Growing Together in Christ

A Sermon preached at the ACK St. Hellen’s Church on Sunday 11^th of March 2012 as part of the Series on the 2012 Church’s Theme

Texts:

Isaiah 11:13-14
Ephesians 2:14-16

Introduction

“Growing together in Christ” is the year theme of the ACK St. Hellen’s Parish for the year 2012. In this year, we seek, first, to focus on growth; growth in all aspects of the church’s ministry. As much as the Parish has grown and given birth to several Parishes within the Archdeaconry, there is still much room for numerical or quantitative growth. As we focus on growth, we will seek not only to focus on quantitative growth but also on qualitative growth. Growing together in Christ is a call for spiritual or qualitative growth. Secondly, we will seek to focus on building togetherness and thirdly, we will focus on Christ, the one who glues us together in order to grow.

Growth is not only a sign of life but also a sign of progress. Growth is a noticeable change; Growth is a tangible change easy to be recognized and realized. Growing together in Christ is a deliberate effort to remain together and grow together. Growing together in Christ is an effort to focus on the group in order to achieve a common purpose for all. Growing together in Christ is not a haphazard exercise where some are far while others are behind. As a Parish / Church, to show that we are growing, we must show the following three characteristics of growth:

We Must Manifest Health / Life

A Church is an organism which must show all the characteristics of life (a living organism). Growing together in Christ is a sign of health. As a church, we must show that we are growing together in Christ by the outward appearance. A healthy church is dynamic and lively. When Christ looked at the church in Sardis, He observed that

Revelation 3:1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”

What a harsh indictment of believers who believes that they are alive; that they are growing yet they are dead / stagnant! A “dead” church manifests hypocritical behavior. On the same breathe; Jesus did not spare the religious leaders of His day:

Mathew 23:27-29 “²⁷ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. ²⁹ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.”

We Must Manifest Tangible Change / Progress

Growth is easy to detect, is noticeable and is tangible. Change as a way of growing together in Christ can be expressed either in quantity or quality. Quantity, we show a marked change in the numbers in the fellowship. This is a tangible and measurable growth. Growing together in Christ should be our goal in that we are winning souls and being able to keep them in the fellowship without losing them.

Quality change in growing together in Christ will be expressed by our spiritual maturity. Can we notice a tangible and measurable spiritual growth in our life as a church? Luke in Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:42, 46-47) observed the quantity and quality growth among the believers in Christ and wrote,

Acts 2:42, 46-47 ⁴²“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

This passage is crucial in giving us the four important ingredients for individual spiritual growth and for a community of Christ growing together. Luke tells us that the quantity and quality growth was achieved and can still be achieved today through:

The faithful preaching and teaching of the Word of God – They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.
Commitment to the fellowship – they devoted themselves to the fellowship
Communion in the Lord’s Table or communion meal – they devoted themselves to the breaking of bread
Prayer – they devoted themselves to prayer.

I thank God that at the ACK St. Hellen’s Parish / Church, this year, we have started focusing on these four ingredients for us to grow together as a church.

Faithful preaching and teaching of the Word – The Word of God is being preached and faithful taught. I have committed myself to preaching and teaching the pure Word of God without fear or favour every Sunday and in homes.
Commitment to the Fellowship – At the ACK St. Hellen’s, we have Cell Group fellowships on Wednesdays (others meet on Sundays). This is a unique time for sharing our stories and discovery and exercising spiritual gifts by every member.

The word ‘Fellowship’ is made up of two words: fellow + ship = fellowship. If truly we are fellows in the same ship, then we must be responsible for the ship (fellowship / church) which accommodates us all. If we are in the middle of the sea / ocean and one starts to chisel a hole in the ship, all of us may drown. Therefore, do not spoil our ship. There may be someone who is struggling with drinking. Remember, if you drink any how; getting drunk in the neighborhood, it is the name of our church that is put to shame. Therefore, if you have to drink, (of course we are praying for your deliverance) then go and drink very far from the church’s neighborhood.

Communion of the Lord’s Table / Holy Communion / Breaking of Bread – every Thursdays, we celebrate the Holy Communion at the ACK St. Hellen’s church from 6:30pm to 7:30pm.
Prayer – we have started prayers on Fridays from 6:30pm – 7:30pm. On Fridays, no liturgy is used. People can pray in their free style the way one feels enriched through encountering God (i.e. if one feels like lying down prostrate, one is free do so; it is through prayer walk, jumping, or clapping hands, one is free to do so).
Soon I will be starting a Discipleship class for those who would like to go through a systematic spiritual growth

Our Church is not a ‘dead’ church but a church where the four ingredients for spiritual growth are practiced. A church, which manifests life also, has a tangible change tendency.

Acts 5:12-16 “¹² The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. ¹³ No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. ¹⁵ As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. ¹⁶ Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.”

Just as a tangible change or progress can prove a positive growth, it can also show the opposite – the negative. Paul, writing to the Corinthian believers, observes:

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 “¹ Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly —mere infants in Christ. ² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. ³ You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?”

The writer of the book of Hebrews also, after observing his audience concluded:

Hebrews 5:11-6:1 “¹¹ We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. ¹² In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³ Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. ¹ Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God…”

We Must Manifest Togetherness

Togetherness is the circle which unites accommodates all believers in the same church. Togetherness brings about oneness and a single entity. In that scenario, there is no competitions as far as growing together in Christ is concerned. As long as we are bound together in one fellowship and in one church called the ACK St. Hellen’s Church, each one of us is a member of the ‘one whole’. To some extent, my individuality is consumed into the ‘one whole’.

When we achieve and manifest togetherness, then my growth depends on you and your growth depends on me. As John S. Mbiti once said “I am because we are…” Growing together in Christ calls for each of us to a reach a point where all my personal interests, self centeredness and self pride are all consumed by togetherness. This can happen when we, like Paul can say:

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

The kind of togetherness required for growing together in Christ is the type of oneness that Jesus prayed for His disciples and followers:

John 17:20-21 “²⁰“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Oneness, togetherness; unity is often prophesied in the Bible as a mark of progress of true religion:

i. Where old differences are forgotten

Isaiah 11:13-14 “¹³ Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish, and Judah’s enemies will be cut off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim. ¹⁴ They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the people to the east. They will lay hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them.”

ii. Where contrition of hearts unifies the believers

Jeremiah 50:4-5 “⁴ “In those days, at that time,” declares the LORD, “the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the LORD their God. ⁵ They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.”

iii. Where all will be finally gathered into one church / family / fold of God

John 10:16 “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”

iv. Where all causes of separations are removed in Christ

Ephesians 2:14-16 “¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵ by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”

Conclusion

“Growing together in Christ” is a very crucial call for the church. The church of Jesus Christ at the ACK St. Hellen’s Parish must have this as the primary focus. The church in Africa and in Kenya is growing but only quantitatively while the qualitative growth is more important. What will it profit Christ to have a church full, but full of people going to hell rather than to heaven?

At the St. Hellen’s Parish, we will labor to manifest tangible change of spiritual growth to maturity. We will labor to have oneness for the glory of God because a divided and quarreling church does not glorify God. We are trusting God to build real togetherness.

3^rd Sunday in Lent

Rev. Simon J. Oriedo

P.O. Box 14814 – 00100, Nairobi – Kenya