Spiritual Growth…It’s Not An Option

Pt. 7

Jesus Taught Prayer

Jesus practiced what he taught as we had just seen in Luke 5. In the sixth Chapter of Matthew, He teaches us how to pray.

Matthew 6:6-7
“⁶ But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. ⁷ And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” – NKJ

Jesus here in Matthew is teaching His disciples and us today how we should pray. Too often we do not even know where to begin or how to begin to pray. It is a good thing that God has given to us a manual on how to pray.

Spiritual Growth…It’s Not An Option

Pt. 6

Just as God’s Word is a vital part of a Christians walk so is prayer. Prayer is a vital part of our walk with God and a vital part of our spiritual growth.

Psalm 1:1-3
“¹ Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
² But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
³ He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.” – NKJ

God speaks to us not only in His Word, but also in our prayer time with Him. It is another way we can communicate with our Heavenly Father. Communication is the key to any type of relationship.

Spiritual Growth…It’s Not An Option

Pt. 5

God’s Word is a vital part of a Christians walk. For without it we are lost. Without it we are defenseless. Without it we do not recognize the sin that is in our life. Without it we starve ourselves spiritually. If we are not actively studying and consuming the Word of God, we are not growing the way God wants us to grow.

Psalm 1:1-3
“¹ Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
² But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
³ He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.” – NKJ

Spiritual Growth…It’s Not An Option

Pt. 4

God’s Word is a vital part of a Christians walk. For without it we are lost. Without it we are defenseless. Without it we do not recognize the sin that is in our life. Without it we starve ourselves spiritually. If we are not actively studying and consuming the Word of God, we are not growing the way God wants us to grow.

Spiritual Growth…It’s Not An Option

Pt. 3

For the last few weeks we have been looking at spiritual growth of Christians and how this is not an option. We as Disciples of Christ are called to not just stand still in our relationship, but to grow ever so deeply in our walk with God to the place where our walk with Him is rooted and not merely a surface level relationship.

One of the areas which most Christians fail in is our lack of biblical knowledge. An article was released on USA Today’s website back in 2007 and the head line was, “America Gets An F for Religion”. In the article the opening paragraph stated this –

“Sometimes dumb sounds cute: Sixty percent of Americans can’t name five of the Ten Commandments, and 50% of high school seniors think Sodom and Gomorrah were married.”

Spiritual Growth…It’s Not An Option

Pt. 2

A few years ago I did a series called, “Know Who You Are Following”. I believe that part of our Spiritual Growth depends on who we are following. I am speaking of those who have influence in our lives.

All of us have somebody in our lives who influence the way we think and the actions we take. It is not wrong to follow somebody, in fact Paul wrote:

1st Corinthians 11:1
“Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” – NKJ

We are need to have those in our lives who can lead us closer to Christ. Somebody who holds the bar higher than we do that we too may grow closer to God. But there are also those who are in our lives who will try to lead the people of God away from their first love Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Growth…It’s Not An Option

Personal Responsibility

Jesus’ calling of His Disciples is important enough to Gospel story that it appears in all four Gospels. Jesus only needed two words to begin a global movement that changed the way the world functioned and changed the shape of life on earth. Those two words are: “Follow Me.” In fact it is recorded 18 times in Scripture where Jesus said, “Follow Me.”There was something compelling about Christ that caused people to be drawn to Him and leave all that they had behind and follow Him to see where He would take them.

The Great Gift of Salvation

Part 5

2nd Peter 1:1-4
“¹ Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
² Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³ as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴ by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” – NKJ

5 things we can learn from these 4 verses.

· He is the Messiah worthy of total devotion

· He is the Messiah of faith

· He is the Messiah of grace and peace

· He is the Messiah of life and godliness

· He is the Messiah of the divine nature

The Great Gift of Salvation

Part 4

2nd Peter 1:1-4
“¹ Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
² Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³ as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴ by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” – NKJ

5 things we can learn from these 4 verses.

The Great Gift of Salvation

Part 3

2nd Peter 1:1-4
“¹ Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
² Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³ as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴ by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” – NKJ