Speaker 1: Thank you, Pastor Noah.
Speaker 1: Good morning church man.
Speaker 1: You guys sound absolutely great today.
Speaker 1: There's nothing like the presence of the Lord.
Speaker 1: Let me say that again.
Speaker 1: There's nothing like the presence of the Lord.
Speaker 1: It's good, it's good to be in the house of the Lord with you worshiping this morning.
Speaker 1: Today we're going to continue in our series that we kicked off a few weeks ago, entitled Making Room for More morning Today we're going to continue in our series that we kicked off a few weeks ago, entitled Making Room for More.
Speaker 1: We're going to look at another value that we need to embrace in our lives if we want to make room for more of God's activity, more of his presence in our lives.
Speaker 1: But before we do that, I have a need for a dad joke or two.
Speaker 1: Anybody need a dad joke this morning, for a dad joke or two.
Speaker 1: Anybody need a dad joke this morning.
Speaker 1: That's what I thought.
Speaker 1: Anybody not want a dad joke?
Speaker 1: See the majority rules.
Speaker 1: I mean it was just not strong enough.
Speaker 1: So I got a couple of dad jokes for you.
Speaker 1: Here's the first one.
Speaker 1: Do you know why?
Speaker 1: Do you know why you should never tell someone you love them on January 1st?
Speaker 1: Why should you never tell someone you love them on January 1st.
Speaker 1: Well, because it's the first date.
Speaker 1: That's pretty good, wasn't it?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: How many of you guys like that one?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: How many of you guys want another?
Speaker 1: Say, give me one more.
Speaker 1: So here's the second one.
Speaker 1: I recently had someone approach me about sleeping problems.
Speaker 1: Anybody have any sleeping problems?
Speaker 1: I had someone approach me about sleeping problems, but I really couldn't relate, because I can do it with my eyes closed.
Speaker 1: That's pretty good.
Speaker 1: How many think we need one more?
Speaker 1: One more, one more.
Speaker 1: Okay, here's the last one.
Speaker 1: And everybody say thank you, Jesus.
Speaker 1: Did you hear about the sailor who quit working on the submarine?
Speaker 1: The sailor, not this sailor, but another sailor.
Speaker 1: Hear about the sailor who quit working on the submarine?
Speaker 1: Yeah, he was just under too much pressure.
Speaker 1: That's pretty good.
Speaker 1: Remember, pressure down low water.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Stand with me where you are this morning before I lose everyone.
Speaker 1: Let's turn to God's word to redeem this.
Speaker 1: To redeem this.
Speaker 1: We are today going to look at the value of spiritual growth as something that we need to embrace in our lives if we want to make room for more of God's presence.
Speaker 1: How many of you believe with me this morning?
Speaker 1: God has more.
Speaker 1: Well, if God has more, then I may need to grow up into the more that God has for my life, and we're going to explore that value today.
Speaker 1: The theme text that we are leaning into for this entire series is in Isaiah, chapter 54, verses one through five, and it reads this way Sing barren woman, you who never bore a child.
Speaker 1: Burst into song.
Speaker 1: Shout for joy, you who were never in labor.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.
Speaker 1: God says those who have yet to experience the more that I have for you, you need to start shouting, because you're about to experience it in a way that you've never experienced it before.
Speaker 1: Boy, that makes me want to shout.
Speaker 1: How about you today?
Speaker 1: Verse two enlarge the place of your tent.
Speaker 1: What's God saying?
Speaker 1: He's saying you need to make room for more.
Speaker 1: Stretch wide your tent curtains.
Speaker 1: Do not hold back.
Speaker 1: Lengthen your cords, Strengthen your stakes.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because you will spread out to the left and to the right.
Speaker 1: You need to make more because God's getting ready to give you more.
Speaker 1: You're getting ready to spread out to the left and to the right.
Speaker 1: Your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in desolate cities.
Speaker 1: Verse four do not be afraid.
Speaker 1: You will not be put to shame.
Speaker 1: Do not fear disgrace.
Speaker 1: You will not be humiliated.
Speaker 1: You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
Speaker 1: What is God saying?
Speaker 1: He's saying this don't be afraid to make room for more.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we are our own worst enemy.
Speaker 1: We know God wants to do more, but we're afraid to make room for more because we're afraid that he's not going to fill it.
Speaker 1: Well, the word of God says if you'll make room for it, God will fill it.
Speaker 1: Verse 5.
Speaker 1: For your maker is your husband.
Speaker 1: The Lord.
Speaker 1: Almighty is his name.
Speaker 1: The Holy One of Israel is your redeemer.
Speaker 1: He is called the God of all the earth.
Speaker 1: God says I hold everything in my hand and if you make room for more, then I'm going to give you more.
Speaker 1: The title of my message this morning is this Shape up.
Speaker 1: Turn to your morning is this Shape up.
Speaker 1: Turn to your neighbor and say shape up.
Speaker 1: Turn to the other neighbor and say shape up.
Speaker 1: Turn around to the person behind you and say shape up.
Speaker 1: How many of you guys agree with me this morning?
Speaker 1: It's time to shape up.
Speaker 1: If God's got more, it's time for me to shape up and make room for more, and that's what we're going to do.
Speaker 1: We started this a few weeks ago.
Speaker 1: I say this is God's word and you say we believe it to be true.
Speaker 1: This is God's word, Father.
Speaker 1: We thank you for your word.
Speaker 1: Your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light into our path.
Speaker 1: It shows us the way to go and how to arrive there safely, and I pray this morning that we wouldn't just be hearers of your word, but that we would be doers of it, In Jesus' mighty name.
Speaker 1: Everybody said you may be seated, Caleb, thank you.
Speaker 1: A few years ago, I had an epiphany moment that changed my life pretty substantially.
Speaker 1: Anybody else ever had one of those moments?
Speaker 1: An epiphany moment when you saw something, that when you understood something, that you received something, and it changed everything about your life.
Speaker 1: Moving forward from that moment Anybody know what I'm talking about that you've walked into something and then, all of a sudden, everything else beyond that moment began to look differently.
Speaker 1: I had a moment like that a few years ago, and that moment happened when I looked at a picture of myself at the beach.
Speaker 1: Anybody know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: I saw a picture of myself at the beach with my family and I understood very, very quickly that, in spite of all of my best efforts to stay in shape, I had failed miserably.
Speaker 1: Anybody know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: This morning you got any honest people in the house today.
Speaker 1: I looked at that picture, said, oh no, what has happened here?
Speaker 1: See, up until about age 30, I had worked out and I had ran and I had stayed in pretty good shape, had stayed in pretty good shape, and then, about age 30, life slapped me in the face.
Speaker 1: Am I preaching to anybody this morning?
Speaker 1: Listen, I need your help today.
Speaker 1: This may be more confessional for me than it is anybody else, but will you help your pastor just a little bit?
Speaker 1: This morning, At 30, things started shifting.
Speaker 1: Career starts taking off, we have kids, and then they start to school and then all of their activities at school.
Speaker 1: Would somebody call the school systems and tell them to slow down just a little bit?
Speaker 1: We don't need all these extracurricular activities.
Speaker 1: They're five years old, they don't need it.
Speaker 1: Let me try, I don't need it, they don't need it.
Speaker 1: Let me try, I don't need it.
Speaker 1: Man life.
Speaker 1: And so at that time things shifted.
Speaker 1: I just started trying to keep it between the ditches.
Speaker 1: That's all I did.
Speaker 1: It was awful, and my exercise goals changed at that point.
Speaker 1: My exercise goals changed at that point.
Speaker 1: My exercise goals changed from trying to remain buff for my wife to I just don't want to look horrible.
Speaker 1: This may be the best message I have ever preached.
Speaker 1: I just wanted to resist the dad bod, you know.
Speaker 1: So I quit working out and I just started running.
Speaker 1: I only had time.
Speaker 1: I can't do both and so I had to make a choice.
Speaker 1: So I said, well, I'll run and hopefully I'll stay trim.
Speaker 1: And then I saw that picture.
Speaker 1: And what I saw in that picture was a person that really wasn't that overweight, but he wasn't in shape.
Speaker 1: There was no muscle.
Speaker 1: It was just a person.
Speaker 1: Muscle definition and muscle tone had said bye-bye years ago.
Speaker 1: And I thought my God, what am I going to do?
Speaker 1: Can anybody relate?
Speaker 1: This morning?
Speaker 1: Thank you for agreeing with your pastor.
Speaker 1: Today I got to thinking about that and you know, spiritually we can have a very similar experience.
Speaker 1: Spiritually, we come to know the Lord at salvation and we're filled with passion.
Speaker 1: We're filled with a passion to know him.
Speaker 1: We're filled with a passion to follow him.
Speaker 1: We're filled with a passion to partner with him in building his kingdom.
Speaker 1: So we pursue a relationship with him and we get involved in a local church and we start serving and we start giving and we are vibrant about our faith.
Speaker 1: And then, all of the sudden, life slaps you in the face.
Speaker 1: In addition to having all the normal stuff that you have with career and kids and their activities and everything else, you begin to understand that knowing the Lord is going to take a lot of time and energy.
Speaker 1: It's going to take a lot of time and energy.
Speaker 1: It's going to take a lot of effort.
Speaker 1: You begin to understand that following the Lord isn't just going to take some of you, it's going to require all of you.
Speaker 1: Anybody know what I'm talking about this morning.
Speaker 1: You get involved in a church and then, all of a sudden, you realize it's filled with very imperfect people and before you know it, you look at yourself and you think what happened to my spiritual journey?
Speaker 1: What happened to my faith?
Speaker 1: What happened to my relationship with God?
Speaker 1: You start asking yourself questions why do I keep thinking the same way that I've always thought?
Speaker 1: Why do I keep looking at things the way that I've always looked?
Speaker 1: Why have I kept acting the way that I've always?
Speaker 1: Why am I not changing more than I think I should be changing?
Speaker 1: Why am I no longer growing in my faith?
Speaker 1: And even if I wanted to grow, do I know how to grow?
Speaker 1: Do I know where to grow?
Speaker 1: Do I know how to apply growth principles to my life?
Speaker 1: How do I get moving forward?
Speaker 1: Life has this tendency, whether it's physical or spiritual, to slap your growth in the face.
Speaker 1: It slaps your progression forward in the face.
Speaker 1: It can get in the way of God's best for our lives.
Speaker 1: Anybody know what I'm talking about this morning.
Speaker 1: Today I want to help put you on a path for spiritual growth.
Speaker 1: Today I want to help put you on a path to make room for the best years that God has for your life.
Speaker 1: I want to put you on a path this morning that literally is doing what Isaiah, chapter 54, says that you are stretching wide and you are making room for God to move in your life in a way like you have never known or seen before.
Speaker 1: I will give you three growth principles this morning.
Speaker 1: I'm going to highlight the first two of them, but I really want to spend most of my time on the third one, and here's three spiritual growth principles that you need to know.
Speaker 1: Number one it's God's will for you to grow.
Speaker 1: Number two it's the Holy Spirit is here to help you grow.
Speaker 1: And number three if we are going to grow, we have to take steps towards growth.
Speaker 1: How many of you guys know we have a responsibility in this equation.
Speaker 1: Three spiritual growth principles that you have to understand.
Speaker 1: It's God's will for you to grow, the Holy Spirit is here to help us grow.
Speaker 1: And then we have to take steps towards growth.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the first one it's God's will for us to grow.
Speaker 1: In Romans, chapter 8, verse 29, Paul says for those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed.
Speaker 1: Stop right there.
Speaker 1: If you have your Bibles, if you have an iPhone, iPad, you're in the app, whatever it may be.
Speaker 1: I want you to underline or highlight the words predestined and conformed, Because what Paul is telling us here that it is the destiny of God for our lives to grow.
Speaker 1: It is the destiny of God for us to grow how.
Speaker 1: It is the destiny of God for us to grow how, Into the image of his son, that we might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters, Without reservation.
Speaker 1: It's God's will for us to grow up into the fullness of Christ.
Speaker 1: Do you know what the word Christian literally translates?
Speaker 1: Little Christ, that we are supposed to grow in Christ likeness, that there is supposed to be a progression in our lives where we are growing up into the full measure of the fullness of Christ in our lives, that's what Paul is saying here in Romans, chapter 8.
Speaker 1: In Ephesians 4, 15, he says it this way Instead speaking the truth in love, we will grow.
Speaker 1: We will grow up to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head that is Christ.
Speaker 1: Paul says hey, you need to know that the will of God is for you to grow up into the full measure of the fullness of Christ.
Speaker 1: Let me stop here for just a second and explain this to you.
Speaker 1: God doesn't want saved babies, he wants mature sons and daughters.
Speaker 1: Doesn't want saved babies, he wants mature sons and daughters.
Speaker 1: So if you're in Ephesians 4, you need to underline or highlight the word grow, and then you need to underline or highlight the word mature that God wants us to grow up into the maturity of our faith.
Speaker 1: God doesn't want saved babies, he wants mature sons and daughters.
Speaker 1: Let me take that a step further.
Speaker 1: Jesus didn't go through what he went through to save our eternity and yet leave us unchanged today Let me say that again.
Speaker 1: Jesus didn't go through what he went through to save us for eternity sometime in the future and yet leave us unchanged today.
Speaker 1: No, he went through what he went through to bring eternity future to the present, that we might grow up into the full measure of the fullness of God for our lives.
Speaker 1: It's God's will for us to grow Everybody good.
Speaker 1: Number two the Holy Spirit is here to help us grow.
Speaker 1: Jesus, at the last supper in John chapter 14, is given some of his final instruction to his disciples before his betrayal, his crucifixion, his death and his resurrection.
Speaker 1: And he begins to speak about the Holy Spirit and he says the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, he will help you to grow in all things and he will remind you of everything that I've said to you so that you can grow and keep on growing and continue to grow in the fullness of God's will for your life.
Speaker 1: If you're in John 14, 26, you need to underline Holy Spirit and you need to underline teach and you need to underline, remind that it is the Holy Spirit's job in our lives to grow us up into the full measure of the fullness of God for our lives.
Speaker 1: Jesus said I'm not leaving you alone.
Speaker 1: I'm sending you the Holy Spirit and he's going to help you to continue growing in every way in your life.
Speaker 1: We have an advocate the word advocate here is literally a legal term.
Speaker 1: It's the term for an attorney that comes alongside us and that he helps us to grow in every way.
Speaker 1: We have somebody sent from the Father to do what Jesus did for the disciples while he was with them.
Speaker 1: We have the Holy Spirit to help us grow in the full measure, the fullness of God.
Speaker 1: Well, how do you engage the Holy Spirit?
Speaker 1: Let me tell you it's really complicated.
Speaker 1: Measure the fullness of God.
Speaker 1: Well, how do you engage the Holy Spirit?
Speaker 1: Let me tell you it's really complicated.
Speaker 1: You ready?
Speaker 1: This is rocket science.
Speaker 1: You have to ask him to help.
Speaker 1: You just have to invite him in to what you're doing and say Holy Spirit, can you help me?
Speaker 1: And his reply is absolutely.
Speaker 1: That's why I'm here.
Speaker 1: I've just been waiting on you to invite me in and ask me to help, because that's my assignment on the earth is to help believers grow up into the fullness of the measure of God for their lives.
Speaker 1: You've got to ask him to help.
Speaker 1: Number one, it's God's will for us to grow.
Speaker 1: Number two, it's the Holy Spirit's job to help us grow.
Speaker 1: And number three, this is where I want to spend some time this morning.
Speaker 1: We you and I have to take steps.
Speaker 1: We have to be active participants if we want to grow in the fullness of God for our lives.
Speaker 1: Look what Paul says in Philippians 2, verse 12.
Speaker 1: He says Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
Speaker 1: Continue to work out your salvation, To work out, To work out your, to work out, to work out your.
Speaker 1: You continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
Speaker 1: What is Paul telling the church in Philippi?
Speaker 1: He's telling them it's time to shape up.
Speaker 1: He's telling them that it's time to get in shape.
Speaker 1: It's time to work out your salvation.
Speaker 1: It's time to start pushing some weights.
Speaker 1: It's time to do whatever you need to do to grow in the fullness of God, that you have a responsibility.
Speaker 1: Yes, it's God's will for me to grow and the Holy Spirit is here to help me grow.
Speaker 1: But I have a part to play in this equation and my part is I got to put feet to the journey.
Speaker 1: I've got to work it out.
Speaker 1: I got to put the weights on the bar and I got to start pushing.
Speaker 1: I got to start lifting.
Speaker 1: I've got to start doing my part to grow in the fullness of God for my lives.
Speaker 1: The Amplified Bible says it this way to work out our salvation means that it's something that has to be cultivated, that we have to bring it to full effect and that we have to actively I love this, actively pursue spiritual maturity, that we have an active part to play.
Speaker 1: Can I tell you this right now your spiritual growth isn't somebody else's responsibility.
Speaker 1: The church is here to help you grow.
Speaker 1: That's why we're here and we love love getting to do that.
Speaker 1: It is our joy and it is our delight.
Speaker 1: But your spiritual growth isn't dependent upon us, it's dependent upon you.
Speaker 1: We have a response.
Speaker 1: Each person is responsible for their own spiritual growth.
Speaker 1: Can I get an amen in the house this morning.
Speaker 1: But this is where people most often struggle.
Speaker 1: Vast majority of people believe it's God's will for them to grow.
Speaker 1: Vast majority of people believe that the Holy Spirit is here to help them grow.
Speaker 1: But when you actually put feet to this, we struggle with figuring out how to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, with fear and trembling.
Speaker 1: George Barna just recently released his State of the Church research for 2025.
Speaker 1: And in it he identified why most believers have a tendency to struggle to grow in their faith, and he found there's three reasons, above and beyond all others, that we struggle to grow in our faith.
Speaker 1: And here's those three reasons we struggle.
Speaker 1: Number one because of worldly distractions that overshadow spiritual pursuit.
Speaker 1: Let me translate that for you.
Speaker 1: We all got a lot going on and we pulled in a lot of different directions.
Speaker 1: And because we're pulled in a lot of different directions that we're distracted by a lot of things, those things have a tendency to overshadow our spiritual pursuit.
Speaker 1: Let me give you a spiritual principle that will help you here.
Speaker 1: When we say no to worldly pursuits, those worldly pursuits tend to shout until it gets our attention.
Speaker 1: When we say no to spiritual pursuits, you know what happens the Holy Spirit tends to get quieter.
Speaker 1: So what's shouting and what's whispering in your ear is an indication of what has your attention.
Speaker 1: Worldly, distractions that overshadow spiritual pursuits is the number one deterrent today to spiritual growth.
Speaker 1: Number two is uncertainty about which areas of spiritual growth to prioritize.
Speaker 1: In some of the research they found that almost 75% of church-going believers in America today confess I'm overwhelmed with all of the options and all of the areas, with all the stuff at my disposal, and I just don't know how I need to grow.
Speaker 1: Anybody else ever felt overwhelmed?
Speaker 1: Anybody picked up this book and said where do I start?
Speaker 1: I know I need to grow, but where do I need to grow?
Speaker 1: In what area of my life do I need to grow?
Speaker 1: So, because of the uncertainty about which areas they need to spiritually prioritize, believers are just disengaging completely because it's like I'm overwhelmed and I don't know what to do.
Speaker 1: So I'm just throwing my hands up and I'm going on living my life how I want to live my life.
Speaker 1: And then, finally, number three is a lack of clear and practical next steps.
Speaker 1: Believers not only don't know what to do, they don't know how to do it.
Speaker 1: How do I grow up into the fullness of God's plan for my life.
Speaker 1: And so this morning I want to give you some strategies.
Speaker 1: I want to help you to develop a workout plan.
Speaker 1: Anybody want a workout plan.
Speaker 1: Today I'm going to help you develop a workout plan for your faith that's going to help you grow up into the fullness of God for your life, so that you can make room for the activity that he wants to release in your life.
Speaker 1: And here's three things that are required if you want to grow spiritually Knowledge, intentionality and practice.
Speaker 1: If I want to grow spiritually, there's some things I need to know that I don't know.
Speaker 1: There's some steps that I need to lay out for that growth and, finally, I actually have to take the steps.
Speaker 1: There's some knowledge, there's some intentionality and there's some practice required.
Speaker 1: So let's talk about knowledge for a moment.
Speaker 1: Before I go there, let me help you kind of frame this.
Speaker 1: I mentioned I had an epiphany moment a few years ago when that picture was presented to me and I had to come apart.
Speaker 1: I made a decision Something's got to change.
Speaker 1: So just over three years ago, Pastor Jeremy bought a home gym and I started working out.
Speaker 1: I started lifting weights three to four days a week and my wife and my kids will tell you I'm pretty religious about it.
Speaker 1: I have come in shaking her head like, yes, every day, every day, yeah, he's got to go work out.
Speaker 1: I have really found something that I enjoy doing and I haven't changed yet the way that I want to change, but I praise God that I'm changing.
Speaker 1: I'm not where I want to be, but I'm not where I used to be.
Speaker 1: Today I'm kind of a fluffy, muscular guy.
Speaker 1: I'm in the process of changing to a muscular, fluffy guy on my way to getting.
Speaker 1: Can anybody else relate?
Speaker 1: Come on, come on, Listen.
Speaker 1: Today, thank God, I have muscles that I didn't used to have.
Speaker 1: They're just still covered with some stuff.
Speaker 1: Today, thank God, I have muscles that I didn't used to have.
Speaker 1: They're just still covered with some stuff.
Speaker 1: I told you I'm preaching today.
Speaker 1: I understand what I'm talking about Knowledge.
Speaker 1: So on this journey that I was on physically, I discovered that if I was going to change some things and I was going to work out that I had to identify what muscles I needed to work.
Speaker 1: I needed to identify what muscles needed training, what muscles needed resistance, what muscles I needed to engage in order to grow like I wanted to grow.
Speaker 1: Can I tell you, spiritually, the same thing is true If we want to grow like I wanted to grow, Can I tell you, spiritually, the same thing is true.
Speaker 1: If we want to grow spiritually, we have to identify the virtues that God lays out in Scripture that he wants us to prioritize so that we can grow up into the full measure of fullness of God for our lives.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of virtues in Scripture.
Speaker 1: There's a lot, so many so that you can get a little bit overwhelmed trying to identify.
Speaker 1: Well, what virtues does God prioritize that I need to grow in?
Speaker 1: Well, I'm going to help you prioritize that this morning.
Speaker 1: Some of the spiritual virtues that God prioritizes in scripture, that he wants us to grow in, are these.
Speaker 1: Number one he wants us to grow in the knowledge of who he is Like.
Speaker 1: If I'm going to grow spiritually, I've got to know God.
Speaker 1: I've got to know who he is, what he's about, how he moves, how he operates.
Speaker 1: I've got to read this book to figure out what he's about.
Speaker 1: One way that you can interpret what Scripture is I've heard said is that the Scripture is a manual of relationship with God.
Speaker 1: Here.
Speaker 1: This will tell you everything that you need to know about who he is, what he's about how to do life with him and how to partner with him in doing what he's called you to do.
Speaker 1: We need to know God.
Speaker 1: If I want to know my wife, there's really only one way that I know her, and that's I got to spend some time with her.
Speaker 1: I got to ask her some questions, I got to find out what she's about, I got to find out what she likes and what she doesn't like, and I'm going to do the things that she likes and I'm not going to do the things that she doesn't like.
Speaker 1: Can I get an amen in the house?
Speaker 1: So I've got to know God.
Speaker 1: And then, when you come to know God, you find there's some things that he prioritizes at a pretty significant level.
Speaker 1: I mean, you guys think love is a pretty big deal to God.
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, one of the ways the Bible describes him above and beyond all others is that God is.
Speaker 1: Hope is a big thing to God as a matter of fact.
Speaker 1: Hope and faith.
Speaker 1: Paul says this in first Corinthians, chapter 13,.
Speaker 1: He says these remain faith, hope and love.
Speaker 1: If you want to grow in your faith, then maybe you need to get a revelation of these three things.
Speaker 1: These three virtues are highlighted over and over over again in Scripture, from beginning to end Love, hope, faith, unity is a big deal to God.
Speaker 1: Psalms 133 says how pleasant it is, brothers, when you dwell together in unity.
Speaker 1: It's like the oil that is poured down upon the head of Aaron, the high priest, and it begins to cover.
Speaker 1: Oil in Scripture is always representative of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: What is God telling us?
Speaker 1: God is telling us that if we want more of God's presence, that we may need more unity.
Speaker 1: It's that important to him that unity is the place that he pours out his presence.
Speaker 1: Service is kind of a big deal to God.
Speaker 1: Jesus said this to his disciples I didn't come to be served, but I came to serve.
Speaker 1: It's not about me and what I get, it's about others.
Speaker 1: Service is a big deal to God.
Speaker 1: Generosity is a big deal to God.
Speaker 1: It's a virtue that he values, For God so loved the world that he is one and only son.
Speaker 1: Generosity is something that you see over and over and over again in Scripture.
Speaker 1: And power God doesn't want us to walk around powerless, he wants us to walk around powerful.
Speaker 1: That's the reason that Jesus said in Acts 1, verse 8 to the disciples Go and wait in Jerusalem until you've been clothed with power, so that you can be my witnesses into the ends of the earth.
Speaker 1: So these are just a handful of virtues that are highlighted from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation.
Speaker 1: These are things that we need to grow in the knowledge of.
Speaker 1: I need to know what love looks like.
Speaker 1: I need to know what hope looks like.
Speaker 1: I need to know what faith looks like.
Speaker 1: I need to know what generosity looks like.
Speaker 1: I need to know these things above and beyond all others.
Speaker 1: If I'll get these right, then I can add some other things to it that are important to God, but these are highlighted Everybody following me this morning.
Speaker 1: These are priorities to the Lord that we need to grow in the knowledge of.
Speaker 1: I need to know how do I grow in these virtues?
Speaker 1: And once we've identified these virtues that we want to grow in, then we have to become intentional about putting a plan in place to grow in these things.
Speaker 1: We don't just grow because we've identified them.
Speaker 1: Now that I've identified them, I've got to intentionally put a plan in place to grow in these virtues.
Speaker 1: Same thing applies physically.
Speaker 1: Once I've identified the muscles that I need to develop, then I've got to develop a workout strategy, a plan to develop them.
Speaker 1: What muscles am I going to work?
Speaker 1: How am I going to work them?
Speaker 1: What combination am I going to work them in?
Speaker 1: How often am I going to work those muscles so that they can grow like they need to grow?
Speaker 1: What do I need to feed them so that they can grow?
Speaker 1: I've got to develop a workout strategy to grow physically.
Speaker 1: The same thing applies spiritually and, spiritually speaking, there are five workouts you need to do to grow up into the fullness of God.
Speaker 1: Here's your workout strategy Five things, Universal.
Speaker 1: You can take this to the bank, it's true, every day and twice on Sunday.
Speaker 1: If you want to grow in your faith, there's five workouts that you need to do.
Speaker 1: Number one you need to read your Bible regularly.
Speaker 1: If you want to grow spiritually, you got to read your Bible regularly.
Speaker 1: Number two you got to pray all the time.
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about some of the time, I'm talking about all the time.
Speaker 1: Paul said pray without ceasing.
Speaker 1: I have found in my life I got to pray all the time or, if I'm not real careful, more of Jeremy comes out than Jesus.
Speaker 1: I got to be number three in Christian community, you cannot do the Christian faith alone.
Speaker 1: It is impossible.
Speaker 1: You weren't designed to do it by yourself.
Speaker 1: You have to do it in community.
Speaker 1: In community, there is safety.
Speaker 1: In community, there is strength.
Speaker 1: Number four we've got to learn how to serve someone.
Speaker 1: We've got to serve others somewhere.
Speaker 1: Every person needs a place of service in their life.
Speaker 1: And then, number five, you got to learn how to share your faith.
Speaker 1: If you will practice sharing your faith, you will grow spiritually from beginning to end.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you guys, take these five things to the bank and if you do these five things in a year, your life will look radically different.
Speaker 1: Bank, and if you do these five things in a year, your life will look radically different.
Speaker 1: Let me talk about them for just I'm going to break them down just for a minute.
Speaker 1: Read the word regularly.
Speaker 1: Research has found that if you read the Bible one to three days a week, it impacts your life, but the change is nominal.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's there but it's not radical change.
Speaker 1: But when you cross over the rubric and you go to four times a week, you read your Bible four times a week.
Speaker 1: Research shows that your life radically changes when you go to four times a week.
Speaker 1: What research shows is that that fourth time a week begins to change the filter through which you see life, and now the Bible becomes the filter through which you view and see everything.
Speaker 1: It doesn't.
Speaker 1: Let me say it this way your filter doesn't change until you get to that four times a week.
Speaker 1: So when we read the Bible regularly, it begins to change the filter through which we see life and our spiritual muscles begin to grow.
Speaker 1: And you say well, pastor, how do I read the Bible?
Speaker 1: What does that look like?
Speaker 1: And reading the Bible can be complicated.
Speaker 1: Let me give you just some strategies.
Speaker 1: There's all kinds of different ways to read the Bible.
Speaker 1: There's all kinds of different Bible reading apps and plans available to you.
Speaker 1: If you're starting out, let me give you some pointers.
Speaker 1: Number one I started reading the Bible years and years ago by reading a proverb a day.
Speaker 1: The book of Proverbs has 31 days or 31 chapters in it, so whatever day of the month it was, I read a proverb for that day.
Speaker 1: That's how I began reading the Bible A proverb a day according to the day in the calendar months.
Speaker 1: Everybody follow me Then then say, okay, I'm getting the word in me, I want to do something more.
Speaker 1: Then then I found a Bible reading plan that that helped me get through the New Testament in in the year.
Speaker 1: So I start, I'm going to read through the New Testament in a year and then I.
Speaker 1: Then I okay, I want to read from Genesis to Revelation in a year.
Speaker 1: How many guys know you don't get there overnight.
Speaker 1: You got to take steps, start where you are and keep taking steps.
Speaker 1: But getting the word isn't just about reading the Bible.
Speaker 1: There's some great devotionals that help get the word in you as well.
Speaker 1: Find a devotional that helps get the word of God in your life.
Speaker 1: One that I recommend is Jesus Calling.
Speaker 1: It's a great little starting point for devotional to get the word in you.
Speaker 1: It'll have a verse and then a breakdown of that verse.
Speaker 1: It's a great one.
Speaker 1: One that I currently use right now is an app called Lecto Divina.
Speaker 1: It's a word worship prayer app.
Speaker 1: It takes me about 15 to 20 minutes a day to get through it, but I love it.
Speaker 1: There's all kinds of devotionals out there that are helping you to get the word in you.
Speaker 1: You can't grow in your faith without growing in your knowledge of God.
Speaker 1: We gotta get the word in us.
Speaker 1: And then two we got to pray all the time.
Speaker 1: Pray all the time I got to learn to invite the Holy Spirit into everything that I'm doing.
Speaker 1: Let me say it this way I have found, if I really want to grow spiritually, there is no secular and sacred it's all sacred.
Speaker 1: Let me say it this way there's no worldly life and spiritual life it's all spiritual.
Speaker 1: And so when I invite God into every aspect of my life, my prayer life started changing dramatically.
Speaker 1: I found myself praying all the time, whether I was at work or whether I was at play or whether I was in a conversation.
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit help me, Holy Spirit help me, Holy Spirit help me, and he helped me.
Speaker 1: And then number three you've got to be in Christian community.
Speaker 1: How many of you guys think community matters?
Speaker 1: You can't do this alone.
Speaker 1: How do I get in Christian community?
Speaker 1: Well, starting out, hey, be here on a Sunday morning and let's worship together.
Speaker 1: Hey, be here on a Sunday morning and let's worship together.
Speaker 1: Praise God, hallelujah, thank you, Jesus.
Speaker 1: In case some of you didn't know and I think a lot of you don't know we're also here every Wednesday night at seven o'clock and our kids and our students are growing.
Speaker 1: And here we're growing in our relationship with the Lord and we're building Christian community.
Speaker 1: And then we have small groups.
Speaker 1: There's all kinds of opportunities for you to be engaged in Christian community, because that matters.
Speaker 1: You cannot effectively live this life alone.
Speaker 1: God didn't design you to do it that way.
Speaker 1: Then we need to serve others.
Speaker 1: How many of you guys think it's a good idea if every person has a place to serve someone?
Speaker 1: If you don't have a place to serve someone, we would be happy to help you.
Speaker 1: If you say, Pastor, I want to serve, but I don't know where.
Speaker 1: There's a connection card in the seat in front of you.
Speaker 1: Fill that out, drop it into one of our connect boxes and we will contact you this week and help you find a place to serve.
Speaker 1: And then number five here is share your faith.
Speaker 1: Not only is every person need to serve somebody, every person needs to be helping somebody else grow in their faith.
Speaker 1: I have found in my life that my spiritual growth jumps.
Speaker 1: I go to a new level when I make it my responsibility to help somebody else grow.
Speaker 1: You've heard it said this way the teacher always learns more than the student.
Speaker 1: And if you don't like where you are in your spiritual growth journey, it may be that you're a pond and not a river, what do you mean?
Speaker 1: A pond is a body of water that's continuing to receive water but doesn't have an outlet and it becomes stagnant.
Speaker 1: But a river is always flowing with fresh water that breathes life wherever it goes.
Speaker 1: Let's be a river of life.
Speaker 1: Let's allow God's spirit to flow through us.
Speaker 1: And finally, number three is practice.
Speaker 1: I've got to know what muscles I want to work out.
Speaker 1: I've got to develop a strategy to work them out, and then I've actually got to work them out.
Speaker 1: I've got to do the workout.
Speaker 1: It's all been theoretical to this point, it's all been exciting, but now I've actually got to push the weight around.
Speaker 1: I've got to lift the dumbbells, I've got to press the bar.
Speaker 1: I've got to do crunches and I don't want to do crunches.
Speaker 1: I've got to do knee raises and I don't want to do knee raises.
Speaker 1: They hurt.
Speaker 1: But I have found without resistance nothing grows.
Speaker 1: Without something to push against, that's heavy, I stay exactly the same way that I've always been.
Speaker 1: Nothing changes.
Speaker 1: But when I put some weights on the bar and I start lifting them and I start pushing them and I start curling them and I start lifting in all the different ways you want to lift to develop the muscles.
Speaker 1: I don't like the resistance, I don't like the workout, but I do like the results.
Speaker 1: I no longer look the same, I no longer feel the same.
Speaker 1: There's some things changing because I'm actually doing the workouts.
Speaker 1: Let me translate that for you this morning, Literally when we have come to know God and we've developed a plan, then what we've got to do is actually do what the book says to do.
Speaker 1: Let me say it this way If you want the Word to work, you've got to learn to work out the Word.
Speaker 1: I've got to put it into practice.
Speaker 1: I've got to actually love people, and not just the ones that are lovable.
Speaker 1: The Bible says I actually got to love those that are my enemy.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's some weight to push.
Speaker 1: I got to have hope and faith, not when things are great, it's when things are rough.
Speaker 1: That's some weight to push.
Speaker 1: I got to serve others sacrificially, without the expectation of return.
Speaker 1: That's some weight to push.
Speaker 1: But when I do that, I begin to grow.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm doing.
Speaker 1: I'm stretching wide my tent curtains and I'm making room for more of God's activity in my life, when I give generously Pastor Noah quoted the passage what am I doing?
Speaker 1: I'm touching heaven, I'm touching the heart of God and I'm saying God, you're my source and I'm going to honor you first as my source before I do anything else.
Speaker 1: And you know what I'm doing.
Speaker 1: I'm stretching wide my tent cords Because God promised I'm going to throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing upon you that you cannot contain.
Speaker 1: Come on, somebody, See, when I'm committed to being in Christian community and making it a priority, regardless of what is going on in my life, I'm doing what the Word says.
Speaker 1: And the Word says that when I do that, according to Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 25, that then we all collectively will be encouraged.
Speaker 1: Is there anybody that doesn't need encouragement?
Speaker 1: We all need encouragement.
Speaker 1: See, I'm actually lifting the weights Now.
Speaker 1: I want you to stand with me where you are this morning, and I'm going to bring this to a conclusion today.
Speaker 1: Here's my question to you in conclusion today are you making room for spiritual growth in your life?
Speaker 1: Are you practically making room for spiritual growth, or are you so busy pulling a thousand different directions that, honestly, you don't have the room to grow?
Speaker 1: Well, if that's the case.
Speaker 1: My question to you today is this what do you need to delete and what do you need to add?
Speaker 1: What needs to be removed from your plate so that you can make room for spiritual growth, so that you can add the virtues and the activity of God in your life, so that you can grow up into the full measure Of those five things that I mentioned?
Speaker 1: I would dare say every person in here can identify at least one area where I would say pastor, I've got to make room for that activity.
Speaker 1: I got to make room for that workout, I've got to make room so that I can actually lift the weights in that space.
Speaker 1: How many of you would say, Pastor, I have an area, I have an area, I have an area.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I have an area, I have an area.
Speaker 1: This is what I want you to do.
Speaker 1: In the seat in front of you is a connection card.
Speaker 1: On the backside of that connection card is a prayer section.
Speaker 1: I want you to take that card out right now.
Speaker 1: If God has spoken to you this morning and you say Pastor, you say, Pastor, I know there's an area that I need to add and maybe an area I need to subtract.
Speaker 1: I want you to take that connection card out right now and I want you to write it on the prayer section because we want to pray for you this week.
Speaker 1: Our staff wants to pray for you on Wednesday night when we worship and pray.
Speaker 1: We want to pray for you that God will give you the courage and the wisdom to know how to add and delete, what needs to be added and deleted in your life so that you can grow.
Speaker 1: Write it down right now, Just don't wait.
Speaker 1: Just write it down right where you are.
Speaker 1: Just take a moment.
Speaker 1: There's a pen there and a card.
Speaker 1: Just write it down.
Speaker 1: There's something that happens significantly when we write things down.
Speaker 1: Just write it down.
Speaker 1: As you write it down, you finish that.
Speaker 1: I want you to come and just lay it on the front of the altar as a commitment to the Lord.
Speaker 1: Today is saying God, I'm changing some things in my life.
Speaker 1: I'm making room for more of your activity.
Speaker 1: I'm making room in my life to grow up into the fullness of God.
Speaker 1: I know that you have more for me and today I'm making room.
Speaker 1: Thank you, people are already beginning to move.
Speaker 1: Come on, just move.
Speaker 1: Just step out of your seat right now.
Speaker 1: Don you, People are already beginning to move.
Speaker 1: Come on, just move, Just step out of your seat right now, Don't wait.
Speaker 1: Just as a step of faith, say God, I'm making room Today.
Speaker 1: Today's a line in the sand kind of day.
Speaker 1: Today I'm making room.
Speaker 1: I'm making room for spiritual growth in my life in a way like I've never known before.
Speaker 1: Every day from this day forward is going to be different because I'm making room.
Speaker 1: I'm making room.
Speaker 1: I'm making room, I'm making room.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Lord, I'm making room.
Speaker 1: God's making.
Speaker 1: Come on church.
Speaker 1: This is all we're making room.
Speaker 1: We're.
Speaker 1: Oh.
Speaker 1: I see tit courts being stretched wide, I see curtains being pulled back, I see the heavenly opened up and God said if you're going to make room, I'm going to fill the room that you're making with fresh activity, with fresh vision and purpose and direction for your life.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Church, can you just rest your hands towards heaven with me this morning and say thank you, Jesus.
Speaker 1: We as a people are making room for your activity in our lives.
Speaker 1: We declare that never again will we be the same, that from this day forward, things are changing.
Speaker 1: That doesn't mean we're perfect, it doesn't mean the workouts are always right, but it does mean we're taking steps of faith to grow in the full measure of the fullness of God for our lives.
Speaker 1: God, as your people make room, I pray, fill it in Jesus' name.
Speaker 1: I pray, God, as your people make room, you would fill it in Jesus' name, that you would pour out your presence, that you would pour out your spirit and God, that you would fill every heart and every mind today with the fullness of the spirit of God as we make room for your activity in our life.
Speaker 1: In Jesus mighty name.
Speaker 1: Everybody said