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w2 Small Group Bible Study
“Why Grow Up?”
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This past Sunday, we heard the phrase “grow up” and that no matter how old we are or
what we are doing we can always grow up. We can grow up and mature even if we
don’t know all the right words, know all the songs, or know all the answers. The process
of maturity also includes taking steps of matching our pursuit of relationship with Jesus
with our outward life response. As we pursue Jesus with our hearts and lives, God
begins to bear the fruit of maturity in us.
Paul uses the metaphor of a race for this process of maturity. During the message, the
Gatorades G Series system was used to help us remember the parallel process of
maturity. On its company website, Gatorade uses slogans for each component of the G
Series:
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01 Prime – “Own the first move”
02 Perform – “Seize every advantage”
03 Recover – “Competition doesn’t stop”
These slogans give us helpful hints as to how to approach a race, and we will use them
to help us think about our race. Let’s read the passages from the message as we unfold
each stage of this “growing up” process.
01 Prime: How we are primed to grow as Christians – let’s read the passage below:
Philipians 3:12-16 (NIV)
12
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press
on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I
do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is
behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the
prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point
you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we
have already attained.
15
02 Perform: How we are to seize every advantage – let’s read the passage below:
Hebrews 11:24-25 (NIV)
24
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s
daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy
the fleeting pleasures of sin.
03 Recover: Growing doesn’t stop! – let’s read the passages below:
Ephesians 4:11-16 (NIV)
11
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and
teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be
built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and
become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here
and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their
deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in
every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.16 From him the
whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds
itself up in love, as each part does its work.
14
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1. The metaphor that Paul uses in Philippians 3:12-16 is of a race. Where is the
starting point for us as Christians? What is the goal or direction we are to go?
2. What is the process of returning to the cross? How are we to cling to the cross?
(Hint: we only have two hands)
3. Looking at Moses’ life, in Hebrews 11:24-27, how did he grow up? Remember the
change in his relationship with God as his father. How did this relationship change
these decisions? How does it change our decisions?
4. When a tree is planted, it doesn’t automatically come with fruit attached. It must be
pruned and cared for everyday. In the same way, growing is a process as we take
small steps every day. What are some areas in our lives that you can change to
maximize energy on pursuit of knowing Jesus in order to bear BIG fruit? Can we
identify the “leaves” and “flowers” that are taking away our energy from producing
big fruit?
5. According to Ephesians 4:11-13, what does growing up look like? How does the
imagery of a human body help us think about growing and about being connected?
6. In Ephesians 4:14-16, what happens when we are infants? What does it look like
when we grow up?
7.
What are some practical things you can do or change in order to grow in the body
of Christ? How can we “son up” or “daughter up” (remember those from the
message)?
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The passages we went through help us to grow up and look at the amazing things that
God has for us as we take these small steps towards living for God. As we went through
“Prime-Perform-Recover” in our pursuit to grow and mature as Christians, we see that
growing up takes time, energy and direction.
Let’s take some time to pray and respond to these passages. As the Spirit is leading
you in areas of your life to take these steps, allow him to prune your life to greater
fruitfulness and joy.
Let’s also pray for our communities as God is calling us to be part of the body of Christ.
We are called to grow together, not just on our own to be tossed around by this world
but to be built up, strengthened fruit-bearing trees.
Put into practice: think (and do J) of how to sacrificially love and care for someone in
the community.