Check Out Natural Spiritual Development from Pastor Earl's Sermons!

A Natural Growth Pattern for Christians – Part 1

Mark 4:26-34

It’s been a while since I’ve bragged up about my grandchildren. I love to watch them grow. We only get to see them every couple of weeks, either through pictures or skype on the computer. What we are able to notice by not seeing them every day are the changes that take place in them. One week Trina is trying to stand up by grabbing hold of the couch. The next week she is toddling around the room. A month later she is running after her big brother playing a game of tag.

Most of the early growth in children is natural. It’s true that we need to feed and clothe and provide shelter for our children but much of their development is going to happen on its own. We surely can’t stop it even if we tried. It’s simply the way of life. It is very much the plan of God.

Now, the same is true for teens and adults. We are going to grow taller, or more mature, or older even without working at it. Growth just happens. We continue to grow and change until the day we die. It’s natural.

Natural growth occurs all around us. In today’s Bible story Jesus even tells a parable about that. In Mark 4 he says this: “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸ All by itself the soil produces grain.”

As Jesus said, the plants grow naturally. How? Only God knows. However, with a little nurturing they produce a great harvest. One of the great gifts of humanity is that we can learn how to nurture the life around us.

Growth is going to happen whether we are involved in it or not. At the same time, if we do help the natural process of growth along then growth will happen in a more quality way. For example, Trina was up and running with confidence early because her parents nourished that in her.

We humans grow naturally in several areas. We are living beings with body, psyche, intelligence, and spirit. All of these different parts of us will grow whether we help them along or not. That’s natural human development. But they will grow better if we nurture them well. Our bodies grow stronger and stay healthy when we exercise. Our mind learns and expands when we teach it something. Our psychological makeup improves as we work at developing a healthy ego

The same is true for the fourth part of our personhood – our spiritual side. Over the next few weeks I want to introduce you to something called Natural Spiritual Development. The concept is simple. Our spiritual side seeks to develop naturally just like our body, mind, and psyche. But, we can help it along through nurture. As most things grow naturally, they also grow better when nurtured.

In today’s Bible passage Jesus doesn’t say that the grain in the farmer’s field just got there naturally and naturally grew fresh and full every year without help. Notice the entire story: “He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸ All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹ As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

The farmer each year cultivated the ground and later harvested it. We can also assume that in between he does some more cultivating, and weed pulling. The plants sprout and grow naturally, by the grace of God, but the farmer is able to nurture it along the way – for a greater harvest.

Natural Spiritual Development says that our spiritual side wants to grow into the things of God because after all we are really more spirit than we are body, mind, or emotions. Only one part of us survives after death and that is our spiritual side.

Natural Spiritual Development says that if we nurture our life in 8 specific areas then our spirit will naturally develop. I think it’s great to be able to identify several ways to help become more spiritual people, because when that happens we are also more naturally drawn to Jesus.

The information I’m going to share in the next few weeks comes from a book entitled “Color Your World with Natural Church Development. It is written with the intent of helping churches develop naturally. The concepts shared with a church about Natural Church Development become Natural Spiritual Development when lived out in an individual’s life. This can be pretty amazing stuff and can personally transform your life.

Just as it is amazing for me to see my grandkids naturally grow up, so your life can become amazing as you put some of these principles to work for you.

This week we’re going to look at 4 of the 8 principles:

1. Empowering Leadership – Do you let Jesus be the leader of your life? Do you give him the power to guide you? Here’s an Example – Steve Jobs has resigned as the CEO of Apple Computer. His leadership has been instrumental to the success of that company. Many wonder if Apple can keep its cutting edge in the industry. Now there are many good people working for Apple but Jobs seemed to embody the spirit of it all.

That’s how Jesus can be in your life. Are you letting him be leader?

2. Gift-based Ministry – Everyone one of us is gifted in something. Are you using that gift in ministry? For example: are you gifted as a good listener? Do you us that to help other people? Are you a good teacher? Have you set yourself up to help others learn about Jesus? Have you got the skills of a handyman?  Do you use those skills to help people who can no longer do those kinds of things for themselves?

Psychological research shows that when we give ourselves away in some type of service or ministry to others we receive wonderful blessings in return. That process helps us mature as Christians and as people of faith.

Julio Santana the director of the Bread of Life Mission has a great gift for working with Hispanic children – to help them assimilate into American society and grow closer to Jesus. He loves life because he gives himself away in ministry. It comes back to bless him. How are you using your gift for Jesus Christ?

3. Passionate Spirituality – What do you do that gets you really excited about our faith walk with Jesus. Are you a fan of Jesus? I live in a town of Gator and Seminole fans. People are passionate about their sports teams and they do things like glue stickers to their cars or travel hundreds of miles to a game just to keep that passion alive. What do you do on a regular basis to keep your passion for Jesus alive?

The last church I served was in Punta Gorda. During that time a woman came up to me and shared a frustration. She was a part of my small group so we knew each other well. She confided in me that her faith life had become dry and routine. She suspected it was because her prayer life was terrible. She seldom prayed and when she did she felt no connectedness to God.

I gave her a simple tool that I have shared with you several times before. I invited her to start writing a letter to God or Jesus each day. Start by reading the Bible until something interesting jumped off the page and then write to God. Two weeks later she came busting into my office so excited because she had gotten her spiritual mojo back. The simple act of writing a prayer to God made a big difference. What are you doing to keep spiritual passion alive!

4. Effective Structures – What structures have you built around your life to help feed your passionate spirituality? We need habits, traditions, discipline, and structure in our lives if it is to amount to anything good. Do you structure you life so that you let Jesus in on a regular basis? That might include a regular time of prayer each day, or buying a Christian book of some sort. Do you structure into your life enough worship? Are you a part of a small group or Sunday School class?

Effective structure is simple a way of saying, what do you do to intentionally build the foundation of your life?

Now here’s the beauty of Natural Spiritual Development. If you begin to improve in just one of those areas your whole spiritual life will improve. Your relationship with Jesus will change for the better. You will walk more confidently in the faith. You will begin to feel better about yourself and others will notice.

So, here’s the how to. Look at those 4 principles for natural spiritual development. Pick one that you would like to work on – to develop more – to nurture. Which one would you life to improve in quality?

Choose one of those 4. Spend the next four weeks intentionally nurturing that area. I guarantee - your spiritual life will improve and your whole outlook on life will be better too as you improve the quality of that one area. How do I know? Because as Jesus says in the Bible passage: God will make it happen!