Equipping Class. Walking with God. Introduction Cornerstone WLA

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1 Equipping Class Walking with God Introduction 2018 Cornerstone WLA

2 How This Class Works God wants you to live every part of the Christian life for his glory and for your enjoyment. We believe this class will help you do it. Read on below for how the class works and how you can get the most out of it. THE PROCESS This class has two components: instruction and discussion. The instruction component consists of audio files that we will distribute throughout the class. We ll give you about four at a time to listen to at a time convenient for you. (We recommend spreading them out a bit so you have time to digest each one). Discussion will happen in three meetings throughout the class period, designed to cover questions and comments about the audio files distributed so far. So you ll typically get four audio files, listen to them over the course of several weeks, then meet to discuss. We ll do that three times, and we ll be done. THE NOTES These notes are meant to accompany the audio classes to help you understand the material as much as possible. While you might be listening to some of the audio in the car or while doing chores, we recommend having these notes out with you as much as possible. Occasionally the audio files will reference diagrams or charts, and you ll find all of those in these notes. The text in the notes is not a direct transcript but follows the audio closely, occasionally inserting some extra material you might find helpful. THE SCHEDULE Section Audio Files Discussion Section 1: Bible Introduction, Sessions 1-4 Date: Section 2: Prayer Sessions 5 8 Date: Section 3: Heart Work Sessions 9 12 Date: 2

3 Pathway Introduction 34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? 37 And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 3 This is the great and first commandment. 3 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 4 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 22:34-40 Jesus tells us that the entire Christian life can be summed up as loving God and loving people. As we look through the Bible, we find that this love is motivated by the gospel of grace, and that the goal of this love is becoming more like Jesus. These classes help us live out that love for God and others: In our first class, Walking with God, we see how God draws us into a relationship with him so that we know him better and better, and are satisfied in him more and more. We see how we walk with God through the Bible, prayer, and heart work. In the second class, Walking in the World, we see how God sends us out into a relationship with the world so that others might know him better and be satisfied in him more. We see how we walk in the world through community, mission, and calling. 3

4 God s Desire for Your Life INTRODUCTION Do you feel a disconnect between the relationship with God you d like to have and the one you are experiencing now? Why do you think that is? GOD WANTS A RELATIONSHIP WITH US The Christian life is about loving God and loving others, walking with Him and walking in the world. This class focuses on walking with God, and so we begin by looking at what God desires in our relationship with Him And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. John 17:3 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 JI Packer tells Christians that the main business you are here for is to know God (Knowing God, 34). This idea shows up across the pages of scripture: we were created to know God, we have been saved so we might know God, and the promise of eternity is that we will know God perfectly. Christ died and rose to give us eternal life and he tells us that eternal life is knowing God. 4

5 WHAT IT MEANS TO KNOW GOD Knowing God in the Bible is a powerful concept. Below we ll walk through three important elements of knowing God: Knowing God is Personal The idea of knowing God is different than the idea of knowing about God. It s easy to think that our job is to learn facts about God. But knowing God means personal dealings with God. Taste and see that the Lord is good Psalm 34:8 Knowing God is Central It s easy to think of knowing God as something you get to after having been a Christian for a while. You can treat it as sort of icing on the cake of the Christian life something that is really great, but not really at the heart of being a Christian. But the Bible treats knowing God as at the very center of the Christian life. Being a Christian is about knowing God. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings Hosea 6:6 Knowing God is Powerful The idea of knowing God can make you think of having deep spiritual experiences. While this can be true, knowing God is much more powerful than a set of experiences. Knowing God creates change in your life through the personal relationship you have with Him. Abide in me, and I in you whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing John 15:4-5 5

6 GETTING TO KNOW GOD Most people understand how to get to know another person. And while God is very different from other human beings, there are similarities between getting to know God and getting to know another person on earth. The process is relatively simple: we get to know other people by listening to them, speaking to them, and spending time with them. As we grow closer to someone else, we find them affecting our lives more and more. The people we know the best are usually the ones who have changed us the most. When you look at these things together, you find that the process of getting to know someone is the same as the top of the discipleship pathway! Getting to know God involves listening to God (Bible), speaking to God (Prayer), and applying what God says (Heart Work). Just like getting to know another person, we get to know God by spending time with him. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: God s desire is for us to know him, and we grow that in: Bible: listening to and learning from God in his word Prayer: speaking to and relating to God Heart Work: internalizing and applying what God is telling us 6

7 Conclusion This class is geared to help you know God more and grow in your love for him. That s what the top half of the pathway is all about: drawing closer to God and deepening our affections for him. Application Questions: What is your relationship with God like now, in terms of knowing Him the way we ve talked about? What are some ways you want to use this class to know God more and how can you make that a reality? 7