Mission:

Bringing Gospel Restoration into our everyday lives as we live devoted to Jesus.

a) What does it mean to be devoted?

Devote is: to give or apply ones’ time, attention, or self entirely to a particular activity, pursuit, cause or person.

A follower of Jesus is someone who give or applies one’s time, attention, or self entirely to Jesus.

b) There is only one way to follow Jesus.

1) Devotion to Jesus begins with grace.

"15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified...21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." -Galatians 2:15-16, 21

2) Devotion to Jesus is personal.

"20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." -Galatians 2:20

Question: Am I devoted to Jesus?

3) Devotion to Jesus will reshape your life.

"20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." -Galatians 2:20

Two Realities:

a) It will be the death of you.

• "Realize, then, that a gospel-rooted life inevitably leads to a crucified life. If we're truly rooted in the saving work of Jesus Christ, we will experience an ongoing kind of death, a continual crucifixion with Christ. We cannot be firmly rooted in the gospel and not experience a kind of sacrifice and suffering that we might very well call death. If there's no death in our life, there's probably no gospel either."
• "Christian spiritual formation rest on this indispensable foundation of death to self and cannot proceed except insofar as that foundation is being firmly laid and sustained." -Dallas Willard
• "There was a day when I died: died to George Mueller, his opinions, preferences, tastes and will; died to the world, its approval or censure; died to the approval or blame even of my brethren or friends, and since then, I have studied only to show myself 'approved unto God." -George Muller
• "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

b) It will reshape how you live here and now.

• "20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." -Galatians 2:20
• "And the Christian life is not so much about you and I living for Christ as it is trusting Christ to live for us and through us and in us."
• "This is the key to the Christian life: faith in Christ--not just the Christ who died on the cross for you, but the Christ who lives in you. We live by faith when we believe Christ every moment of every day. We believe Him to be our sustenance and our strength. We believe Him to be our love and joy and peace. We believe Him to be our satisfaction-more than money and houses and cars and stuff. We believe Christ to be our purity and our holiness and our power over sin. This is Christianity: believing Christ to be everything you need for every moment you live. You live by faith in the Son of God."
• "The Christian mom, who speaks with patience when she once would have spoken in anger, is experiencing the reality of Christ living in her. The husband, who comes home tired from work but still serves his wife, is living in the power of the indwelling Christ. The friend, who chooses to overlook minor offenses and stay in a friendship she would have once forsaken, is choosing to live on the basis of "Christ within me" faith. What Paul lays out here is intensely practical. It has the potential to radically alter the way we live and respond every day." -Timothy Lane & Paul Tripp

4) Devotion to Jesus is motivated by love.

"20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." -Galatians 2:20

"14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised." -2 Corinthians 5:14-15

"12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." -Philippians 2:12-13

1) Deny yourself daily

"23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." -Luke 9:23

2) Find people who will point you to Jesus

"20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm." -Proverbs 13:20

3) Keep running to Jesus

"When you fail, keep Jesus and his work in view. Run to your Lord, not away from him. Receive his forgiveness, get back up, and follow him once more, knowing that each time you fail, you can experience your identity as one for whom Christ died. Each failure reminds us of why he had to die; each confession reminds us of the forgiveness that only the Cross could provide." -Timothy Lane & Paul Tripp