Focus on Christian Maturity Graeme Sterne 2005

God’s Purposes: Designed for fellowship with God Designed for relationship Designed to be like Christ Designed for service Designed for mission

Let us make human beings in our own image - We are spiritual beings - We are intellectual - We are relational - We have a moral consciousness But we will never be God or even a god even though we attempt to by trying to control our circumstances, our future, other people around us

What is Christian maturity? Is it being able to do miracles? Is it knowing the end times? Is it prophesying? Is it being a bold evangelist? Is it being able to teach the Scriptures? Is it being able to win arguments? Is it graduating from Bible School?

God’s ultimate goal for our lives is character development Romans 8:28 -30 Ephesians 4:13 He is far more interested in what we are like than what we can accomplish

We want God to make our life easy - Perfect health - Relief from problems - Constant happiness - Comfortable lifestyle - Fulfillment of our dreams

But God wants to transform us He transforms us over time - through the truth - through trouble - through temptation - through the team It takes time because we can only give to God what we understand at the time

How does this transformation happen? Through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives 2 Corinthians 3:18 When we have a humble, teachable attitude I Peter 5:5 Through a deliberate commitment on our part Ephesians 4:22 – 24 Nothing shapes your life more than the commitments you make You become whatever you are committed to

We have to deliberately Choose to let go of old ways - Every change involves a loss of some kind Change the way we think - Rom 12:1,2 Develop new habits - Character is the sum of our habits - Repetition is the mother of character I Tim 4:12 Stay committed - There is no pill, prayer or principle that will instantly undo the damage of many years

Summary: We are designed to be like Christ so We need to surrender to His agenda Deliberately commit ourselves to transformation Listen to the team that God has given us for growth