Basics of being a Christian

Guidance to emotional, mental, and spiritual healing

(all verses are in ESV unless otherwise noted)

Basics of Christianity

•The Cross

•Identity

•Intimacy with God

•Spiritual Warfare

•Wholeness and holiness

•Fellowship/Openness

•Maybe others… TBD

Most fundamental starting basic of all

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of

the Holy One is insight.

Why is it important to understand and

practice the basics of being a Christian?

•To stop the bleeding and address issues

•To free us from the shackles of wrong thinking and wrong beliefs

about God, His Word, and our relationship with God

•American evangelist D.L. Moody (1837-1899) said, "If we could only make

people believe that God loves them, they would be crowding into the

Kingdom of Heaven! The trouble is that men think God hates them, and so

they are always running away from Him."

•To understand and nail down what events/actions are prescriptive (or

normative) as opposed to being descriptive

Why is it important to understand and

practice the basics of being a Christian?

•John 11:39

•Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to

him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four

days.”

•Racquetball analogy

The Cross

•What do we know about the cross? What is it? Why did Jesus go to

the cross?

•Romans 5:10 - For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by

the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be

saved by his life.

Identity

•One of the most common causes, if not the main cause, of unhealthy

sinful behavior

•What is your identity rooted in or where/what do you find your

identity in?

•Beloved son or daughter: Matthew 3:16-17

•And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and

behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God

descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from

heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

•Front and personal attack: Matthew 4:1-11

Identity

Intimacy with God

•You can seek all the help, all the tools, all the resources, etc. to get help or

improve yourself, but they’re all meaningless IF you do NOT have a real

intimate and ongoing relationship with Him

•Psalm 42:1

•As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.

•Psalm 37:4

•Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

•Isaiah 42:3

•… a bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he

will faithfully bring forth justice.

•Revelation 3:20

•Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,

I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Intimacy with God

•John 15:4

•Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the

vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

•James 4:8

•Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify

your hearts, you double-minded.

•Isaiah 26:3-4

•You (God) keep him (you) in perfect peace whose (your) mind is stayed on you (God), because

he (you) trusted in you (God). Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting

rock.

•Isaiah 26:9a (RSV)

•My soul yearns for thee in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks thee.

•John 15:15

•No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I

have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

Intimacy with God

Spiritual warfare

•John Eldredge asks: are we wanting to be like hobbits in the shire or

be in the battle at Helm’s Deep?

•2 Corinthians 2:11

•…so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his

designs.

•Ephesians 6:12 (KJV)

•For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against

powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual

wickedness in high places.

•Read the book of Job

Spiritual warfare

Wholeness and holiness

•John Eldredge – you can’t have wholeness without holiness and you

can’t have holiness without wholeness.

•We work on both at the same time to make any progress towards

healing and living a life worthy of Jesus, giving Him all the glory. We

PARTNER with God in the journey!

•Psalm 34:18

•The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

•Isaiah 53:5

•But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds

we are healed.

Wholeness and holiness

•Psalm 147:3

•He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

•Leviticus 19:2b,1 Peter 1:16

•You shall be holy, for I [the Lord your God] am holy.

•2 Corinthians 7:1

•Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every

defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

•1 Corinthians 6:19-20

•Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom

you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So

glorify God in your body.

Wholeness and holiness

Fellowship/Openness

•James 5:16

•Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that

you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is

working.

•1 John 1:7

•But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one

another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Fellowship/Openness