Country clubs are for paying members. They pay a lot to be members at their club and they expect great service and to be catered to as they enjoy all the benefits of membership. But the church doesn't work that way. If it did, it wouldn't be worth it. In this lesson we'll study the purpose of the church and what it means to be a member.
Gym advertisements show people working out who are already in great shape. But when we go to the gym, we see a different picture. The people there aren't in perfect shape. The same is true with the church. Often we go to church thinking it's perfect, but after a while we realize it's not. The truth is, it won't be because people are there. But this is an opportunity for God to use you to make things better by digging in and serving.
This might sound like a strange question to ask. We like easy. A man asked Jesus about how to inherit eternal life and went down a check list of all he had done. But when Jesus told him he lacked one thing, the man turned away sad because what Jesus had said he needed to do wasn't easy. The man wanted easy religion. Much of Christianity today is watered down to make it easily acceptable to people. But church isn't a hotel where it caters to your comfort. It's a home base for gathering to worship...
When a person becomes a Christian, God adds them to his church. But what does that mean? When we're added to the body of Christ, it means I have a place where I belong, a family I belong to and work I need to do.
There are two basic views of baptism. Either it's important, but not necessary for salvation, or it is necessary for salvation. We'll look at what the Bible says about baptism and what baptism does. We'll also think about how to know when a person is ready to be baptized.
Repenting and confessing play an important role in becoming a Christian. When a person is truly convicted by the gospel message, repentance and confession are natural responses. But, do we just do them once when first becoming a Christian? In this lesson we'll study what the Bible teaches about each.
What's the first thing that has to happen for a person to become a Christian? They need to hear about Jesus. Then, after they hear, they must decide if they believe the news about him. Hearing and believing are fundamental to Christianity and we'll study what the Bible says about them.
Philippians 4:1-9
Philippians 3:12-4:1
Philippians 3:1-11
Philippians 2:12-30
Philippians 2:5-11
Philippians 2:1-5
Philippians 1:12-18
Philippians 1:1-11
When a person becomes a Christian they are added to the Lord's church. Every member has a place and role. Paul shows us that when the whole body is living out its mission and members have a mind to work the body itself makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. This is how the church grows.
It is because of the gospel that we live out the Great Commission. The gospel message that grabbed our hearts and took hold of our lives is what we want everyone else to know and that's our mission. Jesus told his followers to go and make more followers. And he told us how: Make disciples of all nations by baptizing them into Jesus and teaching them to follow his words.
When I believe the gospel message, I'm drawn to God and his love for me and I seek to know him more and more and my love for him grows. Jesus taught us that the most important thing is for the Christian is to love God with all of our being. When I grasp the gospel message, my whole being wants to love God with my all.
The most well-known verse in the entire Bible can be easily overlooked because of its familiarity. But when we slow down and pay attention, we realize that John 3:16-17 is foundational to our faith and it's message is found all throughout Scripture. The gospel changes everything about our lives. It is because of the gospel that we do all that we do.
When Jesus is our Lord we receive from two things - a home in heaven and a mission on earth. Our mission is to tell others the good news of Jesus so they too can have a home in heaven one day.
Because Jesus was tempted in every way, yet did not sin and because he was the perfect, sinless sacrifice for our sins, he is able to help us in our temptations. Jesus was victorious over temptation and death and it is through our faith in him we have the same victory. Jesus is greater than our temptations, our sins, our problems, our drama, race, politics, fear, hate, evil and even death. Jesus is greater than...period. And he is able to help us in our time of need when our faith is fully in hi...
Each of us have a throne. It's called the heart. And each of us have a king who sits on the throne of our heart. It's either God or self. One of the two will rule us. Today's culture is completely absorbed with self love. We're told to love ourselves and put ourselves first and do what makes us happy. Self love leads to self destruction. Christians surrender their hearts to God and let him rule and guide their lives.
We can relate to Peter. Jesus saw great faith in him. Peter did have strong faith in Jesus, but he also blew it when he was put to the test like never before and in the heat of the moment, he failed by denying he knew Jesus three times. Was that the end of Peter's story? No. We learn through Scripture that Peter may have missed the shot, but he got the rebound and got back in the game. You can too!
One of the greatest challenges Christians have is to get their private life and public life to be congruent. When they don't match up, we call that hypocrisy. We all struggle with it, but when Jesus is our Lord, that means we work to get our inside to match our outside.
What if your car was making a noise and you took it to a mechanic and he opened the hood, started the engine, hear the noise and then closed the hood and said, "Yep, something's wrong" and handed you a bill? You wouldn't be too happy about that. You want the mechanic to do something to fix your car. That's James' point about Christians. We're supposed to be doers of the Word, not just hearers.
In the days Jesus walked the earth, Jewish students would follow behind their rabbi so closely that their shoes would get covered with their rabbi's dust. The rabbi's students followed so closely because they were devoted to learn everything possible from their teacher. That's the way Christians are to learn from Jesus. To follow him so closely so as not to miss anything from him and to become just like him.
