Short devotion - John 15:1-11

• I want you guys to reflect on your year tonight.
• Our lives can be very busy but we rarely have time to reflect.
• Time to reflect is important, otherwise we could be busy doing things that don't even matter. We could also be doing things that aren't healthy for us.
  • “Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter.” - D.L. Moody
• Have you ever stopped to think about what is the purpose of life?
  • Why do you want to do well in school?
  • Why do you want your friends to like you?
  • Why do you want to check your phone all the time? 
  • Side comment: If God does not exist, there is no purpose in life.
• God does exist, and the reason why you live as though life matters is because God created you. He created you to know Him and to live through Him.
• Some of you may be going through some difficult relationships.
  • No peace
• Some of you have pretty good relationships but are struggling to keep them.
  • Pressure to please them
• Some of you may be struggling with addictions.
• The reason why you experience brokenness or struggle in your relationships is because you are lifting those relationships above your relationship with God. The reason why you are turning to those addictions is because you are trying to numb or distract yourself from the loneliness and brokenness you feel.
• We are experiencing this brokenness because we are not living for the purpose we were created for. It is a result of sin, rebellion against God. Sometimes people say Christianity is just a bunch of rules and constrains our freedom, but Christianity has everything to do with freedom, freedom from sin and death. As we push Him away in our lives, we push away the only One who can sustain us and give us life.
• Read John 15:1-11
• God saw us headed for destruction. He made a way for us to have life and bear fruit: abiding in Christ.
• We will have struggles in this life, but Christ has already conquered sin and death. With Him living through us, what is there to fear?
• In Christ, we have life; in Christ, we have freedom. That's why I love the song in Christ alone.

2018 Year Reflection:

• How has God been working in your life this year?
  • You can share about ways the truths of God's Word has helped you become a better person.
  • You can share about the difficult circumstances in your life where God has given you hope.
  • You can share about answered prayer requests.
• What are some things that you think God has been telling you this year?
  • You can share about what God has been telling you through His Word.
  • You can share about what God has been telling you through your circumstances and what His Word says about them.
  • You can share about what God has been telling you through other fellow believers
• How would you assess your relationship with God and Christ's presence in your life this past year?
• How can you grow in your relationship with God and abide more in Christ in the coming year?

Short devotion - John 15:1-11

• I want you guys to reflect on your year tonight.
• Our lives can be very busy but we rarely have time to reflect.
• Time to reflect is important, otherwise we could be busy doing things that don't even matter. We could also be doing things that aren't healthy for us.
  • “Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter.” - D.L. Moody
• Have you ever stopped to think about what is the purpose of life?
  • Why do you want to do well in school?
  • Why do you want your friends to like you?
  • Why do you want to check your phone all the time? 
  • Side comment: If God does not exist, there is no purpose in life.
• God does exist, and the reason why you live as though life matters is because God created you. He created you to know Him and to live through Him.
• Some of you may be going through some difficult relationships.
  • No peace
• Some of you have pretty good relationships but are struggling to keep them.
  • Pressure to please them
• Some of you may be struggling with addictions.
• The reason why you experience brokenness or struggle in your relationships is because you are lifting those relationships above your relationship with God. The reason why you are turning to those addictions is because you are trying to numb or distract yourself from the loneliness and brokenness you feel.
• We are experiencing this brokenness because we are not living for the purpose we were created for. It is a result of sin, rebellion against God. Sometimes people say Christianity is just a bunch of rules and constrains our freedom, but Christianity has everything to do with freedom, freedom from sin and death. As we push Him away in our lives, we push away the only One who can sustain us and give us life.
• Read John 15:1-11
• God saw us headed for destruction. He made a way for us to have life and bear fruit: abiding in Christ.
• We will have struggles in this life, but Christ has already conquered sin and death. With Him living through us, what is there to fear?
• In Christ, we have life; in Christ, we have freedom. That's why I love the song in Christ alone.

2018 Year Reflection:

• How has God been working in your life this year?
  • You can share about ways the truths of God's Word has helped you become a better person.
  • You can share about the difficult circumstances in your life where God has given you hope.
  • You can share about answered prayer requests.
• What are some things that you think God has been telling you this year?
  • You can share about what God has been telling you through His Word.
  • You can share about what God has been telling you through your circumstances and what His Word says about them.
  • You can share about what God has been telling you through other fellow believers
• How would you assess your relationship with God and Christ's presence in your life this past year?
• How can you grow in your relationship with God and abide more in Christ in the coming year?

How confident are you that you will go to Heaven after you die? How confident are you that you will be with God after you die?

• 0%...20%...50%...80%...100%
• This is a common question and struggle that Christians deal with at some point in their Christian life
• This is an important question.
  • We don't know when our time on earth is over
  • It will affect your spiritual growth
    • Dating illustration, "what are your intentions?"

Common reasoning for doubting whether or not you are saved (understandable)

• Weak commitment to Christ
• Lack of character growth
• Lack of growth in relationship with God
• Lack of intimate experience of God

Tonight, we will speak to these reasons, but think about this:

• Could it be that the reason we have these issues is because of your doubt?
• Dating illustration, "If two people, aren't clear on what kind of relationship they have, how can that relationship flourish and how can the benefits of that relationship be manifested?"

Doubt often comes from looking at yourself

• There is an extent where you should analyze yourself, but you shouldn't stay there
• If you're always looking at yourself, there is a possibility to doubt
• Facts - Faith - Feeling
• Lack of an intimate experience of God
• Don't rely on your feelings too much, look at the facts
• Danger of relying too much on feelings

4 Basic Principles

• PRINCIPLE 1: God loves you and created you to know Him personally.
• PRINCIPLE 2: Man is sinful and separated from God, so we cannot know Him personally or experience His love.
• PRINCIPLE 3: Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin. Through Him alone we can know God personally and experience God’s love.
• PRINCIPLE 4: We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know God personally and experience His love.

Two Illustrations:

• Peter walking on water
• Person who does everything right vs person who does everything wrong

​Dating illustration, if you accept Jesus into your life, He has already defined your relationship.

Bibliography:

• https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/beginning-with-god/personal-follow-up-your-new-life-reformatted.1.html

Our condition

• We were dead in the trespasses and sin
• We were by nature children of wrath

God's condition

• But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us

Our new condition

• We are saved by grace. Grace is unmerited favor, undeserved favor.
• We are His workmanship for good works which God prepared beforehand

Application

• We are not saved by going to church, praying, reading our Bibles everyday.
• Misunderstandings:
  • a system where we can mitigate our deserved punishment by our efforts
  • God in His grace may forgive us if we do the right things
• God's grace that they care about their relationship with God
• God's grace that they are raised in Christian home/church
• God's grace that they want to grow
• Pray for more grace. God will continue to show grace.
• We are inadequate.
• Why can't I stop sinning? Why doesn't God just take away this struggle?
  • when people ask that, it's a matter of not seeking God
  • it sounds like they're blaming God

Bibliography:

• https://www.gotquestions.org/saved-by-grace.html