October 4, 2023

In Wellspring we have a culture of freedom, encouragement, and growth. Yesterday Luna and I discussed “growth” in our weekly podcast. I’m a teacher/pastor, my wife is a teacher/coach, my daughter is a teacher/worship leader, and my son is also a teacher/coach. We all value teaching because we value growth and as we grow we can’t help but impart. We experience growth, we value growth, therefore we want to help others grow. This is the culture of Wellspring because it is the culture of our household, and Wellspring began with our family in our living room.

In our podcast (click HERE to watch on YouTube or HERE to listen on Spotify), I gave some additional scriptures that we didn’t have time to get into:

Stay Fresh: Luke 5:37-39 TPT – “And who pours new wine into an old wineskin? If someone did, the old wineskin would burst and the new wine would be lost. New [neos – new in time] wine must always be poured into new [kainos – new in quality] wineskins. Yet you say, ‘The old ways are better,’ and you refuse to even taste the new wine that I bring.”
Grow in Character: 2 Peter 1:5-8 ESV – “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Grow Up in Every Way into Jesus Christ: Ephesians 4:11-16 ESV – “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Grow in Stature and Favor: 1 Samuel 2:26 ESV – “Now the young man Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man.” Luke 2:52 ESV – “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”
Grow in Influence: 1 Chronicles 4:10 ESV – “Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!’ And God granted what he asked.”
Be Moldable: Jeremiah 18:6 ESV – “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”
Designed to Produce: John 15:5 ESV – “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

You and I and all things living were made to grow. Make this a priority in your life, in your home, and in your relationships. Surround yourself with other growers who will encourage you forward. When you meet other people who value growth, invite them into your life. God is not looking for experts. He’s just looking for those who are willing to grow.

Let’s grow together!
Matt