Copyright © Simon G. Harris 2013
Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY
BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by
International Bible Society. Used by
permission
That’s what I expected
#insideout
God is serious
about growth
- His creation
Psalm 24:1-2
The earth is the LORD'S, and everything in it, the
world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it upon the seas and established it
upon the waters.
God is serious
about growth
- His kingdom
Colossians 2:19
He has lost connection with the Head, from whom
the whole body, supported and held together by its
ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to
grow.
God is serious
about growth
- His kingdom
John 15:1-2"I am the true vine, and my Father is
the gardener.
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,
while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes
so that it will be even more fruitful.
Parables
of growth &
reproduction
1. Parable of the Soils
Mark 4:20
Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word,
accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even
a hundred times what was sown."
Parables
of growth &
reproduction
2. Parable of the Growing Seed
Mark 4:26-29... whether he sleeps or gets up, the
seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know
how.
Parables
of growth &
reproduction
3. The Mustard Seed
Mark 4:30-32It is like a mustard seed, which is the
smallest seed you plant in the ground.
Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the
largest of all garden plants,
God is serious
about growth
- His parables
Mark 4:33
With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word
to them, as much as they could understand.
God is serious
about growth
- His character
Luke 15:4
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and
loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninetynine in the open country and go after the lost sheep
until he finds it?
Growth starts ...
1. by thinking me
Matthew 4:19
"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you
fishers of men."
Growth starts ...
2. by thinking my relationships
Acts 17:26-27
From one man he made every nation of men, that
they should inhabit the whole earth; and he
determined the times set for them and the exact
places where they should live.
God did this so that men would seek him and
perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he
is not far from each one of us.
Growth starts ...
2. by thinking my relationships
Philippians 1:12Now I want you to know, brothers,
that what has happened to me has really served to
advance the gospel.
Growth starts ...
3. by thinking small
Genesis 2:25The man and his wife were both
naked, and they felt no shame.
Growth starts ...
4. by thinking multiplication
Genesis 1:22God blessed them and said, "Be
fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in
the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."
Chosen for this!
John 15:16You did not choose me, but I chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that
will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you
ask in my name.