SUMMER IN THE SPIRIT: GROWING IN THE SPIRIT

Summers seem to pass very quickly! This one is no exception. It will only be a few weeks until teachers return to the classroom and families will be gathering supplies for another year of school. It will not only signal the start of another year of school but also another year of growth for each child. Eventually the child will become mature and move into their adult life. Yet, in one way, growth never ends, especially spiritual growth. In our series, Summer in the Spirit the sermon is Growing in the Spirit. Spiritual maturity is a constant challenge. The sinful nature desires to keep us selfish, self-focused, and satisfied with the current state of our hearts and lives. The enemy tries to convince us that we are fine with the state of our soul, status, or situation but then we encounter a crisis. It is in this moment of crisis that the Spirit can help us find the path to spiritual grow, and renew our vision of a better and more mature self. This week we turn to Ephesians 4:1-14. Paul is encouraging the Ephesians to grow into mature believers, even while he was imprisoned in a Roman jail. He doesn’t want them to live in turmoil or fear because they are immature disciples. Instead, he wants to empower them toward God’s goal for every believer which is to grow into full maturity! It is not just by “trying harder” it is finding a greater fullness of grace in our hearts. In these verses, he helps us to see how this powerful grace meets us in the darkest moments of our lives to bring us the brightness of his Spirit shining upon, and then, through us. Our prayer is that you will be illuminated by the power the Holy Spirit as you read Ephesians 4:1-14 to see a vision of growing into the fullness of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 4:1-14:
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called ; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” 9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.