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Youth - Lesson
Bethany Thomas - audio not available
John 14
Last week we talked about the importance of our foundation in our
Christian lives. What is that foundation? Our foundation, or
Cornerstone, is Jesus Christ Himself. But more than that, we
build our Christian lives on the very words of Jesus Christ and
His heavenly Father, which are recorded for us in the Bible.
How many of you read the Bible on a daily basis? On a weekly
basis? Once a month? When you do read it, do you read it out of
necessity … as an answer to a question you might have? Do you
read it because you have to, making it more like required
reading from a textbook? Or do you read it to deepen your
personal relationship with God because it’s His words to you?
I still have trouble reading the Bible on a regular basis
because I want to. More often than not, I find myself reading
several passages while preparing lessons and realizing how
fascinating the Bible can actually be!
I’m continually learning more about God and Jesus, as well as
realizing that there are some pretty intriguing stories in
there!
Let me ask you this: How do you pass a test without studying for
it? (not by cheating either!) How do you write a research paper
without any research?
Isaiah, Paul, and even Christ Himself have named Jesus as our
foundation.
So how do we build on that foundation without knowing who He is?
Why do we even want to build our lives on someone if we don’t
know who he is? So, how do we find out who Jesus is and begin
establishing a firm foundation and relationship with Him? One of
the best ways is to read the Bible. Jesus Himself said, “If
anyone loves me he will obey my teaching.” So, how do we show
that we love Him if we don’t know what His teachings are that we
are to obey?
We can learn about Jesus’ life and teachings through others, and
that helps us broaden our horizons; but remember, each teacher or
person has his or her own view of who Jesus is to them
personally. He wants a personal relationship with each one of
you, and the only way to do that is for you to find out who He
is on your own—through prayer and through reading the Bible.
It’s not enough to read a couple of verses here or there, once
or twice. In order to live a Christian life the way Jesus has
called us to, we need to immerse ourselves into His teachings
and God’s words and the experiences of all the famous people of
the Bible, as well as discerning what God is teaching us
yesterday, today, and tomorrow through our own personal
experiences.
John 14:23a says, “Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will
obey my teaching.” This is the same quote from Jesus that I used
a little earlier.
-What does this verse say about how we can love God?
-Do you try to read and learn about God’s Word in order to obey
it?
God spoke His Word through so many different authors to form the
most famous book of all, the Bible. He spoke this so that we can
get to know Him and His Son and our purpose even better. He
loves us so much, that He wanted to communicate all of these
truths and guidance so that we can live with Him in Heaven
forever. How do we show Him that we love Him? By becoming
familiar with His teachings and following them.
So what’s the best way to start getting to know Jesus, our
Foundation? By reading about His life through one of the four
Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. Each of these books were
written by personal friends of Jesus; each is a little different
from the other, but all give the best insight to the life of the
One who is the Cornerstone of our Christian lives.
Last week we talked about the importance of our foundation in
our Christian lives. What is that foundation? Our foundation, or
Cornerstone, is Jesus Christ Himself. But more than that, we
build our Christian lives on the very words of Jesus Christ and
His heavenly Father, which are recorded for us in the Bible.
How many of you read the Bible on a daily basis? On a weekly
basis? Once a month? When you do read it, do you read it out of
necessity … as an answer to a question you might have? Do you
read it because you have to, making it more like required
reading from a textbook? Or do you read it to deepen your
personal relationship with God because it’s His words to you?
I still have trouble reading the Bible on a regular basis
because I want to. More often than not, I find myself reading
several passages while preparing lessons and realizing how
fascinating the Bible can actually be!
I’m continually learning more about God and Jesus, as well as
realizing that there are some pretty intriguing stories in
there!
Let me ask you this: How do you pass a test without studying for
it? (not by cheating either!) How do you write a research paper
without any research?
Isaiah, Paul, and even Christ Himself have named Jesus as our
foundation.
So how do we build on that foundation without knowing who He is?
Why do we even want to build our lives on someone if we don’t
know who he is? So, how do we find out who Jesus is and begin
establishing a firm foundation and relationship with Him? One of
the best ways is to read the Bible. Jesus Himself said, “If
anyone loves me he will obey my teaching.” So, how do we show
that we love Him if we don’t know what His teachings are that we
are to obey?
We can learn about Jesus’ life and teachings through others, and
that helps us broaden our horizons; but remember, each teacher or
person has his or her own view of who Jesus is to them
personally. He wants a personal relationship with each one of
you, and the only way to do that is for you to find out who He
is on your own—through prayer and through reading the Bible.
It’s not enough to read a couple of verses here or there, once
or twice. In order to live a Christian life the way Jesus has
called us to, we need to immerse ourselves into His teachings
and God’s words and the experiences of all the famous people of
the Bible, as well as discerning what God is teaching us
yesterday, today, and tomorrow through our own personal
experiences.
John 14:23a says, “Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will
obey my teaching.” This is the same quote from Jesus that I used
a little earlier.
-What does this verse say about how we can love God?
-Do you try to read and learn about God’s Word in order to obey
it?
God spoke His Word through so many different authors to form the
most famous book of all, the Bible. He spoke this so that we can
get to know Him and His Son and our purpose even better. He
loves us so much, that He wanted to communicate all of these
truths and guidance so that we can live with Him in Heaven
forever. How do we show Him that we love Him? By becoming
familiar with His teachings and following them.
So what’s the best way to start getting to know Jesus, our
Foundation? By reading about His life through one of the four
Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. Each of these books were
written by personal friends of Jesus; each is a little different
from the other, but all give the best insight to the life of the
One who is the Cornerstone of our Christian lives.
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