Gods Adult Children

40 Days of Purpose, Week 4, Discipleship

October 17, 2004

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 "continue in what you have learned" "be persistent"

Luke 18:1-8 "pray always" & "do not lose heart"

Just about everyone loves a baby! God made babies heart-smashing. They smile at you and its all over! "Gas pains, my eye! She SMILED at me!"

Of course, when you consider what babies demand of their young parents, and the really BASIC sort of things they DO, it is a wonderful thing that babies CAN smash our hearts. They CON us into taking care of them and loving it! (And it is one of the perks of being a grandparent that you can hand the baby back to Momma when it smells funny.)

Maybe the very best thing about babies is that they begin to grow up. From day One they begin to change. Every new thing they do is a celebration. They get housebroken. Before too long they can start putting on their own clothes. Getting them to pick them up when they take them off may take a little longer!

One of the tragedies in life is when a baby refuses to stop being a baby. The goal of a baby is to grow up. When you're a little kid you can't wait to get big. It seems like you'll never be big enough to drive a car. Then when you DO get old everything changes again!

Our lectionary scriptures resonate with this week's emphasis in our 40 Days of Purpose- which is BECOMING LIKE CHRIST. The Epistle, 2 Timothy, urges us to CONTINUE IN WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED, and to BE PERSISTENT. The Gospel tells one of Jesus' stories on prayer, about a woman with need and an unjust judge who gave her what she needed because she KEPT ON ASKING and WOULD NOT GIVE UP. (A story in CONTRAST. God is NOT like the judge; He WANTS to give us what we need- AND WE NEED TO 'GROW UP.')

Persist! Keep growing! This is a THEME of the entire N.T. In order for us to become mature, Christ-like, "God's ADULT children" and not remain "babies in Christ" we will want to:

  1. KEEP GROWING IN UNDERSTANDING
    • from a literal, concrete "rules" mentality, TO
    • TO catching the SPIRIT OF BELONGING
  2. KEEP GROWING IN OBEDIENCE
    • from not just "supposed" to do it this way, "I said so!"
    • don't 'change the bed-time story' even one word!!
    • TO trusting there is a "WHY" that is good and right
  3. KEEP GROWING IN DEPTH OF RELATIONSHIP
    • little children can be very literal, very self-centered
    • even adversarial– baby-bottle Christians
    • TO collegial relationship

[Illus. I recall the first time I "consulted" with Steve when a family needed counsel.]

MY conclusion:

Growth, physically, is more or less in the genes, automatic. GROWTH, SPIRITUALLY, IS A DELIBERATE CHOICE!

Come back to Romans 12:1,2. We do not grow INTO grace; THAT is God's free gift to receive. But we MAY grow IN grace, and that takes OUR COMMITMENT. Because God has loved and received us, let us OFFER HIM OUR BODIES– OUR TIME - OUR OBEDIENCE! Together with God we CAN GROW UP! We can be GOD'S ADULT CHILDREN!

Sermon, short, leads into "fill in the blanks":

Here is what I have for the bulletin inserts:

MY 3RD PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO BECOME LIKE CHRIST

"Discipleship"

THREE UNEXPECTED TOOLS

  1. GOD USES TROUBLE TO TEACH US TO TRUST HIM .
    • Keep a spiritual journal .
    • Remember the reward . (You aren't home yet!)
  2. GOD USES TEMPTATION TO TEACH US TO OBEY .
    • Keep focused on good thoughts .
    • Get a spiritual partner .
  3. GOD USES TRESPASSES TO TEACH US TO FORGIVE .
    • Remember God has forgiven me .
    • Remember God is in control .

Prayer:

Father in Heaven, we are grateful to be part of your family. Help us to continue to grow in grace and be more and more like your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for your patience with us. We really want to learn to please You so we can take our place in the Family that You have for each of us,

In Jesus' name, who taught us when we pray to say,

OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN . . .