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Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
Growing Deeper
Tyler Lynde explores how God provides everything we need to grow deeper in faith, using a vivid illustration of his grandfather’s transformation of a barren Wyoming valley. Much like the reservoir system that brought water to dry fields, God’s grace flows into our lives when we recognize that we are in Christ and Christ is in us. In 2 Peter 1:3-10, the Apostle Peter describes the virtues—faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love—that form a road map for believers to grow spiritually and remain fruitful.
Tyler shows that these qualities aren’t meant to be passive; they require our active participation. Spiritual growth happens when we cultivate the “soil” of our hearts through prayer, study of Scripture, and daily reliance on the Holy Spirit. It also involves real-life application—choosing love over indifference, practicing self-control when temptation strikes, and persevering in the face of challenges. Through these acts, we discover that God’s power empowers us to overcome the corruption of the world and live with renewed purpose.
Far from being a rigid list of moral requirements, these virtues flow from Christ’s presence within us. Tyler reminds us that sanctification is God’s work in our lives, but we have a role in it, too—similar to how a farmer cooperates with the natural elements to produce a healthy crop. By drawing on God’s promises, we find the strength to live in a way that honors Him. Those who neglect these qualities, however, risk spiritual nearsightedness and forget the cleansing they’ve received.
Tyler also highlights the impact of love, the final and supreme virtue in Peter’s list. This kind of love transforms not just our inner lives but also our relationships with others. Real stories of steadfast believers, like Miss Jean Wright, remind us that love is more than a concept; it’s a powerful expression of Christ’s character at work in everyday life. As we learn to practice this love, our faith communities become life-giving places that encourage deeper growth and wider influence.
By the end of this message, the takeaway is clear: growing deeper in Christ directly influences how we reach farther in our families, churches, and communities. As we cooperate with God’s Spirit, we’ll find ourselves equipped with everything we need to remain steady, bear fruit, and share hope with a world longing for something more.
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We've been talking about for the last couple of weeks, something that we feel like as an elder team, that the Lord spoke to us for this year, and it's just a simple phrase together, growing deeper so that we can reach farther. Together, growing deeper so we can reach farther. Last week, we spent time talking about what it means to belong together. We belong together and we know that Jesus, because of his sacrifice, made a way for us to be made right with God and to be a part of his family, and also a part of that great work that Jesus did is that he put us together with the body of Christ to be a part of each other's lives, and we also, so we belong to God and we belong to each other, and we talked about the importance of that, and this morning we're going to focus on the second value that TCC holds dear, and that is the word grow, grow. We as an elder team want each one of us, including ourselves, to grow in God in such a way that, no matter what we face in this life, we will not fall. Can you say that that's the prayer of your heart as well, that no matter what comes, no matter what we face, no matter what is in front of us or behind us or around us, we will continue, having done all to stand. To stand, therefore, just as Rodney's word was this morning. We need, we want that. We have that ability because of the grace of God that's been given to us. So the title of today's message is growing deeper, growing deeper.
Tyler Lynde:Let's turn in our Bibles to second Peter, chapter one. Second Peter, chapter one, and we're going to be reading verses 3 through 10 together. The words will also be on the screen if you need those. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him, who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that, through them, you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, for whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fall.
Tyler Lynde:Let's pray, father, in Jesus name, it is our desire that we would not just enter the race that you've called us into, that we would not just run it well for periods of time, but, lord, that we would finish the race that you have called us into, the race of this life in serving you and following you, in pursuing you. And so, lord, we ask that today, that you would help us to lay aside old ways of thinking, old habits, perceptions that we might have that are wrong. And, father, would you help us, by your grace, to see that you've given us everything that we need to be able to accomplish what you're asking of us. Lord, we desire to grow deeper. We desire to grow deeper in you and because of you, and so we ask that you would help that to happen this day and beyond. In Jesus name, amen.
Tyler Lynde:Let me make one thing abundantly clear this morning I am not a farmer. Any farmers in the house. There's some of you that would that could be qualified as that, or at least what. You maybe consider yourself a horticulturist right Fancy word, whatever it is. But yeah, I'm not a farmer.
Tyler Lynde:But my grandfather on my mom's side was an amazing farmer, and he and my grandmother homesteaded in a valley in Wyoming that had a lot of promise. The soil was very rich, very conducive for growth, and the sun hit the valley in such splendorous ways that it was just ideal for growing produce. But here there was one major problem. Can you imagine what it was? So we have good sun, we have good soil. What are we missing? Water? In the summertime in Wyoming, in this valley, they have very little rain, and whenever it does rain, it rains so much that it just washes everything out, so it's not very helpful for growing things, right. So my grandfather's considering okay, well, we're living in this place, this is our home, we've got to figure out how to make this work.
Tyler Lynde:And I believe he had a revelation from God. And what did he do? He found a low spot and he dug a hole. And he dug the hole bigger and bigger and bigger. And what happened is in the springtime, when all of the hills and mountains that were surrounding them had snowpack that was two or three feet tall. When all of that began to melt, guess what happened to the hole? My grandfather dug it filled with water, and off of that hole, which we call a reservoir, he built canals that flowed down through all of the different farms. And they put gates on each one of those farms so that the farmers, during the summertime, when there was no rain, could open that gate for certain times each week. And there was kind of a system on how they did all of that and the water would flow through their fields so that they would get the water that was needed for growth. And that valley became the most fertile valley in all of Wyoming, to the point that they actually, after my grandfather passed away, people actually built a monument there in the valley representing my grandfather and the work that he did there to increase and improve the value of that place.
Tyler Lynde:So again, I am not a farmer, but I understand farming a little bit, just from that perspective, and I want you to know that, as good of a farmer as my grandfather was, we have a farmer, father, who's much better than anybody here in this life, and he desires for us to be cultivated, for us to have everything that we need to adequately grow in the way that he desires for us to grow. Isn't that good news? And that's what we're going to focus on here this morning. So in our Bible passage today, peter is communicating about the importance of a much more important type of growth. So what did my grandfather grow? He grew alfalfa and barley. Those were the crops of choice and actually he would take hay all the way down to Arizona and New Mexico and distribute it in a lot of different places, and it was some of the best hay that they got. But we're not talking about that kind of thing this morning. We're talking about spiritual growth.
Tyler Lynde:This book that Peter wrote was written towards the end of his life, and he wanted to make sure that Christ's followers were focusing in on what really matters, what was most important. So let's dive together into this passage and learn from it. Are you ready to learn? Amen, all right. First point God has given us everything that we need to grow deeper. Isn't God a good God? Come on. He's given us everything that we need to grow deeper. And let me just read that first paragraph again and think about it in terms of this statement that I've just made. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him, who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us what does the word granted mean? He's given to us, granted to us, his precious and very great promises so that, through them, you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desires.
Tyler Lynde:Now, the early church spoke a lot about something that they called union with Christ. And where did they get this idea? Did they just come up with it one day? No, they got it from the words of Jesus, and also from the epistles, and especially from this letter in this section that we're talking about. This was one of the letters and one of the sections that they got this concept out of, and it's something that has a two-pronged reality. For believers, what is union with Christ? It is the simple fact that I am in Christ and Christ is in me. I am in Christ and Christ is in me.
Tyler Lynde:Again, brooke had no idea what I was going to say this morning, and what was the last song that we sung? In Christ alone. And it was the last. The last verse of that song talks about not only are we in Christ, but Christ is in us. This very song, again speaking to what we were going to share with you this morning, I believe that Peter is alluding to these two truths in this first paragraph, in the opening paragraph of our text this morning.
Tyler Lynde:So let's look at I am in Christ. What does that mean? I've been granted all things needed for life and godliness because of the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. What does that mean? I've been granted all things needed for life and godliness because of the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. How many of you know that we were lost and outside of the realm of his kingdom? We were lost and we needed help. And Jesus came and lived a perfect life and died on the cross for our sins, and he also rose from the dead. We know that he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father. And if we will put our confidence, hope and trust in what I just said to you, then we become a part of God's family, and when we become a part of God's family, he grafts us in.
Tyler Lynde:Now again, I'm not a horticulturist. I don't play one on Sundays so I'm not going to pretend, but I know that there are processes, there are ways that you can cause growth to happen by placing a branch into a root, into the tree itself right, there are ways to do that, and so that's what it's talking about. Our dead, lifeless, fruitless branch has been grafted in to the vine of Jesus Christ. Remember what it says I am the vine and what? And you are the branches. We have been grafted in. We are in Christ. We have been grafted in. We are in Christ as a believer. God has chosen us by his divine power and he's made us alive to him. The technical word for that, the theological term, is regeneration. It's when he makes us alive, when that dead spirit that we have on the inside of us is made alive to God and we're able to acknowledge our need for him.
Tyler Lynde:Thank God, how many of you have responded to the gospel call and have put your faith and hope and trust in Jesus Christ? All right? How many of you want a hundred dollars? I'm just looking for a response this morning. Are you with me? All right? Amen, it's important. I don't have a hundred dollars to give you all, but, lord, you can provide right. So when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the father welcomes us into his family. We think about adoption. What a beautiful thing it is when a family there's a family in our church right now that has been caring for a young child and the young child had been abused and a very drug addicted mom and dad that was not involved and they've been fostering this child and caring for her and and now she's doing so much better. She had so many sensory issues and and developmental issues when she came into their home and and, by God's grace, and because of their love that they've shown her and the fact that they've treated her no different than their own, very own children that they have birthed, god's done some amazing things in this child's life and they're in the process, by God's grace, of adopting this child to be theirs and I guarantee you there's going to be no distinction in that household when this young lady takes a new name.
Tyler Lynde:How many of us have taken a new name? We're no longer. We no longer belong to the God of this world. We belong to God. We are his children and we've been grafted in. We abide in him. Christ is the anchor of our lives.
Tyler Lynde:Now that in itself is pretty revolutionary, isn't it? We could land there, and that should be enough. We could spend the rest of our lives focusing in on that, and it wouldn't be wrong to do so. But as good as that is, god wants to add to it. He wants to make it even better. I feel like I'm doing an infomercial right now. But wait, there's more, right? No, thank God, god's not a salesman in that way, but man. It's true, there's more, because not only am I in Christ, but Christ is in me. Think about that for a minute. Think about that for a minute. I've been granted all things needed for life and godliness, because the divine nature of God is living inside of me. I don't think we believe that fully, or at least we don't recognize it, but it's true. These are not my words. These are the words of God found in scripture over and over again.
Tyler Lynde:Remember, jesus continued to encourage his disciples about what. What was the promise that they were waiting for? He said it's. It's important for me to leave, it's important for me to go away. It's to your advantage that I leave and that I go away, because what's going to happen? I'm going to come again. But in between what's happening? I'm going to send the comforter, the Holy Spirit, and he will be with you and he will dwell in you, in you.
Tyler Lynde:What was it that gave Peter the ability to go to the cross and to ask if he could be crucified upside down To not take any honor or glory away from his Savior? It was God in him, christ in him, the Spirit of God in him, christ in him, the spirit of God in him. We partake of the divine nature of God. Wow, hard to fathom, hard to imagine. You know, we say this all the time, but think about it in terms of this concept. The same spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives in us. Wow, I was talking to somebody last week and I said what's the Lord speaking to you about the new year?
Tyler Lynde:And he said he's talking to me about the Holy Spirit. And I said we'll explain what you mean. And he said did you know? The Holy Spirit was the one who did the work of creation. If you think about it, if you read back to Genesis 1, god the Father had the design and Jesus spoke the word and the Holy Spirit was hovering over the earth in order to do what To cause the words of Jesus to come to pass? Light be and the Holy Spirit. Whatever he did, light was right and he said what I want people to realize is that the same Holy Spirit who is a part of creation lives inside of them. He happens to be a preacher, so he's interested not only in understanding that for himself, but he wants other people to see it, other people to understand it.
Tyler Lynde:How would your life change if you really believe that? How would my life look different if every day, I walked around in this life believing that that was true? Going on in John 15, 5, we started there it says whoever abides in me and I in him, I'm in Christ and Christ is in me, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing. How many of you tried religion before you got saved and how did that work? For you Doesn't work. Religion doesn't work. It waves a carrot in front of your nose but you're never able to catch it. We need, we need, we don't need religion. We need a relationship with the one who's living on the inside of us as believers in Jesus, knowing that we've been given everything that we need to be able to grow deeper.
Tyler Lynde:We now turn to our part of the process. Let me talk to you about this tree. So a lot of times when they show imagery and drone footage after a tornado or after a hurricane, the devastation is incredible, right, it's really hard to even fathom. But sometimes I focus not on the devastation, but I look for the few trees that are still standing and I'm like what in the world made a difference with that tree? How could all of the trees around it be completely wiped out? And yet this one tree continues to stand. God wants us to be that tree. He wants us to be that tree. And why do we need to grow deeper? Because what's deep? The water that we need for growth, and there's also stability that comes as our root systems grow deeper and deeper into good soil, and so when the winds come and when the storms come, and when difficulty comes, or even when good times come, we will continue to stand. So, now that we know that we've been provided by God everything that we need to be able to grow deeper. Now's the part that's fun. We must actively pursue growing deeper. We must absolutely, absolutely actively pursue growing deeper.
Tyler Lynde:Let's read again the second paragraph. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love, with love. God's work in the life of the believer does not end at the moment of conversion. It's not. I'm born again and I'm just waiting for heaven. I'm just waiting for glory. That's it. It's over with God's finished with me.
Tyler Lynde:How many of you know the work is finished as far as the completed work of salvation and redemption? Absolutely, it's finished. But how many of you know God still intends for us to grow? He still intends for us to be transformed, to be changed. He still intends for us to become more and more like Jesus. The new birth is not the end, it's a beginning. How many of you know? When there is health, growth naturally happens. I'm going to take a little moment for myself and my wife and our family today and acknowledge the fact that our youngest granddaughter, nora Joy, and Shelly and Neil as well, nora Joy is one years old today, today, and I still look at her and I think she's so tiny, she's so tiny and yet look at pictures when she was born and guess what? She's not so tiny anymore.
Tyler Lynde:How many of you have a room in your house, a doorframe somewhere in your house, where there's a bunch of pencil marks on it? Yeah, why is that? You notice? I never, we never do the pencil marks this way, this way, yeah, should we start a new trend? No, no, get that image out of your head. We don't need to think about that. But we're growing deeper today, not wider, okay, but anyway, what are we recognizing with those marks on that doorframe? Growth happens. Marks on that doorframe Growth happens.
Tyler Lynde:Growth happens when there's health. It's a natural part of healthy life and, like I said, god gives the children all that they need, but the children us. We must apply ourselves and be diligent to use the means of grace that he has provided for us. We're in Christ and he is in us. Spiritual growth is not automatic. How many of you?
Tyler Lynde:When I was younger, I really wanted to be close to God, and so I had been studying about osmosis. You guys know this and so I would literally, at night, take my Thompson chain reference Bible, my leather bound Thompson chain reference King James Bible, because that's what we had and that's what we used, right, and I would place it over my head as I was going to sleep to somehow, you know, absorb the words on those pages. Now today, I know there's things like Alexa and all of that that make it a little bit more, a little more conducive to actual growth, right? So I'd wake up with a neck ache, or anyway. I only did that like once or twice. Don't judge me. Okay, it's not automatic. It doesn't just happen because you're around it. Just because you have a family bible in the living room doesn't mean you're growing, right. It requires cooperation with god and the application of spiritual diligence and discipline.
Tyler Lynde:This process that we're talking about is sanctification. Sanctification what does that word mean? It means being made holy or set apart for a special purpose. Did you know that God chose us to be his children so that we would be set apart for him, to be holy and to become more and more like Jesus? That was his idea, right? It's a theological term sanctification. That describes this process. It's a cooperative effort. God does his part, he gives us everything that we need, but then he asks us to do what, to yield, to pay attention. Somebody said it like this it's a cooperative effort between the Holy spirit and our born again Will. We can choose to participate with the growth program of God and we can also choose, unfortunately, to what to resist it, and we'll talk about that towards the end. The result of this process of sanctification is to bring us into spiritual maturity where we look more and more like Jesus. Where we look more and more like Jesus.
Tyler Lynde:I was thinking Jack. I was reminded today's, two years since Miss Jean passed from this life into glory, and sorry for how difficult that is even now, but, man, if there was anybody who represented Jesus well, it was Miss Jean Wright. She really understood what it was like to understand that Christ, that she was in Christ and that Christ was in her, and she continued to grow. I loved the fact that she was always so hungry for the word of God, even when she was at her weakest moments. You know what her heart's cry was I want to be in church, I want to be there, I don't want to miss anything. 89 years old or whatever, 87, whatever, it was still crying out for more Lord. I hope I grow up to be like Jack and Jean Wright. I sure do.
Tyler Lynde:If faith in Christ remember it starts out. This section starts out with saying that we add to faith. So faith in Christ is the gift from God that all of the first paragraph highlights. This is the gift that God has given us, the gift of faith, the gift to believe, the gift to stand Again on Christ and on a solid foundation. All of the other characteristics are built upon that.
Tyler Lynde:So think of faith like the root ball. You've all seen probably maybe you've seen it yourselves or seen it on TV a large tree being transported. And what do you have to have in order for that tree to thrive in its new location? You have to have a good, a large root ball, right, and that root ball is planted into the ground and then, out of that root ball structure begins to happen, and it's most of it's under the surface. At first you don't even see it, you don't even recognize it, but it's all happening. Everything's growing and shifting and changing and forming, and before long that tree that had been ripped out of the earth and placed in a new hole is now strong again, right. So think of faith like the root ball, and we're going to add to that this morning.
Tyler Lynde:So let's look at the first root structure that we need to grow deeper in, and that is virtue. What is virtue? Displaying exceptional character. You know anybody like this that is virtuous. A virtuous person makes the progression from knowing what is right to do to doing what is right. He or she intentionally chooses what to say, what to do and what to value, aiming beyond the good toward the best. Is that the cry of our heart, that we would be virtuous people, that we would be people who would move beyond mediocrity and aim for exceptional character? Again, god's given us everything that we need to grow in this, but we get to cooperate with him. We get to yield to the spirit of God. How many of you know how does this happen? How many of you know when you're grieving the spirit of God by a word that you're saying, by a choice that you're making, by something you're doing or not doing? You feel it on the inside, don't you? It's cringe worthy. When the Holy Spirit cringes, we should cringe as well. So if we want to grow in virtue, we need to pay attention to that. We need to tune in more. We need to feel that and experience it and hear it when it's first occurring in our hearts and recognize it and yield to it. Right then Grow in virtue.
Tyler Lynde:Virtue looks like honesty and faithfulness and trustworthiness and humility and so many other things. Here's the good news. In every one of these, I want to give you a statement that I want you to hold, and that is first, with virtue, jesus is virtuous. How virtuous was he? Is he? He humbled himself to the point of death on the cross. He laid down his life for us. Jesus is virtuous. He does all things well and he empowers us to grow in virtue. Remember he lives on the inside of us. If you want to be more virtuous, which is what we're supposed to desire, lean in, yield to what's on the inside of you. Pay attention to what the Holy Spirit's doing.
Tyler Lynde:Second one is knowledge. What is knowledge in this place? In this I'm looking for the right word application. There it is it is pursuing spiritual truth. Do you have a hunger and a thirst for righteousness? Do you desire to know more, to continue to pursue spiritual strength and truth? Do you love the word of God? Do you love reading the word of God and studying the word of God and meditating on the word of God and singing the word of God? Do you want more? If you want to know more, we should. Knowledge itself, by the way can't be the ultimate goal. Remember what Paul said Knowledge what Puffs up. So you don't want to just be able to walk around and spew facts, as amazing as that might be. We want our hearts to be transformed, we want to be changed. We want to know what we know, what we know so that we will stand in the evil day and that will help other people to do the same.
Tyler Lynde:Our purpose for pursuing spiritual truth must be so that we can know Jesus and his heart well enough, so that we can better discern God's will and live according to God's will. Remember the words of Paul. This should be inspiration to all of us. Oh, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. Yes, stop right there, I can land right there. I want to know the power of his resurrection. Yes, stop right there, I can land right there. I want to know the power of his resurrection, absolutely Today. Lord God, deliver me, save me, heal me, strengthen me, give me money.
Tyler Lynde:Sorry, I just threw that one in there because maybe one or two people are thinking that, or two people are thinking that Paul doesn't just stop there, does he? Oh, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, that I might be found worthy to suffer with him. I have to be honest, it's not a part of my daily prayer routine, but should it be? Jesus is filled with all knowledge. He is the word and he empowers us to grow in knowledge. You know, it's really interesting If you read Luke 2, 52,. It says that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. God and man, even Jesus. God and man chose to know, to glean wisdom, to understand, to pay attention, to listen to other people, to. He went to church.
Tyler Lynde:Next is self-control, and we'll skip right over that one. Next is self-control, and we'll skip right over that one. We'll be disciplined enough to avoid this topic, right? No, self-control is resisting temptation. Resisting temptation. God calls every Christian to a life of discipline. Someone has defined this as the controlling power of the will under the operation of the spirit of God, the two working together, the spirit of God and the will of men connecting and working together. There must be discipline. In what areas? In prayer, in Bible study, in the use of our time, in resisting the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, discipline in sacrificial living, being willing to give of ourselves and not just receive.
Tyler Lynde:We, as believers in Jesus Christ, are called to represent Christ, and he lives on the inside of us to enable us and to help us to live disciplined, self-controlled lives. How would your world change if you stopped getting angry? I mean sinful, sinfully angry? Here's one thing I'm going to tell you You're not going to get any self-control from this world. Going to get any self-control from this world Since when has the F-bomb become every other word and every phrase and every statement. It's sad. Do not, christians, do not fall into even the initial, using the initial. Let's exercise self-control by the power of the spirit on the on the inside of us.
Tyler Lynde:Jesus is self-controlled. It says of him that he was tempted in every way, as we are yet without sin, and he lives on the inside of us to give us the grit and the power and the strength that we need to say no to what he says no to and to say yes to what he says yes to, because just as much as it is resisting the negative, it's also pursuing the positive. That's what self-control is about Steadfastness. Steadfastness is about enduring hardship In this world. Jesus said you will have trouble. We, as believers, are to follow Christ's example of perseverance. No matter what we are facing.
Tyler Lynde:Endurance is exceptionally difficult. Can we be honest? There are times when endurance and it wouldn't be called endurance if it wasn't, if it didn't come out of difficulty, it would just be called living another day. But endurance speaks of effort. It speaks of sweat and blood and tears. It speaks of not my will, but your will be done, especially during times of illness, prolonged illness and broken relationships and financial pressures and persecution. Those who endure to the end will be saved.
Tyler Lynde:We need to grow deeper in endurance. I'm going to be honest with you right now. There's going to be a temptation that comes over the body of Christ in the next four years. To just take it easy. Please understand these four years are a gift from God that we do not need to take for granted. This is a time for the church to get strong. This is a time for the church to be to grow deeper than we've ever grown before. This is a time of preparation because, how many of you know, even though we we feel like we've can breathe a little bit, it's not the end. We know that scripture teaches us that there are dark days ahead of us, and I'm not saying that as a negative confession, I'm saying that like we need to be ready. We're actually going to start a new sermon series in two weeks on the book of Nehemiah and it's called the passion project and it's going to be all about making sure that our passions align with God's passions, and especially when you're living in a time where there seems to be some good things happening right.
Tyler Lynde:So Jesus is steadfast. It says that for the joy that was set before him, he endured, endured, endured the cross, shame, All of it. And he empowers us, because he lives on the inside of us, to grow in steadfastness. Cry out to him, cry out to the spirit. Help me, I need, I cannot do this without you. God loves an honest prayer.
Tyler Lynde:And next we go to godliness. Godliness is simply living to glorify God. Living to glorify God when our lifestyle reflects a holy reverence for God, christ is most glorified. When's the last time that you considered the fear of the Lord in a healthy way? God, I know that there are boundaries and there are things that you've set up in my life and, lord, help me to not even desire to put one little toe over the line, little toe over the line. Help me keep a holy reverence and a fear of you and what's important to you. When we live for an audience of one, things get much simpler. All of the other things and attributes and characteristics we're talking about affect other people, and so does this one in a lot of ways, but really all of them. Our purpose, our motivation, should not just be for the way that other people will perceive us. It should be way down the line. This should be about our relationship with our heavenly father and representing him well. If you, if you've taken on a new name, have you taken on a new nature? Have you taken on a new way of living? Let's represent him Well.
Tyler Lynde:The Westminster Catechism correctly states that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him. How long Forever. We were built and made to bring glory to God. Jesus glorified his father in John 17, 4. It says in this high priestly prayer I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And guess what? He empowers us to grow in godliness.
Tyler Lynde:Two more Brotherly affection Caring for believers. This isn't just referring to the act of caring for other believers. It's also about the attitude or motivation that proves a genuineness of care. So, in other words, you care for them in front of their face oh I'm so sorry. And behind their back. You're what Accusing the brethren? Don't they know better than that? Brotherly affection speaks about the heart, attitude, the motivation behind why we do what we do.
Tyler Lynde:Imagine the early church in the book of Acts. How did they prove their brotherly affection? They did whatever it took to take care of each other. If it meant selling property and bringing the funds from the property in to provide the needs of others, they would do that. If it meant this guy needed to go help this other person in their work or something that was going on, they did that. They did life together. They cared for each other in practical ways. Together they cared for each other in practical ways.
Tyler Lynde:John 13, 35,. By this all people will know that you are my disciples. If you have what Love for one another, that brotherly affection, you want to reach the world for Jesus. Love each other. You take just a minute and look at somebody next to you and just say I love you. Now you got to mean it. No sarcasm, I love you. Some of you want to be ultra honest and you say I'm learning to love you. If you say that I'm not guaranteeing the result, okay, all right, let's finish this up.
Tyler Lynde:Love, loving unconditionally this is a crown of all the other characteristics that we're supposed to possess in ever increasing ways. It's easy to have affection for fellow believers. It's easier, right, but loving unconditionally looks like loving the unlovable and the downcast and the broken. It looks like loving in the same way that we want God to love us. Isn't that interesting? Like we want God to treat us in certain ways, but we have a hard time transferring that to other people. We can grow in that. We can grow in love. Jesus is love, isn't he? In fact, we love him. Why? Because he first loved us and he empowers us to grow in love. Now, here's the thing If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, you can do some of these things to a certain extent.
Tyler Lynde:You can be virtuous in some ways, or you can show amazing self-control and endurance, but how many of you know? The only thing that happens in those scenarios is that those virtues point to me, what I can do, what I'm accomplishing. That person gets any glory that comes, but when God produces the beautiful nature of his son in us as Christians, god receives all of the praise and all of the honor and all of the glory, because not only does he change our actions, but he first changes our hearts. So, finally, if we grow deeper, we will be fruitful and won't fall. I'm not going to read the whole passage, but it says if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And later on it says therefore, brothers, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fall.
Tyler Lynde:Next week we'll look at what it means to be fruitful. I'm excited about that. When the roots grow deep, then, no matter what may come, by God's grace, we will not fall. Fail to do these things, failure in our lives to pursue growth in these areas leads to barrenness, unfruitfulness, blindness and forgetfulness and forgetfulness. Now I could stand up here all day and attempt to read your fruitfulness scale and to list these seven qualities or characteristics that it says that we're to grow in and to rate. Try to rate you based on those seven things. But how many of you know that's not what I'm talking about here today. Now we can help each other. We can help each other grow Triads and all different ways like that. Community groups, right. But I need to look at me, my heart, lord. Show me my heart, my life.
Tyler Lynde:So in what does it look like to grow at TCC? It looks like training. It looks like discipleship. It looks like family ministry. Tcc kids in the forge, in the gathering place, in men's and women's. It looks like a Bible reading plan. It looks like Trinity ministry apprenticeship program. It looks like the Timothy team. It looks like freedom ministry. It looks like foundations classes. It looks like coming soon to a church near you, a Wednesday night Bible study. So we're going to call it the 30-30, and it's going to be 30 minutes of teaching and then 30 minutes of discussion. Interesting, can't wait.
Tyler Lynde:All right, let's stand orphe. It's the weirdest thing. As somebody who again has the privilege of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, I walk away every week feeling like I wish there just feels like there's so much more. This feels like there's so much more. But guess what? You have the right and the privilege and the ability to glean those things for yourself. We help set the table for you. We help prepare the way for you. We help lead you into places where you can eat, but guess what? You have the privilege, as individual Christians, of pursuing growth for yourself. We want to encourage you to do that, amen. So let's pray for help in that area.
Tyler Lynde:Lord, we ask you this day for help, father.
Tyler Lynde:I pray first of all for those who are not yet in you and you're not in them.
Tyler Lynde:I ask that today that you would reveal your son to them and that you would open their hearts, regenerate their hearts, so that they could put their faith and hope and trust in Jesus Christ and be converted.
Tyler Lynde:This day, in Jesus name and father, I also pray for us who find ourselves lacking in several of these different categories of growth. Father, I pray that you would help us, that you would encourage us, that you would help us, that you would encourage us, that you would strengthen us, that you would give us even the desire to grow. Would you restore the desire for growth in each of our lives? And, lord, I also ask that you would help us to find new rhythms of communication with you and of us understanding the grace that's provided for us and cooperating with that instead of being resistant and we confess we can't do any of this without you, but we also thank you so much that you provided for us everything that we need to accomplish what you're asking of us. And, lord, I bless your people. I ask that you would bless them and keep them, that you would cause your face to shine upon them and be gracious to them. I pray that you would lift up your countenance upon them and give them peace In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
