Title: Grow up / 2 Peter 3:18
Contents
[Chief Choi] Grow up
grow up
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to him be the glory now and to everlasting days.
2 Peter 3:18
Do you know who this person in this picture is?
A picture when I was very young → a picture when I was a student → a picture when I was graduating → a picture when I was young
You grew up very nicely, didn't you? It was the growth period of Jeongwook Kwon, who we know well.
In this way, everyone grows up as time goes by.
If 10 years have passed since I was born and I still only have the appearance of a newborn baby, the parents would be really upset.
It is normal to grow like this as you grow older.
The words we read today contain the earnest wishes that God wants from us.
The hope that God, the Father, wishes for us as children is hidden in the words we read today. I would never have been able to find a friend who just looked at the Word in a dry way.
(Picture 1) Let's search through the screen once again. (Keep quiet..it's 4 characters, so if you say 1, 2, 3, say it all at once)
Yeah! Yes. (Click) Just as all parents want their children to grow up, God also longs for us, God's children, to grow every day.
This means that we should grow up to the age of our faith as we go to church and know God.
Are there any friends among us who have attended church for 5 or 10 years and still forcefully worship?
Do you have friends who get terrified when your teacher asks you to pray?
Not only that, but those friends who don't get along well with new friends, only get together with friends who get together every day, and are shy about introducing Jesus to other friends?
If there are such friends, I can say that they are definitely friends who have not yet grown up.
Take each one seriously. 'How old is my faith?' I mean.
We must grow up to the age of our faith.
God, our Father, will be very upset if we do not change and grow no matter how long we go to church, and if we continue to fight, cry, and get hurt easily, just like the story,
So how can we grow? We want to find out the answer together.
(Click) In today's verse, the answer is 'Grow in the knowledge of Jesus'.
So, is knowing a lot about Jesus the way we grow?
What does it mean to know about Jesus?
Jesus' date of birth...height...weight...if we know these things well, can we grow up to the age of faith? Our friends know all too well that it is not.
I looked up in the dictionary what the original meaning of the word 'knowing' was in the knowledge of Jesus spoken of in today's sermon. (Greek) Then, it had such a deep meaning.
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1) Learn to know.
2) Know, understand, perceive, have knowledge.
3) Married couples know each other.
4) Get to know each other.
What does this mean? It's not just about knowing.
What we know is that our faith cannot grow by simply going to church. It's just that we'll never grow up with what we come to know.
So how are you supposed to know? Just as mom and dad know each other well, when Jesus and us become like that, we can grow.
We need to know Jesus the same way couples know each other.
We all want to know Jesus deeply like this. So, we want to grow in this knowledge of Jesus.
How can I get to know Jesus so deeply?
How can we get to know Jesus deeply like a married couple? Yes! Living with Jesus.
Seeing Jesus' face every day, eating with Jesus every day, talking with Jesus every day... Can we really do this?
Yeah! Of course you can.
How to walk with Jesus every day?
(Click) First, set a time every day and make a habit of praying. Pray not only on Sundays when you come to church to eat, but also make it a habit to set aside a separate time for prayer on a daily basis. You will get to know Jesus really deeply.
(Click) Second, set a time every day and read the Bible. Clearly, there is an image of Jesus in these words. As you read the Word, pay attention to how Jesus spoke, how Jesus thought and acted, and how the people who met Jesus changed. You will be able to know Jesus deeply in the Word.
(Click) Third, be faithful to worship. This worship service is the most intimate meeting with Jesus. When we pray, when we sing praises, when we listen to the Word, and when we study, all the time is a time to meet with Jesus. When we are faithful to worship, we can come to know Jesus more deeply.
When we know Jesus deeply like this, we can grow like the Word of the day.
We want our friends to grow because they really know Jesus deeply. Now I want to break free from the faith of a newborn baby.
Even after going to church for 10 years, I want to become our friends who are growing up little by little from such a young faith that they are still the only ones who do not know how important worship is, and how much a baby I am.
While remembering today's Word, we earnestly want to keep three ways to know Jesus deeply, and therefore become more and more growing friends of Uidong Church.