Nurturing, 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 9/22/2013

Today’s Message:  Nurturing

Scripture:  2 Thessalonians 1:1-4

 1 Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:² Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanksgiving and Prayer ³ We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. ⁴ Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

Today we continue in our series

connecting people to Jesus Christ

It is vague- open

God works in various ways.

There are not 4 steps

It is on going, not connect but connecting

Process as described at wcc

Invite, form/nurture/grow, send

Last week inviting

Coming to church should feel like coming home.

Invite your friends to come home

Today formation, Growing, nurturing,

Vital part of Christianity [and humanity for that matter]

Not just a punch the ticket

Not just learning

There is no arriving

But growing changing

I don’t mean a list of rules

I mean a life that is learning to live outside of itself

Being a Christian is giving all that you know of yourself to all that you know of God

Some Christians get this wrong

Think Christianity is about collecting knowledge

Clark Schuler in bible school upstate new York

Called this Sit soak sour

Like a bottle of milk

We must decide

Are we wells or rivers

Jn 4 13-14 – jesus talking to the woman at the well

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The dead see is dead because water flows in but does not flow out.

Hot, 1388 below sea level.  Lots of evaporation, minerals left behind

Nothing can live there

Are we vessels or conduits

How long have you been a Christian

Are you taking it out into the world?

The disciples were only Christians for 3 years when they gave their lives

People find challenge difficult

John 6 66 after this many went back from following him

⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve

Some people, when confronted with the challenge of Christ, turned away

Paul commends them

Their faith is growing

They are showing more love

They are bearing up under persecutions

Could these things be said of us?

That our faith is growing?  Our love for one another increasing?

And we are learning to deal with persecutions?  What persecutions?

What changes have happened in your life over the last 3 years

Take pic of your ss pins

Discipleship is not a collection of pins but it is a way of life

Signs of a mature Christian

I can pronounce and spell Mesopotamia

Maturing growing Christians are learning something… learning what?

Gives self away

Takes up cross

Goes second mile

Lives outside of self

Gives up personal preference for the sake of the mission

Can I just learn to spell and pronounce Mesopotamia and call it good?

It is no wonder that people went back from following him

Blog post on generosity

Two parts….

 You don’t have to help with everything around here

Read from the bulletin

Living a generous life is not optional, it is central

The joy of learning, is growing

Did you hate math in school?  Think of how many times you use it

If we learn new ideas they will help us

But they must be put into gear

Sometime I think about things that I have learned or am trying to learn

What is the greatest lesson you have learned at this church?

Or learned, forgotten and learned again

·        God is real

·        Life is joyful

·        Different views are ok

·        You learn more from those who see it differently than you do

·        Celebrate, don’t fight

·        Trust- don’t worry/let go of the outcome    [still working on this]

·        See- look- be aware

·        See the good

·        Pouring yourself into others

·        The righteous are self unaware

·        Don’t judge

·        God is love

·        Love is indescriminate

·        Love is what its all about

We don’t grow by ourselves

If we don’t interface with others, we are stuck in our own ideas

I encourage you to find a place, a group a person or two

That your faith may grow

That your love may grow

That you might bear up under difficulty

And find the joy of life