Life in 3G Part 2

  You know there was a time when cell phones just made phone calls. Believe it or not that’s all some of them did. (Talk about first phone) But now a day you can do so much more than that, you can text, roam the internet, download movies, find a nearby restaurant and make a reservation for yah they’re amazing right? A lot of us even have our bibles on our phones now. Most of us probably have at least one version of Angry Birds as well. My phone has the little 3G thing up in the corner, and when it pops up I know I’ve got fast, solid connection to do everything that my phone was created to do. And through this series the idea is to be spiritually connected with God, in a way that is strong and vibrant and growing. You know I was driving the other day and I was going north toward Maryville, and there was one time during my trip where my phone started going from 3G on down to 1 and then to searching, and I stopped in a little town to get some snacks and at that time when I looked at it, it said forget it! Absolutely nothing! And it kind of dawned upon me how much we rely on technology, and how much we don’t want to be disconnected. The same should be true with our relationship with God we should never want to be disconnected; we never should be disconnected, even though sometimes it happens. So life in 3G, we’re going through the three basics that help us keep our connection with God and our Christian friends strong and healthy. Last week we talked about the importance of gathering and the idea was also a promotion for See You at the Pole which was awesome! What we also learned last week is that gathering is foundational for all the other things that God wants us to do in our life. How is somebody supposed to come to church or FCA if they are never invited, so gathering is the foundation. So every week we gather here well most of us! And every week we try to grow. This week were going to talk a little about how to grow spiritually. You know God doesn’t want for us to remain a spiritual infant, he wants us to be mature, and he wants us to grow up. Ephesians Chapter 4 verse 15 “God wants us to grow up…like Christ in everything.” He wants us to grow up. Verse 14 actually reads “we are not to remain as children.” When we come to Christ we come into a relationship with him, that shouldn’t just be our goal. Salvation is not the end goal. It’s simply the starting point, because from there we start building this relationship with him. We grow deeper, we’re called not to just be followers, and we’re called to be disciples. We’re called to learn his ways, learn his heart. First things first, Spiritual growth is Intentional, it’s not automatic. It doesn’t just happen; you don’t just wake up one day and go “whew I am spiritually mature” You have to be intentional about it. Death is automatic growth is not. If you buy a plant and set it in your kitchen, and you don’t water it, what’s it going to do? It’s not going to grow its going to wilt and die. So spiritual growth is intentional, but spiritual growth is also personal. It’s your choice. I can’t make the choice for you; nobody can make the choice for you. You’ve got to make the decision to personally grow. See you are as close to Jesus now as you want to be. You’re as close to God as you want to be, not as close as your parents want you to be, not as close as your church wants you to be, you’re as close as you want to be. So the question is, are you going to grow yourself, or are you going to stay the same? The good news is you don’t have to stay where you are, you can commit to growing yourself. See I can say that I want to be a great golfer, but if I don’t make the time to go out and practice then how am I going to get better? I have to be committed to going out there developing and perfecting my swing so that I can grow and become better at that sport. The same is true with my relationships. I can say that I want to be a great friend or a great boyfriend but if I’m not committed to spending time with that person, whether its listening to them, talking with them, or hanging out, there is no possible way that I’m going to grow and become that great friend. Spiritual growth is also incremental. It’s not going to happen overnight. Growth happens over time. You see that with a plant, it goes from a seed into a stem, into a flower. It doesn’t just go from seed to plant in an hour it takes days even months for that to happen. The same is true with our spiritual lives as well, it’s incremental. Don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t see the amazing growth in one month, give yourself sometime. So let me ask you all, this question here today. What are you doing to grow yourself? How is your connection with God? Is it lagging in connection? Is it still searching? Or has it finally said given up? Hopefully today, everybody’s connection is 3G but that is not always the case.