Growing in Favor and Serving Faithfully
December 29, 2024, Luke 2:41-52
Growing in Favor & Serving Faithfully
Pastor Fred Okello
The past week has been a journey of celebrating God’s faithfulness. Last Sunday, we marveled at Mary’s Magnificat, her song of praise for the incredible news of becoming the mother of the Savior. On Christmas Eve, we rejoiced in the fulfillment of that promise—the birth of Jesus Christ. Despite humble beginnings in a manger, His arrival brought joy to the world.
Today, we shift our focus to the boy Jesus, now 12 years old. In Luke 2:41–52, we find the only glimpse into His childhood, a story filled with lessons for us as we approach the new year. This passage challenges us to think deeply about how we and the younger generations can grow in wisdom, favor, and faith.
The story begins with Mary and Joseph traveling to Jerusalem for the annual Feast of Passover, a testament to their faithfulness to God’s commands. After the festival, they begin their journey home, assuming Jesus is with their group of travelers. However, after a day of travel, they realize He is missing.
Imagine their distress as they search for Him for three days! Finally, they find Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening, and asking questions. The teachers are amazed at His understanding and answers—a remarkable sight for a 12-year-old.
When Mary asks why He has stayed behind, Jesus responds, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” This is the first indication of His awareness of His unique identity as the Son of God. Yet, despite this profound realization, Jesus returns with Mary and Joseph and lives in obedience to them, continuing to grow in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man.
This passage invites us to reflect on how we, like Jesus, can grow in wisdom, favor, and faith. It also challenges us to nurture the spiritual growth of the children and youth in our midst. Jesus demonstrates a hunger for wisdom, sitting among the teachers and engaging deeply in the Scriptures. We can encourage curiosity and engagement with God’s Word, create opportunities for children and youth to ask questions, share insights, and grow in understanding. At families’ levels, we can make Bible study and prayer a regular part of family life. These practices plant seeds of wisdom that will bear fruit in their lives. Our church can invest in programs that teach and nurture biblical knowledge for all ages, especially the young.
Even as the Son of God, Jesus submits to His earthly parents, modeling obedience and respect for authority. We can teach children the value of obedience and humility. Discipline with love, showing them the way to honor God through their actions. The youth can follow the example of Jesus by respecting parents, teachers, and mentors. Obedience is a pathway to God’s favor. We all are called to approach life with a spirit of humility, remembering that submission to God and others leads to growth.
Luke 2:52 tells us that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Growth is an intentional process. And so we can commit to deepening our relationship with God through prayer, worship, and acts of service. We are called to involve children and youth in activities that foster their faith, such as serving in the church, singing in the choir, or participating in outreach. The church’s responsibility is to plan and prioritize activities that help our congregation grow spiritually and build connections with the wider community.
Reflecting on my six months with you, I see the incredible potential for growth in our church. The activities we’ve planned have shown us that God is doing amazing things among His people. If we want to see even greater things, we must be intentional in planning more activities, more outreach, more connections, and more opportunities for growth.
One area I’ve been praying about is our ministry to children and youth. The reason we currently lack their presence is that we have nothing specific planned for them. I believe we can change that by being intentional.
We want to involve children and youth in ministries like the choir and plan events like Youth Day. Let’s begin with the few we have, trusting that God will use our efforts to draw more young people into His kingdom.