Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
While it is true that some things must never change it is also true that some things must change. Someone has said that God loves you just the way you are, but loves you too much to let you stay that way. Who among us would say that we have no area for improvement? In our lives, work, church, et al. Even Jesus, we are told, grew and, as hard as it is to imagine, He changed as He grew. All living things change. It can be said that just about all dead things change as well due to deterioration so we know that virtually all things change.
So what has changed in you over the past year? Are you more loving? More intelligent? I remember going to an ordination council where the son of a very famous church leader was seeking approval for ordination. The person who was recommending him began by telling us that it had been several years since this man had attended a seminary so we should not expect him to be as sharp as most candidates. I thought to myself, what a cop out. Ate we to think that after we graduate from school we begin getting dumber? Well I suppose some do but if you are seeking ordination, it would seem that you would be staying on top of your game and not ignoring those things that you have learned. Now maybe an exception could have been made concerning Greek or Hebrew considering that he may not have stayed up on those subjects but they are rare;u, if ever, covered in the councils I have sat on. So it would appear that we can't stop change, we can only decide what kind of change will there be,
One huge problem in the church is that many are trying to minister to people in ways that are very outdated. As our culture changes, we must decide what we can do to minister to it without violating Biblical principles. To say that changing the way we do things to reach the world is capitulating with it is to miss the point. When God wanted to reach His creation and save it, He became a man. I doubt that there has ever been a change as dramatic as that. He did it without sin. He loved the sinner enough to become like him without sinning which He hates. When they put Jesus on the cross we are told that He became sin for us. He took on the sin of the world and paid for it with His sacrifice so that we, sinners, would not have to.
Please don't be afraid of change even if you don't like it. Change is going to happen whether we like it or not so we need to orchestrate that change in such a way as to be more effective for the Lord, not less. Instead of getting worse at what we do, we must get better. As iron sharpens iron, we need to challenge each other to better ways of serving God. Especially in these difficult times when the government seems to be heading in who knows what direction, we need to keep our target sharply in focus and continue to work at improving the way we fire at it.
Theo
Dear Small Group Leader (or soon to be Facilitator)
Please allow everyone in your group to answer the Quick Question. It will get things started on the right foot, encouraging quieter ones to open up. Please do not require everyone to answer every question. They may not be ready to share yet. Also please allow at least 5-10 minutes at the end of your study so as many as would like to can respond to the REFLECTION question. This may be the most important time in your small group study. Thank You
SMALL GROUP BIBLE STUDY
Please Read: Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
QUICK QUESTION: In what way have you grown in the last year? Was it good growth or bad?
What is the definition of wisdom?
What is the definition of stature in this verse?
How could Jesus, being God in flesh, change?
How could He have grown in favor with God?
How could He have grown in favor with man?
How could Jesus have grown in favor with man and end up crucified?
REFLECTION: What can you do this coming month to follow Jesus' example?
No comments:
Post a Comment