If you had the opportunity to meet personally with the President or the highest official of your country, what would you say to him? We probably have all dreamed of what to say or how to act if we ever had the chance. But how many people really get the opportunity to spend an extended time of conversing with someone in such a high position? Very few.
Amazingly, we all have the opportunity to speak to someone in an even more important position -- none other than the Lord and Creator of the whole universe. Wherever we are, we have a hotline to Him through prayer. Yet many of us never benefit from this great opportunity because we neglect to pray.
When we receive Christ into our lives, we are brought into a personal relationship with Him. In any growing relationship, there must be good two-way communication. Last session was about prayer – how we are able to build a relationship with Him through prayer. In this session, we will learn about how God also speaks to us through His Word, the Bible.
Mark 7: 7-8, 13 says, “They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.”
This Bible passage shows us that our highest and final authority in all things should be God’s Word and not religious traditions or human authority.
As followers of Christ, we need to obey what the Bible teaches, otherwise, God will consider our worship of Him useless.
Many people have been raised attending a church regularly. Whether you were raised in a religious family, or had few experiences with church life, you probably have some idea of what a “church” should be. Most of our beliefs and expectations regarding the church have been based on what we were familiar with through our upbringing as children.
Yet the church, which the Bible describes, is very different from that which many of us are familiar with. How is the church described in the Bible, and how should we, as believers in Christ, relate to the church?
There are many changes that happen in our lives when we come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord. Many of those changes take place on the inside – in our hearts. But the Bible shows us one step of obedience that all true followers of Christ are expected to take – water baptism. As we will see, water baptism is an outward symbol of those inward changes. In this lesson, we will be looking at what the Bible teaches about taking that step of obedience to Jesus.
One of the most important elements of our new life in Christ is worship within the church. What is worship, and how should we worship the Lord?
How did you come to know Jesus? For most of us, it was because another follower of Christ loved us enough to want us to know Him too.
Maybe you saw something in that person that made you wonder why they were different. Maybe they prayed for you, or showed you special concern. Perhaps at some point they brought you to where you could meet Christ or shared the message of the gospel to you personally. However it happened, now you are a follower of Christ, too!
Now it is your turn! Just like God used someone else in your life to bring you to Jesus, He wants to use you to do the same. He has put you exactly where He wants you so you can bring your family, relatives, friends, classmates, officemates, and neighbors to Him. Jesus wants you to connect others to Him!
