This week we started a new series called Life Track. It is about YOUR life. We want to help you get your life on track and stay on track. At Liberty, you will hear us say often, “It’s not just church…It’s life!” Jesus came to give us life. He said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” The devil wants you to waste your life. God wants you to live life to the fullest. Life Track is not just another sermon series or church program. It is a pathway to discipleship, helping you to answer the question, “What is my next step?”
As a church, if we do not make disciples, we have failed. The Great Commission was given to the church. We are to reach– “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19). We are also to teach– …and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mt. 28:20). This is about your personal growth, not about church growth. Jesus builds His church.
The first step we want you to understand is that you can know God. Knowing God has a public and private aspect to it. Publicly you can attend worship, commit your life to Christ, renew that commitment, be baptized, join the church, etc. When it comes to privately knowing God, I’m talking about your own personal time in worship, prayer, Bible reading, etc. Worship is not something you do one hour on Sunday or one day of the week. It is a way of life. To start knowing God, start spending time in the Word and spending time in prayer. There are other spiritual disciplines, but if you don’t do these two, you will never do the others. Have a plan! You can lose weight on just about any diet, or get fit on just about any workout, the key is having a plan and doing it. It is the same way spiritually.
Spend Time in the Word
“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Mt. 4:4). In every temptation, Jesus responded with “It is written….” There is a difference in knowing about God and knowing God. I know about President Trump and President Obama, but I don’t know them. In Exodus 33:11, we read that “the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” Prayer is more than seeking God’s hand, it is seeking God’s face. God wants to have a relationship with you. You can be the friend of God. If you read the context of this verse, you see that Moses got away. You have to get alone with God. Have a place some distance from the TV and the distractions. You don’t know a person until you know their ways. You can’t know the ways of God apart from the Word of God. Spend time in the word every day. Have a plan. Use a devotional book, one-year Bible, or free app on your phone. Just do it!
Spend Time in Prayer
There are so many verses on prayer and examples in Scripture of people who prayed. If the apostle Paul needed to pray, and Jesus the son of God needed to pray, how much more do you and I need to pray? You say, “I don’t know what to pray.” Pray the Word. For example, in January, I started again reading through the Bible. In Genesis it talked about how Adam would work by the sweat of his brow. I just started praying, thanking God for those who taught me a work ethic. I thanked God for the part-time jobs I had growing up, and for the first church who gave me an opportunity. I thanked God for the churches I served and for the work God did and the miracles He let me be a part of. You can also use the acronym SPECK. Pray about Sin to avoid, a Promise to claim, an Example to follow, a Command to obey, and to Know God more. Or, ACTS. Pray with Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.
We don’t want you to just go through the motions this year. The message, worship, and videos on Sundays are all good, but they are not good enough to change your life. You need more! You need God’s power! We want you to know the great savior Jesus Christ. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 1:18-20).