What if you’re doing it wrong?

Sometimes we fail to ask ourselves the hard questions. Instead, we often jump right into comparing our Christianity with someone else who is obviously not as good as we are.

Self-righteousness comes in many sneaky forms. It can oddly deceive us into thinking that our way is the only right way.

I recently spent four weeks in a sermon series simply titled, PRACTICE. This summary falls into the category of this is what I hope I said. The intent was to take an honest look at what it means to practice a biblical faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.

If you believe practice makes perfect, you’re deceived. Practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes permanence. Practice makes habits.

Followers of Jesus Christ often find themselves with habits that don’t lead to godliness. A lack of self-discipline can quickly hinder what is supposed to be a surrendered life of faith.

Habits can be wrong, and wrong habits need to be changed.

This was the overarching theme of the series. Just because you’ve always practiced the Christian faith in a certain way, doesn’t mean your way is the only way, or even right at all.

We easily understand that doctors practice medicine, and attorneys practice the law. But did you know that Christians also have a practice?

Make no mistake about it. Christians are called to practice Scripture. 2 Timothy 2:15 (ESV) coaches us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

Let me summarize the messages for you.

Potential Requires Practice was week one’s message. As a Christian, you have a massive potential for serving God that requires practicing biblical faith. Your potential requires practice. You will never fully reach your potential as a servant of God if you stop practicing.

Practice Brings Responsibilities, was the message for week two. When it comes to your daily practice of Christianity, you must choose to accept your responsibilities. You can’t give up just because you didn’t live up to God’s best for you yesterday. You must keep practicing biblical faith as you daily follow the Lord. Daily is where the responsible rubber meets the road.

Winners Keep Practicing, was a staunch message on the demands of discipleship. Those who live a surrendered lifestyle as practicing followers of Jesus Christ are winners. You are a winner because He has already won the victory, and you walk in His steps.

Practitioners Reap Rewards, was the finale of series. Practicing followers of Jesus Christ will reap eternal rewards. That was a fun message to preach as I focused on three BIG rewards that Christians anticipate receiving. Because practitioners read rewards, you need to stay focused on the sweet by and by of eternity as you work in the nitty-gritty of here and now.

In summary, please note that throughout this series, I taught about practitioners, not perfection-ers. Some days you might blow it. But that’s when you have to allow godly sorrow to lead you to repentance. Confess it to God and get back to practicing!

There is grace for every need, and every day of our faith-filled journey. But please do not ever use God’s grace as an excuse to continue in sinful behaviors. That’s wrong on so many levels. Practicing Christians know better because we are learning how to rightly handle the Word of Truth.

The YouTube playlist link for these four services is below.