Orange Catalysts For Spiritual Growth (4 of 4)
Series: Orange
Steve Jones
Introduction: When it comes to growing plants my technical expertise is limited to "Green side up."
Here are some gardening lessons learned the hard way:
• Nothing ever looks like it does on the seed packet.
• Your lawn is always slightly bigger than your desire to mow it.
• Whichever garden tool you want is always at the back of the shed.
• The only way to ensure rain, is to give the garden a good soaking.
• Weeds grow at precisely the rate you pull them out.
• The only way to guarantee some color all year round is to buy a garden gnome.
• However bare the lawn, grass will appear in the cracks between the patio paving stones.
• "Annuals" mean disappointment once a year.
• When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.
In the spiritual realm, just as in the plant realm, God makes things grow.
I Corinthians 3:6 "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
God makes things grow, BUT, we have to do our part. We want to help our children grow in their relationship to God. The ORANGE philosophy is about the church cooperating with the family to impact the next generation for Christ. Well what are the catalysts for growth that both families and churches need to be providing to our students? Let's look at five.
I. GOD'S WORD - THE SEED
Luke 8:11 and 15 "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God... the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."
The first catalyst for spiritual growth is the word of God. The word of God is the seed that gets the whole process started. Unless you plant the seed - there's not going to be any growth.
ILLUSTRATION: During Superbowl 37, FedEx ran a commercial th ...
Series: Orange
Steve Jones
Introduction: When it comes to growing plants my technical expertise is limited to "Green side up."
Here are some gardening lessons learned the hard way:
• Nothing ever looks like it does on the seed packet.
• Your lawn is always slightly bigger than your desire to mow it.
• Whichever garden tool you want is always at the back of the shed.
• The only way to ensure rain, is to give the garden a good soaking.
• Weeds grow at precisely the rate you pull them out.
• The only way to guarantee some color all year round is to buy a garden gnome.
• However bare the lawn, grass will appear in the cracks between the patio paving stones.
• "Annuals" mean disappointment once a year.
• When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.
In the spiritual realm, just as in the plant realm, God makes things grow.
I Corinthians 3:6 "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
God makes things grow, BUT, we have to do our part. We want to help our children grow in their relationship to God. The ORANGE philosophy is about the church cooperating with the family to impact the next generation for Christ. Well what are the catalysts for growth that both families and churches need to be providing to our students? Let's look at five.
I. GOD'S WORD - THE SEED
Luke 8:11 and 15 "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God... the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."
The first catalyst for spiritual growth is the word of God. The word of God is the seed that gets the whole process started. Unless you plant the seed - there's not going to be any growth.
ILLUSTRATION: During Superbowl 37, FedEx ran a commercial th ...
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