Pastor Brent Cobb

         Her 18-month old son was strapped into her back-carrier. Rushing to leave, she missed a step and fell down a flight of stairs. Badly banged up, her concern was for her child. Her fears eased when she heard his gleeful giggle and a shout, “Again!”

        In the high adventure of following Christ we work up a hunger to know Him, grow in Him, and become like Him. I ask you to join me in growing.  The Apostle Peter urges Christians, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of … Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet 3:18).  

        God intends babies to grow and ‘new creations’ in Christ to grow. It’s in our spiritual DNA to grow.

        The Olympics with Michael Phelps and the others were amazing. As kids Reese Hoffa and his brother accidentally burned their house down. Reese grew to weigh 315 lbs and become an Olympic shot put thrower. Growth!

        Bear cubs, the smallest of all mammals compared to their parents’ size, weigh about 13 ounces at birth. They grow to weigh between 200 and 1700 lbs, consuming between 25 and 35 lbs of food a day. Growth!

        The New International Reader’s Version translates 2 Peter 3:18 like this: “Grow in the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Get to know him better.  Give him glory.” I’ve been watching Dustin, Orine, Rich, many of our students, and others grow in Christ.

        Eaglets grow fast, get nudged out of their nests, learn to fly, and then to catch thermal updrafts so they can soar. God wants us to grow and soar.

        We grow in four ways I’m mention. I invite you to join me every day on these four ‘growth pathways.’ I’ll use an acronym to name them:  G.R.O.W.   The first growth pathway is “G” —   

“G” – God’s Word

QUESTION: What are some ways God’s Word is relevant and helpful to you?

·   Food & Drink

Peter calls God’s Word “spiritual milk” (1 Peter 2:2-3). “Like newborn babies … crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow” (NLT).

· Weapon to defeat the Enemy

 The Apostle Paul calls God’s Word “the sword of the Spirit” (Eph 6:17). David, shepherd and later king, hides God’s Word in his heart, stores it in his RAM (Radom Access Memory), to keep from sin. We ask the Holy Spirit to plant God’s Word in our lives to keep us from twisted thinking and to renew our minds.

“Heaven and earth will pass away,” Jesus says, “but my words will never pass away” (Mt 24:35).

· Direction

David declares, “Your word is a … light for my path” (Ps 119:105).

        Have you driven on a dark rural road at night and switched off the headlights? You could say, “Your word is like the headlights on my car that let me see the road ahead at night.”
        A second way to grow daily is: “R” —

“R” – Really converse

QUESTION: How would you describe prayer? What is prayer, really?

        Among other things, for me to pray is to trust and delight in the Lord, listening to His voice, talking with Him, my Savior and Friend. By conversing with Christ I build a relationship that’s founded on unconditional love.

        Don’t pray out of guilt. It is a though you say to yourself, “A prayer a day keeps guilt feelings away.” However, don’t toss away as trash a treasure like prayer. Live in conversation with Christ because you love ‘hanging out with Him’ and hearing His voice.  

        Hear Isaiah 65:1 (TEV): “The LORD said, ‘I was ready to answer my people’s prayers, but they did not pray.” 

        Let’s not rob ourselves by failing to pray. Conversing with Christ enables us to grow strong and to soar. Isaiah 40:31 says, “Those who trust in the LORD for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles …” (TEV)

        Would you rather remain earthbound or soar on wings of prayer? I want to soar. A third way to grow every day is: “O” —

“O” – Open up

QUESTION: What could be bad about lavish giving to God and others?

QUESTION: What could be good about extravagant giving to God and others?                   

        The secret to soaring through ‘giving living’ to delight in the Lord, peering past our problems to Jesus who is bigger than our problems, and celebrating that we can say with Paul, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13). The Message translation paraphrases it, “Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.”

        Kadin and Sierra, our grandchildren, delight us. Marty buys books at yard sales and reads to them. She gives them their favorite foods. I give them mine: ice cream.

        Giving to God and others is fun. Bringing God’s tithe [10% of our income] and our offerings to the Lord at His house is fun. Having my own box of giving envelopes that the church provides without charge, one for every week of the year, is cool. You may have your own.

        Don’t worry that you won’t have what you need if you give. Put God first and He’ll give you everything you need.  

        How ‘cool’ it is to be ‘conduits’ of God’s resources to deliver them to others; what a fun partnership! God, with all of the ‘capital,’ asks His partners to give it away. God enjoys giving extravagantly through you and me. It’s how we, Christ’s church, accomplish our mission.

        Jesus says, “Give, and it will be given to you” (Lu 6:38). The measuring cup, bucket, barrel, or thimble that I use to give is the container God uses to give to me. Delight in the Lord and He will give you your heart’s desires (Ps 37:4). He won’t withhold any good thing from you (Ps 84:11). He likes giving good things to you.

        This robust giving-living lifestyle is a lifestyle of high adventure. Christ’s resources are inexhaustible; you can’t out-give God; you can’t ask too much of Him.  

        The Bible asks, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom 8:32). Think deeply about these words.

        The last way I’ll invite you to grow daily is: “W” —

“W” – Watch Christ

QUESTION: How does watching Jesus, seeing His example, and putting self-giving love into action make you relevant in relating to others?

        Jesus is relevant. He always acts in our best interest. He invites us to ‘partner’ with Him in developing redemptive relationships that build people up.

        He calls us to be ‘salt’ in society to prevent moral decay, ‘light’ to prevent truth decay, and ‘leaven’ (yeast) to infiltrate our world with the transforming qualities of Christ’s life.

        Waiting to board a plane, Beth Moore tries not to stare at an old man bent over in his wheelchair, his clothes too big, his shoulders looking like a coat hanger is still in his shirt, his hands like tangled masses of veins and bones.
        His stringy gray hair hangs over his shoulders. His long, clean fingernails are strangely out of place on him. As Beth tries to read her Bible she wonders what his story might be.   

        She feels God wants her to go to him; she resists. “Don’t make me talk to him about Jesus,” she begs, “Not in front of everyone in this waiting area.”

        God seems to say, “I want you to brush his hair.”

        “How can I brush his hair?” she asks, “I don’t have a hairbrush.”

        God’s nudging her becomes inescapable; she must act. She goes to the old man in his wheelchair, kneels before him, and says, “Sir, may I brush your hair?”
        He looks back at her and asks, “What did you say?”

        She replies, “May I brush your hair?”
        In high volume he says, “Little lady, if you expect me to hear you, you’re going to have to talk louder.”
        So she yells, “SIR, MAY I BRUSH YOUR HAIR?”   

        Everyone looks at her.  He says, “If you really want to.”

        “Yes, sir, I do. But, I don’t have a hairbrush.”
        “I have one in my bag,” he says.

        Beth Moore, Bible teacher and writer, goes around behind his wheelchair, kneels, unzips his carry-on, and finds the hairbrush. She stands up and begins brushing his tangled hair, taking care not to pull too hard.
        Soon, it’s as though no one else is in the waiting area, only the old man and her. She brushes until every tangle is out of his hair, the whole time feeling as though the love of Jesus has taken over her heart.
        His hair is soon soft and smooth. She slips the brush back in the bag, goes around the wheelchair, gets back down on her knees, put her hands on his knees, and says, “Sir, do you know my Jesus?”
        “Yes, I do,” he says, “I’ve known Him since before I married my bride. She wouldn’t marry me until I knew Him. My problem is I haven’t seen her in a long time. I’ve had open-heart surgery, and she’s been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking what a mess I must be for my darling.”

        Wow; by saying yes to Jesus, Beth Moore gets to see Jesus at work in her in a powerfully real, relevant, and relational way!

        Here are a couple of questions for you to ponder:

        Will you to join me in seeking to grow to be relationally like Jesus?  

        Will you join me in spending quality time at studying God’s Word, conversing with Christ as naturally as we breathe, watching Christ in order to practice the giving-living that He has modeled, and loving people as He loves them?

Let’s pray:

“Our loving Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you to help me make the study of Your Word in order to live by its principles a high priority. And please help me to keep in communication with you as a privilege and delight. Help me to keep my attention on you, my example of ‘giving-living’ and of loving people in self-giving, redemptive ways that meet their felt needs. I ask these things for your name’s sake. Amen.”