Sorry about last week. I did not get my thoughts about the sermon settled until late in the week. The response was good and it caused me to give some more thought to the idea of growing our faith so that’s what we will continue to look at this coming Sunday. Here is what I have so far.
We will continue the series I started Sunday morning, but in looking at Matthew I have decided to take one detour before we move past the beatitudes and get into the sermon on the mount. Turn back a couple of pages in Matthew and go to the end of chapter 3. This is where Jesus is baptized.
This seems to me to be the best starting place for a series on how to grow your faith. Faith is relational in nature. At least when we are talking about another person or say God. It is something that grows. I notice three things in this passage. Jesus was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. I do not know if I can get all the things meant by this out in one sermon, but for our purposes think of it as this: Jesus was accepting the mission God had for him. Jesus did not need to be baptized, but in doing so, he affirmed that he was ready to go to the cross. I also notice the presence of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. You will need all three of these to grow in faith. The third thing I notice is the phrase “This is my son, whom I love: with him I am well pleased.”
How do we grow spiritually? By trying to please the father. Have you ever had someone you wished to please? How did that affect how you lived? Did it change anything? Did it cause your relationship with that person to grow? To grow our faith we must first want to please God.
Barry
Tharsei 
Barry,
I’m glad to see your post this week. I have only one thing to comment on this week. I have recently been approached by two individuals asking for my thoughts on a subject matter. When I read your post I was reminded of their questions. Your third point, which I liked the best, was ” I also notice the presence of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. You will need all three of these to grow in faith.” Your commentary here is very much about what those individuals asked of me. I wish I had said it the way you did here. With that in mind, I would recommend some Bible class time to speak on the nature and work of the Holy Spirit. Many in our family may not know that this subject is talked about so much more now than when you and I were little guys. At least, I heard very little about it, and when I did it was mentioned in passing, while almost never given any commentary. It was merely mentioned and most teachers said something to the effect of, we don’t know much about It, and what It(Holy Spirit) does. That is just not right. It would be a great study.
Thanks for your post
I think you are right that some time spent in Bible class studying the Holy Spirit would be a good idea in the future. In fact, we will touch on this in the opening of our Sunday morning class in Ephesians. Look 1:3-14 that we started Sunday morning and you will see that Father, Son and Spirit are all mentioned in this passage. All are a part of what Paul is excited about as he opens this letter.