The Wonder Years

This past Sunday's message was shared by Neal. It's about the years between Jesus' childhood and adult ministry. Below are notes and application. You can listen to it here.

Luke 2:41-52

We don't know much about the life of Jesus between when he was a child and age 30. What we can know is gleaned from Luke where it begins with the family's trip to Jerusalem when he was 12.

"And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." v52

Neal expounded on this using alliteration.

Stature - physical growth (Jesus grew up like a normal, typical Jewish boy)

At this point, I was thinking, how can wisdom be an "S" word? Wisdom....sage....sagacity! I then whispered the word to Adam shortly before Neal confirmed my skills.

Sagacity - wisdom (everyone was amazed at his knowledge of God)

Spirituality - favor with God (extremely devout family, Jesus was putting into practice what he was learning from God)

Socially - favor with man (relationships, drawing people to God)
>The average man and woman loved Jesus, it was the hypocritical religious leaders that didn't like him.
>Jesus was invited to a wedding indicating that he was well liked and fun. When there was a crisis, people turned to him indicating his dependability in tough situations. This is where he performed his first miracle (John 2:11 - indicating that he hadn't shown any inclination toward supernatural powers previously).

When Jesus was growing up, he was preparing himself for what he was going to do. What are we preparing ourselves for?

Romans 8:15-17 - we are God's children, heirs with Christ; we are also to share in Christ's glory

God has a part for us to play. We need to prepare ourselves and step into our God-given role. Jesus didn't have to fulfill his appointed role. He chose to do it. And so must we.

What is the stage of life you are being called out of for something new? Are you growing in the four "S"s? What is at least one area you can grow in this summer?

Personal Thoughts: I am part of the women's walking group for the summer which indicates social and stature (relationships and health). There is also an element of the spiritual as we have mini devotions and are encouraged to pray for one another and to develop an accountability relationship with another woman. I have that covered in Jill. I am also trying to reach out more to our neighbors as indicated in a previous post and am involved in tennis with others in the neighborhood. I can always use more wisdom and favor with God. I have been remiss at adding scripture to my heart so that it can become part of my life and actions. I should put more effort into practicing what I am learning from God as well as meditating on His Word.