GETTING READY TO GROW
1 Tim. 4:15-16

A. The description in of the church in Laodicea is disheartening, Rev. 3:15?19.
1. If That congregation was evangelist so that numerous people were being baptized.
a. How long would most of those new converts have remained faithful?
(A) It’s a tragedy that not many of the lost are being rescued The greater tragedy
is the mortality rate of those who have already been rescued.
(1) Could it be, That the way some of the Lord’s own people think and act make
It difficult to interest unbelievers in the Lord — Keep those who are new in the
faith.
(a) What needs to be done here before we can have real, enduring growth?
(b) How do we get every member interested in reaching the lost in Spur.
(2) How intimate is our daily walk with God? How involved are you on a daily basis,
in the work God gave us to reach the lost in this community?
(1) Jno. 12:20-21, “Certain Greeks...came to Philip, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” When was the last time someone was so impressed by your Christianity that they asked you to tell them about it?
(2) Shouldn’t people see, in us the blessings of walking with the Lord — not simply the pride of knowing about the Lord. You gotta live it yourself!.
(3) You cannot hire a preacher to do, in the community, what you personally should be doing as an individual Christian.
(B) The work of an Evangelist is to Grow individual members of a Congregation.
(1) Eph. 4:11?16, “God gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastoring teachers, (Why?) So that we can become grounded in the truth....15, so we can learn to speak the truth in love, and in all things grow up in Christ who is the Head of the Church.” That says that you have to grow and accept your responsibilities as a Christian.
` (a) Your Preacher cannot: Believe for you; Repent of your sins; be baptized for you; do your praying because you don’t have time; Lord’s Supper, Sing praises to God; Raise your children to be Godly; Be faithful to God; Live your Christian life for you so your neighbor will be impressed by you; Make you study so you can teach your neighbor how to be saved.
(1) I am not an Elder, therefore I am not going to do the work of an elder for you and I am not going to assume the responsibilities God has placed on you for you to be a Christian who is acceptable to Him.
(2) You cannot hire a preacher to be your substitute to God and expect him to have time to feed you anything Spiritually, except pablum and weak watered down soup.
(2) We tell people the Lord’s church as a loving family who support one another in the living of life together. That is the New Testament example we are told to follow in Jno. 13:34-35.
(1) Does the reality of this congregational life fulfill the claims we make about the closeness of the Lord’s family?
(2) In this busy age, the same thing can happen to our spiritual family that is happening to our physical families: we are merely living/worshiping under the same roof — without any real fellowship or sharing of life together.
b. Have we truly Restored New Testament Christianity, or are we just going through a
lot of empty motion? Ratteling a lot of ecclestical machinery while playing church?

(1) How many members of this congregation have been VERY sick and you have not taken the time to visit, cook a meal, clean a house?
(1) How many of you have supposedly been good friends with members who have forsaken the assemblies for months and you have not made repeated efforts to bring them back. That’s what we’re commanded to do, Heb. 10:23?25.
(2) Young mothers soon realize that the reality of having “baby” is often strikingly different from our idealized visions beforehand.
(1) The same is true of new converts. They present a host of “problems.”
(2) Often, those who are most receptive to the gospel are not from our own socio?economic group and our prejudices cause us to feel uncomfortable dealing with. Jesus speaks candidly about this in, Matt. 9:11?13. God did not come to save just Educated Sinners, Socially Acceptable Sinners, Financially Stable Sinners, Ethically Suitable Sinners.
(3) Biggest problem in most congregations. Limited their evangelism to well?scrubbed individuals who would “fit right in” with little work on our part.
(4) Our attitude about new converts should be the same as Paul in, 1 Thess 2:7?8.
(3) Perhaps that very lack of love for ALL the lost keeps us from growing.
(4) Before becoming useful and effective in reaching the lost, we may have to “cleanse” ourselves from things that hinder us, as Paul told Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:21.
(1) There is work to be done setting our house in order for the work of reaching the lost in Spur. 1 Tim 4:15?16, gives this counsel, “Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
(b) Acts 20:32.

Spur - 6/10/2001 am