Helping People Grow in Their Faith in Jesus: What exactly does spiritual growth look like? And what kinds of things help people grow in their faith? We love it when people become Christians, but this is only the beginning! The whole rest of the Christian life is about growing as a disciple of Jesus. The call to discipleship is a call to be with Jesus, learn the way of Jesus, and be transformed by Jesus. Recorded on Sep 7, 2025, on Matthew 4:12-23 by Pastor David Parks.
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Helping People is a two-part mini-series focused on the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. The Great Commission includes both helping people come to faith in Jesus and grow in their faith in Jesus.
Sermon Transcript
Today, we’re doing the second of a little two-part mini-series called Helping People. Helping people do what? Helping people to come to faith in Jesus and grow in their faith in Jesus. We said, this represents both sides of the Great Commission of Jesus. And since it’s the beginning of a new ministry year, it’s a great time to remind ourselves of the basics of our mission as individual Christian people and together as a church. Because everything we do should contribute in meaningful ways to this mission. Last week, we talked about helping people come to faith in Jesus from the story of Philip and the Ethiopian official. If you missed that sermon, you can always go back and watch or listen to the audio podcast if you’d like. Next week, we get to start our main sermon series that will run this fall and winter on King Solomon. If you enjoyed our series on Esther, Exodus, or Ruth from last year, I think you’ll love our series on Solomon. But before we get to that, let’s consider helping people grow in their faith in Jesus. Just what exactly does spiritual growth look like? And what kinds of things help people grow in their faith? These are really important questions for ourselves as we learn to follow Jesus, but also for our kids, friends, coworkers, and for every person who walks through the doors of our church. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Matthew 4:12. The Apostle Matthew gives us a great snapshot of the public ministry of Jesus. But when you see the things that Jesus was doing, I think you’ll see that this serves as a great case study for helping people grow in their faith.
Matthew 4:12–17 (NIV), “12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: 15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Before we get too far into this, what are we reading? This is a gospel account from Matthew, who was a tax collector before he started following Jesus. And tax collectors in first-century Judea were wealthy but not well-liked because they grew wealthy by a kind of legal extortion in the Roman Empire. But when Jesus called Matthew, he left his tax collector’s booth and everything else, and followed Jesus. Eventually, he would be sent out by Jesus as an apostle or eyewitness to his life and ministry, and this gospel account is his apostolic message. Here in chapter 4, Matthew records the start of Jesus’ public ministry. It started after John the Baptist was put in prison. John’s calling was to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. He did his job, was arrested, and would be put to death, but these events meant the Lord was here. So Jesus withdrew to Galilee, the northern region of his childhood, where the small town of Nazareth was located. But instead of Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was another small town by the lake, which is also called the Sea of Galilee. One of the great themes of Matthew’s gospel is prophetic fulfillment, that is, how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the OT about the Messiah, and we find one here. That Jesus started his public ministry in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, two of the twelve ancient tribes of Israel, fulfilled what the prophet Isaiah had written some 700 years earlier. But what would this Messiah do? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all say that Jesus’ main ministry (before the cross) was preaching. Look back at v. 17. Matthew says, “From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’” Now, this is merely a summary of his message, not the whole sermon. Matthew will give a lot more of the teaching of Jesus if we continued into chapters 5-7 and the Sermon on the Mount. But the teaching of Jesus was focused on the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. And the response Jesus preached was a response of repentance. To repent means to have a change in your mind that results in a change in the direction of your life. It means to turn, to turn from your way and to turn to God’s way. Now, the ministry of the word and preaching about the kingdom of heaven were certainly important. But at the same time, Jesus did more than just preach. What else did he do?
Matthew 4:18-22 (NIV), “18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” So in addition to his preaching ministry, Jesus called people to follow him as his disciples. And just like the extremely brief summary of Jesus’ preaching, Matthew gives another summary of calling people to become his disciples. Here, we get the impression that Jesus just went up to random people, said, “Come, follow me,” in this mysterious way, and they just immediately left everything and followed him. But from the other gospel accounts, we know that’s not what happened. John gives the best account of Simon Peter meeting Jesus. His brother, Andrew, was told by John the Baptist that Jesus was the one he was sent to prepare the way for. So Andrew started hanging around Jesus and was invited by Jesus to spend the day with him. As Andrew got to know Jesus, he became convinced that he was the Messiah. So Andrew went and got his brother, Simon, to come and meet Jesus. When Simon met Jesus, it was Jesus who gave him the nickname of Cephas, which means the rock in Aramaic, or Petros (Peter) in Greek. After getting to know Jesus, Peter and Andrew invited others to come and meet him, too. When Jesus was ready to launch his public ministry, he called several people, including Peter and Andrew, along with James and John, the sons of Zebedee, to officially become his disciples. You see, Jesus was a rabbi or teacher. In their culture, a rabbi had disciples who followed him to learn his teaching and his way of life. This is what a disciple is: a follower or a learner. You can be a disciple of anyone, really. There are many people who offer what they believe is the truth and a way to live in light of that. But not every way is right, true, or good. We must be careful who/what disciples us and who we are following. But when Jesus called these men, they left everything to follow him. Did you notice that? They left their careers behind as fishermen. They left their comfort and predictability for this unknown journey of following Jesus. Jesus called both men and women to be his disciples. He taught Mary, Martha, and other women, just as he did the men. But out of a larger number of disciples, Jesus would eventually choose twelve men to be his apostles, including these four fishermen. But so far, none of this is that remarkable. There were other preachers back then. And there were other rabbis who had disciples who followed them. What was it about Jesus that we’re still talking about him almost 2,000 years later? Well, one of the reasons is found in the next section of Matthew’s gospel.
Matthew 4:23–25 (NIV), “23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.” This is God’s word. So, one reason we’re still talking about Jesus is the miraculous aspect of his ministry. Of course, the most important reason why we’re still talking about Jesus is his greatest miracle, that of rising from the dead after dying on the cross for the sins of the world, which broke the power of sin and death once and for all. But, we’re not there yet. We’re still just at the beginning of his public ministry here in Matthew 4. But, as we see here, the empty tomb wasn’t his only miracle. Throughout his ministry, Jesus demonstrated real spiritual power over every disease and sickness, over pain, over demons and the demonically possessed, over seizures and paralysis, and over life and death itself. Jesus could calm the storm with a word. He could feed five thousand. He could walk on the water. And he could command the dead to come to life. And this wasn’t done in secret! Many of these miracles were done in public with many eyewitnesses. Now, in case you’re guilty of chronological snobbery (as described by C.S. Lewis), and you think that we’re so much more advanced than those ancient peoples that we would never fall for such outrageous claims, and that people back then were so superstitious they’d believe anything, read the Bible. Even the most devoted followers of Jesus expressed many questions and doubts, even as eyewitnesses to the miraculous! These people weren’t gullible. They didn’t have iPhones, but they weren’t dumb. They knew people didn’t normally just get up and walk after being paralyzed. Or just get over being blind from birth. And the dead didn’t leave their tombs! But according to the eyewitnesses, this is exactly what Jesus did. Now, God had done miraculous things in the past. In fact, the whole context of creation, that God made everything from nothing, is a miracle. But interestingly, miracles aren’t equally distributed throughout the Bible. Why do you think that might be? If you look into it, you’ll find that miracles tend to come at key moments in salvation history. Why? Because miracles are never an end in and of themselves. Miracles testify to the truth of God’s word. Miracles prove that God’s word is from God, whether that be from a prophet or directly from God Himself. God knows how we are formed. He knows our faith is fragile at best. And he knows that we need some sort of evidence to believe even what is completely, objectively true. But thankfully, our God is a good and loving Father. And so God loves to provide evidence that what he is telling us is true. This is why miracles come at key turning points, and why there were so many miracles around Jesus. If we were to continue reading through Matthew’s gospel, we’d see that Jesus was constantly saying things that only God could say. But he was also constantly doing things that only God could do. And so, because of this dynamic ministry of preaching on the kingdom of heaven, calling people to follow him, and demonstrating the power of God, many thousands of people started following him, as you might imagine. Now, following Jesus didn’t result in a problem-free life. This isn’t the fully realized kingdom of heaven, not yet. We still live in a very broken world. But Jesus was very clear that there was a cost of discipleship. He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Mt 16:24–25). Following Jesus isn’t always easy or comfortable, but it’s the only way that leads to life that is truly life (and love, joy, peace, and so much more). Ok, but what does any of this have to do with helping people grow in their faith? Well, if we don’t understand how Jesus made disciples, what are the chances we’ll be effective at the mission that he has given us? But even in Jesus’ call to follow, he reveals so much about how we grow in our faith. Let’s look back at v.19. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” I like the first part of the NIV’s translation. “Come,” Jesus said. Discipleship and spiritual growth start with an invitation from Jesus. Come! Come and be with me. Come and spend some time with me. When Andrew was curious about Jesus, Jesus invited him to spend the day with him. The disciples traveled with Jesus, they ate together, they went fishing together, and they ministered together. Even after his resurrection and ascension back into heaven, Jesus sent his Spirit to be with us. He wants to be with us and for us to be with him. This is what a relationship with God is all about. It’s not first about what you do for Jesus, it’s first about being with Jesus. Jesus taught that he is the vine and we are the branches. We have to abide in him and he in us. And that apart from him, we can do nothing! To be with Jesus today means to spend time with him by reading his word and talking with him in prayer. It’s to be aware of his Spirit during the day, and especially during our worship. But then, from the context of this loving relationship, we learn to be like Jesus and follow his way. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said. Again, this is what being a disciple is all about. Of learning Jesus’ word and attempting, however imperfectly at first, to put his word into practice in our lives. He goes first, and we follow him. But then, as we seek to follow Jesus, we are changed in every way. The ESV is a little more literal translation of the second half of this verse, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Who were these men, again? What was their career? They were fishermen. Jesus was saying that as they spent time with him and learned his word and learned obedience to his ways, he would make them into something new. He would make them into a new creation. He would transform them not to be different people, but to be the people God intended them to be from before the creation of the world. He would take them as they were and make them into something far more valuable and with a mission that was far bigger than anything they had ever expected for themselves. You want to catch something, boys? How about bringing the gospel of my kingdom to the ends of the earth? How about sharing the gospel so that people come to faith and grow in their faith? How about helping people follow me so that they go from death to life, from an orphan to a beloved child of God, and from under the wrath of God against sin to being forgiven and freed for all eternity? How about giving your lives to change the world for the next 2,000 years at a minimum? To bring it all together, I would say: Spiritual growth comes from 1) being with Jesus, 2) learning the way of Jesus, and 3) being transformed by Jesus. This is the call of discipleship. And, friends, this is what I want to give my life to. Jesus has changed every part of my life. And I want this so much for you, for my family, for my friends, for everyone in the world! Nothing is better. No other way leads to life, love, joy, and peace. No other person, place, or thing can do what Jesus can do. So, again, every group, team, event, and ministry opportunity that we do as a church needs to serve this purpose. Everything we do needs to contribute in some way to helping people come to faith in Jesus and grow in their faith in Jesus. As a church, may we never lose our passion for the gospel of Jesus. And may we never get distracted from the truth that true and lasting spiritual growth only ever comes from the call of discipleship, of being with Jesus, learning the way of Jesus, and letting him do his transformative work in every part of our lives. So how about you? Are you ready? Let’s learn to follow Jesus together. You have no idea what he might do with you. Let us pray.
