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Collierville First Baptist Church
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Well, on Thursday we will wake up to a fresh new year.
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A year in which we wonder what will God do in this new year? What will He do in our lives?
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What will He do in America?
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What will He do in the world? I wonder is this the year that Jesus will come back? It very well could be. One of these years I promise you this, the Lord is going to leave heaven, He's going to come back and He's going to consummate His kingdom. It's going to be a glorious, glorious time.
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Listen, I'm sure in this year there will be some highs and there will be some lows. There always are. But one thing we can be assured of, the Lord Jesus will be with us every step of the way. He promised that He would never leave us and He would never forsake us. Now listen, let's don't make the mistake of simply tipping our hat to Jesus this year.
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Let's tip our heart to Jesus. Let's give Him everything we've got in this new year. To do that we've got to make the most of our time.
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Moses wrote this in Psalm chapter 90 verse 12. So teach us to number our days that we may present to you a heart of wisdom.
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In one of George Barna's studies, he found that when believers were asked to identify the single most important thing they hoped to accomplish in life.
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Let me repeat that. The single most important thing they hoped to accomplish in life.
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Listen, only 20% mentioned anything to do with spiritual growth.
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That is a crying shame.
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Now listen, believers say that faith matters, but very few are actually pursuing spiritual growth. I want to speak to you today on the subject spiritual growth. I want you to take your Bible and turn to Ephesians chapter 4. We'll be looking at verses 11 through 16 this morning.
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Now, unfortunately, even in the first century, there were believers who had to be prodded on this subject of spiritual growth. In first Corinthians chapter 3 verses 1 and 2, Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers.
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And he said, "And I brethren cannot speak to you as to spiritual men,
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but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able." And then in Hebrews chapter 5 verse 12, the writer of Hebrews says this, "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you've come to need milk, not solid food."
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A lack of spiritual growth is why believers become insensitive to the Lord and lose the joy of their salvation.
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A lack of spiritual growth is a reason that believers fall into patterns of sin and exclude themselves from the life of the church.
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A lack of spiritual growth is why believers are not learning new insights from the Word of God. A lack of spiritual growth is why believers are not striving to live in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Let me ask you a question this morning. Let's do a little internal survey.
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You answer this question for yourself. Don't answer for your wife or your husband or your daughter or your son. You answer this in your heart. This is for you personally.
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Are you at this moment growing spiritually or has your spiritual life grown stale?
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I read about a mother who was driving her preschool daughter to school.
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She was a medical doctor and she left her stethoscope on the back seat.
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She noticed her four-year-old was quite interested in the stethoscope. And this mother began to think about this to herself. Could it be that my daughter is going to grow up and follow in my footsteps and be a doctor?
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Her thoughts were disrupted when her daughter spoke into the stethoscope and said, "Welcome to McDonald's. May I take your order please?"
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I tell you, stunted spiritual growth is toxic to our spiritual lives.
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If you're a believer, I've got some good news for you.
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You can grow spiritually.
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There's no reason that any believer within the sound of my voice, whether you're watching live stream, whether you're here in the room today, there's no reason that any believer cannot grow spiritually and leverage the life that Christ has for them. You can grow spiritually.
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I challenge every one of you in 2026 to become a passionate zealot for the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Now, in order to do that, there are a few things you've got to understand.
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Number one, the priority, the priority of growing spiritually.
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Our passage today deals with the growth of the church.
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But listen, a church only grows when its members grow.
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Look at the reference to growth in our text today, Ephesians 4, verses 11 to 16. Let me read that for you.
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"And he gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers."
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Look at this.
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"For the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ." That's growth. To the building up of the body of Christ. Remember, in order for the church to be built up, the members of the church have to be built up. Look at verse 13. "Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." There again, it's a reference to spiritual growth, to a mature man. Look at verse 14. "As a result, we're no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves that we're carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.
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But speaking the truth in love." Look at this. "We're to grow up in all aspects into him who is ahead, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies according to the proper working of each individual part causes." Look at this. "The growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." So Paul repeatedly drives home the point that spiritual growth is not optional for a believer. The Lord God expects every believer to grow spiritually.
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Now, this idea of spiritual growth can be found throughout the Bible.
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In Psalm chapter 92, verse 12, the Bible says, "The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon." In 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 3, the Bible says, "We ought always to give thanks to God for you brethren, as it's only fitting because your faith is greatly enlarged." That's growth. "And the love of each one of you toward one another grows even greater." 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. "Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation."
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2 Peter chapter 3, verse 18. "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." Now, let me say something to you. I want you to get this. Don't miss it.
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The same God who unleashed His supernatural omnipotent power to save you, once He saves you, redirects that power in your life so that you can grow spiritually and become the man or woman that God intends for you to be.
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We must simply submit ourselves to God's will and to His purpose. And out of this partnership, a partnership between us and God, He produces spiritual growth in our lives.
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This is why I want to make this point with you as we move into 2026. You can and you must grow spiritually in this new year.
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Now, as it relates to spiritual growth, we've seen the priority of spiritual growth. But what about the plan for spiritual growth?
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Our wise all-knowing God has a specific plan designed for you to grow spiritually. That's true whether you're a teenager, whether you're a senior adult, whether you're a child, whatever age bracket you might be in, it is God's will that you grow spiritually. And God has a plan that He's put in place so that you can grow spiritually if you cooperate with His plan.
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First, God provides spiritual leaders who teach us the Word of God and show us how to apply its truth to our lives.
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Look at Ephesians 4, 11 to 13 again.
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And He gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of the service to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
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So God has blessed the local New Testament church with pastors and teachers, with leaders to teach the Word of God and to help the believers know how to apply the Word of God to their lives so that they can grow and mature in their faith.
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And then secondly, part of this plan, we start out as spiritual babies and over time we grow spiritually.
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I read about a group of tourists that went to a foreign country and they were visiting a picturesque village and they walked by an old man who was sitting by a fence.
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One of the gentlemen in a rather patronizing way said to the old man, "Were any great men born in this village?"
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The old man replied, "Nope, only babies."
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Only babies.
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Understand this, that when you repent of your sin and you place your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, you are born again into the kingdom of God, but you're born again as a baby, a spiritual baby. You're not born full grown and mature in your faith. You're born as a baby.
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Now, it's easy for us when we're in the process of growing spiritually, we can get discouraged when we see old habits surface in our lives or old attitudes exert themselves in our lives. We can get discouraged and discouragement can lead to a doubting or salvation. But listen, I want to remind you of something.
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Spiritual growth takes time.
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It takes time.
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This process in theological terms is called sanctification.
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The moment you were born again, you began a process of spiritual growth, a process of sanctification.
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Where you become more and more like Jesus. And by the way, that's God's will for your life.
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That you be conformed to the image of Jesus.
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Now listen to me very carefully.
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Once you're born again, from that moment until the moment that you step into glory through death or through the second coming of Christ, from that moment, you are in a process of growing spiritually, of becoming more like Jesus, a process of sanctification.
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Now look, the goal of God's plan can be seen here in verse 13. "Until we all attain to a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." Verse 15, "We're to grow up in all respects unto him who is the head, even Christ." Now listen, I want you to look at Ephesians chapter 4 verses 22 to 24. Here's what Paul wrote to the Ephesian church, the Ephesian believers.
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"That in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." Look at verse 31 and 32. Here's how sanctification works its way in our lives. "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other." Look at this. "Just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."
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That's what God intends to produce in our lives as born again believers.
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He wants us to be more like Jesus every single day of our life. But remember, it's a process. It takes time to grow spiritually.
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But we can't be like Peter Pan, who said to Wendy, "I will not grow.
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I will not grow. You go home and you grow, but I will not grow. But I'm afraid so many believers have dug their heels in and said spiritual growth is not for me."
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As illustrated by Barna's study, where he said only 20% of those who identified believers even mentioned spiritual growth as a lifelong goal.
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Look, you can grow spiritually. We've seen the priority. We've seen the plan. Now I want you to see the pillar of spiritual growth.
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A careful look at this passage reveals a powerful truth as it relates to believers growing spiritually.
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Let me summarize it like this.
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You're not going to grow spiritually in isolation.
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You're not.
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The Bible says that the ministry of the local church is essential for spiritual growth to occur in our lives.
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Look at Ephesians 4, 14 to 16 again. "As a result, we're no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried away by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, and from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."
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So Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
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uses a human body as an example of the growth that God expects in His church and in the members of the church.
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Listen, Paul wrote, "By that which every joint supplies." Do you realize that if you're a member of this church, this church needs you.
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And if you're a member of this church, you need this church.
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This church needs you and your ministry,
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and you need the ministry of this church also. I love what John MacArthur wrote.
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He said, "This is the point of union where the resources, gifts, and power of the Holy Spirit pass from one member to the other, providing a flow of ministry that produces growth."
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Now listen, that's why Paul highlighted the importance of every member when he wrote this, according to the proper working of each individual part. Now I want you to take your Bible, just flip over to your right, to Hebrews chapter 10. I want you to follow along, I want you to read this in your Bible as I read it out loud, because it's important.
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"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,
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for he who promised is faithful,
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and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds." That's what we're supposed to do as a church. We're to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together as is a habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawn in, the day of what? The day of Christ's second coming, the day of his appearing.
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Healthy, growing disciples are not developed in a vacuum. They're not. We need each other to grow spiritually.
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I'm not sure how it happened.
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Although we have heard countless sermons, we've heard countless podcasts,
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we've attended numerous Bible studies, we've read Christian books,
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but we've missed the whole point of the Christian faith.
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God's purpose for your life as a born again believer is that you grow spiritually and you become more like the Lord Jesus Christ,
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every day. Paul, Peter, and John encountered the risen Christ and they radically committed themselves to him. Nothing was more important to these early disciples than growing spiritually and becoming more like their savior. A.W. Tozer wrote, and I quote,
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"The great people of the Bible and Christian history
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have had an insatiable hunger for God.
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He waits to be wanted." Let me repeat this. This is God. "He waits to be wanted.
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Too bad that with so many of us, he waits so very long in vain.
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The kind of fiery, focused discipleship that results in spiritual growth is a blend of both what God does in our lives and what we do with our lives."
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Don't sell yourself short.
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You can grow spiritually.
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If you really want it, you can grow spiritually.
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You can become more like Jesus in 2026. You can abide in the Lord Jesus Christ at a deeper level of intimacy than you ever have before, and he can produce more fruit through your life this year than he ever has before.
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I trust that you're ready to embrace the priority of spiritual growth,
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the plan of spiritual growth,
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and the pillar of spiritual growth.
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Now, here are some things that you've got to pay close attention to if you really want to walk down this road in 2026.
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First, examine yourselves to make sure that you're in the faith.
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Listen, Jesus offered himself as a bloody sacrifice on the cross of Calvary to pay the penalty for your sins.
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The only way you'll ever be forgiven for your sins is because of what the Lord Jesus did for you on the cross and through His resurrection.
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The Bible says in 1 Peter 2.24, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by his wounds you were healed."
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Understand this, that God raised His Son from the dead after He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins so that we would know deep in our heart that God the Father accepted His sacrifice on our behalf and that He and He alone can justify us before God.
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So the first thing you have to do, if you're going to grow a spiritual, you've got to examine yourself and make sure you're in the faith. Now, you may be here this morning and you say, "Pastor, I'm not sure.
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I'm not sure if I'm truly saved or not."
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Well, I would suggest to you that this would be a great time to make sure that you're saved.
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You say, "What do I have to do?"
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Well, listen, you've got to be willing to repent of your sin and place your faith in Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord.
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It's not complicated, but it is costly.
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It means that you deny yourself that you take up your cross daily and you choose to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
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I pray that if you're here today and you're concerned about your faith, about your salvation, that you would come to one of our staff members in just a moment and you would say to them today, "I'm ready to nail down my salvation. I want to give my heart to Jesus. I want to commit my life to Christ."
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Then the second thing you've got to do is you must develop a personal strategy for spiritual growth.
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First, you make sure that you're saved. Secondly, you develop a personal strategy to grow spiritually.
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The Lord is calling many believers in this room to a deeper level of intimacy through reading your Bible and praying. If I had to nail down one thing that would help you to grow spiritually in 2026, it would be this.
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It's develop a solid, consistent quiet time. Now, I'm not talking about sitting in a room and not saying anything. When I mentioned quiet time, I'm talking about carving out time in your life. Remember what Moses said? How we steward our time is very important in growing spiritually. You've got to carve out time out of your day where you read the Bible and you pray.
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That's the quickest, most sensible way to grow spiritually.
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Or maybe you need to commit yourself to being a part, an active part of a connect group. We've got connect groups for all ages.
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Maybe you're not a member of a connect group where you meet with other believers and you study the Bible and you pray together and you minister to each other. I would encourage you to find a connect group and commit to being a part of a connect group this year. Or maybe you need to commit to becoming part of one of our equip classes on Wednesday nights where we really go deep in discipleship. Or maybe, maybe, just maybe you need to be a part of a discipleship group. We're starting discipleship groups for men and women and you can be a part of a discipleship group and really be disciple into what it means to be a follower of Christ. I encourage you, take action today.
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Here's the third thing you've got to do.
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We talked about the importance of making sure that you're saved, of examining yourself to make sure you're in the faith. Secondly, develop a personal strategy to grow spiritually. And thirdly, join this church today. Many of you have been visiting the church for a while.
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And maybe today is a day that the Holy Spirit gives you the green light and wants you to become a part of Carville First Baptist Church.
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Now, some of you would need to become a part of this church by believers baptism. Others of you, you just need to move your membership to this church. In just a moment, our staff will be here. In fact, I'm going to ask our worship team and our staff to come. If you'll come right now, we're going to have a moment where we worship the Lord. And this is a response time.
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This is where you say, Lord, in response to what you've shown me out of the Word of God today about spiritual growth, I'm ready to take action today.
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I'm ready to place my faith in Jesus as my Savior and Lord.
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I'm ready to become a part of Carville First Baptist Church to move my membership here. I'm ready to become a part of a connect group, an equip group, or a discipleship group so that I can really grow spiritually.
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I want to encourage you today, obey the Lord. When it comes to spiritual growth, I want you to know that God has a sizzling, exciting, abundant life just waiting for you to commit yourselves to growing spiritually.
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When we do this together, when we as a body do this together, and we get serious about following Christ and we get serious about growing spiritually, I'm telling you, the hand of God's favor will rest upon this church.
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And this church will give testimony in this community to the supernatural power of God Himself.
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You can grow spiritually.
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Let me pray. Heavenly Father,