Using What You Know

Hey church family . . . I want to invite you to join us for worship this weekend as we continue our new Advent series called Waiting. This weekend we’re looking at . . . “Growing While Waiting.” We’ll be looking at the fact that God’s expectation for those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ is that we would be GROWING in our relationship with Him.

I came across a story this week that I think illustrates that truth. It was a story about . . . A young man who had just graduated his state university with a degree in agriculture. And he was hired by his county’s agriculture department. He was really excited about his new job because one of his responsibilities was to visit local farmers and share some of the things he’d learned at University. On his first visit to Farmer Jones, he drove up to the field where the farmer was working and motioned for him to come over. Jones got off his tracker and asked the young man, “How can I help ya’?” “Mr. Jones,” answered the young man, “I’m from the agriculture department and I’ve come to teach you new and improved methods of farming.” The farmer studied the young fellow and then dismissed him with a wave saying, “Go on, Son, I appreciate the offer, but I’m not usin’ half of what I already know.” I think that farmer is like a lot of long time Christians, in that we don’t need to learn a lot that’s new, but just begin using what we already know.

The apostle Peter wrote in this regard when he penned these words in his second letter (2 Peter 1:3-8) “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Please don’t miss those last words. . . "The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This weekend we’ll be looking at some of the things that we can be doing to cooperate with the process of growth that God wants to see happening in each of us. I hope you can be with as we gather for worship. I look forward to seeing you then.