The Ways God Uses To Help Us Grow With Him



The Ways God Uses To Help Us Grow With Him (5)

The means of growth are essential for our students to grasp and put into practice, although it is rare for a JH student to have much consistency in these, particularly in reading the Bible and serving. This series ought to instill the value of the means of growth into the students even if they don’t immediately put them into practice.

Here is a suggestion for helping facilitate genuine application of the spiritual practices below for the students in your cell group: spend two weeks on each means of growth, the first week covering the material below in a traditional teaching, and the second week doing some kind of workshop where you put it into practice. Suffering as a means of growth is the exception—don’t do a suffering workshop! Workshops like these tend to run more smoothly with more structure (e.g. break into groups and do X for 10 minutes, then do Y for ten minutes, then get back together to pray). Here is a sample schedule:

1. Fellowship as a MOG teaching

2. Break up into groups for encouragement circles (coach them in advance on good encouragement), and to share things about ourselves that will help others know what we’re about

3. Bible as MOG teaching

4. Pick some really cool passages and have the students read them on their own and answer questions about them in small groups

5. Prayer as MOG teaching

6. Do a 5-minute explanation/review about different types of prayer—praise, thanksgiving, petition, and intercession (don’t have to use those terms)—and then split into groups and pray around the circle four times (with breaks between), once for each type of prayer.

7. Ministry as MOG

8. Do a service project

9. Suffering as MOG

Christian Fellowship Helps Us Grow

Main Point: Christian fellowship is not optional, it is a key source of nourishment

Argue Against: Christians who won’t commit to Christian fellowship

• What is Christian fellowship?

o 1 Corinthians 12:13

o We are Christ’s body on earth

o We don’t go to church. We are the church

• Why is it important?

o 1 Corinthians 12:14-30: Everyone is needed.

o Not a building! A body

o Break up into groups. Assign one passage to each group and have them share what they think it means. Romans 12:4-5, Romans 12:10-11, Romans 12:15-16, Ephesians 4:16, Hebrews 10:25

o Discuss why some Christians don’t get very involved in Christian fellowship.

• Discuss what we can receive from fellowship and what we can contribute

Application: Be actively involved. It’s not optional

• Have students make goals on how they can improve their fellowship experience.

The Word (Bible) Helps Us Grow

Main Point: Become an active learner of the Bible

Argue Against: Staying weak in the Bible.

• What is the Bible?

o God’s words to us. His wisdom.

o Not just a holy book. God reveals Himself to us.

o God verifies Himself through prophecies

o It tells of God’s incredible plan throughout eternity past and future.

• Why is it important?

o Written transmission is more reliable than verbal transmission.

o Can’t grow without it. 1 Peter 2:2

o Gives us the truth, sets us free: John 8:31-32

o Have each student pick a verse below & share what they think it means. John 17:17, Acts 20:32, 1 Corinthians 4:6, Ephesians 6:17, Colossians 3:16, 1 Timothy 4:13, 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 4:15, 2 Timothy 4:16, Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 119:9, Psalm 119:114, etc

o Discuss why many Christians don’t become an active learner of the Bible.

Application: How can I become an active learner of the Bible?

• Come to Christian fellowship meetings to hear Bible teachings

• Begin a self study program. Start small, and gradually increase, but do so under grace and a relaxed approach….

o Stage one: Read one chapter a week for a month or two

o Stage two: Read two chapters a week for a month or two

o Stage three: You get the point. The main thing—start easy and build up gradually. Like weight lifting. No one goes into the weight room on day one and tries to lift 500 pounds. You have to get there gradually, building up your strength.

• Get a bible reading partner and read together once per week.

Prayer Helps Us Grow

Main Point: Become devoted to prayer

Argue Against: Not developing your prayer life

• What is prayer?

o Talking to God. Listening to God. Just like any other healthy relationship.

o It’s personal: Not meaningless repetition, chanting, or fake.

o See Matthew 6:7-15

• Why is prayer important?

o An amazing pleasure to have a personal relationship with God, the creator of the universe—the one who created us.

o A way to draw close to God. James 4:8

o He knows us and our needs better than we know ourselves. Matthew 6:8

o We need his power, love, and help. Hebrews 10:19

o Break up into groups. Assign each group a passage below and have them relate what they think it means. Psalm 51:7-13, Psalm 100, Psalm 147:1, Matthew 7:7-11, , Romans 8:26-27, Ephesians 6:19, Philippians 4:6-7, Colossians 1:9, Colossians 4:12-13, 1 Thessalonians 6:16-18, Hebrews 10:22, James 1:5, James 4:2.

o Why don’t some Christians pray very often?

Application: How can I become more devoted to prayer?

• Get a prayer partner and pray once a week for a few minutes.

• Pray at fellowship meetings

• Begin your own prayer program. Set aside regular time for prayer. Start small, and gradually increase. Under grace and a relaxed approach….

o Stage one: Pray for 5 minutes a week for a month. Maybe a couple minutes for yourself, a minute praising God for who He is, and another minute praying for other people.

o Stage two: Pray for 10 minutes a week

• Stage three: You get the point. The main thing—start easy and build up gradually, but do so under grace, not legalistically or under compulsion. Pray for willingness.

Ministering to Others Helps Us Grow

Main Point: Progress in your ministry of service to others

Argue Against: Being selfish and self focused

• What is ministry?

o Ministry is practicing biblical love, which is the goal of Christian instruction (I Tim l:5)Why is prayer important?

o It can be a minister who teaches the bible. It could be a Christian who regularly encourages others. Anything of service to others that motivates them to know God better.

• Why is it important?

o Ministry is practicing biblical love, which is the goal of Christian instruction (I Tim l:5)

o Each person needs to contribute their function in order for the Body to be healthy (Eph 4:l6)

o It’s more fulfilling to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35)

o Gives outlet and an unselfish purpose to the other means of growth. Apart from ministry, the means of growth will tend to be viewed as purely self-serving tools, and thus will not result in growth

o Break up into groups. Assign each group a passage below and have them relate what they think it means. John 4:34, John 6:1-13, John 13:12-17, 34,35; Romans 12:10-13, Eph 4:11-13, Philippians 2:1-4, 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15.

o Why don’t some Christians serve much? What are their road blocks?

Application: How can I progress in serving others?

• You must be vitally involved in Christian fellowship (the body of Christ), since this is where most ministry occurs

• Rather than choosing a gift area with which to experiment, choose a person and try to meet all of the needs you discover in them

God Uses Suffering To Help Us Grow

Main Point: Cooperate with God’s loving discipline

Argue Against: Thinking too lightly of it, being surprised by it, quitting

• Examples of suffering

o Offer examples brought on by bad choices we make 1 Peter 4:15

o Offer example brought on because we serve Christ

• Why does God allow Christians to suffer?

o The "parent-child discipline" metaphor. Heb. 12:5-13 teaches that God disciplines us as a loving father in order to bring us to maturity.

o God wants to break down our outer man so that the spiritual life can break out and touch others. 2 Corinthians 4:7-15, John 12:24-26

o Strengthens & purifies our faith. Through suffering, God deepens and purifies our faith just as the ancient goldsmith’s refining fire produced pure gold without impurities. Only the one who has trusted God in the midst of suffering has experienced faith at the deepest level (Phil. 4:l0-l2; Job; Rom. 5:3-5; Jas. 1:2-5; II Cor. l:4; I Pet. 1:6,7).

Application: How should we respond?

• Don’t be surprised. Instead, rejoice 1 Peter 4:12-14; Acts 5:41; Acts 14:22

• Fix our eyes on Christ, the God of love. He’s been through it and He will take care of us. Hebrews 12:2-3

• Don’t think lightly of it by blame shifting or minimizing it. Hebrews 12:5

• Don’t quit. Endure with the power of Christ. Entrust ourselves to our faithful leader, Jesus Christ unto good deeds 1 Peter 4:19; Hebrews 12:1, 5

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