Spiritual Growth

Preacher: Zane Zeltiņa

Opening Prayer and Testimony

Prayer for Open Eyes

The service opened with prayer that the Father would make His people’s eyes able to see, guide them toward those who are weak, and help them notice needs within their physical families, spiritual families, and daily lives. The prayer asked God to deliver them from haste, open their eyes, and teach them to stop and see.

Joy Given by God

After thanking the worship team, the speaker shared that God had awakened her that morning with supernatural joy. She acknowledged that life with God is not based on emotions, yet she wanted the congregation to connect with the life and presence of God that had filled her with joy.

Seeking the Kingdom in a Practical Need

Before preaching, the speaker shared a testimony from her family’s business. The firm needed two employees, but very few people had applied. At the same time, the apostle asked her to share the Word. Although her life was extremely busy, she said yes to God without questioning Him because she trusted His promise to those who put His kingdom first.

Matthew 6:33 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (NIV)

Two suitable candidates were ready to begin work the next day, and there was also a backup option for each position. God simplified the process, spared her from sorting through a large number of applications, and gave clarity about whom to employ. The testimony showed how God’s kingdom works when a person answers Him with an undivided yes.

The Call to Spiritual Growth

The Announced Theme

The message was explicitly introduced as a teaching about spiritual growth. The speaker used physical development as a parable for Christian maturity: a person begins as an infant, grows into childhood and youth, becomes a responsible son, and eventually matures into a father. These stages can be divided more finely, but the central point is that Christian life is a path of continuing growth.

A Living Path, Not a Static Religion

A person cannot be born from above, remain unchanged, choose independently what is good or evil, and still expect to enter the fullness of God’s calling. Christian life is not intended to be gray or boring. It is filled with God’s life and is meant to become steadily brighter.

Proverbs 4:18 18 The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. (NIV)

The sunrise illustrates a lifelong process. God already sees His people as holy in Christ, yet He continues to lead them from one degree of maturity to another.

Growth Happens in Fellowship

The teaching from Hebrews emphasizes more than attendance at a weekly meeting. Christian fellowship is an active connection in which believers participate in one another’s lives, encourage one another, and provoke one another toward love and good works.

Hebrews 10:23-25 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (NIV)

Coming to church and considering oneself a good Christian is not enough.

How deeply do we participate in the meeting?

Do we take part in home groups?

Do we participate in one another’s lives?

Sunday is only one part of spiritual family life. Growth requires real relationships, shared responsibility, and love that remains present when people are difficult.

Spiritual Parenthood Begins Before Birth

Mature Believers Receive Children

Physical children reveal the actual condition of a parent’s character. In the same way, spiritual infants test the love and maturity of experienced Christians. It is easy to rejoice when a new person comes to faith, but spiritual parents must also remain loving when that person is needy, confused, uncomfortable, or disobedient.

Believers with many years of experience must not treat new Christians as people who can be switched on and off according to convenience. As they mature, God gives them spiritual children and expects them to accept responsibility. A person may be comfortable with one or two disciples and resist receiving another because of the time involved, but God’s will is not the rejection of spiritual children whom He desires to bring to life.

Conception Through Prayer

Before a child is born, the child is carried in the mother’s womb and receives life through the umbilical cord. Spiritually, this pictures people being carried in prayer before they are born into God’s family. Without spiritual pregnancy and the power of prayer, there is no spiritual birth.

Pregnancy and labor are not easy processes. In the same way, spiritual fruit is often carried through pain, prayer, and perseverance. People may wish simply to worship and see everyone arrive at church without labor, but God leads His people through His process so that genuine fruit can be born.

Luke 22:42 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (NIV)

Stage One – Spiritual Infancy

Essential Needs of the Newborn

The Need for Constant Care

When a spiritual infant is born, the whole family rejoices. A newborn, however, cannot be given a bottle and told to feed alone. Likewise, a new Christian cannot simply be handed a Bible and left without guidance. A spiritual mother feeds the newborn and begins to reveal the depth of God’s Word.

The Spiritual Parent’s Response

An infant needs care around the clock. Sometimes an infant eats eagerly, and sometimes the infant falls asleep while eating. A spiritual parent does not respond with harsh rebuke but awakens the child in love. New believers may become tired, distracted, or bored, and they need patient care rather than condemnation.

Learning to See and Live in a New World

A newborn must learn to hold up the head, and the eyes need time to focus. Spiritual infants also need time to develop spiritual sight. They have entered a new world with new principles and must gradually understand how life in God’s kingdom works.

This phase is necessary, but God warns believers not to remain infants indefinitely. Jealousy, quarreling, hatred, and persistent worldliness reveal immaturity.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly – mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? (NIV)

God’s standard is that His people no longer live as worldly people but learn to live by His Spirit.

Pure Milk and a Spiritual Family

1 Peter 2:2 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation. (NIV)

Pure spiritual milk has no harmful mixture or addition. It is the Word of God. A spiritual infant also needs to be placed in a family through the prayers and care of spiritual mothers and under the protection of spiritual fathers. Growth requires both nourishment and belonging.

Stage Two – Spiritual Childhood

Formation of Character

Emotional Instability and Strong Will

The child phase was compared with the physical years from approximately two to twelve. During this period, emotions can rise and fall like a roller coaster. Children have a strong will, are easily influenced, and may choose friends according to who gives them what they want.

The same pattern can appear spiritually. A believer may prefer another church because the coffee is free, the message seems more interesting, or the worship songs are more appealing. Such choices reveal a stage in which personal comfort and immediate preference still determine loyalty.

Questions Require Present Parents

Children ask many questions. If spiritual parents are not available to answer, children will seek answers somewhere else. A parent may want to discuss calling and destiny, while the child is interested in a simple question. The parent must be willing to meet the child at that level, build relationship, and remain present so that deeper conversations become possible later.

Spiritual children are active and may struggle to remain focused. They ask how long the journey will take and when they will arrive. Prayer, home group, or teaching may feel boring when there is no activity that immediately interests them. Their attention is still centered largely on themselves.

Values, Obedience, and God’s Word

The Test of Conflicting Wills

The early years of physical life are important for establishing values, and the beginning of spiritual life is also formative. The real test of obedience comes when the child’s will conflicts with the parent’s direction. Spiritually, the question is whether a believer will obey when God’s Word contradicts personal opinion.

The will of God is good. As Creator and Father, He knows how people were made to live. Yet spiritual children may treat Scripture like food on a plate, selecting only what seems pleasant and refusing what challenges them.

Ephesians 4:14-15 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness

of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. (NIV)

Immature believers can be carried from one teaching to another. They may also deceive themselves by skillfully avoiding the parts of Scripture they do not want to obey. Growth requires receiving truth in love and allowing Christ to shape every area of life.

1 Peter 1:14-16 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (NIV)

Obedience is a defining lesson of spiritual childhood. God calls His children away from the desires that ruled them in ignorance and teaches them to follow His holiness.

Freedom from Known Sin

God cannot lead a person forward while that person continues to agree with known sin. A believer may sincerely desire to follow God, but sin acts like a chain around the foot. God has prepared freedom, but the person must stop consenting to the cage.

If believers repeatedly see the same spiritual scenery and conclude that Christianity has become boring, they must ask who is responsible.

Is God to blame?

Or have they refused to leave the chain that He has exposed?

God invites His people into a blossoming garden of life. He calls them to release known sin so that He can lead them farther.

Jesus as the Growing Child

Luke 2:39-40 39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. (NIV)

Jesus provides the pattern of a child who grew, became strong, was filled with wisdom, and lived under God’s grace. God also wants His children to grow strong in spirit. Because the desires of the flesh oppose the desires of the spirit, spiritual children need teachability, correction, faithfulness, humility, and a willingness to learn to walk with the Father.

Stage Three – Spiritual Youth

Strength, Calling, and Discernment

Responsibility, Calling, and Obedience

A youth begins to see himself as strong and learns to make responsible decisions. In physical life, a young person begins to think about vocation and career. Spiritually, this corresponds to calling. A spiritual youth is no longer merely helping with small tasks but begins to carry real responsibility, serve, and perhaps teach.

Obedience must continue beyond childhood. A person does not become mature by replacing the Father’s direction with a personally preferred version of obedience.

Jesus in the Temple

Luke 2:42-52 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” 49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them. 51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. (NIV)

Obedience Within Calling

Jesus was filled with desire to hear God’s Word and be in His Father’s house. Yet when His earthly parents made their expectation clear, He returned with them and was obedient. Even a spiritually good desire cannot justify self-directed obedience. True obedience responds to legitimate authority without insisting on one more moment or a supposedly better personal way.

The result was growth in wisdom, stature, and favor with both God and people. Spiritual development must not be only outward or only relational. It begins with God and becomes visible in a person’s life among others.

Strength Through the Word

1 John 2:13-14 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father. 14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one. (NIV)

In the youth phase, God’s Word must live within a person. Spiritual youth no longer look in every direction for answers. They begin to accept responsibility, become strong through the abiding Word, and overcome the evil one.

Discernment of Good and Evil

Hebrews 5:14 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (NIV)

The speaker remembered learning the Ten Commandments as a child and assuming that she fulfilled them. She had not physically murdered anyone and expected not to commit physical adultery. These commandments seemed to her like the ordinary standard of a well-raised person.

Later, deeper engagement with God’s Word showed that discernment reaches the heart, speech, and imagination. Words can wound and destroy. Anger, contempt, and uncontrolled speech reveal that freedom from physical murder alone does not fulfill God’s standard.

Matthew 5:21-22 21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” (NIV)

The response is not confidence in personal strength but prayer: God must change, restrain, and teach the believer to govern the tongue when deeply hurt. This is an area in which grace continues to produce growth.

The same deeper standard applies to adultery. Sin is not limited to a physical relationship outside marriage. Lust in the mind and deliberate exposure to sexualized material also violate faithfulness in the heart.

Matthew 5:27-28 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (NIV)

Learning to distinguish good from evil is itself a process of spiritual maturity. During youth, God tests character, faithfulness, responsibility, and the guarding of the heart.

Stage Four – Spiritual Sonship

Trusted with the Father’s Inheritance

Responsibility for the Father’s House

In this message, sonship describes maturity in relation to inheritance rather than merely biological status. A son can be trusted with the household when the father travels. Work continues without constant reminders because the son knows what must be done. If the son wants to make a major change, he discusses it with the father, but ordinary responsibility no longer requires continual supervision.

A son has also learned to wait. A spiritual child may pray for several days, see no answer, and conclude that prayer does not work. A son can sow and patiently wait for the harvest.

Faithfulness, Calling, and Fruitfulness

A son is faithful and can be sent. He knows his calling, obeys the Father, and surrenders personal preference. Before entrusting an inheritance, the Father has tested faithfulness. The son begins to think about future generations and how experience can be passed on.

A son is fruitful and loves to work. The household develops under his care, and others can enjoy the fruit of his labor.

Inheritance Includes Suffering

Romans 8:17-19 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. (NIV)

The Cross in the Process of Maturity

A son is ready to remain with the Father in seasons of harvest and in seasons without harvest, when the sun shines and when rain comes. Life with God is beautiful, but it also includes the cross. Dying to the flesh gives room for the Spirit to lead, and spiritual maturity is formed through that surrender.

The Beloved Son’s Authority

At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, the Father openly identified Him as His beloved Son.

Matthew 3:17 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (NIV)

Jesus ministered with authority because He knew who He was in relation to the Father and the Father’s inheritance. Sonship joins identity, obedience, responsibility, and authority.

Stage Five – Spiritual Fatherhood

Generational Maturity

Stability and Generational Thinking

The next stage is fatherhood, marked by stability and maturity. A father thinks about generations. The speaker recalled that near the end of her earthly father’s life, he became increasingly interested in family history and the family tree. This illustrated the way a father’s attention turns toward origins, inheritance, and those who come after him.

The primary assignment of parents is to raise children. Physical parents sacrifice, often giving the last portion to their children and placing their needs first. Spiritual fathers and mothers also stop living only for themselves.

Galatians 2:20 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (NIV)

Spiritual fatherhood carries truth from generation to generation because God is the God of generations. Fathers impart truth to sons, and sons must be willing to receive it. A spiritual father’s life becomes an example. Spiritual fathers birth, lead, and mature others in faith.

Knowing God from the Beginning

1 John 2:13 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. (NIV)

Spiritual fathers do not know God only at a surface level. They know Him personally and have walked with Him through time. Their question becomes: whom has God entrusted to me?

Equipping the Saints

Ephesians 4:11-13 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (NIV)

The ministry gifts prepare God’s people for works of service. Children, youth, and sons must answer the call to be equipped. Maturity is not passive admiration of leaders but participation in building Christ’s body.

The Apostolic Pattern of Maturity

Servants Whose Lives Can Be Imitated

Faithful Stewards Under God’s Judgment

The description of apostles in 1 Corinthians moved the speaker deeply. Apostles are servants of Christ and stewards of mysteries entrusted by God. The essential requirement is faithfulness.

1 Corinthians 4:1-4 1 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. (NIV)

Apostolic maturity includes such deep death to self that human judgment no longer governs the servant’s obedience. The church should not add judgment to the cost apostles already bear. Believers are called to support them, help them, and understand that the apostolic road is a road of self-denial.

Suffering Without Retaliation

1 Corinthians 4:9-13 9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world – right up to this moment. (NIV)

The Response of a Crucified Life

The apostolic response to cursing is blessing, to persecution is endurance, and to slander is kindness. Compassion alone is not the proper response to this example. Believers are called to imitate a life surrendered to Christ.

Fathers and Faithful Sons

1 Corinthians 4:14-17 14 I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. (NIV)

The church may have many instructors but not many fathers. Timothy demonstrates the heart of a dear and faithful son who can be sent and trusted to represent the father’s way of life and teaching.

Dying to Self and Reaching Maturity

Mature Participation in God’s House

The Completion Seen in Jesus

Jesus physically demonstrated complete surrender when His work was fulfilled on the cross.

John 19:30 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (NIV)

God asks whether His people can surrender what is most precious.

Can we yield the flesh to the Spirit?

Jesus bowed His head in humility and gave up His spirit. Spiritual aging is not measured by years in church. A person may be physically older or may have attended church for many years while still demanding constant attention, entertainment, and personal preference.

Taking Responsibility for the Shared House

Mature children do not need to be told every ordinary task required in the home. They understand that they belong to the household. Likewise, believers do not merely help the apostle with his private ministry. They build together with him for God.

Ministry is not something a person evaluates only by asking whether there is enough time or whether the activity is personally attractive. The church shares one spiritual house, calling, and vision. God gives responsibility not only for personal growth but also for infants, children, youth, and sons within the spiritual family.

The Church Forms People for the Kingdom

The church is not God’s final destination. It gathers and forms people so that they grow from infancy into childhood, youth, sonship, and fatherhood. Mature people can enter the Father’s inheritance and multiply His kingdom on earth.

Every stage requires humility, faithfulness, character, and the surrender of personal will. The prayer is that God’s kingdom would come in individual hearts, the church, every family, every city, every nation, and the world.

Recognizing Stunted Growth

A person may carry mature abilities in one area while retaining infant characteristics in another. God must reveal the remaining infant nature, childish patterns, and attitudes that no longer belong in the present stage.

The church must not demand the maturity of a grown person from a genuine infant. Newborns need milk, patience, and close care. Yet when a mature person continues to behave like an infant, something is out of order. There comes a time when a child must learn to chew solid food.

Are we maturing?

Are we helping others to mature?

My Spiritual House Will Serve the Lord

Serving Beyond the Physical Family

The declaration about serving God applies to more than a physical household. It also includes the spiritual house. Believers should not complain about the infants and children who interrupt their comfort. They should rejoice and ask God to give the house more children because God entrusts more to those who are faithful.

Joshua 24:15 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (NIV)

Prayer for Growth

The sermon closed with prayer that God would make every ear able to hear and help every believer grow in wisdom, depth, and sensitivity to His leading. The prayer asked that self would decrease and God would dwell within His people, that He would find them worthy to carry His kingdom, reveal the nature of that kingdom, and mature their character.

The speaker rejected growth by human strength and asked the Holy Spirit to form God’s people with His life. She prayed that they would not become content with their current condition, because God is the God of life who continually leads His people forward.

Pastoral Response and Application

Identify the Present Stage

The pastor thanked Zana for the practical message and emphasized that each stage has recognizable characteristics. The decisive question is not how long someone has attended church but what that person expresses. Long attendance combined with childish behavior still calls for growth.

Where am I?

God has an inheritance for His people. He gives it not because of physical appearance or natural ability but when maturity makes a person able to carry it. He also provides everything necessary for that growth.

The sermon must not be received merely as a beautiful story. It is a calling. Every listener should identify the present stage, determine the next step, and move toward the next level.

Initiative Instead of Compulsion

Maturity produces responsibility without constant orders. The pastor gave the example of Anita, who felt led to organize evangelism during a city festival. When she volunteered to organize it, the pastor welcomed the initiative.

People should not be forced into ministry or manipulated by guilt. When God gives an idea and the church prays, He touches people whose hearts truly connect with the work. Willing service is more fruitful than reluctant participation produced by pressure.

The pastor encouraged believers to build an altar to the Lord, receive the Word, and continue growing.

Offering, Worship, and Giving

The closing service remarks encouraged the congregation to bring offerings into God’s house so that the practical needs of the house could be met and God could be worshiped. The speaker distinguished support for God’s house from direct personal help to someone in need. Both have a place, but resources dedicated to the house make shared worship and ministry possible.

The congregation was reminded that generosity does not diminish the giver in God’s kingdom. The principle expressed was simple: the more people give, the more capacity they have to continue giving.

Declaration of Love

The congregation declared that it stands in the battle of God’s love. Love is its power, identity, inheritance, and culture. The church raised the banner of love over homes, marriages, children, cities, and the nation. The declaration affirmed faithfulness, unity, following Christ, strong families, and light for the nation.

Service Announcements

The service ended with practical information about an upcoming conference involving Polish and English speakers. The regular Thursday prayer meeting at the church remained the priority and would take place at 7:00 p.m. Those who wished could attend the conference on Friday.

The final emphasis of the service remained consistent with the message: receive God’s Word, accept responsibility, serve willingly, and continue moving toward spiritual maturity.