GOLD POINTS – Four ways a boy grows Mentally, Physically, Spiritually, Socially

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INTRO SLIDE

Luke 2:52 (NIV) And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Greek: prokoptó – advance or go forward / Roget - Developed, nurtured, increased – i.e. in the process

Luke 2:52 Common English Bible (CEB) Jesus matured in wisdom and years, and in favor with God and with people.

Again Roget - Seasoned, ripened, established, full-grown – essentially He was complete in all these.

GOLD POINTS – Four ways a boy grows - Mentally, Physically, Spiritually, Socially

Our focus for this session is “Spiritually”

Our goal in life….

is to become like Jesus. . Due to your high calling, you, Mr. Commander, leader of men, example of Christlikeness to men and boys, husband, father, grandpa, friend, etc. have an absolute responsibility to be the very best at doing that. What was He like? Come to NRMC for a full discussion on this . For today let us settle on “He was perfect from

the time He came until He departed earth.”

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve got a long, long way to go to become perfect, but if I’m to emulate Him I must grow spiritually. I must be all about “prokopto.”

So, how do I do that? You may expect that I’m going to tell you to read your Bible, pray, attend church, show compassion to others, be generous in giving, support those in authority, and on and on. I’m not! Don’t misunderstand me; those are all things we absolutely need to be doing and doing them to very best of our ability.

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BUT the most important thing you need to do is avoid your “UNTIL.” What is THAT!

Let me tell you a couple of stories to illustrate:

Bo Schembechler died, and St. Peter met him at the gate to escort him to his heavenly home. As they traveled the golden streets Bo was amazed at the stunning beauty and serenity of the place. They traveled many blocks and St. Peter stopped at an intersection and pointed out a magnificent mansion occupying one corner offering a gorgeous vista. He looked at Bo and said, “This is your home for eternity; I think you’re going to like it here.”

Now, it was indeed stupendous, but Bo could not help but notice that on another corner was a literal castle, 10 stories high and a huge city block long and wide. From every corner hung flags of scarlet with the block letters O-S-U in grey. On one of the largest screens he had ever seen the “Best Darn Band in the Land” was marching out “script Ohio,” on another every touchdown since that very first one on May 3, 1890, at Delaware, Ohio, against Ohio Wesleyan University was being replayed. “Buckeye Battle Cry” alternated with strains of OSU’s Alma Mater, “Carmen Ohio” and the immortal “Hang on Sloopy” could be heard, not so loud as to be annoying, but somehow it seemed to resonate within your bones.

Bo looked at St. Peter and said, “Wow, that is an incredible spectacle. My home is fine, but I didn’t think Woody was that much better than I was.

St Peter chuckled as he said, “Oh no that’s not Woody’s house that’s God’s.”

Woody Hayes was indeed a great coach who had won 205 games and 5 national titles during his 28 seasons in Columbus. That was all overshadowed at the 1978 Gator Bowl when he slugged Clemson nose guard Charlie Bauman who had intercepted Art Schlichter’s pass. That was Woody’s “UNTIL.” In other words, Woody lost all the respect and integrity he had amassed in his 65 years, “UNTIL” in a single moment of anger, he disobeyed every rule of sportsmanship. He would never fully recover from the shame.

Here’s another story:

The first 10 chapters of 2nd Samuel tell of a magnificent young man we know as David. He could do no wrong. He is never defeated in battle. Never wrong in judgement. He begins his reign in prayer and continues in faith. Enemies are subdued,

the nation in unified, the capital secured, and the boundary extends from six thousand to sixty thousand square miles1

1 “FINISHING STRONG” by Steve Farrar, Multnomah Publishers ©1995 eISBN: 978-0-307-77915-12

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From his anointing by Samuel around age 18 to be the next king up to 2 Samuel 11, his life is characterized by triumph. Then he hits his “UNTIL.” You know the story, and I won’t take time to tell it this morning, suffice it to say he sinned greatly and sin will always:

1. Take you farther that you want to go2. Keep you longer than you want to stay 3. Cost you more than you want to pay

David’s sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah cost him dearly:1. His infant son died.2. His oldest son Amnon raped Tamar, his half-sister and David’s daughter.3. His son Absalom killed his brother Amnon in revenge.4. His friend and counselor, Ahithophel, conspired with Absalom to take the kingdom.

After his “UNTIL” David went from triumph to trouble!!! Believe me men sin, even the smallest indiscretion, will indeed cost you more than you want to pay.

Last story: Meet Uzziah, 10th king on the throne of Judah after Solomon.

2 Chronicles (NIV) 26; 1 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was

sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years.

4 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear[b] of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.

6 He went to war against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He then rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful.

9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the angle of the wall, and he fortified them. 10 He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, because he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain. He had people working his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.

11 Uzziah had a well-trained army, ready to go out by divisions according to their numbers as mustered by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officials. 12 The total number of family leaders over the fighting men was 2,600. 13 Under their command was an army of 307,500 men trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies. 14 Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army. 15 In Jerusalem he made devices invented for use on the towers and on the corner defenses so that soldiers could shoot arrows and hurl large stones from the walls. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.

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Uh oh there’s that word Until again. Something’s about to change:

16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the Lord God.”

19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy[c] broke out on his forehead. 20 When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the Lord had afflicted him.

21 King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and banned from the temple of the Lord. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.

He was too busy, too involved, too successful, TOO PRIDEFUL! He should have remembered Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Symptoms of pride are notably arrogance and aversion to accountability.

We could spend the rest of today and most of tomorrow unpacking all that “being like Jesus” and “finishing strong” entails, and that would be time well spent. Time runs short, so let’s wrap this

up quickly by

looking at some pointers and rules that will help us to avoid our “UNTIL.”

1. Develop a personal mission statement (long or short). It’s to become your guideline for life.

“Don’t Screw it Up”

2. Obey the “Stays”

a. Stay in the Scriptures. You know how to do that, but if you need guidance the book I’ll refer to at the end will help.

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b. Stay close to a friend. Get a friend you can’t con, an accountability partner.

c. Stay away from other women. Satan’s number one tactic for snaring men and keeping them from finishing strong is sexual immorality. This includes pornography—hard and soft!

d. Stay alert to the tactics of your enemy Satan—he a master at deceit, but he is a liar. He wants to hurt God, and he can only do that by causing you to stumble and fall.

Don’t be a Woody Hayes, a King David, or a King Uzziah who all suffered a life destroying “UNTIL.” Rather be a strong tower of Christlikeness that all men may see Him in you. If you fall, how many will ________? You fill in the blank.

You have 15 minutes to talk among yourselves about this topic: “How Do I Continue to Grow Spiritually?”

Some things you may want to consider sharing:

1. When I’m tempted to click where I shouldn’t click, I…

2. In my relationships with other women, I insist on…3. I do or don’t have an accountability partner

because…4. If you were to ask my kids “what kind of a dad I

am,” what would they say? What would your spouse say?

5. I try to keep my relationship priorities of Christ, wife, family, job, and ministry in that order by…

6. I know there used to be a lot of rules about things that a Christian shouldn’t do. Today those seem to be blurred considerably, but I feel...

7. If there is one thing I could improve on to help me finish strong it would be… (You might just want to jot this one down and keep it private.

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