Sermon Central
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Grow Series
Contributed by Jeffery Anselmi on Feb 28, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: God expects us to grow spiritually.
Grow
God expects us to grow spiritually.
SLIDE #1
Introduction
• PC VIDEO- What if adults threw tantrums like toddlers?
• I am thankful that I have never acted that way as an adult!
• Our opening video clip, in a funny way, illustrates the matter at hand today.
• When we are toddlers, when things do not go our way, we tend to throw tantrums. Sadly for some, it never ends.
• As we mature in life, when we are faced with difficult situations, we learn that throwing a tantrum is not a good way to deal with the situation.
• Well, as I said, some learn this.
• By the way, FREE PARENTING TIP FOR TODAY. As a parent, when your child throws a tantrum or acts defiant, you can NEVER give in to that, or you will end up with an adult child one day who still thinks acting the fool will get them somewhere.
• If my kids threw a fit about what we were eating, they would go hungry (that never happened), or if they throw a fit about going with you somewhere, they are going, and I will let them act the fool.
• If we had Facebook when I was raising the girls, and if they would have acted that way, I would go live with it. Fortunately, my daughters were not prone to those actions; well one of them tried it when she was young. Once they realize you will not give in, it stops quickly.
• Off the rabbit trail.
• The message title this morning is simple. GROW! Grow to maturity.
• What is maturity? How do we gauge it? We think ages like 18 and 21 make people adults, with a new level of maturity. However, is it possible for an adult to be immature? YES!
• Maturity is not always about chronology; it is about growth.
• The Hebrew writer breaks from talking about the new High Priest (Jesus) and addresses the maturity of believers.
• He openly calls out some seasoned believers, saying, “You need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!” (Hebrews 5:12).
• These believers were still spiritual infants, immature in the things of God. Though they were possibly older and had been Christians for years, there was no maturity, and their spiritual formation was still at stage one.
• So today, we will go on a journey of growth together.
• Let’s begin with Hebrews 5:11-14
SLIDE#2
Bible Verse
Hebrews 5:11-14 (CSB)
11We have a great deal to say about this, and it is difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand.
12Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food.
13Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness, because he is an infant.
14But solid food is for the mature?—?for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.
SLIDE #3
1. I. Grow up!
Explanation
• The Hebrew writer seems to be going hardcore on the readers. He calls them out as lazy and as infants.
• Why?
• In the previous verses, which were a quote from Psalm 110:4, concerning the priesthood of Melchizedek, the Hebrew writer intends to expand its meeting at length. H
• However, he needed to make sure his readers are encouraged to put forth the mental effort to appreciate the full significance of the priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek.
• I do not know what took the writer down this path, but he must have known something about the spiritual condition of the reader.
• The context is Jewish Christians who are experiencing persecution and the temptation either to go back to the sacrificial system or to blend the sacrificial rituals with their Christian faith
• The author relates this spiritual immaturity to bad doctrine and practice that can eventually lead to leaving the faith.
• When the Hebrew writer speaks of how difficult it would be to explain the subject matter he wanted to cover, the difficulty did not lie in the material; the challenge was with the condition of the audience.
• The readers were not only seen as lazy, but they had gone backward.
• If they were still the ready listeners they once were, the writer would not have to need to stop for this third warning passage, but it could have plunged into a discussion of Jesus, the high priest.
• The readers, such as these, whose growing longing was in returning to the levitical priesthood, would be hard to convince concerning the different priesthoods.
