Monday, August 11, 2025

Trust - The Catalyst For Growth

Monday, August 11, 2025

Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. John 11:25

 

Last Sunday Pastor Jim started a series on what spiritual movement looks like as a disciple of Jesus and what the strategy is for making disciples here at NSBC. At the center of the core values here at North Side Baptist Church is holistic discipleship. As individual followers of Jesus and as a church, our call is to make disciples - one who has trusted Jesus by faith, is following and being transformed by Jesus, and is on mission for Jesus by leading others to do the same. The discipleship pipeline is a path where we as a church help lead every generation toward a fully-formed life with Jesus. A discipleship pathway is our personal path that moves us toward spiritual maturity. In order to grow towards spiritual maturity, we must move. 

 

We learned yesterday that the first step on the discipleship pathway is trust. When we become Christians we put our trust in Jesus, believing that he is who he says he is as the Son of God and that he died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. We accept his gift of salvation and believe that his resurrection conquered death, giving us hope, new life in him, and the promise of eternal life in him. This foundation of trust is what our whole life in Jesus is built on. We trust him to forgive us, save us, and raise us to new life. 

  

Discipleship Principle: Jesus is worthy of our trust because of who He is and what He has done. 

How does trust become the catalyst for new life in Jesus?

 

Our key truth for this series is “Movement is the catalyst for growth. Therefore, there can be no spiritual growth without spiritual movement.” Spiritual Movement is the journey to fill the gap between where we are and where God wants us to be. As Pastor Jim said this yesterday, “Trust is the oxygen of all relationships.” Trust is necessary for us to move, and movement is essential for our growth in Jesus. If we are not moving, we are not growing. If we do not trust Jesus, we cannot take the next step, and the next step, and the next step in our growth in him. If we truly surrender in trust to him, we will take every step on the path he leads us down.  As His followers, we put complete confidence in him and His Word. To trust in Jesus means to believe everything he said and accept his Word as truth. 

 

Trusting in Jesus is essential for growing in faith, as it deepens our reliance on him and gives us opportunity to experience His faithfulness, which in turn leads to a stronger, more resilient faith. It is cycle. Trusting leads to seeing his faithfulness in our lives and those around us and learning to trust him above anything and everything. 

 

Trust creates safe spaces and peace. Trust gives courage and endurance as we navigate the hills and valleys in our lives and see him faithful over and over again, in joy and sorrow. In trust like this we can thrive no matter what our circumstances are. Trust is the first step that leads to a deeper relationship with Jesus and learning to live and love like him, helping us to step where the Spirit steps. 

 

What about you? Have you trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life – to forgive you, save you, and to a new life in him? 

 

Are you fully surrendered to him, to his calling and purpose in your life and obedience to trust him for the next step? 

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