FAMOUSyouthGROUP*

“Ephesians 4:13-16 “Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and becoming mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ”

Introduction

• Last week, we talked about correctly handling the word of truth.
• II Timothy 2:15, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
• Basically, in order to have a purpose in life, you need truth behind it.
  • For example… What if the reason you go to school- your parents tell you its so you could be a more well rounded person, so you could succeed in the future, have a high paying career; what if all of that was a lie.  What if, going to school is a lie?  Let’s assume that having a successful future and school is irrelevant. Your purpose of going to school would be affected, right?  Like, why am I here?  Should I even be here?
  • You need truth behind purpose.
  • Adversely, your purpose in life as a Christian means nothing without truth.
• Is our purpose valid if Christianity is a false religion?  No.
• So what is the truth of our existence?  Is our meaning and purpose in life summed up in the instinctive drive to preserve the human race through the accidental existence of a microscopic single celled organism undergoing various mutations over the course of billions of years in which overtime, created everything we see around us?  Is our purpose simply to survive and preserve the human race?  Quite honestly, if this truly was the purpose of mankind, i would have killed myself a long time ago.  But i know there is more to it than this.
• Since the dawn of time, humans have been seeking to find meaning and purpose in life… And they are still looking for it.
• John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life… No one comes to the Father except through me.” This is the truth.  The 3rd step in our purpose in life, is to correctly handle the word of truth.  Know what truth is.
• Step 4 of our purpose in life is to become mature in Christ.

What is Maturity?

• Psychologically/Biologically/Physiologically: For humans, maturity for both boys and girls occurs around the ages of 9 to 14- girls of course, maturing earlier than boys.  At this time, girls and boys face tremendous physical changes triggered by the release of hormones in areas of the brain such as the hypothalamus or the pituitary gland.  When this happens, boys and girls are going into the final stage of cognitive development in which we call the “Formal” stage, which begins from about the start of puberty- all the way to adulthood, in which adolescents and adults alike develop abilities to think about abstract or hypothetical concepts- to consider an issue from another’s viewpoint, and to solve cognitive problems in a logical way.  Also, as soon as we hit puberty, our brain is undergoing huge changes.  Our methods of reasoning and emotions are becoming more refined, as this is essential to growth.  Maturity is essential to growth in a biological perspective. 
  • Here’s an example.  You’re all generally young here and you all are in still that experimental phase in life where you’re learning, discovering, and trying new things.  A lot of you think you’re in total control of the situations your in.  A lot you believe that only you know what’s best for your life.  A lot of you have a lot of pride like me and think that you know what you’re doing all the time.  Now let me ask you this:  Have you ever made a mistake when you were younger?
  • Have you ever looked back at your past and said to yourself, “wow I was so dumb back then.”  Have you ever talked to someone, telling them a story or something, and within your conversation you said, “That’s what I used to do back in the day.”  or “That was back when I was stupid,” or “That was what I used to do before I was a Christian.” I do.  We all do.  No one is exempt from this.
• My point is this: We are not all fully mature yet, and looking back and learning from the mistakes we’ve made in our lives is a sign that we’re maturing, growing, and learning.
• Think of the dumbest thing you’ve done in your past.  At this point in your life, would you want to back to that?  If the answer is no, you’ve just proved to yourself that you’re maturing.  
  • Here’s a warning to a lot of you younger youth in this group… I don’t mean to embarrass you or anything like that… The older youth in this group, the ateh’s and kuyas… Were all once your age and know exactly what I mean when I say:  you don’t know what you want yet.  If you aren’t old enough to make a profile on E-Harmony, you are too young.  Believe me.
  • I can look back at my past relationships and nod my head and say how stupid I was.
  • Generally speaking- there is a very small exception however- but do you honestly think that by the time you hit 18… What is the chance that you would still be attracted to the 12 year old boy you had a crush on when you were 11?
• To this day, we all are still learning from mistakes- we’re getting stronger through the faults we make.
• But why is this important?
• This is important to know because I want you all to understand that psychological maturity, as well as spiritual maturity… is an ongoing process.

What does it mean to be mature in Christ?

• It means that you’re able to stand your ground with the knowledge of Christ in this world that is always looking for new ways to tear you down.  Because in the end, is it the strong Christian or the weak Christian who is more likely to slide back into old sinful habits?  Is it the strong or weak Christian who gets confronted by a knowledgeable atheist and loses faith?  Is it a strong or weak Christian who goes to church and youth group with a mask on and is a completely different person when they’re not in church?  Is it a strong or weak Christian who believes in God but doesn’t follow Him.
• Weak Christians lose faith and get stomped on the by this world.  Lukewarm and immature Christians get chewed up and spit out by God.
• When God is telling us that our fourth purpose on this planet is to become mature in Christ, he means that we have we need to become strong, equipped, and mature Christ followers who are always growing in the knowledge of Christ, always learning from past mistakes, and always making right decisions.  That is who we are called to be.
• Spiritually mature Christians are easily distinguished from a crowd.  Spiritually mature Christians are easily distinguished from a church.  Spiritually mature Christians are easily distinguished among your friends.

Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:13-14)

How do I become mature?

Grow in the Knowledge of Christ

Don’t be stupid when it comes to the very thing you live your life by!

II Peter 3:18, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Come to youth group and church, learn, listen, inform yourself…
Know the thing you live for.
Know the person you live for.

Allow God to renew your mind (everyday; maturity is an ongoing process- our minds constantly need renewal)

Romans 12:2  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

We make mistakes every day.  We sin everyday.  But you can only be mature by first humbling yourself by admitting, and learning from these mistakes by asking God to renew your mind- to forgive your sins- and to empower you to stay on the right path- on a daily basis.

Be obedient in what you learn.  Practice what you preach (Where is the Love?)

It’s one thing that we learn about maturity… It’s one thing to know about God… It’s one thing to know what it means to be a Christian… but it’s another topic in itself to practice what you’ve learned.

When you practice your faith through your good works, its like exercising.  If you want to become a strong Christian with big spiritual muscles, you need to exercise.  Pick up a bible, learn your crap, and then practice what you preach.  Practice living right.  Practice being the strong Christian God wants you to be.  If you go to youth group, learn all kinds of things, yet you don’t apply it and use practice it in your every day life, the things you learned are useless.  Like the first step in our purpose- knowledge is power, it affects the things you do, yet in order to do it, you need to take action.

Christianity is not just a set of passive ideas.  It is not a religion.  It is a relationship with God that requires everything from you.  Christian is just a title- what matters is that you live it.

APPLY THIS TO YOUR LIFE.