Sermon Cloud

1. It's good to have VN teens and parents back with us today after the RE:Generation retreat last weekend. 

2. Adolescence is one of the most dramatic (painful and wonderful) passages in our human development. Each summer my family goes camping up north, and most evenings end with stories around the campfire, and most of the stories around the campfire go back to someone's adolescence-how I almost died, what I've never told anyone, what I got away with, what I learned the hard way, what you're never going to believe I did, what I know you did, how glad I am I survived.

3. In our journey of faith, all of us go through a passage that we can compare to a spiritual adolescence-a wonderful and painful time in which we've got to change, grow up, and take personal responsibility for our future in God . . . or we will get stuck and stall out. This morning I'd like to talk with you about surviving and growing through a time in your faith journey in which you might feel that you're stuck or you've stalled and are getting discouraged with yourself, your church, and even God. LET'S PRAY.

TRANS: For several Sundays we've been talking about Jesus-Brand Spirituality and how God invites all of us to begin a faith journey toward spiritual maturity-to the place where we become men and women who are living Jesus' life together, consistently growing in love for God and for other people. Let's review.

1. PASSAGES ON OUR FAITH JOURNEY.

A. Exploring Jesus-Brand Spirituality

1) Spirituality is popular, but not all expressions of spirituality are Jesus-brand. Some people think of Christ as a spiritual force. Other people think of Jesus as a great teacher. But the Bible is clear: Jesus wasn't just a great prophet like Mohammed. He claimed to be God, in human form (like Allah), but a very different sort of god than the Koran describes Allah to be. Jesus-Brand spirituality begins with the discovery that Jesus is God, that he entered our world in human form, that he died on a cross as our substitute, paid the penalty for our sin, rose from the dead, and is ready to transform our lives with forgiveness and freedom.

2) Matt reminded us that Jesus isn't looking for fans, but followers. To Peter and Andrew (Matt 4:19), "Come follow me, and I will teach you to fish for people" . . . To a teacher of the law (Matt 8:22), "Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead" . . . To a tax collector named Matthew (Matt 9:9), "Follow me" . . . To a group of people like us (Matt 10:38), "Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me".

B. Deciding to trust and follow Jesus.

1) In this passage, a man or woman declares, "Jesus is God-my God. I'm getting baptized, so you'll know this is big and real. He is my Lord. I am going to start following his example and teaching in my attitudes and sexuality and education and money and friendships and career".

2) As Mike told us, the way in is the way on. The key to making progress in my spiritual journey is just staying focused on Jesus-when I've been hurt by people who say they love me, when I'm struggling with feelings of insecurity and unworthiness, going through pain and loss, and waiting for God to answer my prayers.

TRANS: The Apostle John (I John 2:14) compares our spiritual journey to natural growth. We start out as infants, progress through childhood, become young adults, mature and finally become spiritual fathers and mothers to those being born again. The third passage in our spiritual journey is a lot like adolescence (wonderful and awful at the same time). It's a passage in which my spiritual growth depends on my willingness to . . .

C. Inviting Jesus into my struggles, sins, and secrets

1) In our natural adolescence, everything that was familiar in childhood seems to start shifting and changing, from our bodies to our emotions to our relationships to our perspectives. It's often a stormy time filled with fear and insecurity, deep longings and intense anger, passionate love and dreams that border on fantasy. Remember?

There is a very similar passage in our spiritual journey. In the beginning, deciding to trust and follow Jesus and get baptized and make new friends at church is overwhelmingly wonderful. Bible studies and home groups and even mission trips add zest to our lives. Many of us even decide that tithing-giving our church 10% of our income--is the best deal around! Tithing makes perfect sense when we've decided to trust and follow Jesus.

But then, in midst of all our church activities, something changes: old, deeply personal, ugly stuff starts to come up again-struggles to forgive, feelings of worthlessness tied to childhood wounds, anger over emotional or even sexual abuse, secret struggles with credit card debt or chronic dishonesty or overeating or sexual promiscuity or materialism, even addictions to alcohol, drugs, or pornography. And, going to more church meetings doesn't seem to touch this deep stuff. Your pastor's sermons lose their luster, home group meetings lose their power to encourage, and even the old worship music that used to light your fire starts to seem like religious muzak! Sitting through more church meetings seems completely irrelevant to the real stuff going on inside you.

Can you identify? If so, you're experiencing spiritual adolescence. The good news is that everyone experiences this. The bad news is that some people get stuck, stall out, and never get past it. At this point in your spiritual journey, IT'S TIME TO INVITE JESUS INTO YOUR STRUGGLES, SINS, AND SECRETS. Your pastor, your church, and your home group leaders can't do this for you. It's definitely scary, but this is the only decision that will lead you forward in your journey

TRANS: Don't look so glum!

EVERYONE'S JOURNEY HAS UP'S AND DOWN'S.

The ups begin with exploring Jesus-brand spirituality and feeling God's presence in worship. We move on to meeting Pastor Matt and Laura at a New Friends Dessert, and getting baptized, and joining a home group. It develops a momentum of it's own as we join ministry teams. It gets really exciting as we invite family and friends to church on a special Sunday like Easter and witness them begin the journey of exploring Christianity.

But then, we enter this difficult adolescent passage. Normal Christians, once filled with childlike faith and joy, may start to wonder if maybe they were wrong about Jesus and church and about the future. Maybe nothing's ever going to change-really change-in life, marriage, family, or health or finance.

At this point, it's fairly common for folks like us to start wondering if we made a mistake in choosing the church we joined. Our journey seems to be going in the wrong direction. Maybe its time to look for a new church and a new pastor-a person or a place that can really deliver the goods-better music, better preaching, better doctrine, better programs. Of course, some people do find a better church and a better pastor. Many, however, look around for a while and then simply drop out. They circled back to try to recapture a honeymoon experience with a new church. But after a while (and I recently heard this from a friend) all churches seem to have similar weaknesses. Imagine that! People are people everywhere you go.

Remember when you were a teenager? At least for a season, we all decided that our parents were clueless. Our family was hopeless. Our parents seemed like Neanderthals and our siblings seemed to live to embarrass us around our truly cool friends. We blamed our parents and siblings for our pain and judged them as beyond help and hope. And, only later did we discover how wrong we were and how hurtful we were to them.

TRANS: Some of you might be thinking, "OK . . . I admit that I've stalled in my spiritual journey . . . and alright . . . I can see that maybe this season in my life is a little like adolescence, but . . .

3. ISN'T MY CHURCH SUPPOSED TO DO MORE FOR ME WHEN I'M FEELING DOWN?

Actually, no. It's time for you yourself to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). This verse is God's counsel for our spiritual adolescence. The Apostle Paul tells us that the same God who got us started on this journey will help us with this next passage. But no one else can take this next step for us. No one can carry us down this stretch of road. It's time for us to deal with your stuff on your own. It's time for us to grow up. It's time for us to invite Jesus into the deep struggles, sins, and secrets in our lives.

Think back. When you were a teen, you really didn't need more parenting. You were actually beyond parenting. You needed your parents to become your coaches. And healthy parents do anticipate this transition. They give their teens more freedom and responsibility than ever before. They challenge their teens to start thinking for themselves and making adult decisions. Even though they know their teens will make painful mistakes, they invite them to step out on their own, take significant risks, and pursue their dreams. They challenge their teens to walk boldly onto the playing field of ‘real life'! Of course someone is going to get hurt-everyone is going to get hurt!

The best parents see this coming. Healthy parents walk off the field and take their places on the sidelines, coaching while Jimmy and Susie run with the ball get tackled, get hurt, go to ER, go back to the field, run faster, learn new plays, score, and discover new abilities and friends. Adolescence is an important, strategic transition in life.

At this low point in our journey, some Christians complain that their pastor or home group leader or ministry team director ought to be a better parent (more compassionate, more generous, more sensitive, wiser, filled with more faith, more biblical, more Spirit-filled, more bold, older, younger-just more than he or she is). And, some of them complain bitterly that their church just one more dysfunctional family.

But get this: whatever your pastor's weaknesses or your church's failings, more parenting won't take you into the future. In fact, if long-time Christians start developing a parental relationship with you, they'll end up empowering adolescent weaknesses in your life. You'll stay stuck longer in spiritual adolescence if you develop a childlike dependence on other Christians who you turn to for parental comfort and protection. And, if I can be forthright with you, some of you are doing this. You need to let go of Daddy's hand. You need to step away from Momma's apron.

At this point in your journey, spiritual parenting isn't going to help you. You need to decide to grow up-to get honest and real about your stuff. No one else can do this for you. Others can coach you and encourage you and cheer you on. But, you'll never move ahead toward spiritual maturity until you personally decide to become a player and play for all you're worth. None us can mature as Christians until we personally decide to get real, take responsibility for our stuff, and invite Jesus into our deeper struggles, sins, and secrets.

2) If you've stalled in your spiritual journey (and, again, we all experience this), it's time for you "to work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (the same kind of fear and trembling you felt on your first date, when you took your test to get a driver's license, when you started your first job, when your first stepped on to your college campus, That was scary, adult stuff, full of personal risk . . . just like admitting, "My marriage isn't working; I drink too much; I can't stop surfing the internet for porn; I can't forgive my dad or my sister or my spouse; I work long hours to avoid going home; I shade the truth with everyone, all the time, everywhere; I can't control my credit card spending; I have an eating disorder; I cut myself; I think I'm losing my faith".

At this point in your journey, you need to look past your pastor or your church's programs, and ask someone to be your coach. You go find a mature Christian, who's living Jesus' life, who's growing in love for God and others, and you ask him or her to coach you through the season you're in. Don't expect this person to carry you down the field. A coach isn't a parent. This person is going to support you as you take responsibility to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. This person is going to watch you and challenge you and support you and sometimes-like a good coach-smack you on the backside after you've given less than your best.

Here's a coaching formula we're going to start using at VN, equipping our prayer team members, our home group leaders, and ministry team directors. Maybe we'll call it the pyramid of power!

The foundation is a decision to take personal responsibility for growing and moving ahead. A decision to stop shifting blame and to take some big personal risks to invite Jesus into your struggles, sins, and secrets. We all want God to give us more strength for the journey, right? Guess what? God gives us strength for the decisions we make.

Pray . . . asking for prayer . . . out in the open . . . here at the end of a service or in your home group, or from a man or woman you've asked to be your coach. But asking for specific prayer about personal struggles, sins, and secrets. In this kind of praying, you're not asking God for relief'; you're inviting Jesus into the real stuff that discourages and angers and distracts you come to church and try to worship and pray.

Plan . . . developing a detailed plan for dealing with your stuff-the deep stuff. Not all of it at once, but one thing at a time. It might be going to a counselor, or reading a book with your spouse, or taking the Foundations class, or getting rid of internet service at home, or cutting up credit cards, or investing in some spiritual disciplines that keep you focused on Jesus. A real business plan-a plan to get down to business.

Partner . . . find a spiritual growth coach, a man or woman who is living Jesus' life, who is consistently growing in love for God and other people. Ask for prayer for the real stuff. Tell him or her about the decision you're making. Ask him or her to help you formulate a solid plan. Invite him or her to coach you from the sidelines-to tell you what he sees, to push you to give your best, to call out correction, and celebrate small victories.

CONCLUSION: If you're one of the people who can honestly say, "I'm at a point in my spiritual journey at which the honeymoon is over, I'm disappointed in my pastor and my church, worship and Bible reading don't do a lot for me anymore, I've drifted away from my home group and I don't see the point in serving . . . make a decision. Everyone goes through what you're going through right now. A personal decision is your first step back on the path toward maturity. It's time for you to take personal responsibility for working out your salvation with fear and trembling.