Basics-of-Faith

Have you ever wondered, okay, what does it mean to be a Christian? Whether you've been following Jesus for 50 years or you're exploring faith for the first time, know this. You're not the only person thinking about that question. And the answer is less complicated than you might think.

The heart of being a Christian is really about following Jesus. And that means the first question that we should probably ask is, who is Jesus? There's a lot that goes into answering that question. But we can sum it up like this. In the Bible, it says, a long, long time ago, people rebelled against God.

But instead of God turning his back on people, God put a plan in motion to fix things. Jesus, the son of God, came to Earth as a man 2,000 years ago. He lived in the Middle east at the same time the Roman Empire was in control of pretty much everything. He did some things that were countercultural stuff like encourag his followers to love their enemies and affirming and elevating women. And ultimately, he died on the cross to cover our sins and make things right between us and his father, God.

But Jesus didn't stay dead. Three days later, after his death, to the shock of everyone who knew him, he rose from the grave. And when we trust in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and ask him to forgive us for the wrong things that we have done, and when we choose to follow him, that's how we become a Christian, a follower of Jesus. But after we make that choice, what does it mean for the rest of our lives? What is following Jesus supposed to look like?

Well, following Jesus means learning how Jesus loved God and people and putting that love and care into practice. So now that we're on the same page about what following Jesus is all about, how do we learn from him? Well, as we see it in the first four books of the New Testament, Jesus made it pretty easy. During his time on earth, Jesus selected 12 men to be his disciples. And they went everywhere with him.

They traveled with him, ate with him, served other people with him. And a big part of their time with Jesus was also spent learning from his teaching. That's what the word disciple means. It's a person who follows someone else to learn from them. But the 12 disciples weren't the only people who learned from Jesus during his time on Earth.

Men and women alike from neighboring towns and cities followed Jesus as he traveled because they were excited to hear his teaching. For three years, Jesus lived his life showing others how to live. But the lessons he taught were pretty simple. Most of them boil down to two Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Everything else Jesus said and everything else he did flowed from those two ideas.

What did those two ideas look like? Put into practice for Jesus? They looked like healing the sick, showing mercy and grace to people who had done wrong, being patient with others in frustrating circumstances, spending time in prayer with His Father, and ultimately dying on the cross for our sins, and raising from the dead three days later. But Jesus didn't stop there. Before he returned to heaven, he gave his disciples a mission.

And it says this. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing the in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. The mission Jesus gave his disciples was simple. To go and teach others the same thing Jesus had taught them and the Great Commission. It wasn't just for the people of that time who lived 2,000 years ago.

The Great Commission. It's for you, it's for me, it's for all of us. It's everything we've been talking about about in this video. Learning from Jesus, how to show love to God and to people, and putting that love into practice by sharing it with others. Pretty simple, right?

But just because something is simple doesn't mean it's easy. You might be thinking, all of that sounds great. I know Jesus wants me to treat others with love and care, but I messed that up a lot. You and me both, and probably every Christian that's ever lived. We're never going to be perfect Jesus followers in this life.

But there are some things that we can do to help ourselves learn from Jesus and put his love into practice. And these things are called spiritual practices. Spiritual practices line up with how Jesus lived. Many of them were crafted by men and women of history who considered the life of Jesus and how they could live more like he did. They created practices that followed his example.

Some of those practices are well known, like prayer. Others like silence and solitude, not be as familiar. When we practice spiritual disciplines, they help us get closer to Jesus so that we can live more like he did. We find it easier to extend love and grace to other people when faced with a tough situation. We have more wisdom to handle it well.

And we increasingly live in the peace and confidence of knowing that Jesus is near. So being a Christian is all about learning from Jesus and putting his love into practice. And using spiritual practices is one way that we can get better at both of those things. Over the next few videos, we're going to look at five different types of spiritual practices you can try to grow closer to prayer, worship, Bible reading, spending time in community, and rest. We'll talk about how Jesus practiced those habits in his own life, some of the ways that those practices have developed over time in the church, and ways we can learn from them now.

Ready to learn more about what it means to follow Jesus? If so, click on this video.

Has there ever been a time in your life when it felt like no one understood you? Like your family and your friends just didn't have the full picture of who you were or what you were going through? All of us have the need to feel known. And no one knows us better than the one who made us and loves us unconditionally. God.

And this means connecting with him through prayer is one of the most important things that we can do.

And let's be honest, prayer can feel pretty weird. Even if you're new to the practice, you probably have some idea of how prayer is supposed to work. You might stand, you might sit, you might kneel. Great, I'm already sitting. You might fold your hands together or hold them out, palms up.

And you nearly always close your eyes and then you just talk to God even though you can't see him or hear him? Yeah, it's a little awkward, especially if you don't have a lot of experience doing it. And it can get even more awkward if you're asked to do it in a group. I've been a Christian for years and I still get nervous when I'm asked to pray in front of people. So why do Christians make such a big deal out of prayer?

And can we actually get something out of what can feel like a one sided conversation? Prayer is a way that we connect with God, King and creator of all things. So if prayer actually works, that's pretty impressive. Instant and unlimited access to the One who made us and loves us. And he wants to hear from us no matter what we're going through.

When we're happy, he wants to hear about about it. And when we're sad and mad and when we need help. Pretty much no matter what situation you're in, God's a willing and enthusiastic listener. Jesus taught his disciples a lot of things during his time on earth, and there were few things he explained as clearly or simply as prayer. In Matthew 6, when Jesus was in the middle of giving his sermon on the Mount, this is how he told his followers to pray.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Pretty simple, right?

We praise the Father. We look forward to God making all things good and right and just on earth. We ask God to meet our daily physical needs. We ask God for forgiveness when we've done wrong. Well, as help forgiving others, and we ask God to keep us away from trouble and things that might lead us to trouble.

This prayer has influenced the ways Christians have prayed for thousands of years. But Jesus didn't just tell his disciples to pray, he actually took part in the practice himself. In the Gospels, Jesus retreated to deserted, lonely places so he could have uninterrupted time with his Father. When Jesus faced his biggest trial, dying on a cross, he spent his last hours as a free man in prayer, processing the suffering he knew was coming. In these examples, we see Jesus find strength and comfort through his time with the Father.

Now maybe you're thinking, I've tried prayer in the past and I just didn't get much from it. Or you're wondering if all prayers follow the same formula. Or maybe God hasn't answered your prayers like you'd hope and you're wondering if there is a wrong way to pray. Well, I have good news for you. There are so many different kinds of prayers, and God listens to all of them.

Using the prayer Jesus taught his disciples is a great jumping off point. But here are three others you can try. First, Centering prayer if you're worried about running out of things to say when you pray and I can relate, this might be a great practice for you. This prayer isn't about telling God what you need or waiting for a response from Him. It's simply about spending time in God's presence and love.

No words are needed. Just turn your attention to God as He's with you and for a set period of time, maybe five or 10 minutes, keep your thoughts focused on Him. Trust that God will know what you need even if you don't put your needs into words. Second, scheduled prayer Followers of Jesus in the Bible practice consistency by praying at the same time each day. In the Old Testament, Daniel prayed three times a day.

In the New Testament, Acts mentions Peter and John going up to the temple at the time of prayer. When we interrupt our work and our routines to make prayer a priority, it's easier to keep God at the forefront of our minds. Third, Scripture Prayer no matter what you're feeling, thinking or going through, you can find words in the Bible that will meet you where you are and encourage you for the days ahead. This means when you don't know what words to say to God, using words from Scripture can be a big help. In addition to the Psalms, a book full of prayers, the Bible contains famous prayers from many different women and men that can help you get started.

The God who made you knows you fully and loves you completely and the best part is you can connect with him no matter where you are or what you're doing like right now. Father God, I thank you so much for this opportunity to connect with you. Father, I praise you that you're a God who created the heavens and the earth but still creates space and time to connect with us through prayer. Father, I pray that you would grow our hearts desire for prayer and you would continue to guide us and lead us closer and closer to you. It's in Jesus name we pray.

Amen. See it's easy. And after you pray, pay attention to how God might speak back to you whether through reading the Bible, the wise words of a friend or even just by moving your heart. There's no limit to the way that God can speak to us when we make prayer a priority. Up next, we're talking about worship.

Worship. What is it? Why do so many Christians get together in a big room on Sunday mornings and sing out loud with their hands raised? Does worship really do anything? Let's find out.

When was the last time you felt a sense of awe? Maybe you saw a spectacular sunset, the kind that took your breath away. Or maybe you witnessed the birth of your child in everything, everything about the world felt different in that moment. Or maybe you saw a movie and it moved you in a profound way. Think back on that moment.

What did you feel and what was your response? For many people, that moment of awe is a time when they feel especially close to God, or at the very least, some sort of transcendent something. And often something accompanies that awe. A response, an acknowledgement of just how one the object of your awe is. Sometimes that response is just stated as fact, like what an amazing sunset or baby or movie.

And sometimes it's directed at someone like God. Thank you for this sunset or for this baby or for this movie. That is worship. When we worship God, we are recognizing his awesome qualities and the amazing things he's done. We see worship on display all throughout the Bible, but nowhere so clearly as n the Book of Psalms.

The Book of Psalms is a book of songs written thousands of years ago by lots of different people. And one type of song in this book is psalms of thanksgiving and praise. These psalms contain words like lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders. Where morning dawns, where evening evening fades, you call forth songs of joy, shout for joy to the Lord.

All the earth burst into jubilant song. With music on their own, these words might feel a little difficult to relate to, but put into the context of a moment of awe, they ring true recognition of how good God is and the good things he's done. In the Gospels, we see the disciples worship Jesus, the Son of God in moments of awe. One of these moments happens in Matthew 14. The disciples were on a ship being rocked around by wind waves, and Jesus came to them, walking on water.

Then Peter called to him, lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you. Walking on the water. Yes, come, jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink.

Save me, Lord, he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. You have so little faith, Jesus said. Why did you doubt me? When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped.

Then the disciples worshiped him. You really are the Son of God. They exclaimed. The disciples saw so many incredible things in this one encounter with Jesus. They watched Jesus and Peter walk on the water and then watched as Jesus rescued Peter from the water and the rest of them from the wind.

It's no wonder they would have felt called to worship Jesus after this kind of experience. Today, worship services are used as spaces for people to worship God together. It can be hard to find time to worship God during the week, and opportunities to worship him alongside someone else are even more rare. Singing songs to him, many of them similar to the psalms written thousands of years ago, give Jesus followers the opportunity to remember how good God is and the good things he's done, and give him the praise he deserves. But worship services aren't the only place where worship happens.

Those examples I mentioned earlier, like seeing a sunset or witnessing the birth of a child or watching a powerful movie, the praise that often comes up as a result of those experiences are kinds of worship, too. In fact, just about any experience can turn into an opportunity to worship God if we remain mindful of who he is and what he's done. So when you're getting your kid ready for school in the morning or riding the bus home from work in the afternoon, choosing to do those things for God, it's a form of worship. So what does it look like to live with this kind of mindfulness? Here are two ways you can keep everything that's awesome about God at the forefront of your mind.

The first is communion. Communion is the practice of eating bread and drinking wine or grape juice to remember the price Jesus paid on the cross for the wrong things we've done. When we make the space to think back on that sacrifice and take Communion, just like Jesus instructed His disciples to do during the Last Supper, we're worshiping God for the greatest display of love anyone could ever show us. Second is practicing gratitude. When we live with grateful hearts and thank God for the good things he's given us, that's worship.

This can look like a regular practice, like keeping a journal of all the things you're thankful for. Or it can look like something more spontaneous, like committing to voice your thanks to God when you experience gratitude throughout your day. And gratitude comes with the added benefit of encouraging us to live more generous lives. By extension, you've heard of tithing. Giving back to God out of the abundance he's given us is a form of worship, too, but we'll talk more about that in another video.

Above all, one of the main benefits of worship is that it rightly prioritizes our lives. It can be easy to put work, school, family, relationships, or just about anything, anything else on a pedestal above God. But worshiping him reminds us that he is deserving of the number one spot in our lives, which in turn helps us put everything else in the right order. Next, we're going to be talking about reading the Bible.

What do you think about the Bible? If the idea of living by the words in a 2000 year old book seems a little crazy to you, I don't blame you. But the story of the Bible is pretty amazing, and the impact it can have on your life is immeasurable. Let's find out more.

So, the Bible, where do you even start? That's a question a lot of people ask when they think about reading it. And it's a question I've asked myself when I started thinking about what I would say in this video. We'll start simple. What is the Bible?

The Bible is a collection of books inspired by God. Some of them books of history, some of them poetry, and some of them letters. Plus several other genres that is all about the story of God and humankind. What does that story look like? In a nutshell, God created all of humanity.

Humanity rebelled against God, and God put a plan in motion to heal our relationship. The books in the Bible don't always go in chronological order, and different authors and different genres can make reading it a challenge. But at its core, that's the story that's unfolding. The Old Testament is based primarily on the Hebrew Bible and is about the relationship between God and the Israelites. The New Testament is a collection of 27 different books which were written shortly after Jesus time on Earth.

Since then, theologians have spent lifetimes translating these texts, investigating them and determining the best ways to read and interpret what they have to say. Why is all of this information important? Because if you want to trust someone or something, it's best to get to know it. I mean, you wouldn't decide someone's your best friend without getting to know them well first. Investigating not just the Bible itself, but the context in which it was written and how it was put together, is hugely useful.

It helps you understand what the Bible has to say and provides evidence that its words are worthy of your trust. But finding that direction can be tough. Knowing who or what to trust about something as important as your life is a big deal. But the Bible is up to that challenge. When we read it, we find wisdom, we find hope, we find the words and the story of the God who loves us so much he came to earth as a man to die on a cross and save us.

We find words that are living and active, meaning God can use them to speak to us and change us. And we find purpose. Anyone who's made the decision to follow Jesus is called to share his love with others, changing their lives in the process. Past hurts are healed. Families are made whole wrongs are righted.

That's the kind of direction anyone can get behind. And we can find out more about what it looks like to live that kind of life by studying the Bible. But let's return to the question we asked at the beginning of this video. The Bible where do we even start? If you're interested in exploring the Bible for yourself, here are three ways you can get started.

First Bible Study There are nearly endless ways of studying the Bible. Studying the Bible can look like going through a book study or a Bible plan on the Bible app. It can look like joining an online or in person Bible study or life group. It can look like in depth study using Bible Hub commentaries or Bible Project videos. The more you learn about and process what the Bible has to say, the better you'll understand how God thinks and feels and the more your own thoughts and feelings will start to look like His.

Second Lectio Divina this is an old Latin term that just means turning your reading of the Bible into a time to meet with God. It involves selecting one passage of Scripture, reading it, dwelling on it, and listening for what God might be telling you about it. Exploring the Bible using lectio divina gives you the chance to move past the intellectual exercise of reading Scripture and engages your heart and soul spirit in the process as well. Third Scripture Memorization Taking time to memorize passages of the Bible can have so many different benefits in your life. Like lectio divina, memorization means taking the time to dwell on one particular section of Scripture and really consider what it has to say.

As you commit the passage to heart and your mind, you'll find the words with you when you need them the most, coming to your mind in the middle of a hard conversation or as a word of encouragement. When our own words fail us or we feel unequipped to handle a situation, the word of God can be the help we need. There's no easier way to get to know God and learn more about his love for you than through reading Scripture. And all you need to get started is a Bible. If you're still not sure where to begin, reading the books of Luke and Acts are a great jumping off point.

Both books were written by the same person and they chronicle the life of Jesus and the start of the church. Find a translation you like. The new living translation is a good recommendation and you'll be on your way before you know it. Ready for the next video? Click here to find out how hanging out with friends can be a spiritual practice.

So being a Christian, is it between you and God, or do other people have something to do with it too? Are we supposed to talk about our faith with other people or open up about what God is doing in our lives? Let's talk about it.

Faith is personal. It feels so personal. It gets into our hearts. It changes the way we think. It digs up the things that we prefer to stay buried.

It transforms us from the inside out. What could other people possibly have to do with that process? During Jesus's time on earth, he spent three years being followed around by his disciples, plus many, many other people. He taught them, but he also lived a life with them, sharing meals with them, attending services with them, mourning with them. They were all in community together.

But that community didn't end after Jesus returned to heaven. Once Jesus had left, Acts 2 says this, and all the believers met together in one place, sharing everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money to help those in need. They worshiped together at the temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity, all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all people. And each day, the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

This isn't a picture of believers whose faith is only between themselves and Jesus. These believers were practicing their faith together, caring for one another, worshiping together, eating together, and so much more. These kinds of relationships are necessary for our faith. Jesus and these believers understood something 2,000 years ago that can be hard for us to grasp today, especially if we come from cultures more focused on individuals. We need other people.

Love is central to what it means to follow Jesus. And it's nearly impossible to learn and grow in love. Love if we never open up ourselves to others. Communities of believers have taken many forms over the centuries. Something called monastic communities are made up of men and women who withdraw from society in order to serve God and study the Bible.

Often, it's alongside one another. On the other hand, we have congregational communities, and those are the ones seen in most churches today. They provide space for people who work outside of the church to meet together, worship together, and be known by one another. While Christian communities have changed in appearance and practice over the years, our need for people has never wavered. So we need each other.

But it can be easy to live around people without actually knowing them, right? So how can we make sure we're actually growing in love and deepening our faith? Here are three practices that can help point you in the right direction. First, hospitality depending on whether you grew up in church and what kind of church you grew up in. When you hear the word hospitality, you might think hospitality is just inviting people into your home and making them food.

But the practice is so much broader than that. Hospitality is about helping people feel safe and welcomed, the way Jesus made people around him feel. When we love other people and share what we have with them, we show them the same love and generosity that God shows us. Caring for poor people, lost people, and hurting people is of special importance to God. And when we show hospitality, we become more like Him.

Second, Mentoring Professional mentoring is a well known practice, and spiritual mentoring in many ways looks very similar. It's all about two or more people meeting together with one person sharing what they learned, and everyone typically grows as a result of that relationship. Spiritual mentoring, of course, just focuses more on the areas of getting to know God better and living more like Jesus. When you meet with a spiritual mentor, you may talk about growing in areas like prayer, forgiveness, or even love. Third, service Are you looking for a fast track to community?

Serve people with other people. In doing so, you end up meeting and investing in the lives of two different groups of people, those you're serving and those you're serving with. While serving, you're also more likely to meet people whose interests and areas of passion align and intersect with your own. Finding common interest with other people is one of the best ways of finding friends that you can open up to and do life with. For many of us, finding community will always feel a little awkward, believe me, especially in the beginning.

But friends are important both for us personally and for our faith. And these relationships will not happen unless we take the step of reaching out to somebody else. But no matter how difficult it might feel, as you're just getting started, the results will always be worth it. Friends Next up, we're talking all about rest. Click this video to find out more.

We live in a busy world. Going to school, going to work, spending time with family and friends, finding time to just have fun. The more we juggle, the harder it can be to slow down and rest. We tell ourselves we can get through whatever life throws at us, but the truth is, rest is something all of us need. And Jesus showed us some of the best ways we can find it.

When was the last time you felt fully rested? Unless I caught you on vacation, I'm willing to bet that you wish you had more rest than what you're getting. And God, he understands the importance of rest. At the beginning of the second chapter in the entire Bible, God took time to rest after, you know, creating the entire universe. By the seventh day, God had finished the work he had been doing.

So on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. What are these verses trying to tell us? Did the all powerful creator of the entire universe really need a nap? What about passages like Isaiah 40 that say that God never grows tired or weary?

God choosing to rest on the seventh day probably wasn't about him personally needing rest. Instead, his choice was about us. He was showing us by example how good it is to rest. Now this isn't the only time the topic of rest comes up. In the Old Testament, when God gave the law to Moses and his people, rest was so important he included it there too.

He said, remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day, no one in your household may do any work. That includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you.

For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. But on the Sevent he rested. And that is why the Lord blessed.