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Growing Together (40 days of Community) By Rev. Murray Spackman, Vicar Sunday 26th August, 2007 Today marks the half-way point in our “40Days of Community” journey together. On the first Sunday, as an Introduction (Aug5th) we looked at “What Matters Most – and we saw that it was Loving Others. That’s what matters most in life, and that’s what God has called us to do. That’s the basis of our “40Days of Community”, that we learn how to love one another, and how to show that love in action – and we show that loving Better – when we’re together. Then on the second Sunday we began to look at the first of the Five Purposes God has for us as a community – and the 1. First Purpose is that we Reach Out Better Together. God never intended that we reach out to a lonely and lost and hurting world on our own – we do it better together! That’s Evangelism! 2. The second of those Five Purposes is that we Belong Better Together - and that’s Fellowship! We weren’t meant to go it alone in life. We need each other – we need to Belong - and we thought about what destroys and what builds our relationships together. Today we come to the third of God’s Five Purposes for us as a Community – and that is, that we Grow Better Together. So today we will look at how we can help each other grow spiritually. By that I mean, how can we help each other become more like Jesus Christ? – and that’s Discipleship! The memory verse for this week tells us how! It comes from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, 5:11 where Paul says “Encourage each other and build each other up”. That’s the way for us, individually, to grow spiritually, to become more like Jesus Christ, and the way in which we help others to Grow spiritually, to become better Disciples. We do it by – “Encouraging each other, and building each other up”. But how do we do that? Well there are FOUR practical things we can do to encourage and build up one another – but no matter how practical they are, unless each of us makes the decision to put them into practice - and actually DO them – then we will have helped no body. So lets decide today to put these simple steps to work. 1. We help each other grow better and become Better Disciples by AFFIRMING each others WORTH. Now just in case you didn’t know it, everybody is looking for affirmation; and everybody NEEDS affirmation. No matter how self-confident people seem to be, that they’ve got it all together – they still need affirmation. You do, and I do, - and so does the person in front and behind you. You see, when you and I are affirming other people we are showing them love. We are ministering as Jesus ministered. He affirmed people as he ministered to them. In the gospel reading we read of a woman who had been crippled for 18 years, bent over and unable to stand up. I would imagine she would have had a pretty tough life. And the Pharisees remonstrated with Jesus when he healed her. But Jesus referred to her as a daughter of Abraham! She was entitled to all the benefits of faith which they enjoyed! He affirmed her worth as a person. Pick any character mentioned in the gospels whom Jesus ministered to, and you will note how he affirmed them! - whether it was the woman caught in adultery, Zacchaeus the tax collector, a leper, a centurion – anyone you like – Jesus always affirmed each one as a precious, unique person, he affirmed their worth. There is something in our character which grows stronger every time we are affirmed, and it becomes weakened everytime we are put down, or taken for granted, or pushed aside. We all know that, don’t we? So how do I go about affirming people, and therefore helping them to grow spiritually and become better Disciples? Well, here are a few ideas - the Four “A’s” - 1. By offering them ACCEPTANCE. The bible says “Accept one another just as Christ accepted you.” (Rom 15:7 Its so easy to put people down, especially if you’re having a bad day, but when you make the choice to lift people up , affirm their worth and show them acceptance, then you make an incredible impact on their lives. You help them to grow, spiritually. The truth of the matter is that God chooses to affirm us, to lift us up, so who am I to put someone else down? .In our small groups we have an excellent “close-up” opportunity to affirm each other and help them become better Disciples.. - 2. A second way of Affirming another’s worth is by showing ATTENTION. You can accept someone but still ignore them! There is a general principle that whatever you pay attention to, is going to grow. If I pay attention to my garden,( if I had one!) it’s going to grow better than if I neglect it! If I pay attention to my children, my marriage or my work – its going to get better and grow. ((The only area where this doesn’t work is with my hair! The more I pay attention to it, the more it falls out!)) Dr. Gary Chapman, the author of the book, “The Five Love Languages” says when two people sit down and give each other 10 minutes of focused attention, they have given 10 minutes of their LIFE to the other! They will never have that 10 minutes again! They have given “life” to each other when they have given them their attention! What more valuable gift could we give to someone else, which will build them up and affirm them as a person, than our time and focused attention? · 3. The third practical way in which you can help people grow spiritually– is by showing AFFECTION. We all know that babies need affection to grow and thrive, don’t we? What most people don’t know is that adults need that too! I need it – and you need it! I know that there are some people for whom the only hug or physical contact they ever receive in the course of a week is when they come to church! I wonder, how long does that hug have to last them. You can help people grow, especially if their love language is physical touch – by giving them a hug, a pat on the back, a handshake. The Bible says “Love one another with brotherly affection as members of one family.” Rom 12:10. So we AFFIRM each others worth, and thereby help others to grow in Discipleship by 1. Offering Acceptance, 2. Giving attention, 3. Showing Affection - 4. Then there’s the fourth way by which we affirm each others worth, and help people to grow spiritually:- and that’s by showing APPRECIATION. Now we all know what Depreciation is – especially if we have just bought a new car! Well Appreciation is the opposite. With Depreciation the value goes down, with appreciation it goes up. . So appreciation means to raise in value. So when you appreciate someone , you raise their value, to you, to them and to others. When you appreciate your wife or your husband, or your small group, you raise their value.- and they will feel valued! The bible says “Brothers and sisters, appreciate those who work hard amongst you, who lead you in the Lord and teach you. When Paul was writing his letter to the church at Philippi, he referred to his co-workers Timothy and Epaphroditus in glowing terms. Of Timothy he said – “Timothy’s worth you know, how like a son with a father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.” (2:22), and then in the next verse he refers to Epaphroditus as “my brother and co-worker and fellow soldier; your messenger and minister to my need”. Later he says “Welcome him, then, in the Lord, with all joy, and honour such people.” When was the last time you thanked someone in church – perhaps one of the Sunday School teachers, or Youth Group or Gap leaders, or one of the Bible-in- Schools teachers, or our musicians, or greeters or Morning tea hosts, or your small group hosts and leaders! (Friday – someone spontaneously expressed their appreciation to me! It made my day, in what was an otherwise a rather difficult day.) Today, when this service is over, find three people – tell them how much you genuinely APPRECIATE them! You will make their day! Now I want to take this opportunity and tell YOU how much I appreciate YOU! You know, this is the best Parish in the Diocese of Auckland – in N.Z. – probably in the world! You are fantastic! You are wonderful loving caring people. You are supportive and encouraging and generous. You are great! – all of you! - and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Your support and love is overwhelming! Thank you so much! So we Grow Better Together when we AFFIRM each others worth. – and we do that by Acceptance, Attention, Affection and Appreciation. 2. SECONDLY - we grow better together and help others grow in grow in Discipleship when we PRAY for each other’s growth. one of the greatest encouragements for me is to know that others pray for me. You know, I need your prayers! – I really do! each day, each week! And so do each of us. We need the prayers of others in order to grow spiritually and become more like Jesus. St. Paul gives us a template of how to pray for others, when he mentioned how he prayed for the Christians in Ephesus (3;8f). He said “I pray that you’ll be able to feel and understand how long, and wide, and deep and high Christ’s love really is” and to experience that love for yourselves.” In another verse in Hebrews 13;21 he says “I pray that you’ll always be eager to do what is right…” We would do well to do a bible study of the prayers of St.Paul. They are a good model for us as we pray for others. Lets pause for a moment and let each of us think of someone who comes to mind right now, who needs your prayers – and lets pray for them right now, – whatever their need is. 3. THIRDLY we Grow Better together when we ADMIT our own MISTAKES. By admitting our own mistakes, we build community, intimacy, relationships much faster than any other way. Ephesians 4:25 says “Tell each other the truth because we all belong to each other.” And when we are honest about what is going on in our life and we’re not blaming anyone else for it, it draws us closer to others, and others closer to us, and that helps our discipleship. And then 4. We Grow Better Together by ENCOURAGING each others COMMITMENT. How do we keep on the right track in life? How do we stay committed to following Jesus Christ? – I think it’s by being encouraged by others to hold fast to the commitment we made. Every marriage goes through its ups and down’s doesn’t it? - and I think we hang in there during those down times – when we think it would be very easy and attractive to just walk out, or walk away - by being encouraged and affirmed in our commitment by our friends and those who know us best. The same is true for our commitment to Jesus Christ. I am affirmed in my commitment every time I come to church and see you all here! That helps me and reminds me that there are others also on this journey of faith. And I’m quite sure that your being here Sunday by Sunday helps and encourages the commitments of others too! You older members of the church – those over 70!! - who come here every Sunday, rain, hail or shine – you are fantastic! You encourage so many of us and help our commitment. Lets give them a standing ovation as a way of saying thank you! Nothing affects your life more than your commitments! And along with the Five Purposes God has for you and your life, so there are five commitments. And I want to encourage you in each of them. Your commitment to love Jesus Christ, - that’s called worship; Your commitment to love other believers, - that’s called Fellowship Your commitment to grow in God’s Word - that’s called Discipleship Your commitment to serving in Ministry - that’s called Serving , and Your commitment to sharing the Good News, - that’s called Evangelism. Each of those is a commitment – and when we keep those commitments we help each other grow; we help each other become a better Disciple and we do that better together! Let’s bow our heads in prayer : Father, today we have been thinking about Growing Spiritually – about Discipleship. We don’t want to stay spiritual babies anymore. So we ask that you will help us make some serious commitments today. If we haven’t done so before, we commit our lives to Jesus Christ and desire to follow and serve Him. We want to follow your purpose and plan – and so we commit ourselves to joining with others for worship. We commit ourselves to loving other believers in Fellowship together; We commit ourselves to growing in god’s word – in discipleship; We commit ourselves to Serving where we can through the Church, - that’s Ministry; and we commit ourselves to sharing the Good News where we can – that’s Evangelism. We commit ourselves to this journey, and to fulfilling your purposes for my life. In Jesus Name I ask. Amen. |
