Five Things You Need to Grow 2 Peter 3:18 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

There are five things you need to grow in your relationship to Jesus and your relationship to your local church.  These are particularly important for young adults and families today.  These two groups evidently have the greatest difficulty balancing their schedules to include sufficient time for the Lord and their local church.  Hopefully, this sermon will give you enough guidance on how to grow.  The five things you need to grow are:

Son-ship – 2 Cor 6:14-18 – son-ship describes your relationship with God.  When you were saved you became a child of God.  Your relationship as God’s child requires you to separate from sin and the world and to press on toward God.  Rom 6:18, 20 describes your situation before you were saved and after you were saved.  You used to serve sin when you were free from righteousness.  But now that you are free from sin, you are to serve the Lord.  The trouble with young adults is that they want to live in the world serving sin and still enjoy all the benefits of their father/son relationship with God.  This is not possible.

Stewardship – Lk 19:12-19 – the Lord has something that he wants you to do in service for him.  In order to do his will you need to present your body to him as a living sacrifice… which is your reasonable service [Rom 12:1-2].  Your service requires you to be a good steward of your time and your money.  You must give time to God and you must give your tithes and offerings to the Lord.  And you must be faithful in these things because good stewards are faithful [1 Cor 4:2].

Leadership – Eph 5:1 – you need to learn to follow God.  The best way to follow God is to read your Bible and pray every morning, seeking God.  You must also listen to God’s voice in preaching and teaching.  Then you need to follow a good man who is following Christ [1 Cor 11:1].  You need spiritual and practical leadership in your life and these come from a good Bible-believing pastor and Sunday school teacher.

Discipleship – 2 Tim 2:2 – you need to go to Sunday school and church [all services].  This is from where the bulk of your discipleship and growth will come.  Well organized and prepared sermons and lessons help you grow.  Furthermore, right after you are saved, you need individual discipleship from someone who can teach you the basics of the Christian life.  They help you establish a good foundation upon which to grow.

Fellowship – 1 Jn 1:3 – to grow, you need godly fellowship.  Unfortunately, today, fellowship is emphasized as the most important aspect of your growth and connection to your local church.  While it is certainly one of the top five things you need, it is definitely not the most important.  And as much as you need godly fellowship, you must cut off your fellowship with the world [Eph 5:11-12].  Don’t cut off your witness; but rather cut off your fellowship.

Conclusion: These are the five things that must be incorporated in your life to help you grow.  Wherever you are lacking, add that part.  Otherwise, your growth will be stunted.