GROWING TO MATURITY

What enables a plant to grow tall?  It is the roots.  The deeper and stronger the root system, the taller that plant can grow.  You can see what I am getting at if you will try to imagine a tall oak tree with the root system of a dandelion.  That would be impossible, wouldn’t it?  

The same is true with Christians.  The deeper one’s faith is, the wider they will be able to reach.  Our purpose is not to stay in the same place forever, but to always be moving about.  You have heard me say that we need to get out of our comfort zones.  Our goal is to continually expand our comfort zones, and in so doing, we will always be more comfortable in doing more. 

A rubber bands only purpose in life is to stretch.  It fulfills its purpose only when it is being pulled into a larger size.  And Christians fulfill their purposes when they expand their boundaries, too. 

And this goes for churches, too.  CrossRoads is getting ready for a big move.  We are stepping out to enable us to become more of what we were intended to be.  We are going to reach wider, for the intended purpose of reaching more people for the glory of Jesus Christ.  Last week, I spoke about how glory is due His name.  How better to glorify the name of Jesus than to reach more people for Him? 

I have read studies that show how churches become stagnant and, for all intent and purposes, useless for the glory of God.  Let me share some of that information with you.  

Most church plants never grow beyond a few new people.  And after a few years, they wither and die.  Out of those that do grow, most of them become flat and stale after just five years.  And then the rest, which is in the minority, grow to become the movers and shakers of their community.  What causes this to happen? 

In almost every case, when churches become stagnant, it is because they are filled with people who have become spiritually stagnant.  These people have shifted their focus from the Lord onto themselves.  These people make up church that no longer look outside in devotion, they look inward for comfort.  Those few churches that do have growth actually focus outward.  They reach out into the community to make a difference for the people in that community. 

Someone said that the purpose of the church is to feed the people in the church.  That is both right and wrong.  The purpose of the church, or at least the purpose of CrossRoads, is to prepare the people in the church to reach wider.  In other words, we need to prepare you so that you can reach out to others in the name of Jesus. 

The more a church grow, the more problems they encounter.  For instance; 

• Growing churches have parking problems, other churches don’t

• Growing churches have kids running around making a lot of noise, other churches don’t.

• Growing churches have more expenses than money, some other churches don’t.

• Growing churches have to depend on the Lord for everything they have, others don’t.

• In growing churches you don’t always know everybody’s name, in other churches only the same faces have been there for years.

I pastored a church once that had quit giving to anything.  They were hoarding all their money so they could build up the church savings account.  Is it coincidence hat this church was also dying?  The first thing I did was to demand we start giving a full 10% of the church income away to the missions field.  Is it coincidence that the during the next year, the church experienced a 78% growth rate, going from an average of 39 to an average of 89 in morning services?  That same period of time, the church saw their tithes and offerings triple and the Sunday school attendance go from just 9 people to 50 people. 

To have a healthy church, the very first thing they need to do is focus on Jesus Christ as the head of the church.  Then, they focus on showing the love of Christ to each other and then they focus outward to carry that love of Christ to those in the community around them. 

But the goal is not to just grow the church, but to grow its effectiveness in the community for the glory of the Lord.  To do that, we cannot crawl into a box as many have done before us, and only concentrate on doing those things we feel comfortable in doing.  We must always focus on the community rather than on ourselves. 

I grew up singing a song entitled, “Deep and Wide.”  Let’s talk about that for a few minutes. 

1.   WE NEED TO GROW DEEPER 

I think we all agree that people who have just received Jesus need to grow deeper.  They are like the seed that has just been planted in soil.  If that seed is not planted at the proper depth, it may grow but it will not give fruit.  And if a new Christian is not taken deeper into the word of God, they will not be able to bear fruit either. 

Who else needs to grow deeper?  How about all of us when we are in the midst of a storm?  The devil uses these storms to hurt us and take our focus of Jesus.  But Jesus uses these storms to strengthen us and grow our faith deeper.  

JAMES 1:2-4 reads, 

‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.’

Those people who live and work among non-believes need to grow deeper, too.  If our knowledge of, and faith in, Jesus is not very deep, we will end up compromising our beliefs so as not to upset others around us.  That will eventually lead us away from the Lord. 

In other words, all Christians need to grow deeper.  No matter how long you have been going to church; no matter how long you have been a Christian, no matter how long anything …. you need to continually grow deeper in the Lord.  My dad used to say that life is like riding a bike.  You are either moving forward, or you are falling down.  I think that is applicable to our Christian life, too. 

Okay, if we are to grow deeper, just how to we do it?  First of all, we devote ourselves to the apostles teachings.  

ACTS 2:41 talks about what happened as Peter preached.

‘Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.’

The people who were saved listened to what the apostles taught, and they grew deeper in faith, becoming mature followers of Jesus.  Do you know what the apostles teachings were?  They are what we called the New Testament.  So, if we want to grow deeper in the Lord, we had better devote ourselves to reading our Bibles. 

JOSHUA 1:8 talks about devoting ourselves to the written word. 

‘Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.’

PSALM 119:20 says, 

‘My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.’

If we are to grow deeper, we need to have a longing to read God’s word.  The only way we will ever get to know Him personally is to know what He says, because that reveals how He feels. 

Another way to grow deeper is through involvement with others who are Christians.  That is called fellowship.  Here are just a couple of things God wants us to know about fellowshipping with other believers. 

1 THESSALONIANS 5:11 – 

‘Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.’

And, HEBREWS 10:25 –

‘Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one anther – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.’

Why is fellowship so important?  It is because one way God speaks to us is through other believers.  Although it is good to enjoy the company of one another and have fun, today’s church has let fellowship become just an activity that we do.  In reality, fellowship should be a time of strengthening and growing each others walk in Christ. 

Communion in the early church was not a 10-minute ordeal of passing the emblems.  To them, the act of Communion was when they came together as one in Christ, putting all their attention on Jesus and fully acknowledging that He paid our ransom with His very life. 

To break bread is a declaration of our deeper faith in Him.  We haven’t seen Him, yet we believe in Him.  Every time we receive the Lord’s Supper with a focused heart, we grow our faith deeper in Him. 

Another way to grow deeper in the Lord is by praying.  The word tells us to pray continually, and we all cry out, “More prayer …. More prayer!”  But the truth of the matter is that very few of us really spend quality time in deep prayer.  How can you get to know your spouses or children or friends if you do not spend quality time talking to them and listening to them as they talk to you?  If you want to grow deeper in the Lord, you need to know what He wants for you and from you.  And you will only know that by talking to Him constantly. 

That is how you grow deeper.  Now, how do you … 

2.   GROW WIDER?

You only grow wider in the Lord by reaching out further in the name of the Lord.  And the first people we need to reach out to, are those who have been reached before:  In other words, our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

In JOHN 13:34-35, Jesus said - 

‘A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’

We cannot reach out to the unsaved unless we truly love them.  And there is no way we can love them if we do not love each other. 

Okay, we need to grow wider, but just how do we go about doing that?  One way we grow wider is through our words. 

JEREMIAH 1:10 – 

‘See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.’

As Christians, we are to grow wider by telling others about God.  We uproot and tear down the ignorance that Satan has befuddled people with; we destroy that ignorance and build their foundation of knowledge in Christ Jesus.  And how do we do that?  We plant the seed of our Lord’s word in them.  That is called ‘evangelism.’  What does God say about evangelism?  He says to do it. 

One very effective way of growing wider as Christians and as a church is through the Small Groups Ministry.  The early church reached new people for Jesus through their homes.  

In ACTS 2:46, it tells how they met in homes and broke bread together, all the while praising the Lord.  In ACTS 16:31-32 tells how they met in homes to preach the word, bringing people to Christ. 

And one of the most effective ways to grow ourselves; to grow the number of Christians in our community; and to grow our church is through Small Groups.  You need to become involved in one, either as a member or as a host.  That is just how important this ministry is.  Some say they are too busy to join a small group.  If a person is too busy to involve them self in a small group, they are too busy to try and grow spiritually.  

The early church came together in focused unity.  They were truly devoted to Jesus Christ.  Today’s church is too often focused on going to church and thinking that makes them devoted Christians.  We need to analyze our commitment to Christ and decide on how deep our faith is and how wide we are willing to reach for Jesus.  

It is only through personal growth in the Lord that we will … 

3.   GROW OUR CHURCH

We need to grow this church, both in numbers and involvement in the community.  I want to share with you some statistics I read in a report recently.  This report shows church growth within the United States with in the last 20 years.

• The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church grew 12%.

• Catholics followed with a 2.5% increase

• Assemblies of God reported 2% growth.

• Other protestant churches combined grew 1%.

• Muslim churches in America grew just over 14%.

We are a nation founded on Christianity, yet Islam seems to be growing faster than Christianity in our nation.  To keep the kingdom of God moving forward in America, the church must grow.  There are some churchgoers that have said it is okay to have a small church as long as it is a quality church.  That is a lie straight from the gates of hell.  A church that grows in quality will also be a church that grows in quantity.  A church that does not grow in quantity does not have relevant quality for the community around it. 

Now, that being said, the quantity of a church's growth may not always be present in the numbers sitting in their pews, but will be present in the numbers of souls being saved through their efforts. 

Everything God created grows.  The moment it stops growing in some way, is the moment it begins to die.  How many thriving churches do you know if that have no new members coming through the door?  Now before anyone thinks I am just preaching growth for growth’s sake, let me explain something.  We might worship in different ways, and we might worship in different houses, but the church is made up of the people who believe in Jesus Christ.  

I have said before that if you know someone who needs to be in church, and you can get them into a church, it is your requirement to do so.  If they do not want to come to this church, then you get them to a church they will attend, and if necessary, you sit with them there.  We will pray for you and we will miss you, but we will thank God you are helping someone else grow in the Lord. 

Some churches cry out, “Lord, meet my needs!” while other churches cry out, “Lord, how can I meet someone else’s needs?”  Which type of church are we?  Better yet, which type of Christian are we?  

The Apostle Paul talked about God’s design for the church. 

EPHESIANS 4:11-13  

‘It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.’

God gives the leaders of the church gifts so they can help prepare the rest of the congregation for works of service to others, so the whole church might be built up in depth and width of maturity.  And this will never happen when only a small percentage of people within the church is actively serving others.  It only happens when the majority of those in the church are serving others. 

Mature churches are filled with mature Christians.  By mature, I am not talking about how old the church is or how long a person has been a Christian.  I am talking about the depth and width of their focus on Jesus.  I am talking about their desire to become doers of the word, for His name sake. 

Mature Christians are those who are 

• willing to step out and commit to a small group

• willing to step up and lead some kind of a ministry

• willing to take the joy of Christianity and share it with others

• those who say, “Lord, you can count on me!”

Immature Christians are those who are

• only willing to give their time to Jesus on Sundays

• not willing to lead, but are only willing to follow

• hiding from their responsibility to tell others

• those who say, “Lord, you can count on me when it is convenient - for me.”

What would you think of a football team where half team was too busy to stick around for the second half?  Or, what would you think of a teacher who only came to teach the children when it was convenient to do so?  Or, to make it even closer to home, what would you think about me if I only came to church and preached to you when nothing else was going on in my life? 

These examples might sound ridiculous, but they are no more ridiculous than when a Christian says they would like to get involved, but they cannot commit because of their schedule.  A mature Christian find some way to serve, even if they have to rearrange their schedule to do so.  A mature Christian will always find some way to put Christ first. 

Now, this church must grow to survive.  But there are different ways for a church to grow.  God may keep this church small in numbers, but if He does that, He will also pour out His Spirit on those within the church and we shall be a powerful group of believers!  Or, He might want us to grow in numbers so that we will have different gifts to draw from so we can complete His work. 

We will stagnate ourselves as a church, and render our church useless for all intent and purposes, if we do not have those within the church who are willing to go the extra mile and commit to serving through a ministry. 

As we move into the new church location, we will be getting serious about our maturity, as a church, and as individual Christians.  We will do this in part by getting more people involved in some kind of ministry.  That being said, as a new church, there will be one requirement.  New ministries, and especially all ministry leaders will go through me.  That way, we can ensure that everything that is happening in the church is within the dictates of our beliefs, and we can keep false teachings out of our church. 

I am reminded of the FedEx commercial where the carrier knocks on the door and a woman answers.  He hands her a box and explains that he has been on a deserted island for five years, all the while keeping that box safe so he could one day deliver it to her. 

She grabs the box and says a simple, “Thanks.”  Pushed by curiosity, he asks what is in the box that he kept safe for so long.  She opened it and said, “A cell phone, a GPS tracking device, a water purifier and some plant seeds.” 

That man had a box full of everything he needed, but since he didn’t open it, it did him no good.  Christians have a box that has everything they need to do everything they are called to do for Jesus Christ.  That box is their local church.  But, like that FedEx carrier, too many of them are not willing to open it and take what is in it. 

Will the CrossRoads Singers please come forward? 

In ISAIAH 6, the Prophet Isaiah sees a vision of the Lord in His Holy Temple, and he hears the Lord call out, “Whom shall I send?  Who will go for us?”

As Christians seeking to do God’s will in our lives and in our church, we should have the same reply that Isaiah had.  He said, “Here am I, Lord, send me.” 

Today, I would like to give a different kind of invitation.  If you are committed to standing up for, and standing firm in, the Lord; making Him your primary focus in life, and if you are willing to help this church grow to maturity in the Lord, I would like to ask you to come forward this morning as a public statement of your commitment to serve Him. 

As we stand and sing …. who will say, "Lord, here I am, use me!"