Basic Sermon Outline

Walking with god

along the pathways of grace

1 John 1:6-7

We are embarking on a new preaching series this morning entitled “Pathways of Grace.” The impetus for= this series came as we considered the reality that although all Christians have = been welcomed into the family of God by the death and resurrection of Christ thr= ough the ministry of the Holy Spirit, that although we have experienced the wond= er of the totally free gift of grace in Christ, although we have an eternal inheritance awaiting us, many of us struggle to know how to live day to day= in a vibrant relationship with God. For many of us we feel like a new employee at a company who hasn’t had any job training yet – we know we are a member of the company, we like the company we are a part of but we don’t have much of an idea of what we= are supposed to be doing – we want to make ourselves busy but don’t know exactly what that is to look like.&nb= sp; Or maybe we feel like a recently adopted child – we are glad t= o be part of our new family – we feel the love of our parents but arenR= 17;t quite sure what day to day living looks like in this new household.

Well, if that describes you, and I think it describes all of us to some degree, t= his series is for you. We will be examining what the bible says about how we walk with God and his people. We will in particular look at the = many pathways of grace God has provided for us to assist us in our walk with him. We will look at the role= of the word of God, prayer, communion with God, fellowship with one another, t= he sacraments, the role of witnessing to the gospel and the lifestyle of obedience to God’s ways.

Each of these items is described as means of grace. That is, they are particular pract= ices and experiences whereby we enjoy and walk out God’s grace. They are not grace themselves R= 11; God is the source of all grace and the ultimate focus of each of these practices or disciplines is not the practice itself but God himself. We walk on the pathways of grace in order to experience grace - t= hat is to experience God himself. So= as we prepare to embark on the journey of a new message series on these pathways = of grace, let’s pray!

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/span>}If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie= and do not practice the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light, = as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of J= esus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:6-7 (ESV)

I want to start this series talking about the amazing truth that God calls us= to walk with him. We see it here= in 1 John. These verses are about fellowship with God. Now John= is particularly talking about the reality that fellowshipping with God means walking in the light – and we will talk more specifically about walki= ng in the light later in the series. But for now I want to focus on the call of God to walk with him. We see it here in 1 John but we al= so see it from cover to cover in the bible.

In Genesis chapter 3 we see that mankind was put as vice-regent over God’s creation and situated in a royal garden. And the most incredible thing abou= t his royal garden is that God walked with Adam in the cool of the evening as it = says in Genesis 3:8. Later on, aft= er mankind has fallen into sin and rebellion against God we see one man who st= ands out. Genesis chapter 5 says: = "Enoch walked with God, and he was = not, for God took him." (Genesis 5:24, ESV) and later we read of Enoch’s great grandson Noah when it says, "These are the generations of Noah.= Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God." (Genesis 6:9, ESV). A= midst generations of men who spurned God stood out these two men who were describ= ed as men who “walked with God.”

We see this call to walk with God in Genesis 17 " When Abram was ninet= y-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almig= hty; walk before me, and be blameless," (Genesis 17:1, ESV) = and the promise to Israel after being delivered from Egypt, "And I will walk among you and will= be your God, and you shall be my people." (Leviticus 26:12, ESV) and the life of King David described in 1 Kings, "And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules,= then I will establish your royal t= hrone over Israel forever,’" (1 Kings 9:4-5a, ESV).

The rebellion and exile of the people of Israel = came after the reign of David because they refused to walk with God. Listen to what it says in Jeremiah= , "But this command I gave them: R= 16;Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in a= ll the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward." (Jeremiah 7:23-24, ESV).

Thank God Christ has come who walked with God perfectly= . He described his life this way, “So Jesus said to them, “Trul= y, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only wha= t he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel." (John 5:19-20, ESV) Our Savior walked perfectly= with the Father and pleased him in every way.&n= bsp; Not only that, he died for our sins and rose again for our life that= we too might walk with God.

Folks, we have been saved from our sin to something. It is not just about being saved f= rom our sin – it is what our sin keeps us from that is the problem. We are saved from our sin to walk = with God, to enjoy him and obey and glorify him and to be like him and do like h= im. So the rest of the bible till revelation speaks of walking with God for God’s people. "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."<= /b> (Galatians 5:25, ESV) and “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.<= span lang=3DEN> For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law= of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemn= ed sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.= " (Romans 8:1-4, ESV) and finally, in Revelation we= see the people of God walking with God in heaven: "Yet you have still a few names in = Sardis, people who= have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy." (Revel= ation 3:4, ESV)

Well, I hope you get the point. God has called us to walk with him – to live our lives in close relationship with him. This topic alone is worthy of an e= ntire series. Think about it. What would you think if Tom Brady = walked in here or maybe George Bush or Bill Gates or Billy Graham and said, “= ;I want to make King of Grace my church home”. Would you be a little excited? Might you be the first one in line= to invite him over for lunch after church?&nb= sp; I think we would be tremendously honored and excited that any of the= se men would count us as their friends. Well, how much more should we be honored that God himself counts us = as his friends in Christ. How mu= ch more that the very center of the universe – the most powerful person,= the strongest intellect, the most beautiful being, the most famous person, the = most entertaining individual, the most loving friend, the most effective leader,= the most compassionate and fruitful helper should chose to count you and me as = his friends and invite us to walk with him throughout our lives and for eternity! Folks, God has call= ed us to walk with him! That is oh = so glorious and oh so amazing!

He has not only called us to walk with him but he has m= ade all the provision necessary to walk with him. You see, we walk with God entirely= by grace. Grace is an unmerited totally freely-given gift. If= you can earn it than it isn’t grace.&nbs= p; Grace is something given out of sheer love and kindness. Grace is like someone going up to a homeless alcoholic on the street and saying, “here have my coat, you = look cold, and here, have my shoes, yours are worn out and here take my car, you could use some transportation, and here, have my house keys, you look like = you need a place to stay.” = All done not because the homeless man somehow deserved it but because you in gr= ace wanted to bless him. That is grace a= nd that is what God has done for us. We did not in any way earn the right to walk with God. Actually, in our rejection of God = and our choices to walk our own way in what the bible calls sin we have earned = the right or the consequence to walk out our lives without God – ultimate= ly that is what hell is all about. Yet, God sent his Son to pay for our sins on the cross, to satisfy h= is good and right requirement to punish our sins. And the Son did it out of grace. And God raised him from the dead b= ecause he did it perfectly and pleased God. And now, because of the life and death and resurrection of the Son y= ou and I get to receive forgiveness and walk with God all our days, if we turn from our sin and trust Him.

So our walk with God is entirely of grace – it is entirely a free gift, we don’t do anything to earn it, we simply turn from self effort and sin and trust Christ and his life and death for us and then we receive His grace and the respond to the incredible offer to walk w= ith God. Our walk with God is all= of grace – all a free gift for the taking – there is nothing bette= r. [timeshares?]

Now this is where this series comes in. For some of us,= we understand that we are called to walk with God and we might even be amazed = at the prospect. We might unders= tand and rejoice that it is all of grace. Yet, we might really be perplexed at how you actually do it. I mean, what does it really look like? What is to be our day t= o day experience? Does God show up = bodily every day and walk next to me? Is like an invisible friend or something?&nbs= p; Did anyone have any invisible friends when you were little? I did – one was a boy from <= st1:State w:st=3D"on">New York named P= eter who flew in a helicopter and ate worms – I used to spend extensive time talking to him and his monkey companions.&= nbsp; I can tell you in detail what he looked like. Don’t worry, he hasn’t= shown up recently. But is walking w= ith God like having an invisible friend? What exactly does it look like?

Well, I can’t answer that in one message – = it will actually take a series of messages.&n= bsp; But I can cover some of the basics that will help us understand and experience walking with God. = In addition to recognizing God himself calls us to walk with him and we walk entirely by grace, it is important to recognize that God has granted us var= ious pathways of grace. That is, t= here are certain practices and experiences whereby we experience and grow in our walks with God. These experie= nces themselves are not grace but means of grace.

Although there are a number of these particular pathway= s, we can boil them down to a simple illustration. Take a look with me now at the Nav= igator Wheel illustration shown in projection.&nb= sp; This illustration is a wheel like a bicycle wheel or the wheel of a ship. At the center of that w= heel is Christ, meaning that the center of our practice is God himself via the Son. All pathways of grace, a= ll means of grace, all practices of walking with God must have God himself at = the center and as the source and focus of our practice.

Next we have two spokes on the vertical plane. One of these is the word of God. We will spend some time in this se= ries talking about the word of God and how it functions as a means of grace in o= ur lives. The word of God is not= God himself but it is an essential means of grace whereby God speaks to us and teaches us from his holy canon of scripture. Next on the vertical plane is pray= er. The practice of talking with God, bringing our praise and thanksgiving, our confession and our requests as we= ll as listening for his voice as we commune with him. Prayer is an essential means of gr= ace for our walk with God.

On the horizontal plane are two spokes that represent m= eans of grace that operate primarily within relationships with other people. First is fellowship – that i= s, Christ centered relationship with other believers. This encompasses all the different aspects of church life, from corporate worship and experience of the sacram= ents to small group life and mutual care to family life down to one-on-one conversation and relationship. Fellowship is a key means of grace for our walks with God and there = are no successful Christians who walk with God without this key pathway of grac= e.

Also, with fellowship is the spoke called witnessing. This speaks to our relationship wi= th those outside the family of God. It includes proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ as well as demonstrating= the reality of His life through love and service and genuine care for others. God wants to walk with us not only= to benefit those who are already his but to use us to love those without him a= nd see them drawn to him. There = are no healthy churches or Christians that do not practice this key means of grace= .

The illustration shows the outer rim of the wheel as the obedient Christian life. Walk= ing with God involves obedience and is incomplete without this key element. So when Christ is at the center an= d we are operating on all 4 spokes the result is obedience to God and his ways a= nd all the goodness that comes from that and all the glory of God that comes through that.

You see, these pathways of grace are how we walk with God. They are not grace itsel= f, only God is grace itself, but they are key and even essential means for wal= king with God. And walking with Go= d is not an idle pursuit. Walking = with God accomplishes much. The re= sult of walking with God is obedience to God and fulfilling the purposes of God.= And his purposes are wonderful and= most fulfilling. There is nothing = better than to walk with God and fulfill, by grace, the infinitely worthy purposes= of God to bring great blessing to men, to bring great joy to us and to bring g= reat glory to his name. That at th= e end of it all every knee would bow and every tongues confess that Jesus Christ = is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That every nation on earth would be blessed through Christ and thous= ands upon thousands would join in everlasting bliss and worship before God in his new heaven and new earth, walking with him in indescribable peace and ecsta= sy beyond our best dreams.

So, as we prepare to embark on this series, let us heed God’s wonderful invitation to walk with him. Let us heed it eagerly and with jo= y and anticipation. Let us recogniz= e that it is entirely of grace from beginning to end. And let us learn together of God&#= 8217;s ways, of his pathways of grace, that as we individually and together walk on these pathways, we may accomplish his grand and eternal purposes for His gr= eat glory and our church’s and our communities and our great good. Amen. Let’s pray.