Today marks the start of our new series, Walking with Jesus!
The focus of this series is to look at the life of Jesus as presented in the Gospels. We'll slowly and simply examine the life of the Lord, from His first movements to His last and it will be as though we were walking alongside Him.
Pastor Don introduced the series last week with Jesus' incarnation. He shared how and why Jesus chose to leave heaven, come to earth, and live life here as a human.

It's hard to understand how Jesus as a human was influenced and impacted by His surroundings as He grew from a baby to an adult. Today we are going to be talking about how Jesus prepared for His ministry.

Talk About: Think about your own life. Who influenced you? Who helped shaped you into who you are today?

The gospels tell us that Jesus was fully God and fully man. He chose not to use His God powers but to live fully as a human. As a human Jesus was born as a baby and had to learn just as we learn. He was not downloaded at birth with everything He needed to know...He grew and learned just like us except without sin.

We all learn differently. Some audibly, some visually, some by doing. Do you ever wonder how Jesus learned?

We all have opportunities every day to shape someone else's life with the knowledge and skills we have learned? Where would you be if someone didn't invest in you?
How can you help a child prepare for adulthood?
How can you help a friend prepare for marriage?
How can you help a stranger learn about Jesus?

Our text today is found in Luke 2:21-52. We'll only look at a few of these verses to see how Jesus prepared for ministry. Our text is the only place in the Bible that mentions Jesus' childhood, teen, and young adult years.
We'll look at a couple of actions taken by Jesus to prepare for His ministry.

First Action: HE OBEYED
The gospels tell us a number of times that Jesus obeyed.

Let's focus on how Jesus learned during His formative years. Here are four areas of influence that shaped Jesus' life...

a) His CULTURAL SETTING
Luke 2:39

b) His RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING
Luke 2:41

c) His RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
Luke 2:49

d) His HOME LIFE
Luke 2:51

Second Action: HE GREW
Luke 2:40, 52

Now we'll look at four areas of growth in Jesus' life...

a) He grew INTELLECTUALLY

b) He grew PHYSICALLY

c) He grew SPIRITUALLY

d) He grew SOCIALLY

Luke 2 verses 40 and 52 sums up Jesus' life to about the age of 30.
How did Jesus prepare for His ministry? He obeyed and grew!
What should we be doing?
1. Learn to obey God in what He has told you already.
2. Begin to grow in a healthy manor.

This week:

1. Read and pray over Luke 2:21-52 until you can answer three questions:
a) What did God say? (The meaning of the passage in your own words)
b) What is God saying to you? (What is God telling you to do?)
c) What will you say about this passage to someone? (Think of one person)

2. What was something your parents or grandparents did that taught you obedience? What did you do, or will you do, with your own kids or grandkids to teach the importance of obedience?

3. Specifically, how do you plan to grow in your faith this year? Think about things such as Bible reading, Grace U classes, Mentoring, etc. What steps do you need to take to make this happen?

4. If time allows, browse other points and passages from the message and allow God’s Spirit to guide your continued discussion.