, they’ve got it made. But Jesus said in John 15, "I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. If he does not bear fruit he will be like a branch that is thrown away and withers." So, while it is essential to be born-again, we are expected to grow, to bear fruit, to become more like Jesus as we follow His commands and do the will of the Father. You see, coming to Christ is just the beginning. A lot of people accept.. In fact, when you look at the parable of the sower it implies that a lot of people will hear the Word. If you use Jesus’ figures He says that 3 out of every 4 who hear the Word will not only hear it but receive it. But you see, receiving is one thing.. allowing it to grow in your heart is another. Anyone can start, the hard part is allowing the seed of the Word to take root, to persevere. Maybe the most sobering part of this whole parable is the number that Jesus says will remain faithful... Only 25%! And even if you throw out the first kind of soil or heart because Satan came and snatched it away. Only 33% will persevere as good, growing soil. That means that for everyone that comes into our church by coming to Christ and/or putting their membership here, that the odds are against them staying. Now, does that mean we shouldn’t try to close the “back door?” Of course not. But it does mean that in the maturing process it is the church’s responsibility to offer opportunities to grow and the your responsibility to take advantage of those opportunities to mature. Now, there are many Scriptural reasons that have practical application for us on why it is vital to grow, let’s discuss 4 of them.
(1) Growing Christian’s are less vulnerable to temptation. The adversary attacks every Christian with doctrinal and moral temptations. But a moving target has less of a chance of being struck by Satan’s darts. A stagnant Christian is kind of like a weak gazelle and easy prey for the roaring Lion’s onslaught. But a growing Christian is less vulnerable to the cunning and deceitful ways of the adversary. In our text Jesus describes two kinds of soil that from the outside appeared to be good. The first two probably could be seen as having a poor potential for growth. Vs:3 tells us of the hard path and vs:5 about rocky places without much soil. Then vs:7 describes soil that looked good but contained thorns. Jesus, in vs:19, defined the “thorns” as the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and desires that choked out the seed. You see, those temptations are brought to us by Satan in alluring packages & if we don’t keep growing our spiritual life can be choked out. And if we’re going to survive the onslaught of the enemy in our day it is essential that we grow deep.
(2) Growing Christian’s are positive people. Christian’s that aren’t growing are often grumblers. In fact, if you find yourself with a negative attitude, a critical spirit that ought to be a red flag to you that you are not maturing as you should. Believer’s on the move have a positive spirit and a sense of accomplishment. Zach, my 15 year old often will measure his height against mine. He wanted to be 6’ tall & I believe he’s made that and he’s still growing. He’s naturally excited by his development. Eph. 4:13 tells us we are to “become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” A.T. Robertson the noted Greek scholar says that "attaining to the full measure," in the Greek, carries the metaphor of a boy wanting to gain the height of a man. Growing Christians are like children or young people who see the progress of their growth and are joyful and positive because of it.
(3) Growing Christian’s are contributing Christians. It’s the Christian that is on the move who volunteers for child care responsibilities, who asks to be an used, who gets involved with a ministry team, who gives generously and invites friends to church. Notice in vs:20.. the good soil produces a crop. Eph. 4:16 says the church "grows and is built up in love as... as each part does its work. I challenge you to test me in this: Involvement in the Church will produce spiritual growth! I absolutely guarantee it! But the opposite is just as true. The more you withdraw yourself from the Vine, which is Christ, or from the Church, which is His Body, the greater the chance there is of spiritual decline and paralysis.
(4) A growing Christian is able to stand strong under pressure. Another of the soil illustrations Jesus gave in vs:5 & 16 of our text was the shallow soil. He said that seed would begin to grow in that soil but when trouble or persecution came, it would wilt and fall away. And we have a responsibility to grow our roots deep so when adversity hits, our faith will be able to survive the tempest. How would you handle a major scandal in the church? Or personal adversity that pressures your faith? Would you be able to as James 1:5 says, "count it all joy when various trials come?" That’s tough, but along with being less vulnerable to temptation, being positive, and being a contributor, it’s one of the marks of a growing Christian.
II THE PROGRAM OF GROWTH:
Our practice statement can be broken down into a two-pronged program for growth. Now God brings growth into our lives in at least two ways. One is involuntarily, by suffering. Through adversity we learn more about God’s deliverance and become more dependent upon Him. But here are voluntary opportunities our Church wants to provide you. As I said.. It’s the church’s responsibility to offer opportunities. It’s the Christian’s responsibility to take advantage of the opportunities that are offered. The old adage is true.. “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” But the water still has to be there. We need to lead you to places of “living water,” opportunities where you can quench your hunger & thirst for righteousness.
The first is the most important and that is growing through a study of God’s Word. Our practice statement says that in several ways: “by providing sound educational programs, by strong Biblical preaching.. And by building others up through an explanation of God’s Word..” In our text the seed that grows Jesus says in vs:14 is the Word of God. The more you learn and apply scripture to your life the stronger your spiritual muscles become. As you mature in Christ your understanding of the Bible should deepen. A little baby drinks formula but as he or she grows older that child moves onto solid food. In fact, the Hebrew writer grew exasperated with some of the Christian’s who were not growing. Hebrews 5:12-14 “..by this time you ought to be teachers, yet you still need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s Word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Listen, if you’ve been a Christian for 10 years and all you know is John 3:16 and everything has to be surface, you’ve not grown from a consistent diet of the Scripture the way you should. You need to get to the point where you are chewing on the meat of the Word.
Now there are several things we offer. One of the best opportunities to mature is by going through all four of our “New Vistas” classes. Over a year ago I stood in this auditorium before several hundred people and answered “on the fly” questions. It was just a little scary. I was impressed with your questions. One of the inquiries was “Do you have a program for new people and others to mature in Christ?” I told you then about this program. We hadn’t named it yet but one look at the San Juans and New Vistas seemed perfect. These classes will take you all the way from “Membership”(100) for those who want to know more about our church and become better acquainted with the doctrines of the Bible. To “Maturity”(200) learning to study the Bible, pray effectively, give and be involved in fellowship, to “Ministry”(300) how to use your God-given gifts to serve and finally, “Magnification”(400) learning how to effectively reach out to others. There’s not one of you here that shouldn’t plan to go through these classes. Even if it is nothing new you learn what your church is teaching about these vital issues. There offered every six weeks or so and we even give you food!
But it doesn’t stop there. You should take advantage of our Adult Bible classes at 10:00 on Sunday mornings, our S.N.A.C. classes on Sunday evenings, our home Bible study groups in order to progress and grow in the Word. Look in our welcome packet or call the office and we’ll help you. We are “leading you to the water” by offering these things... the question is, “will you drink?”
A second prong of the program is “by promoting intimate fellowship with other believers through small groups.”. Jesus chose 12 apostles and then had an inner circle of 3 or 4. Now His primary purpose for choosing those men was to train them but Mark 3:14 says that He appointed the 12 so that "they might be with him." Our Lord needed that companionship for reinforcement. The early Christians met in each others homes to break bread and for fellowship. The NT is absolutely packed with passages that speak of "one-anothering" each other. Listen to some of them” "Love one another, "Be devoted to one another," "instruct one another," "serve one another," "honor one another," "admonish one another," "forgive one another," "Confess your sins one to another." Obviously the Christian life was not to be lived in isolation but in fellowship with other believers. There is added strength when you have relationships with other people and the deeper those relationships the more potential you have to grow.
Now, there are different levels of fellowship that are offered here. You can come to this morning service, casually get to know a few people around you, and I hope that will be beneficial. But it will be much more effective for your growth if you take advantage of the fellowship that’s offered in smaller groups. Our Bible school
classes at 9:30 are not just for children but are also provided for adults. In fact, there has been some thought in the Adult Ed. ministry team to renaming those to Adult Bible Fellowship classes because that’s what should be offered there. Bible teaching on Sunday but fellowship times like parties, recreation, etc. should be happening too.
And there are other small group fellowship opportunities. Now this area is “under construction” and we want to enlarge on and improve what we have. But there are a number of current opportunities.. S.N.A.C. on Sunday nights, “WOW” women’s ministry every week, “Weigh-down”classes, softball teams, home Bible Study groups, a craft group, a writing group and more. All of these provide smaller groups for fellowship. We want to begin in the future other types of groups such as support groups. a dynamic "one on one" discipling ministry. All to help you grow. Now, you may be the type of person who has difficulty developing fellowship in a small group. Maybe your shy or you don’t want to admit you need the fellowship. We understand that I can only tell you that everything will be done to make you as comfortable as possible and assure you to the best of my knowledge no one has died by being in a small group. But the fellowship opportunities are here for you if you will just take advantage of them. Prov.27:17- "As iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another."
III. A PRACTICAL PLAN FOR GROWING: (5 Steps)
Now, before we go home today I want to point out 5 practical steps for growing. Here are 5 targets you can shoot for. Some of these you might be doing very well but we all could probably use improvement in one or more of these areas. Goals are important, we need to see how we are progressing. Let’s look at them briefly.
1st, you need to develop a non-reliance on clergy. Just as a parent knows from the time a child is born that someday they will need to be able to cope on their own, so a Church leader knows that people need to develop their own spiritual skills. If the people don’t develop or if the preacher insists on continually spoon feeding members doing all the ministry tasks then they’ll become to attached to the preacher and when he moves or they have to move, their faith is in danger. Quite frankly, that’s why some Churches don’t grow much larger than 125-150, because 1 preacher, really
hustling, can do it all. But when that happens it’s both the preacher’s fault, who likes being personally needed, and the people’s fault for allowing him to do most of the work. But the Bible tells leaders in Eph. 4:11 that they are responsible not for “doing” but for "preparing” or “equipping” God’s people to grow. A wise leader wants to be loved and needed but he knows that the best thing he can do for his people, the best way he can love them, is to train them to rely on Christ and not himself. We are going to talk about this more next week but please understand that the minister and the staff of ministers are no different than you, except in their gift areas. They should be gifted to teach and help equip you to serve Christ.
Another step is regular worship attendance. By that I don’t mean just Sunday morning. The Christian who says "God isn’t going to punish me if I miss one Sunday" or "I don’t have to be in Church every time the doors are open," is not demonstrating an attitude of growth. The growing Christian hungers and thirsts after every opportunity to hear and study the Word and looks forward to every chance he or she has to encourage the body by their presence. That’s why Hebrews 10:25 says "do not give up the assembly of yourselves together-but let us encourage one another." Just get in the habit of coming, don’t ask, "Are we going, just ask are we ready?" And if at all possible make it a habit of getting in early Sat night. so that you can come to worship prepared and in a sense of anticipation to worship God. Don’t miss the fact that you come here to meet the King of the Universe, so make that a regular part of your growing as a Christian.
The 3rd step is to develop a time of personal Bible study and prayer. Now, it’s right to come to Church and pray and learn the Bible but you will really start to grow as a Christian when you begin to do that on your own. And your leaders cannot encourage you enough to set a time aside every day to read your Bible and pray. If you would like to have some help doing that just ask me and I’ll make sure someone helps you by suggesting different resources and ways to make that a part of your
growing process. Please listen. In order for you do make this discipline consistent you must set an appointment with the Creator! And you must keep that appointment like you would any one that you make at your work or with your family. There is no “microwaveable” bowl for Christianity. It takes purpose and perseverance. But there’s hardly anything I know of that’ll transform your life to greater heights then to develop the habit of reserving time every day to pray and read your Bible.
The 4th step is Cheerful Christ-Centered Stewardship. We will talk about this in more depth in our fourth practice statement of “Encouraging those in need,” but for right now I just want you to know that my desire for you it that you to get to the place in your Christian walk where you understand that it’s not that 10% belongs to God but 100%! It’s just that you give 10% and then use the other 90% as if it were God’s to begin with, because it really is.
The final step I have listed is convinced Christian witnessing. A young Christian can invite other people to come to Church with them and do it enthusiastically. But a mature Christian ought to be able to sit down with Scripture and lead someone to Christ, handling the Word of God correctly. 1 Peter 3:15 reads, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that you have and do it with gentleness." I would recommend N.V. 400 to help you in this are.
We can all look back over these 5 things and see areas where we need to grow. But that’s our goal is as Paul writes in Eph. 4:15, "Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ."
There is an old legend about a king who longed for a son. Finally, to the joy of the king and the celebration of the palace a baby boy was born. But the infant to the Doctors dismay was born partially paralyzed. Years went by but the young boy remained in a wheel chair. The disappointed king ordered his sculptor to make a statue of a strong, virile man and to place that statue in the middle of the courtyard. When it was finished the boy was wheeled out to the statue and he was told that the statue was the image of the man that his father hoped he would become one day. The little prince straightened himself a little in the chair. Everyday he was wheeled by that statue and every day he would try to straighten himself a little more. Until the legend says, one day, he pushed himself up from the wheel chair and on wobbly legs stood looking at that statue determined to be the man his father wanted him to be. Finally in his early 20’s that prince walked on strong legs, confidently across that palace courtyard, stood beneath the statue, looked up and saw a perfect likeness of himself.
Now, God has set the image of Jesus Christ in front of us as a model of what he wants us to become one day. And even though we have been partially paralyzed by sin, if we look to Him daily and straighten ourselves a little. Day by day we’ll grow and one day we may reflect His image to others. And then we can say as Paul did in
1 Cor. 11:1.. “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." That’s what we want for each one of you. The Church’s task is to introduce you to Jesus and then help the two of you become better acquainted.
