Embracing Growth: A Call to Change in 2025
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
God has blessed us with a life to grow our life. And growing our life means changing our life. I don't know if you do New Year's resolutions or not. You don't have to do New Year's resolutions. Fine if you do or don't. If you believe in the Bible, the Bible never says, thou shalt haveth a neweth yearth resolution. It never says that anywhere. [00:02:30] (26 seconds)
If in the course of your life, you don't have a regular pattern where you evaluate your life and you grow, you are stagnant. You are spiritually dying or dead. Let me say that again. If in the course of your life, your year. You don't have a regular season when you look at your life holistically and you notice and reflect and set goals to grow and change. If that doesn't happen, you are spiritually dying or dead. [00:03:44] (29 seconds)
Notice your frustrations. Notice your frustrations. Notice your frustrations. I historically have not been a great goal achiever. When I say historically, I mean when I was a younger man. God never gave me the gift of discipline because there is no such gift of discipline. That's not a spiritual gift that's listed in the Bible. That's not a strand of DNA. [00:06:31] (29 seconds)
You have discipline because you build your tolerance for discomfort. And you grow increasingly comfortable with telling yourself no. No, I'm not going to do this. and increasingly telling yourself, yes. And as you build trust in yourself, as you do these things, you get more and more discipline. And that's how you grow. [00:07:42] (25 seconds)
God has given you a life to steward, to take advantage of. And that means it needs to be grown. One time, well, it gives a story two times of people who are given something by a landowner. They're stewarded certain amounts of assets. And the third person just buries it. He doesn't try to grow it. He buries it. And Jesus calls him wicked and lazy. [00:12:15] (24 seconds)
When you take what God has given you and all you do is bury it and you try to just keep it or stay static, we are wicked and lazy because people who are growing are trying to grow the thing that God has given us, whatever it is. But you just got to notice what you're frustrated and say, I'm frustrated here. So this is probably this year's something that I should grow. [00:12:39] (21 seconds)
You need some different disciplines. We have to do some different things. We can't just talk awakening and not change anything about how we operate or put money any differently. We have to have different things. I offered a guy a job who I would have never offered a job to any other time than now. He and his wife, unique, rare gifts, but just not the kind of gifts we would have built crosses on, but the kind of gifts you'd want in terms of an awakening. [00:21:40] (33 seconds)
And what will never be different is that there's a system in this world that wants to keep us spiritually distracted, relationally disconnected, physically depleted, and emotionally thwarted. This world is grinding us down because it's under the influence of the evil one and designed to do that. To walk in the refreshing and empowering grace of Jesus means I have to intake things into my system that are not, unfortunately, of the world. [00:24:37] (30 seconds)
If you want to see an awakening, the Spirit of God go across our region, and people have full hearts, towards God, and get away from their destructive patterns, and positive change come to our culture. Let me tell you something. It doesn't happen because this big church crossroads does this perfect program. This happens. It happens because you and I become 10X closer to God than we were before. [00:26:01] (21 seconds)
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If in the course of your life, you don't have a regular pattern where you evaluate your life and you grow, you are stagnant. You are spiritually dying or dead. Let me say that again. If in the course of your life, your year. You don't have a regular season when you look at your life holistically and you notice and reflect and set goals to grow and change. If that doesn't happen, you are spiritually dying or dead. [00:03:44] (29 seconds)
Notice your frustrations. Notice your frustrations. Notice your frustrations. I historically have not been a great goal achiever. When I say historically, I mean when I was a younger man. God never gave me the gift of discipline because there is no such gift of discipline. That's not a spiritual gift that's listed in the Bible. That's not a strand of DNA. [00:06:31] (29 seconds)
You have discipline because you build your tolerance for discomfort. And you grow increasingly comfortable with telling yourself no. No, I'm not going to do this. and increasingly telling yourself, yes. And as you build trust in yourself, as you do these things, you get more and more discipline. And that's how you grow. [00:07:42] (25 seconds)
God has given you a life to steward, to take advantage of. And that means it needs to be grown. One time, well, it gives a story two times of people who are given something by a landowner. They're stewarded certain amounts of assets. And the third person just buries it. He doesn't try to grow it. He buries it. And Jesus calls him wicked and lazy. [00:12:15] (24 seconds)
When you take what God has given you and all you do is bury it and you try to just keep it or stay static, we are wicked and lazy because people who are growing are trying to grow the thing that God has given us, whatever it is. But you just got to notice what you're frustrated and say, I'm frustrated here. So this is probably this year's something that I should grow. [00:12:39] (21 seconds)
You need some different disciplines. We have to do some different things. We can't just talk awakening and not change anything about how we operate or put money any differently. We have to have different things. I offered a guy a job who I would have never offered a job to any other time than now. He and his wife, unique, rare gifts, but just not the kind of gifts we would have built crosses on, but the kind of gifts you'd want in terms of an awakening. [00:21:40] (33 seconds)
And what will never be different is that there's a system in this world that wants to keep us spiritually distracted, relationally disconnected, physically depleted, and emotionally thwarted. This world is grinding us down because it's under the influence of the evil one and designed to do that. To walk in the refreshing and empowering grace of Jesus means I have to intake things into my system that are not, unfortunately, of the world. [00:24:37] (30 seconds)
If you want to see an awakening, the Spirit of God go across our region, and people have full hearts, towards God, and get away from their destructive patterns, and positive change come to our culture. Let me tell you something. It doesn't happen because this big church crossroads does this perfect program. This happens. It happens because you and I become 10X closer to God than we were before. [00:26:01] (21 seconds)
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