1. WELCOME TO THE
JACKSON STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST
WE’RE GLAD YOU’RE HERE

2. (Eph 2:19-22) Now, therefore, you are
no longer strangers and foreigners,
but fellow citizens with the saints
and members of the household of
God, {20} having been built on the
foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being
the chief corner stone, {21} in whom
the whole building, being joined
together, grows into a holy temple in
the Lord, {22} in whom you also are
being built together for a dwelling
place of God in the Spirit.

3. GOD EXPECTS HIS
KINGDOM TO GROW
(Mark 4:30-32) Then He said, "To
what shall we liken the kingdom of
God? Or with what parable shall we
picture it? {31} "It is like a mustard
seed which, when it is sown on the
ground, is smaller than all the seeds
on earth; {32} "but when it is sown, it
grows up and becomes greater than
all herbs, and shoots out large
branches, so that the birds of the air
may nest under its shade."

4. (Eph 4:11-16) And He Himself gave
some to be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, and some pastors
and teachers, {12} for the equipping
of the saints for the work of ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ,
{13} till we all come to the unity of
the faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, to a perfect man, to the
measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ; >>>
GOD SET UP THE CHURCH IN A
WAY THAT WOULD PROMOTE
GROWTH

5. {14} that we should no longer be
children, tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by
the trickery of men, in the cunning
craftiness of deceitful plotting, {15}
but, speaking the truth in love, may
grow up in all things into Him who is
the head; Christ; {16} from whom the
whole body, joined and knit together
by what every joint supplies, according
to the effective working by which
every part does its share, causes
growth of the body for the edifying of
itself in love.

6. DETERRENT
S TO
CHURCH
GROWTH (1)

7. I. LOOSE TALK
A. LOOSE TALK PRODUCES SIN - (Prov
10:19) In the multitude of words sin
is not lacking, But he who restrains
his lips is wise.
B. LOOSE TALK IS DESTRUCTIVE -
(Prov 13:3) He who guards his mouth
preserves his life, But he who opens
wide his lips shall have destruction.
C. LOOSE TALK INCREASES STRIFE -
(Prov 26:20) Where there is no wood,
the fire goes out; And where there is
no talebearer, strife ceases.

8. II. LOOKING BACK
A. LOOKING BACK KEEPS US FROM GOING
FORWARD - (Phil 3:13-14) Brethren, I do
not count myself to have apprehended;
but one thing I do, forgetting those things
which are behind and reaching forward to
those things which are ahead, {14} I
press toward the goal for the prize of the
upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
B. LOOKING BACK CAN BE DEADLY - (Luke
17:32) “Remember Lot’s wife.
C. LOOKING BACK CAN KEEP US FROM THE
KINGDOM OF GOD - (Luke 9:62) But
Jesus said to him, “No one, having put
his hand to the plow, and looking back, is
fit for the kingdom of God.”

9. III. LACK OF VISION
A. LACK OF VISION CAUSES LACK OF
RESTRAINT - (Prov 29:18) Where
there is no revelation (vision), the
people cast off restraint; But happy is
he who keeps the law.
B. LACK OF VISION CAUSES
PROCRASTINATION - (John 4:35) “Do
you not say, ‘There are still four
months and then comes the harvest’?
Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes
and look at the fields, for they are
already white for harvest!

10. III. LACK OF VISION
C. LACK OF VISION CAUSES
INEFFECTIVENESS - (Luke 16:8) “So
the master commended the unjust
steward because he had dealt
shrewdly. For the sons of this world
are more shrewd in their generation
than the sons of light.

11. IV. LITTLE FAITH
A. LACK OF FAITH CAUSES US TO
MISUNDERSTAND - (Mat 16:6-10) Then
Jesus said to them, "Take heed and
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and
the Sadducees." {7} And they reasoned
among themselves, saying, "It is because
we have taken no bread." {8} But Jesus,
being aware of it, said to them, "O you of
little faith, why do you reason among
yourselves because you have brought no
bread? {9} "Do you not yet understand, or
remember the five loaves of the five
thousand and how many baskets you took
up? {10} "Nor the seven loaves of the four
thousand and how many large baskets you
took up?

12. IV. LITTLE FAITH
B. LACK OF FAITH KEEPS US FROM DOING
THE POSSIBLE - (Mat 14:31) And
immediately Jesus stretched out His hand
and caught him, and said to him, “O you of
little faith, why did you doubt?”
C. LACK OF FAITH CAUSES US TO LABOR
FOR THE WRONG THINGS - (Mat 6:19-34)
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust destroy and
where thieves break in and steal; {20} “but
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust destroys and
where thieves do not break in and steal.
{21} “For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also.

13. V. LOVELESSNESS
A. COLD LOVE - (Mat 24:12) "And because
lawlessness will abound, the love of many
will grow cold.
B. COMMANDED LOVE - (Mat 22:37-40) Jesus
said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your
God with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your mind.' {38} "This is the
first and great commandment. {39} "And
the second is like it: 'You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.' {40} "On these two
commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets.“
C. COMPASSIONATE LOVE - (John 13:35) “By
this all will know that you are My disciples,
if you have love for one another.”

14. VI. LISTENING TO THE
WRONG PEOPLE
A. FOOLISH PEOPLE - (Prov 14:7) Go from the
presence of a foolish man, When you do
not perceive in him the lips of knowledge.
B. SEDUCTIVE PEOPLE - (Prov 7:5) That they
may keep you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her
words.
C. ITCHING EARS PEOPLE - (2 Tim 4:3-4) For
the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine, but according to
their own desires, because they have
itching ears, they will heap up for
themselves teachers; {4} and they will turn
their ears away from the truth, and be
turned aside to fables.

15. ARE YOU GUILTY OF…
1. LOOSE TALK
2. LOOKING BACK
3. LACK OF VISION
4. LITTLE FAITH
5. LOVELESSNESS
6. LISTENING TO THE WRONG
PEOPLE