DAY 1: A GROWING FOLLOWER O - gospelchange.com€¦ · DAY 1: A GROWING FOLLOWER OF CHRIST… Believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 The gospel is the

DAY 1: A GROWING FOLLOWER OF CHRIST…

Believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

The gospel is the good news that Jesus has come to save us from ourselves for Himself. Apart

from Christ we face the wrath of God for our sins, in Christ we receive forgiveness of our sins

and the righteousness of Christ. The gospel not only gets us saved but it keeps us saved. The

gospel not only justifies us before God, but it also sanctifies us in God.

The gospel tells us that we have been “born again” (John 3:3), we have been made “new

creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our lives have not just been made “better”, or “cleaned up”, but

rather we have been made brand new. Some people use the illustration of someone drowning

to explain the gospel. They say it’s like, “You fell overboard into the ocean and were drowning.

Your only hope was for someone to throw you a life preserver that you could grab onto. Jesus is

the life preserver that keeps you from drowning. Jesus saves…” However, the truth is that the

situation is much worse than that. You are actually dead and lying on the bottom of the ocean.

You have already drown. Jesus dives down into the water, pulls you out and resuscitates your

dead and lifeless body back to life. You were dead and Jesus has brought you back to life (see

Ephesians 2).

A growing follower of Jesus Christ believes in this gospel. This good news that God has not left

us to our own demise but has tracked us down as the hound of heaven. Once Jesus gives us a

new life He then sends His Holy Spirit to live and dwell inside of us. Our lives are now no longer

lived for the glory of ourselves and the rest of mankind, but for Him who died for us and was

raised from the dead (2 Corinthians 5:15). Each day we wake up and trust that this gospel will

enable us to get through the day. This gospel will equip us to reconcile relationships. This

gospel will energize us to love others with the love God has given us.


Lives in the rhythm of repentance and faith.

Passage: Psalm 51

While the gospel has wiped out our past, present and future sins, the truth remains that we still

sin. Even though our sins are no longer counted against us, God still desires that we live a life of

confession and repentance. Below is a diagram that explains the process of living in a rhythm of

repentance and faith.

The first step starts when we honestly examine our hearts to reveal the sin, the idols, and the

things that we are believing that are not actually true. Our fallen and sinful condition is exposed

and laid bare. This leads us to confess our sin and rebelliousness. There is no need to hide it

because even if no one else sees it, God sees it and is offended.

Our confession leads us to repent and believe the gospel. Repentance involves hating our sin

and turning away from it. Kevin DeYoung defines repentance as "hating your sin, crying out to

God, and making a spiritual U-turn". The U-turn leads us back to Christ. If we turn away from

our sin then we need to turn to something, and that something is Jesus. We have to believe that

the promises of God are far better than the promises of the world.

Finally, we work with the Holy Spirit who lives in us toward change. We cannot change

ourselves, only God can change us. However, He does want us to participate in the process.

Thus, we live our lives in this rhythm of repentance and faith.


Connects to the body of Christ.

Passage: Philippians 2:1-11

We were made for relationships. Following Jesus is a journey that best happens in the context

of community. Within the body of Christ deep friendships are fostered and people are cared for

and encouraged to intentionally and passionately follow Christ.

The body of Christ is the family of God. We have all been adopted as God’s sons and

daughters, this makes us brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to see this connection that can

be closer than our flesh and blood family. Family sticks together, they take care of each other,

they step in to meet one another’s needs. They are bonded to one another for life, we as

brothers and sisters in Christ are bonded to one another forever.

Each person in the body of Christ has different gifts and abilities. Each gift is given in order to

build up the entire body. If we have gifts but do not connect to the body of Christ then other

people are missing out. You need the body of Christ but the body of Christ also needs you.

Just as embers in a fire, if they are separated quickly die out, so do followers of Christ who are

not connected to each other. Together we create a blazing fire with Christ at the center.

Together our light shines brighter to the watching world. Together the fire that the Holy Spirit

creates in us warms a cold-hearted world.


Loves their neighbors unconditionally.


The gospel tells us plainly that Jesus loves us unconditionally. Romans 5:8 says, “But God

demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” There

was no condition for us to be loved by God. We didn’t have to “clean up our act” in order to get

right with God. God initiates his unconditional love to us, who were once his enemies (Romans

5:10). The application of this truth is that we too should love our neighbors unconditionally.

As gospel believers, we can’t put any conditions on our neighbors, friends or family, in order for

us to love them. The world operates on the conditional level. You do something for me and I’ll

do something for you. Or another way we often hear it is, “You have to earn my love.” Well, that

wasn’t true between us and God and therefore it shouldn’t be true between us and everyone

else around us.

But some might argue that there is a great deal of sin and outright antagonism toward

Christianity. Our culture is full of immorality. How am I supposed to love someone whose

worldview and lifestyle is completely contrary to mine? The answer lies, once again, in the

gospel. The apostle Paul puts it this way in Colossians 1:21-25

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now

reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless

and above reproach before him,23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and

steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been

proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Paul knows the reality of the state of people’s hearts yet he exhorts the church in Colosse to be

reminded of where they once were, how they were “alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil

deeds.” This is where we all came from and so this is where we start with our neighbors. Paul

goes on to say this is the message he proclaims as a minister. If Paul thought that all

unbelievers were lost forever because of their dead hearts then he would have never taken on

the mission to proclaim the gospel to these people. But Paul knows that it’s the power of the

gospel that raises dead hearts, and causes evil people to be born again. Paul knows because

he was one of those people. The question is, “Do you know that you were one of those evil

people?”

We can’t forget where God has brought us from. We have to remember our own selfish lifestyle

that was in contempt of God and denounced Christ as Lord. We have been made new creations

(2 Corinthians 5:17), we have been reconciled to God through Christ, we have been saved from

the inside out. So, when we are tempted to look at unbelievers and think, “There is no way they

will change their ways” or, “There is no way they will believe in Jesus”, stop and think about

what you are saying. You are saying that God is not powerful enough, you are saying that the

cross of Christ is not sufficient enough to save. So, stop saying that, and believe that God can

save anyone he chooses.

When you see the sin in others try to see through it and look at the root issue. Your friends,

neighbors and unbelieving family members are the way they are because they are slaves to sin,

they have hardened hearts, they are blind to the truth. Therefore, go and look at how Jesus

viewed the lost, as people worth going to find. Jesus had compassion on them, he cried over

them, he reached out to them, he built relationships with them, he loved them unconditionally.

The power of the gospel living in you gives you the reason and the ability to love your neighbor

unconditionally.

DAY 5: A GROWING FOLLOWER OF CHRIST… Serves their community faithfully.

Passage: John 13:12-17 Part of being a follower of Christ is serving others in love. This is important as it counters the dominant cultural mindset of “me first” and consumerism. It is the call Jesus gave us to “take up our cross daily and follow” him and to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. I love that Jesus models this to us by saying in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Remember, this is the Son of God speaking. This is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings acknowledging to us that He serves us. Christ leaves no room for confusion or debate on the subject, we are to be servants. He chose to make this one of his last lessons to the disciples before he was crucified when he washed their feet in John 13:12-17 “12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” We don’t serve blindly, but we serve using your gifts and talents from God. However, we often discover what these talents are as we begin serving through various opportunities. Get to know and understand your God given gifts and talents and then go and use them to serve others. It’s important to have the attitude of serving out of what God has given to us rather than serving out of guilt. Guilt is always a poor motivator, but serving out of love brings delight and joy to what God is calling you to do.


Studies the Bible diligently.

Passage: Joshua 1:8, Psalm 119:1-8

Forming the habit of reading the Bible everyday can change your life forever. There are a

thousand reasons as to why this is true. But the most significant is that the Bible is literally

God’s spoken Word to the world. Many people have asked the question, “Why doesn’t God just

speak to me, then I would believe Him.” The absolute truth is that He has spoken directly to us

through the Scriptures. If you want to know God, if you want to know who you are, if you want

to know what is wrong with the world and how it can be fixed, then read your Bible. If you want

to know your purpose in life or you want to answer the question, What is the meaning to life?

Then read the Bible.

A growing follower of Christ is a person who sees the richness of the Scriptures. Some people

believe the Bible is just a book of rules and regulations. But the Bible tells a story of God’s

redeeming love. The Bible tells us how God formed the universe and how he created mankind.

The Bible explains that the world is in its current state of chaos because mankind has rebelled

against a holy and perfect God. We are part of the rebellion.

But God, who is rich in mercy, had planned for a restoration process. This included a

Redeemer who would come and save the world from this dreadful condition and bring complete

renewal to all those who believed in Him. The Bible tells the story of this Redeemer, Jesus

Christ, the Son of God, who would come and save His people from their sin through His life,

death and resurrection.

We call this story the gospel. Gospel literally means “good news”. As you just read this brief

overview of the story you saw that after man was created, he quickly found himself in dire need

to be saved. His own sin had brought him a death sentence. That’s the “bad news”. The “good

news” is that God has sent a Savior, Jesus Christ, who has come to pay the penalty of death for

our sins. The gospel is good news because it reveals to us a merciful and loving God who has

chosen to save His people.

However, this gospel is not meant to sit stagnate in the realm of only getting us into heaven.

The gospel is meant to sustain us every day as we understand it deeper and allow it to

transform us. Regular Bible study and prayer will help us to know and understand the gospel

daily.


Prays with a heart wide open.

Passage: Hebrews 4:14-16, Matthew 6:5-8

God desires to communicate to us. He wants us to know Him, intimately, personally and

honestly. Prayer is one way that God communicates to us and that is why He has given us a

desire to pray.

We need to understand is that prayer is not something we check off on our “to do” list.

Unfortunately, we fill our lives with frantic activity, complete with noise, crowds and distractions.

We think that if we are busy we are important and getting important things done. Frantic activity

feeds our self-dependent egos. Prayer on the other hand is evidence of our complete

dependence and reliance upon God alone, without my “help”.

While prayer can be done in the midst of activity, you should try and take some time to be alone

with God in a quiet place. Read Matthew 6:5-8 to see Jesus’ description of how we should pray.

Some people think prayer is nothing more than “speaking into thin air,” but nothing could be

farther from the truth. Since God is a Spirit and He is omnipresent, He is everywhere all the

time. God is available 24/7 to listen to you and to speak with you.

Prayer is opening your heart up to God. When you pray from your heart there is no hiding or

playing games, you just let God know how you feel and what you are thinking. We have to learn

to be vulnerable with God. Sometimes this can be very scary, but God is very gracious and

holds nothing against us. He listens and He speaks. God wants us to come to Him boldly but

with humility. Read Hebrews 4:14-16.


Worships in Spirit and in Truth.

Passage: Psalm 29

As we grow in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ we will naturally have a new

desire to worship God. It will be natural because that is the purpose for which we were

originally created. God did not create us just for ourselves in order to live self-absorbed lives.

God created us to live in a loving relationship with himself. He created us to worship him, now

and forever. What is the main purpose of your life? To glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Worship is the ultimate priority in life.

“Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.”

Psalm 29:2

Worship should focus its primary attention on the person and work of Jesus Christ as Redeemer

of all creation. However, worship should also be Trinitarian where we address God-the Father,

Son and Holy Spirit. In worship we are drawn into relationship with God (the Father), through

God (the Son) and by God (the Holy Spirit). See I Peter 2:5-9

Worship can be expressed:

Personally: Time alone with God in the Scriptures, prayer, music, and service.

Family: Devotional times with our family.

Corporately: In Church with the body of Christ.

Worship sends us out into the world to preach the gospel to all the nations.


Gives willingly and generously.


Dietrich Bonhoeffer has said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Bonhoeffer

is actually quoting Jesus when he tells us we must take up our cross and follow him (Luke 9:23).

Jesus models a life of self-sacrifice and generosity. A desire to give away what we have, and to

do it generously is something that is Spirit led. Left to our own devices, we will keep all that we

have to ourselves. But God’s Holy Spirit works in us to think and act differently about our worldly

treasures.

A follower of Christ understands that all they have has been given to them by God. God expects

us to be faithful stewards of what he has given us (Matthew 25:21). This includes giving back to

him for the building up of his Kingdom. Giving is one way to fight against greed in our lives.

Giving is an act of worship. It reveals an attitude that says there is only one God and money is

not it. Giving reflects the heart of God who gave himself for us.


Disciples others in the faith.

Passage: Matthew 28:18-20, 2 Timothy 2:1-2

God’s plan is to use His people to reach every person on the planet. Jesus started with twelve

ordinary men and started a global movement that has forever rocked the world. This plan

continues today through the efforts of you and me. God has not saved us to sit around and wait

for Christ to return. God has saved us so that we can go out and make more disciples. We are

to share the gospel with those around us and then help them grow in their faith. Those people

will in turn do the same. This is God’s plan, it’s simple, straightforward and the gates of hell

cannot prevail against it.

God expects us to have ongoing relationships in which we are helping individuals grow in Christ.

Just as someone has helped you understand what it means to follow Jesus, so too are you to

help someone else understand. It’s a vital task to the advancement of God’s Kingdom and it’s a

privilege to know that God has chosen you to disciple someone else.

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DAY 1: A GROWING FOLLOWER O - gospelchange.com€¦ · DAY 1: A GROWING FOLLOWER OF CHRIST… Believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 The gospel is the