Walking with Jesus

Big Idea: We must intentionally engage our hearts and minds in consistent Bible study in order to live what it says.

Matthew 11:28 NIV

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Big Idea: We must intentionally engage our hearts and minds in consistent Bible study in order to live what it says.

We must intentionally engage our hearts and minds in consistent Bible study in order to live what it says.

“It is easier to work for Jesus than simply walk with Him. Living in the unforced rhythms of grace simply means that we are living a life that is fully present to God, to self, and to others in a distracted world”. -Gail Johnsen

Living in the unforced rhythms of grace simply means that we are living a life that is fully present to God, to self, and to others in a distracted world.

Living a life that is fully present to God, to self, and to others in a distracted world.

Fruitful ministry flows from a fruitful life.

I need not look back after a full life and regret not developing a deeper intimacy with Jesus…I have today to start.

Natural abilities are not a substitute for intimacy with God…it is not either/or.

The reality of life is this: it easier to work for Jesus than walk with Him.

Are You Tired? Worn Out? Burned Out On Religion?

2 Timothy 3:14–17 NIV

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:14–17 NIV

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Are You Tired? Worn Out? Burned Out On Religion?

I need not look back after a full life of ministry and regret not developing a deeper intimacy with Jesus…I have today to start.

Following Jesus was never meant to be reduced to a menial task. It is meant to be a rhythm of grace that endures for a lifetime.

Natural abilities to lead are not a substitute for intimacy with God…it is not either/or.

Jesus says, “Come to me”.

The reality of ministry is this: it easier to work for God than walk with Him.

A huge part of following Jesus is just showing up!

“Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest” ring the resounding words of our Savior as He addresses a crowd of tired and weary people, who by now, were completely worn out with a works-based religious system. These refreshing words still breathe hope and life into the weary soul of many in this hour. I am afraid that in many religious circles people walk down a church aisle and trade one set of stress and problems for another. They have not found relief from their burdens and in many cases, leave with more piled on than with which they came. They were offered a religion rather than a relationship, fear instead of faith, law instead of love.”----Excerpt From: Dr. Lynn Hiles. “Unforced Rhythms of Grace.” iBooks.

Lynn tells of a story of a man who walked a church aisle to give his heart to the Lord. Before he could even really pray through, he was ushered away into a Sunday school room where well-meaning people were collecting his address and trying to sign him up for all kinds of classes and church activities. His response to them was, “I didn’t want to buy a timeshare. I wanted to give my heart to the Lord.”

Lynn goes on to write:

“I am afraid that many people did not come to know Jesus at all in a personal way; they bought a fire insurance policy. People fill church pews every Sunday morning to keep the fire insurance policy current. Folk don’t know if they love God or not, they just know they don’t like the alternative. Fear has been the motivation. They were invited to a last day barbecue and were the object that was on it. While I do believe that it is important that we warn men to flee from the wrath to come, I also believe that, in the words of the apostle Paul in , “…it is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance.” I truly believe that if we would preach the grace and goodness of God, men would run from sin and run to God. One of the great deceptions is we think sin is the source of our pleasure; and God is the source of our pain, when in fact it is the exact opposite. As a result we run from God and run to sin thinking it will bring pleasure, when in reality all it does is bring pleasure, when in reality all it does is bring more misery. If we can only renew our minds to the truth that sin is always the source of pain and God is always the source of pleasure, people would run from sin and run to God every time! The result of this erroneous thinking has left multitudes of casualties. I am convinced that many, who no longer attend church and think that they have rejected God, have really not rejected Him at all. They have rejected religion and they should. Religion has piled up so many requirements with all its various hang-ups, with all of its dress codes and sin conscious preaching and performance-based ideas. Most of this is unscriptural and folks finally just got so weary and worn out they threw in the towel and quit.

It reminds me of an old commercial where a young boy was riding his bicycle up a hill. He was peddling his bicycle for all he was worth. Someone said, “This boy is running out of steam and he needs some cereal.” I was once that boy growing up in classical Pentecost trying to peddle my spiritual bicycle up all of the religious hills of man-made rules, trying to please a God that I could never quite please. I can remember going to revival as a young man and sitting under what I call terrorist preachers, who must have had a fight with their wife on the way to church just to get their game face on. They looked angry and perhaps they were. Religion has a way of doing that to you. It leaves you frustrated and disappointed. They would pull their glasses down on their nose and pull their pants about midway up their chest, and lean back and say, “You want me to name sin? I’ll name it for you tonight!” They would proceed to preach against everything that you can imagine including devil’s food cake and deviled eggs just because it had the word “devil” in it; but you could eat angel food cake. You could not drink Coca-Cola for two reasons. Because you drink it from a bottle and other beverages such as beer are also in a bottle, you must shun the appearance of evil. Also, because it was shaped like a woman, it might cause you to lust. How ridiculous! If you are struggling with a Coca-Cola bottle, buy a three liter bottle and get over it. It was a sin to take physical education when I was in high school because you had to wear shorts to participate, and that wasn’t holy. It was a sin to play baseball. The general rule here was that if it was fun, it had to be sin. What a thief religion is! It will take your life. When in fact Jesus says, “I came that you might have life and that more abundantly.” The abundant life can only flow from rest. I used to get saved about every revival and sometimes between revivals. I would ask God to kill me at the altar because I knew I couldn’t make it until next week having to keep all these rules. According to them I had lost my salvation. They were offering me eternal life that in most cases only lasted a couple of hours. This boy was running out of steam and needed some spiritual cereal.”

Excerpt From: Dr. Lynn Hiles. “Unforced Rhythms of Grace.” iBooks.

Excerpt From: Dr. Lynn Hiles. “Unforced Rhythms of Grace.” iBooks.

Excerpt From: Dr. Lynn Hiles. “Unforced Rhythms of Grace.” iBooks. ”

Excerpt From: Dr. Lynn Hiles. “Unforced Rhythms of Grace.” iBooks.

Excerpts From: Dr. Lynn Hiles. “Unforced Rhythms of Grace.” iBooks.

Excerpt From: Dr. Lynn Hiles. “Unforced Rhythms of Grace.” iBooks.

Excerpt From: Dr. Lynn Hiles. “Unforced Rhythms of Grace.” iBooks.

We must intentionally engage our hearts and minds in consistent Bible study in order to live what it says.

Notice the context of Scripture before Jesus talks about rest:

(The Message)

15 “Are you listening to me? Really listening?

16–19 “How can I account for this generation? The people have been like spoiled children whining to their parents, ‘We wanted to skip rope, and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk, but you were always too busy.’ John came fasting and they called him crazy. I came feasting and they called me a lush, a friend of the riffraff. Opinion polls don’t count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

The Unforced Rhythms of Grace

20 Next Jesus let fly on the cities where he had worked the hardest but whose people had responded the least, shrugging their shoulders and going their own way.

21–24 “Doom to you, Chorazin! Doom, Bethsaida! If Tyre and Sidon had seen half of the powerful miracles you have seen, they would have been on their knees in a minute. At Judgment Day they’ll get off easy compared to you. And Capernaum! With all your peacock strutting, you are going to end up in the abyss. If the people of Sodom had had your chances, the city would still be around. At Judgment Day they’ll get off easy compared to you.”

25–26 Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer: “Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You’ve concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that’s the way you like to work.”

27 Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly. “The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does. But I’m not keeping it to myself; I’m ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen.

So, are you tired, worn out, burned out on religion and following a set of rules?

I

It’s time to step back and take a much needed rest.

It’s time to learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

It is time to disconnect from the religious bondages you have become entangled in and take up the yoke of Jesus.

One thing we have not done well in our teaching of scripture is that the unforced rhythms of grace are a direct result of spiritual practices.

Spiritual practices…Gail Johnsen

Train us to be attentive

Help us live in a rhythm of grace. Rewires our brain for permanent change Cultivates a devoted heart Engages our bodies and heart

Help us live in a rhythm of grace.

Rewires our brain for permanent change

Cultivates a devoted heart

Engages our whole being

Let’s look at the first spiritual discipline in the rhythms of grace:

Bible Reading

NIV

2 Timothy 3:14–17 NIV

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

We must intentionally engage our hearts and minds in consistent Bible study in order to live what it says.

How many in this auditorium will admit that you have struggled or or are currently struggling with consistent Bible reading?

Now, we can support Scripture’s legitimacy with historical data, its effectiveness and wisdom with proof from historical events and our own experiences.

But its holiness as God’s breathed-out message for humanity—that belief is by faith and is confirmed by the internal witness of the Holy Spirit.

As soon as someone rejects the holiness and the authority, of the Bible, they will soon wander from the true message of the gospel, as history has proven time and again.

Have a volunteer point to what they think is True North. Then show them on your phone compass where True North actually is.

It is pretty safe to say that good intentions fail because their is a lack of planning.

When we talk about the rhythms of grace, you must understand that it is not a ‘just do as you please’ way of living. The unforced rhythm’s of grace flow out of spiritual practices.

When we talk about the rhythms of grace, you must understand that it is not a ‘just do as you please’ way of living. It is a balance of rhythm and discipline.

The musicians and vocalists on our worship team did not become proficient at what they do by simply hoping or wishing it would just happen; there was/is practice or discipline involved.

Gail Johnsen quotes from the Attentive Leader Retreat:

The overall arching theme of God’s word is ‘listen’.

The great understanding of God in Old Testament biblical times was the perception of a God who speaks not as a God who is seen. Our most basic posture before God should be one of listening.

Over 1,100 times in scripture it is mentioned for us to listen.

Action is always required from hearing. It is understood that someone really hasn’t heard until action follows.

God’s commands should not be obligatory, they are life-giving.

When we listen so we can “be” it does not matter what our occupation is, we become exactly what God wants.

translated literally means, “In the beginning was the voice, and the voice was with God, and the voice was God.”

Christianity is not about ‘Do you believe?’ But ‘Do you hear?”

All through the Bible, the peoples sin is tied to their disobedience which was a result of not hearing the words of the Lord.

In order to hear God’s word you have to be attentive to it...

It has to become more than a piece of literature on your bookshelf or coffee table...

Remember: Transformation only comes when I show up!

I want to share with you a great resource that will help those of you who want to grow everyday in your spiritual journey.

Video from - www.thebibleproject.com

Have someone from your congregation share their testimony (prepared beforehand) about what reading the Bible personally on a regular basis has done for him/her.

Share other resources that people can take with them