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Secondary Campus is Growing in the Spirit

August 22, 2018
By Rick Daughtery, M.Div. FCHS Chaplain

FCHS Chaplain, Rick Daugherty, and the FCHS Student Council presented our spiritual focus to the secondary students for the 2018-19 school year.  To illustrate this idea, each student held a plant that represented different amounts of spiritual growth and the attributing conditions.  Each student was then challenged to consider their growth and relationship with God.

“GROW IN THE SPIRIT” 

Eph. 4:15 "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ. "

Goal:  To see every student grow spiritually this year and become more like Christ.  Gal. 5:22-23 

Necessary ingredients for spiritual growth are much like the necessary ingredients for plants to grow.

Sun = the Holy Spirit
Water = the Word of God
Good Soil = a Healthy Environment

 

WHY DON’T I GROW SPIRITUALLY? 

 

1. The spiritually dead cannot grow. Titus 3:5 
 
Condition:  water and good soil but no sun
 

 If you have good soil, good water but no sun you have a dead plant. No matter how much you water and feed that plant, it will not grow.   Same with people.  If you get to hear the word of God regularly, and are in a healthy spiritual environment, like a healthy church, and have a healthy encouraging family but the Holy Spirit does not live in you then you have a spiritually dead person who cannot grow.  It is impossible for them to grow until the Holy Spirit ignites life in them.  

2. Those who fake the spiritual life cannot grow.  I Cor. 2:4 
 
Condition: water and good soil but no sun - artificial flowers are glued to look good
 

Again, good soil and lots of water, cannot make a dead plant come back to life.  However, a person can pretend to be spiritually alive, but be dead.  A zombie-like kind of life, the walking dead go through all the right motions and give people the impression they are alive.  This person will never grow and God must intervene in their life to perform the miracle of new birth before they could ever see growth. 

3. Those whom the holy spirit has done his work in and are in a good environment but get only minimal nourishment through the word will see only minimal growth.  Heb. 5:12 
 
Condition: sun and good soil but minimal water
 

This person gets just enough nourishment to stay alive but not enough to grow. Maybe they are undisciplined and lazy and because of that have never learned to feed themselves on the word of God and therefore are malnourished. Their life does not change much because the word of God does not get enough opportunity to show them where they need to change and bring conviction upon their conscience.  Therefore, they will stay babies until they change their diet and get more of the word of God into their lives.  This could also be the kind of person is genuinely spiritually alive but are getting anemic spiritual teaching.  Teaching that uses the word of God to promote positive thinking and motivate people to success and ignore man’s sinful nature and deepest needs. 

4. Those who are spiritually alive and who feed on the meat of god’s word but live in a toxic environment that weakens their spiritual immune system will see only slow and inconsistent growth.  II Peter 3:17-18 
 
Condition: sun and water, but polluted and toxic soil
 

The world is at odds with the thinking and life of a true believer.  It strives to bring the believer down to its level and depraved way of life.  The struggle and temptation is difficult and wearing.  We each need someone who will encourage us and pray for us. Someone who will lift us up not try to drag us down to their level and poison our way of thinking.  Growth will be slow and inconsistent for a person whose environment is unhealthy and unsupportive of spiritual growth. 

 

5. Those whose spiritual lives are characterized by the regenerating power of the holy spirit, a feasting on the word of god and who live in a supportive and healthy environment will be able to grow and bear the fruit of the spirit of Christ living in them.   Matt 13:23 

Condition: The sun, abundant water and healthy soil