Grow Up in Christ: Pressing Toward Spiritual Maturity

Living Free ministry comes in as one more tool for freedom, not just for drugs and alcohol, but for codependency, anger, broken relationships, and people trying to learn how to walk free. The call to grow big by growing smaller puts ministry down on a personal level, where people sit in a room, tell the truth, and let God work over ten weeks of commitment.

Alpha Ministries stands as hot soil, greenhouse soil, the kind of place where seed can be seen growing right here in Shepherdsville. The gift of space, even at the loss of more than a million dollars in equity, gets named as kingdom business. The call to give is not money talk for the sake of money. It is seed into men whose testimonies prove that nobody is too far for Jesus Christ to reach out and get them.

The burden then turns hard toward maturity. The church is not called to live Sunday to Sunday, getting encouraged just enough to survive another week. The call of God is for deep roots, strong trees, soldiers in the army of the Lord, people who are settled enough that storms cannot tip them over. The New Testament picture of inheritance teaches that even a prince has no power until he comes of age. Everything may legally belong to him, but immaturity keeps him under governors.

The milk and meat warning exposes a church stuck in adolescence. Babies needing milk is one thing, but nobody wants to “part your beard to give you a bottle.” The culture of adolescence is named as a satanic attack that celebrates immaturity, blurs gender, despises age, and cuts children off from fathers, mothers, and wisdom. Honor for father and mother is not old fashioned manners. It is life-giving obedience, and God blesses what His word says.

Paul’s own life refuses arrival. The man caught up into the third heaven, the man who wrote so much of the New Testament, still says he has not apprehended, but he presses. True maturity is not age. Samuel heard God as a boy, Jesus knew He had to be about His Father’s business at twelve, David was anointed while others dismissed him, and Caleb still wanted his mountain in old age.

The word over the church is simple and sharp: come as you are, but how dare you stay the same. Spiritual identity matters more than natural occupation. God is calling teachers, worshipers, singers, poets, preachers, and servants to arise, grow up, put on “big boy pants,” and stop letting the devil have this generation.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Maturity unlocks inherited authority. The inheritance can be real and still remain unusable while a child is not ready to handle it. God is too good a Father to put power in immature hands when that power would injure the person carrying it. Growth is not about earning sonship, but about becoming trustworthy with what already belongs to the child of God. [46:11]
• 2. Adolescence weakens spiritual warfare. A culture that keeps people immature also keeps them dependent, reactive, and easily offended. The enemy does not need to destroy a church that refuses to grow up, because that church will keep needing bottles when it should be carrying weapons. Spiritual adolescence turns correction into an argument about tone instead of a doorway to transformation. [47:50]
• 3. Honor carries generational life. The command to honor father and mother is not sentimental, it is tied to length of days and the transfer of wisdom. A culture that despises the elderly cuts itself off from memory, restraint, and blessing. God blesses what He commands, even when another culture accidentally obeys it better than people who claim to know the Book. [56:32]
• 4. Pressing proves nobody has arrived. Paul had visions, miracles, revelation, and apostolic fruit, yet he still said he had not apprehended. Arrival language is dangerous because comfort can start sounding like maturity. The mark of real depth is not bragging about what has already happened, but pressing toward what God is still calling forth. [64:03]
• 5. Calling is bigger than age. God called Samuel as a boy, Jesus spoke with authority at twelve, and Caleb asked for his mountain as an old man. The Spirit is not limited by birth certificates, retirement plans, or missed seasons. The question is not age, but whether hunger has made a person ready to grow up in God.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [32:16] - Living Free Ministry Recognition
• [35:52] - Standing With Alpha Ministries
• [41:46] - Going Deeper Than Survival
• [45:49] - Inheritance Requires Maturity
• [47:50] - The Culture Of Adolescence
• [50:46] - Attacks On Gender And Maturity
• [56:32] - Honor, Wisdom, And Generational Blessing
• [59:39] - The Danger Of Biblical Illiteracy
• [64:03] - Paul Still Pressed Forward
• [70:48] - Age Is Not Maturity
• [76:05] - Young People In The Spirit
• [78:00] - Come As You Are, Grow Up
• [84:04] - God Releases What Maturity Can Carry
• [91:07] - Raising Up Preachers And Leaders
• [102:21] - Faith Moves Before Direction

Bible Reading

Philippians 3:12-14
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” [01:05:00]

1 Corinthians 3:1-2
“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,” [46:59]

Ephesians 4:14-15
“so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” [43:19]

Exodus 20:12
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” [56:56]

1 Samuel 3:1-10
“Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. Then the LORD called Samuel, and he said, 'Here I am!' and ran to Eli and said, 'Here I am, for you called me.' But he said, 'I did not call; lie down again.' So he went and lay down. And the LORD called again, 'Samuel!' and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, 'Here I am, for you called me.' But he said, 'I did not call, my son; lie down again.' Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, 'Here I am, for you called me.' Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, 'Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.'' So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, 'Samuel! Samuel!' And Samuel said, 'Speak, for your servant hears.'” [01:14:06]

Observation questions

1. In Philippians 3, what words show that Paul refused to act like he had already arrived spiritually? [01:05:19]
2. In 1 Corinthians 3, what contrast does Paul make between milk and solid food, and what does that reveal about the condition of that church? [47:01]
3. According to Ephesians 4, what are children in danger of being carried around by, and what is the alternative Paul gives? [57:48]
4. What practical examples were given of personal ministry that helps people walk in freedom, healing, and truth over time? [34:45]

Interpretation questions

1. If an inheritance can legally belong to a child and still remain unusable until maturity, what does that suggest about why God may withhold certain forms of authority, influence, or responsibility from believers for a season? [46:11]
2. Ephesians 4 says believers are to grow up into Christ. How does a culture that celebrates adolescence make that command harder to obey in everyday church life? [47:50]
3. Exodus 20:12 connects honor for father and mother with life and blessing. What might be lost in a family, church, or culture when older people are treated like they have nothing left to give? [57:33]
4. Samuel was young, yet he heard the voice of the Lord. What does that show about the way God views readiness, and how is that different from the way people usually measure readiness? [01:16:05]

Application questions

1. Where is the strongest pull toward spiritual immaturity right now—needing constant reassurance, resisting correction, staying shallow in the Word, or putting off obedience? What would “growing up in Christ” look like in that exact area this week? [01:07:12]
2. “Come as you are” is full of grace, but staying the same is not God’s goal. What is one habit, mindset, or pattern that needs to change so that real growth can begin? [01:19:14]
3. Honor gives life. Is there a parent, grandparent, elder, or spiritual father/mother who needs to be honored more intentionally? What could that look like in a real, simple, concrete way? [56:56]
4. Paul kept pressing even after all he had seen and done. Where has comfort started to sound like maturity? Where has there been a quiet temptation to think, “This is enough”? [01:05:25]
5. God is not limited by age. Is there any place where age has become an excuse—feeling too young, too old, too late, or too far behind? What would it look like to answer God with a fresh yes instead? [01:13:16]
6. Freedom often grows in honest, committed, smaller settings. Is there a place where truth needs to be told out loud instead of managed in private? What kind of help, group, or trusted relationship might make room for God to work there? [35:10]
7. Spiritual identity matters more than natural occupation. When everything is stripped back, who is God calling that person to be in the Spirit—a teacher, encourager, worshiper, servant, witness, leader? What step could be taken this month to stop delaying that call? [01:34:59]