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(2 Peter 3:18)

INTRODUCTION: Our message series is called “Christ Our Purpose,” and we are taking some time this fall to look at our church purpose statement and see what God’s word has to tell us about our purpose as a church.

As we saw last week, the purpose of Plantation Community Church is to make disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ by: 1) calling people to Christ, 2) helping them grow in Christ, 3) receiving them into fellowship and service, 4) involving them in personal and group worship, 5) sharing God’s love in Broward County and beyond, and 6) teaching and equipping people for ministry. That’s our purpose. That’s why we exist as a church.

Last week, we looked at the first of these purposes as revealed in Scripture: “Calling people to Christ.” This week, we move on to the second purpose: “Helping people grow in Christ.” It’s not enough simply to call people to Christ. After they come to Christ, we must help them grow in him as well. (Read 2 Peter 3:18 and pray.)

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So, let’s talk about growing in Christ. Our purpose as a church is to make disciples of Jesus, and part of discipleship is helping people grow in Christ.

Jesus said: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). Discipleship is more than just coming to Christ for salvation. It is also growing in commitment and obedience to Jesus Christ.

So how do we do that? How do we grow as Christians? We are going to look at a number of Scriptures this morning to help us understand this second purpose we have as a church—helping people grow in Christ.

I. Spiritual growth and maturity

First of all, growing in Christ means spiritual growth and maturity. Last week, we talked about sharing the gospel, and the importance of people putting their trust and faith in Jesus for salvation. But God doesn’t want you just to put your faith in Christ. He wants you to grow in your faith as well.

Christianity isn’t a one-time decision that you then leave behind. It is a living, personal relationship with God through his Son, Jesus. When you come to Christ, you become a new creation in Christ. You are born again. Spiritually, you are a newborn baby, and like all babies, you need to grow.

   A. Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus (2 Peter 3:18)

There are several aspects to spiritual growth and maturity. One important aspect of spiritual growth is growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. That’s what we read in 2 Peter 3:18: “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

We are saved by God’s grace, and we also need to grow in that grace. Growing in grace means growing in your understanding that you are accepted by God not on the basis of your performance as a Christian but on the basis of Christ alone. God accepts you not because of what you do, but because of what Jesus has already done.

Some people might think that would cause you to sin more, but ironically, the more you grasp the grace of God, the less you will sin. So, growing in grace also means learning to live in God’s grace, so that God’s grace motivates and sustains you throughout the day.

We are also to grow in our knowledge of Christ. Certainly, part of that knowledge is learning about Christ from the Bible as we read about the life of Christ in the gospels, the teachings about Christ in the New Testament letters, and the various prophecies of Christ in the Old Testament. But we are also to grow in our own personal knowledge of Jesus—as we walk with him daily, as we spend time with him in prayer, as we submit to his Lordship and authority in our lives through the choices and decisions we make.

There is something wrong with a Christian who never experiences growth. If you had a baby who was not growing, you would check with every doctor you could to find out what was wrong. If you are not growing as a Christian, then something is also terribly wrong.

We will be looking at how we grow as a Christian later in the message, but if you have never experienced Christian growth, one question you should ask yourself is: “Am I really a Christian? Have I really turned away from my sin and put my faith in Christ?” Because if you haven’t, that would explain why you are not growing. You can’t grow as a Christian until you first become a Christian. There must be spiritual life before there can be spiritual growth.

   B. Grow in Christian maturity (Colossians 1:28)

When we talk about spiritual growth, we are also talking about growing in Christian maturity. Paul wrote to the Colossians: “We proclaim him [Christ], admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ” (Col. 1:28). The word translated “perfect” is a word that means “mature, fully grown, complete, or finished.” Paul worked hard to present every believer as mature in Christ.

Now there is a sense in which none of us will be finished growing as Christians until we reach heaven. We will not be fully mature in Christ until Christ returns or we die. And yet there is another sense in which we can say there are mature and immature believers in Christ. The young believer in Christ has so much to learn about God, the Bible, prayer, forgiveness, sin, temptation, and a host of other biblical issues. The Christian who has walked with Christ for many years and who has spent time in the Bible and prayer has been tested and tried in ways that a new believer has not.

And so, even though we will never be fully mature as Christians in this life, we can become mature followers of Jesus. We should want to become mature followers of Jesus. Growing in Christ means spiritual growth and maturity.

II. Becoming more like Jesus

When we talk about spiritual growth and maturity, we are not just talking about Bible knowledge gained or calendar years marked off since we first trusted Christ. We are talking about Christian character. True spiritual growth and maturity will always result in the Christian becoming more like Jesus in character. In short, growing in Christ means becoming more like Jesus.

   A. God is making you more like his Son (Romans 8:28-30)

One of the most important passages in the Bible is found in Romans 8:28-30. Many of us are already familiar with verse 28, but let me read all three verses for you: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

Why does God work all things together for the good of those who love him? Because God is using everything that happens in your life as a Christian, including the difficult times and trials, to make you more like Jesus. If you are a Christian, God’s ultimate plan for you is that you will be “conformed to the likeness of his Son,” and God will not let anything interfere with his plan. Indeed, if you are a Christian, God in his sovereignty will take both the good and the bad in your life, your cooperation or lack of cooperation, and he will use it all to make you more like Jesus.

   B. God develops Christ’s character in you through the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)

God is far more interested in the development of your character than he is in what you do for work or where you live or how much money you have in the bank. Spiritual growth is all about becoming more like Jesus. You could know the Bible backward and forward, you could be a Christian for fifty years, but if you are not becoming more like Christ in your character, then something’s wrong. God wants you to become more like Jesus. There’s an old Keith Green song that I often sing: “I want to, I need to, be more like Jesus. I want to, I need to, be more like him.”

God develops the character of Christ in you through the Holy Spirit living in you. When you put your faith in Jesus, God’s Holy Spirit comes into your life. He washes you clean, you’re forgiven of your sins, and now God’s Holy Spirit lives within you. He dwells within you, and he begins changing you from the inside out.

The Bible calls this the fruit of the Spirit. God lists nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit in the letter to the Galatians: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23).

Those are all character traits that Jesus expressed perfectly in his life. The ultimate measure of spiritual maturity is not how much you know, but rather how much you exhibit these character traits in your life. Growing in Christ means becoming more like Jesus.

III. Bible, prayer, fellowship and service (Acts 2:42-47)

So, growing in Christ means spiritual growth and maturity. Growing in Christ means becoming more like Jesus. We have seen that God is developing Christ’s character in you through the Holy Spirit. So how about you and me? What part do we play in all this? Is there anything we can do to help? And the answer is, “Yes.”

God is going to do the work. You can’t do it without him. But there are things you can do to help the progress along. Four things that are absolutely essential to growing in Christ are the Bible, prayer, fellowship and service. These were the marks of the early church. We read in Acts 2:

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.
Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47)

What a great description of the church! And did you notice what they did? They devoted themselves to the Bible, fellowship, prayer and service. This was a church that took full advantage of all those things that would help them grow in their faith.

The Bible is essential because it is God’s word. It is a trustworthy guide for life. The Bible teaches you about God and Christ and gives you wisdom for making right choices. The Bible gives you encouragement when you are down, comfort when you hurt, and promises to help you keep going when you feel like giving up. The Bible is your offensive weapon in the battle against temptation and sin. The Bible brings you closer to God as you meditate on God’s words in Scripture and as you allow God’s word to shape and renew your life. The Bible is essential to Christian growth.

Prayer is essential to Christian growth. Prayer is your lifeline to heaven. If the Bible is the fuel for Christian living, then prayer is the oxygen that feeds the fire. God speaks to you through his word, and you speak to God through prayer. Prayer often changes things around you, but more importantly, prayer changes you. And so, we need to be praying every day. The cumulative effect of praying daily to God over a lifetime is immeasurable. Prayer is essential to Christian growth.

Fellowship is essential to Christian growth. You were not meant to go it alone as a Christian. We need each other’s encouragement and prayers in order to grow. God does not just save you as an individual, but he brings you into his family. Jesus is building his church, and he calls you to be a part of it. True Christianity always takes place in community. It is in the church that we love and serve each other and present a witness to the watching world. You cannot grow as a Christian in isolation. Fellowship is essential to Christian growth. And finally:

Service is essential to Christian growth. We read in Ephesians 4: “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” (Eph. 4:11-13).

We will return to these verses in the coming weeks when we talk about service and ministry. But right now, I want you to notice what these verses say about service and maturity. We serve each other so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and become mature. Serving each other is one of the ways we help each other grow into maturity in Christ.

Paul goes on to say: “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (Eph. 4:14-16)

The end result of service in the body of Christ is spiritual growth. No longer immature infants blown back and forth by the wind, we become mature, solid adults in Christ, knowing the truth of God’s word and speaking that truth in love as God shapes our character to become more like Christ.

So, back to our question. Is there anything you can do to assist your spiritual growth? Is there anything you can do that will help you grow in Christ? Absolutely! Yes! You need to commit yourself to all four of these areas so that you may grow as a Christian.

1) Bible: Read and study God’s word. Read God’s word every day. Become a lifelong learner of the Bible.

2) Prayer: Develop a pattern of daily prayer. Talk to God throughout the day. Read about prayer, learn about prayer, but most of all, pray.

3) Fellowship: Commit to a local church and become a member of that church. Attend regularly. Get involved in a home group or Bible study. Get together with Christian friends. Don’t neglect your non-Christian friends, but don’t neglect the fellowship of believers either.

4) Service: Look for ways to get involved. Volunteer at church. Don’t be a spectator. Use your spiritual gifts and talents to serve others.

These are four essential things you can do that will help you grow in Christ.

Let me add that one of the best ways you can grow in your knowledge of the Bible is simply by attending a Sunday class right here at the church. It’s the easiest thing in the world. It doesn’t even require an extra trip—you’re already here! Parents, your children need to be in Sunday School so they can learn more about God and the Bible, but you need to as well. We offer care for your children while you attend classes on Sunday mornings. As a church we offer a variety of groups each week that will help you grow in your faith and in your walk with the Lord.

What groups do we offer? I’m glad you asked! (show Groups Card).

CONCLUSION: The purpose of Plantation Community Church is to make disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ by: 1) calling people to Christ, and 2) helping them grow in Christ.

We will look at the remaining purposes in the weeks ahead, but for right now let’s just focus on these two. Are you calling people to Christ by sharing the gospel? Are you growing in Christ and encouraging others to grow by participating in Bible study, prayer, fellowship and service? These are two of God’s purposes for the church. These are two of the main reasons why the church exists.

If you have lost your vision or passion for church lately, perhaps it is because you have lost sight of these purposes. It is easy for any of us to get into a routine sometimes and just go to church each week without really thinking about it. But that gets old quickly.

Let’s remember Christ is our purpose, both as believers and as a church. When you focus on God’s purposes for the church, that makes all the difference.

© Ray Fowler

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