GROW 

Why grow as a Christian?

Growing to be more like Jesus Christ in our everyday lives isn’t a burden, a bore or a life sapping obligation, it is a great opportunity.

Three Verbs

Three verbs drawn from our mission statement give us a guide to growing as a Christian. 

We need to regularly ENCOUNTER God.

We need to regularly ENCOURAGE each other.

We need to regularly ENGAGE with people around us

 


Three Aspects

As we encounter, encourage and engage, there are three aspects of the Christian life where we will grow:
 
Content - knowledge of bible, theology, Christian history
Character - being like Jesus
Competency - being able to do the sorts of things that Jesus did
 
Which of these areas do you find it easiest to grow in?  Which area do you avoid?  Are you out of balance like a stool where the three legs are of different lengths?
 
While a particular season may focus on one of these areas, across a year we should find ourselves growing in all three areas.
 

Three Ways

There are three ways we receive input in these areas:
 
Classroom - where we receive information.  It can be in a class room or in a sermon or bible study or by reading a book or even a website
 
Apprenticeship - where we walk along side someone who has already grown in a particular area and we observe them, imitate them, and ask them questions and advice. 
 
Immersion - where we are surrounded by people who are seeking to grow in these three areas. 
 
An example of this is learning a foreign language.
 
Class room - we learn vocab, grammar etc.
Apprenticeship - we attempt to talk with someone who is more fluent in that language than us
Immersion - we visit or live in a place where that language is spoken all the time.
 
Don’t leave your growth to chance. 
Ask God to expand your vision of life in His kingdom and how you can cooperate with Him in your growth this year. 
Identify aspects of Content, Character and Competency where you can grow this coming year
Develop a plan for engaging in the classroom, apprenticeship and immersion in each of those areas.

REMEMBER: EVERYONE STARTS RUNNING AROUND IN CIRCLE  (whenever we start out something new we won't be experts)
 
Finally this is not a competition or ranking exercise where we compare ourselves to others with the risk of feeling inadequate or superior.  Rather, all of us, from where we are now, simply need to ask, how can we grow to be a bit more like Jesus this year?