Mt. Olive Lutheran Traditional Worship - May 10, 2026

Not perfection, not overnight transformation, just a path that gets a little clearer every time you walk it. So we don't have to see the whole dictionary, we just have to see the next card. Because for us, spiritual maturity isn't a destination you arrive at. It's what happens when you keep showing up to Jesus to be with him, to be shaped, transformed by him, and then to join what he is already doing in the world around us. So God's peace and strength be with you today and always. Amen. [00:54:20] (46 seconds)  #KeepShowingUp

It's true of dictionaries. It's also true of disciples. And like the Oxford English Dictionary, disciples are grown, made, decision by decision, day by day, one small consistent act of showing up to scripture, to community, and to Jesus. Because as we're gonna see, that spiritual maturity isn't a destination that we arrive at, but rather it's what happens when you keep showing up to meet with Jesus. [00:33:26] (40 seconds)  #DailyDisciple

So here's the image that I want you to think about. It's the path gets brighter the more you walk it. It's not all at once, but like the sun kind of rises in the morning and it hits its peak in the mid afternoon, that is how it is with us. It's gradual, it's steady until we walk in full light. And so for us, that's what the rhythms do. That's what showing up to Jesus consistently, regularly, daily, weekly produces in a life. [00:53:43] (37 seconds)  #RhythmsLightTheWay

And what Luke is reminding us, showing us, that even Jesus grew. And so we see this moment where Jesus and his family, they travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, the annual pilgrimage, the great feast, the gathering of God's people. They come, and they are part of this what they do is it's part of this rhythm of their faith formation. And so here we see Jesus, not there by accident at the age of 12, but he was there because it was a rhythm that his family prioritized. [00:34:59] (41 seconds)  #FaithRhythmsMatter

He's not performing, he's not showing off his knowledge in a way, look at me, but rather he's taken the posture of a student. And in Jewish culture, sitting among the teachers, sitting at the rabbi's feet, It was communicating that I am ready, I want to be formed. And so here we see Jesus, the son of God in the flesh. He took a position of learning, of actively receiving, of participating and being formed. [00:37:00] (36 seconds)  #PostureOfALearner

And so here's this man, locked in a room, card by card, over decades, helped build one of the greatest works of reference in human history, and he never saw the finished product. And yet, here he was just doing the next card. And this is how things that are built to last generally go. It doesn't happen in one dramatic moment, but rather they're built in the accumulation of small, consistent, and often unseen actions that are repeated over time that add up to something greater than what any one of them could produce on their own. [00:32:42] (44 seconds)  #BuiltBySmallActs

So here's Paul writing to the church in Philippi, and he's reminding them, hey, that it's actually not you who are earning your salvation, but rather he's telling you to live out what you already have. You cannot work out something that you do not already have, and God is already in you and working through you. That's what happened in baptism when he claimed you as his child, when he said, you are forgiven, you are mine, and I will be with you until the end of the day and then beyond. [00:51:23] (32 seconds)  #LiveWhatGodHasGiven

and instead of getting what we deserved, he gives us his righteousness. And then his victory through the grave that gives us life eternal that begins the moment we are called into his family. And so for us, us becoming spiritually mature only happens because of what Christ has done for you. And the rhythms, the rhythms daily, weekly, or how we continue to step forward in faith. It's how his righteousness takes shape in our ordinary life. [00:52:38] (42 seconds)  #RhythmShapesRighteousness