Walking with Jesus pt. 1

Walking With Jesus pt 1

01-07-2019

Welcome

Intro - well now that Christmas is officially over we will continue as the shepherds did

This morning we will introduce a common topic within the church and one I believe we have even talked on

But we will hopefully get down to the nitty gritty of this topic and begin to look as ways you and I can begin to apply this to our daily lives

You have guessed it but today we are going to be talking about Walking With Jesus

You may have heard to put Your Walk with Jesus, or Your Walk

This morning we ware going to having a personal relationship with Jesus and that means that you walk with Jesus

First and for-most if you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus then this is impossible for you to walk with Jesus and at the end of the service we will have an invitation where we will invite you to the front so you can begin a personal relationship with Jesus

We often talk about in church and ask each other how our walks are going, and we often give each other the church answers

good, great, ok, and never really asking deeper questions, today we will ask deeper questions and we will put forth some truth from scripture about fur-thing your walk with Jesus

The first part of walking with Jesus is reading your Bible

I understand you may not be a reader, become one, I understand that what you read may be boring read it anyway

If you as a believer in Jesus Christ expect to grow then you must you must be reading your Bible

I would even dare to say that you need to be reading your Bible everyday

Notice I said if you want to grow in your walk, if you don't then don't read your Bible

See the Bible is Gods letter to us, it tells us about who He is, what He expects, What he likes and dislikes

If you expect to know God more then you must read your Bible

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NASB95

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

The scriptures serve a purpose for us as believers

The Bible is for teaching, we have said that you don’t grow in rows but you grow in circles, the growth comes from being involved in Bible Studies

We offer Bibles Studies Sunday Morning, Tuesday Evening, and Thursday Evening, if you want to grow in your walk that is where the growth happens, because it is during those times that teaching happens

It is also what happens from the pulpit, hopefully We teach the Bible and I believe we do here

The Bible is also good for correction, which is good because without it you and I get into a lot of trouble

see correction is not bad it is helpful

See the Bible is there to tell us about God and his likes and dislikes, and what he expects out of us

The Bible is also there to help us as we go through this thing called life

This life is tough enough and the Bible is there to help us through everything, it has how to be a person, how to be a Godly Husband, or Godly Wife, how to be a Godly kid, how to manage your finances, how to be wise

The bible actually has everything you need

Church listen to me you need to be reading it, and I would go so far as to say you need to read it every day

See what we do is we justify our own laziness by saying well if you get into the word so many days a week thats ok,

No if you want to grow your walk then you need to make it the priority not a priority but the only priority

Because when we focus on God everything falls into place, its when our focus isnt on God alone that we struggle

Psalm 119:105 NASB95

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

The word of God will guide you though this thing called life

as we said earlier it has a lot to say about a lot of stuff you and I struggle with

the reason you and I struggle with it is because we don’t red our Bibles

A barna research group found

Bible use has remained relatively consistent since 2011. Adults who use the Bible daily account for 14 percent of the total adult population, followed by 13 percent who use it several times a week, 8 percent who do so once a week, 6 percent about once a month and 8 percent who use it three to four times a year.

I believe that we are Biblically illiterate, meaning we don’t read the Bible and don’t know what it says

now you may know some of the main stories, and you may know more than most, but it isn't about knowing more than most, it is about an intimate relationship with the creator of the universe, who wants to help guide you through life

Article by Michael Foust said The biggest barriers to reading the Bible, according to the survey: 1) not having enough time, 2) lacking motivation and discipline, 3) feeling intimidated, and, 4) struggling to apply the Bible to everyday life.

At some point you will just need to make a decision to make time for Jesus, having an accountability partner helps with the motivation, and feeling intimidated get over it, if you have questions ask, when you read, write them down and ask, I have people I ask questions to about what I read

Joshua 1:8 NASB95

8 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

talk about making time for Jesus

you will need to decide if this is the priority or a priority, if growing in your personal relationship with Jesus is a priority then you will only make time when it is convenient, and you will only come to Bible study when it is convent

If growing your personal relationship with Jesus is the priority then you will make time, you will start to form the rest of your day around your time with Jesus

Moms and Dads, this is a big one, talk about what you are learning to your kids, and ask them what they are learning

You have a built in discipleship group at home as a parent, ask them what they are reading and ask them what they are learning

Kids, if you are here and your parents aren’t, you take the lead, ask your parents what they are reading and what they are learning

Talk about what you are learning from God

Some of my favorite conversations with Lily are super early in the morning when she comes to steal my pillow and my side of the bed

I had asked her what her word for the year was and what God was calling her to do this year

to my surprise Lily said I think He is calling me to pray more, so I suggested her word be prayer

So Randi and I and Emma are doing a bible study with Lily about prayer

But Church we need to be reading our Bibles so we can be talking about what we are reading, if you are not reading then you cannot talk about what you are reading

This has kind of been the theme all sermon but you need to decide if Jesus will be a priority in your life or if he will be The priority

Matthew 4:4 NASB95

4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”

This is the story of Jesus being tempted, if you will notice through out the story Jesus answers satan with Scripture

This Scriptures give us life, which is why getting up to read your Bible before your “Day “ starts is better than doing it at night

I know, but you will say I am not a morning person, I understand that but it comes down to which is better for growth

Church you need to be reading the Bible because it gives life, nothing else in this world that you will read will give you life but the Bible, so why do we spend so much time reading everything else and watching everything else

Church this is part one of what it looks likes to walk with Jesus

You need to be reading your Bible,

This is Jeremy speaking now, but I would say that you need to do it in the morning and you need to do it everyday

But that is part one and you are now faced with a decision

as we move into a time a of invitation the decision is this

if you are here today and do not have a personal relationship with Jesus then you need one, and we will have people down front to walk you through scripture about beginning a personal relationship with Jesus

or you already have a personal relationship with Jesus and you need to decide if Jesus will be a priority or the priority

maybe you struggle to read, well you need to work through it, maybe you ar enot a morning person well you need to work through it

maybe you need to spend sometime at the altar in prayer the altar is open