If you've worked your way through steps 1 - 7, you're ready for the next part of the path.
Now, you're ready to allow the real power of God's presence into your life.
In the next stage, you'll be introduced to:
8. The wedding feast you're invited to
9. The Engagement Gift that God has for you
10. What you’re about to become
Send an e-mail to get access to the next stage, on jpurves@gmail.com
Welcome to the journey!
7 How to enter the journey
If you died tonight, how might people describe you on your tombstone?
The Apostle Paul sums up what Christian faith is about in this verse:
The Apostle Paul sums up what Christian faith is about in this verse:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me
(Epistle to the Galatians, Chapter 2, verse 20).
Christians start their journeys in various places. Some because they realise what Jesus did on the Cross. Others because they meet with the Risen, living Christ. Others because they are challenged to follow Christ’s radical path of service.
• Ask Christians you know how they have met with Christ through their journey
However we become aware of Christ, we have to make our way to the journey’s beginning. This journey teaches us to become available and attentive to God and others. It shows us how to be authentically present in the world, as Christ’s people.
On entering the journey, you need to be clear about what it means:
1. to turn from our path to Jesus’ path
to decide to amend your life and seek God’s pardon for failure.
2. to learn to live on the path that leads to the Cross
to imitate Christ, wanting God to reveal Himself to others through you.
3. to want to encounter Christ at the Cross
to accept the implications of being available and attentive to God and others through living with an authentic presence, seeking to reflect the presence of Jesus
4. to depend on the Holy Spirit
to look for empowering from the Living Christ, entering into and living in faithful union with Him.
• Are you ready to start this journey?
6 How faith is born
Is there anything that you believe that is really important to you?
Faith is not about ideas. Faith is not a ‘leap of faith’.
Faith is something we undertake, deliberately and intentionally,
in response to Who the God of Jesus Christ is, What He says and How He acts.
Christian faith is purposeful participation in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ
Describing FaithThe great example of faith, in the Old Testament, is Abraham. We see Him respond to God, in Who God is, What He says and How He acts.
Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Book of Genesis, Chapter 15, verses 4-6).
• How does abram see faith, here?
Most people think of faith as a set of ideas or beliefs.
Do you agree? Is it more than this? In what way?
Most people think of faith as a set of ideas or beliefs.
Do you agree? Is it more than this? In what way?
The invitation to Christian faith is an invitation to get involved in the faith of Jesus Himself. Not just having faith in Jesus, but entering into the faith of Jesus. Jesus invites us to get involved with Him in His relationship with God:
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." (Gospel of John, Chapter 14, verses 15-21).
Faith is not an emotional experience. Sometimes emotions can come with it. But at its heart, Christian faith is a decision to involve ourselves in Jesus Christ.
• Hear the invitation of Jesus.
• See what it is that He calls us to get involved in.
• Decide whether we want to get involved with Him.
Faith is about intent, not simply intelligence. It is to do with the desire of our heart.
• Read the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 27 verse 57 – Chapter 28 verse 20.
What does Jesus want His disciples to do? What is the responsibility that He gives to them?
The heart of being a Christian is expressed in baptism
Baptism represents being joined to Jesus in the journey that leads to His death on the Cross. In baptism we are dependent on God’s power to make us alive. We open ourselves to the power that made Him alive again.
We can have many experiences of God touching our life or blessing us, even in Jesus’ name. But being blessed by God or knowing that Jesus brings blessing doesn’t make us Christian disciples. There is a journey that we have to intentionally enter into, if we are to become disciples of Jesus Christ.
5 How God opened a way
Jesus Christ’s death on a Cross
If someone you really admired told you they had to die, how would you respond?
Read the Prophecy of Isaiah, Chapter 52 verse 13 – Chapter 53 verse 12.
If someone you really admired told you they had to die, how would you respond?
Read the Prophecy of Isaiah, Chapter 52 verse 13 – Chapter 53 verse 12.
This passage describes how Jesus Christ made it possible for us to become right with God, despite all our shortcomings and failings. It speaks, 800 years before Jesus Christ’s birth, of the Messiah who would come. Jesus Christ came both as a leader and a substitute for us all. Jesus acts as a substitute for us in two ways. His life, death and resurrection brought and opening into life because what he went through was both:
Punishment There is a punishment aspect to the Cross. Jesus experienced punishment that was a consequence of human sin. At the Cross He took on Himself the wrath of God against sin, representing and becoming the substitute for all humanity. What happens to Him at the Cross is God’s full and final response in dealing with human sin and its consequences.
Healing There is a healing aspect to the Cross. Christ acts as a poultice for humanity’s sin and sickness, drawing it into Himself and dealing with it. There is healing because the Cross is the climax of Christ’s obedience to God: purging, purifying and perfecting our humanity, bringing it into resurrection and eternal life.
The Cross is the outcome and the consequence of all that Jesus brings to humanity:
When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases." (Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 8, verses 14-17).
It is participation in this activity, joining Him in the implications and outworking of His crucifixion, that Jesus calls us into. This is God’s way of bringing His presence, purpose and power into people’s lives. Jesus calls to us to come to Him through the Cross.
The way of the Cross cleanses. It bends our humanity into conformity to Christ. The whole of the Christian life is about an outworking of this.
Read the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 26, verse 36 – Chapter 27 verse 7.
What do you make of this?
What do you make of this?
Christ’s Cross and Resurrection
• Is the outcome of a life that is attentive to and available to God, not synchronised with a world in rebellion to God
• Faces and deals with the fragmentation and suffering of the world, in God’s way and with God’s love
• Carries our humanity through to the purposes and future God has for us and all Creation
• Turns human failure into God’s triumph in and through the life of Jesus Christ, bringing us victory over
the devil, death and darkness
Why do you think God would do all this for you?
The Cross is the crux of the matter – it is the doorway into life in the love of God.
The Cross is the way that Jesus passes through for us, and that we pass through with Him.
4. What has to change
‘Blessed are the poor ....’
What's most important to you in life right now?
A different focus
There's a real problem in the way Christianity comes over to people today. For centuries, Christianity in Europe and its colonies was really political. It was about making people good citizens. And in the development of a consumer society, this was morphed into making people into good consumers. Hey, not only did God offer you eternal life: you could also have health, wealth and prosperity!
But when you have all these things, why bother with God any more?
• What, according to the passage, is God’s response to what has happened to humankind?
What's most important to you in life right now?
A different focus
When we start to pay attention to God, we realise that things around us aren’t the way that they’re meant to be! Getting in touch with God, as He really is, starts to make us feel uncomfortable with life as we see it around us:
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,
and he began to teach them, saying:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
(Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 5, verses 1-12)
• What is it that really matters to Jesus, according to this passage?
Which of the sayings would you find most difficult to obey? Why?”
There's a real problem in the way Christianity comes over to people today. For centuries, Christianity in Europe and its colonies was really political. It was about making people good citizens. And in the development of a consumer society, this was morphed into making people into good consumers. Hey, not only did God offer you eternal life: you could also have health, wealth and prosperity!
But when you have all these things, why bother with God any more?
The real message of Jesus is really different. It is about getting radical here and now. It involves getting inside the life of Jesus Christ. And starting to see the world as He sees it.
• Read the Prophecy of Isaiah, Chapter 64. What is the focus of Isaiah’s complaint and prayer? What does He look for God to do among the people of Israel?
The Christian way is a journey of change. God invites you to become part of it.
• Read the Letter to the Romans, Chapter 1, verses 18-32. What does it tell us about what happens to people, when they are not attentive and available to God? What evidences if any, as you look at the context in which we live, do we see of this in our context and culture?
The call of Jesus is to come back to God’s agenda for change and development in His Creation. The invitation to follow Jesus is an invitation to change the goals and objectives of our lives.
3 What Jesus would lead you into
‘He has called me ....’
What most would make you mad or upset you?
What Jesus Christ stands for
According to the Bible, God doesn’t get too excited about cosy, comfortable people – other than getting annoyed by them! The Bible is for people who want their lives to be changed. Because it shows us what God really cares about. It shows us that justice matters a lot for God. He wants care for the poor and disadvantaged. It shows us that God is interested in working through people to help the downtrodden and release people from worldly, dark and selfishly oppressive forces.
What most would make you mad or upset you?
What Jesus Christ stands for
According to the Bible, God doesn’t get too excited about cosy, comfortable people – other than getting annoyed by them! The Bible is for people who want their lives to be changed. Because it shows us what God really cares about. It shows us that justice matters a lot for God. He wants care for the poor and disadvantaged. It shows us that God is interested in working through people to help the downtrodden and release people from worldly, dark and selfishly oppressive forces.
Jesus Christ shows us what God is really like. He also shows us what God wants. This can be unsettling for people who want to keep things just as they are. When Jesus started His ministry, He read out His manifesto:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Gospel of Luke, Chapter 4, verses 18-21)
• Read what comes after this, in Luke 4.22-30.
Why do you think Jesus provokes the people in this way?
What’s the real problem
Why do you think Jesus provokes the people in this way?
What’s the real problem
800 years before Jesus one the prophets, or messengers from God, was Isaiah. At that time, God was really angry with the politics and economics of the Hebrew people, and the type of religion that came with it.
• Read the Prophecy of Isaiah, Chapter 58. What’s God’s problem with His people? What does He want them to do? What will happen when they do it?
God’s method
We’ve seen that God wants to work through people. He doesn’t just wade right in there and force everybody to do it His way. He’s entrusted the world to people and He takes that seriously. So He sets about sorting things out through working with a people, shaping them to be His proxy on earth.
But what does He want His people to be like? When we look at Jesus we begin to realise that God’s way of getting things sorted is really different from what we all might expect! He doesn’t enable Jesus to be a world president with huge powers and armies. Instead, He causes Jesus to appear in the world in really humble circumstances, and to totally puzzle and confuse the power hungry political and religious rulers. What is it about him that cause this?
• Read the Letter to the Philippians, Chapter 2, verses 5-11.
What’s unusual about Jesus, as He’s described here?
Are there any clues in this passage that help explain how people found it hard to recognise that Jesus as God's special representative?
Discuss this together with some other people.
What’s unusual about Jesus, as He’s described here?
Are there any clues in this passage that help explain how people found it hard to recognise that Jesus as God's special representative?
Discuss this together with some other people.
2 Discovering what God’s about
‘God said ….’
What purpose is there to your life?
What purpose is there to your life?
What God wants
The Bible doesn’t present a picture of perfection from the beginning. Right at the beginning, it speaks of a cosmic cocktail into which God declares His intent and involvement to bring order. To bring ‘light’. For a ‘pre-scientific’ document, this is amazing. The picture is of development and formation amidst apparent confusion. So much for the idea that evolution can’t fit with Bible teaching! But realise also that the Bible isn’t a scientific textbook. Instead, it’s there to help us better understand our humanity, God, and the relationships God calls us to have both with Him and creation around us.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light (Book of Genesis, Chapter 1, verse 1).
What God does
When we read the opening 2 chapters of the Bible, we see how important we are to God. The Bible paints a picture of God giving humanity power and responsibility in this world, to influence and control the earth and its creatures. And in this, God shows His plan. He looks to bring His blessing and love to people and all Creation through people who will be part of this ‘light’. This was the reason for the selection of Abraham. To bring light and blessing into the whole world.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light (Book of Genesis, Chapter 1, verse 1).
What God does
When we read the opening 2 chapters of the Bible, we see how important we are to God. The Bible paints a picture of God giving humanity power and responsibility in this world, to influence and control the earth and its creatures. And in this, God shows His plan. He looks to bring His blessing and love to people and all Creation through people who will be part of this ‘light’. This was the reason for the selection of Abraham. To bring light and blessing into the whole world.
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Book of Genesis, Chapter 12, verses 1-3).
What other way might God have chosen? Why this way?
Through people
God delights in bringing people into a place in their lives where they are meant to be. But what is this place? God has designed us, as human beings, to be God’s ‘image and likeness’. This means that He wants: for us to do the same things as He does. He wants us to be concerned about the same things that He is concerned about. So just as God gives blessing, He speaks and then it happens. His words and actions go together. And as it is for Him, He wants it to be for us.
Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." (Book of Exodus, Chapter 19, verses 3-6)
How do you think they would feel being specially chosen by God?
How do you feel being special to God?
The One who does not fail
The first part of the Bible (which means, ‘the Books’) is the Old Testament. From the books of Genesis and Exodus onwards through to the Prophecy of Malachi, it is both a glorious and a sad story. It’s glorious in that it tells of what God wants to do in and through this people, the Jews. It’s sad in that it tells of their repeated failure to be attentive to God and to what He says and wants.
This is what makes Jesus special. He is a Jew with a difference. He comes as the ‘Messiah’, which is the Hebrew language of the Jews means ‘anointed One’. This word, in Greek, is ‘Christ’. Jesus Christ is a man specially chosen by God, who both declares what God wants and does it. Completely. He is both God’s Word and His Son: totally at one with God.
Read the Gospel of John, Chapter 1, verses 1-18.
The first part of the Bible (which means, ‘the Books’) is the Old Testament. From the books of Genesis and Exodus onwards through to the Prophecy of Malachi, it is both a glorious and a sad story. It’s glorious in that it tells of what God wants to do in and through this people, the Jews. It’s sad in that it tells of their repeated failure to be attentive to God and to what He says and wants.
This is what makes Jesus special. He is a Jew with a difference. He comes as the ‘Messiah’, which is the Hebrew language of the Jews means ‘anointed One’. This word, in Greek, is ‘Christ’. Jesus Christ is a man specially chosen by God, who both declares what God wants and does it. Completely. He is both God’s Word and His Son: totally at one with God.
Read the Gospel of John, Chapter 1, verses 1-18.
What is the relation with God that Jesus Christ makes possible for people?
How do we enter into this relationship?
To be a follower of Christ is to seek to get to the place where we are not only speakers, but doers as well. It’s not about ideas or words in the air. What God says, who we are and what we do must all flow together.
To be a follower of Christ is to seek to get to the place where we are not only speakers, but doers as well. It’s not about ideas or words in the air. What God says, who we are and what we do must all flow together.
1 What Jesus invites us to
‘Come, Follow me’
What direction is your life heading in, right now?
Someone to pay attention to
The path that God calls us on doesn’t begin with an opinion, or a belief. It begins by us hearing or sensing a call. That’s what Jesus does. He calls to people. He invited people to come and follow him. Jesus calls to us to get us moving. Out from where we are. Towards where He is. He started out this way with his first followers, or ‘disciples’.
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him (Gospel of Mark, Chapter 1, verses 16-20).
Ask a Christian - someone who’s heard and responded to the invitation to follow Jesus.
Is this what you expected?
Back to Jesus
The Bible teaches us that Jesus is the person from whom we learn everything there is to know about God. He’s the key to understanding everything written in the Bible. And Jesus is the key to understanding the meaning and purpose of our own lives.
Read the Letter to the Colossians, Chapter 1, verses 15-20.
What direction is your life heading in, right now?
Someone to pay attention to
The path that God calls us on doesn’t begin with an opinion, or a belief. It begins by us hearing or sensing a call. That’s what Jesus does. He calls to people. He invited people to come and follow him. Jesus calls to us to get us moving. Out from where we are. Towards where He is. He started out this way with his first followers, or ‘disciples’.
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him (Gospel of Mark, Chapter 1, verses 16-20).
Ask a Christian - someone who’s heard and responded to the invitation to follow Jesus.
How did it start for them?
Something to turn away from
So don’t try and persuade yourself that God exists, or that He’s like this or that. Start out by paying attention to Jesus. This is what Christians mean by ‘repentance’. It means turning towards Jesus and paying attention to what we see and hear there. Because if we turn towards Him, then we’re turning away from other things that absorbed our attention before.
"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Gospel of Mark, Chapter 1, verse 15).
Ask a Christian – what did they have to turn away from
Something to turn away from
So don’t try and persuade yourself that God exists, or that He’s like this or that. Start out by paying attention to Jesus. This is what Christians mean by ‘repentance’. It means turning towards Jesus and paying attention to what we see and hear there. Because if we turn towards Him, then we’re turning away from other things that absorbed our attention before.
"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Gospel of Mark, Chapter 1, verse 15).
Ask a Christian – what did they have to turn away from
so that they could turn towards Jesus?
Why Jesus?
Jesus makes it clear, from the teachings he gave. There’s no working out what God’s really like, or what God wants us to be like, unless we start by looking at Jesus. We don’t start with the idea of God. Or the need to believe there is a God. We start with Jesus.
Read the Gospel of John, Chapter 14, verses 1-14.
Jesus makes it clear, from the teachings he gave. There’s no working out what God’s really like, or what God wants us to be like, unless we start by looking at Jesus. We don’t start with the idea of God. Or the need to believe there is a God. We start with Jesus.
Read the Gospel of John, Chapter 14, verses 1-14.
From what we see in this passage, where does Jesus expect us to find God?
So, what’s God really like?
Moses, a leader of the Hebrews, asked God to show what He is like to Moses. Moses wanted to see God’s ‘glory’. God’s answered Moses,
And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen." (The Book of Exodus, Chapter 33, verses 19-23)
And this is how God described Himself, when He came close to Moses. In fact, it’s the one place in the Bible, before Jesus came, that God says what He’s like:
Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped (The Book of Exodus, Chapter 34, verses 6-8).
So, what’s God really like?
Moses, a leader of the Hebrews, asked God to show what He is like to Moses. Moses wanted to see God’s ‘glory’. God’s answered Moses,
And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen." (The Book of Exodus, Chapter 33, verses 19-23)
And this is how God described Himself, when He came close to Moses. In fact, it’s the one place in the Bible, before Jesus came, that God says what He’s like:
Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped (The Book of Exodus, Chapter 34, verses 6-8).
Is this what you expected?
What ideas about God did you have, before reading this?
How does this way of thinking about God affect you?
Back to Jesus
The Bible teaches us that Jesus is the person from whom we learn everything there is to know about God. He’s the key to understanding everything written in the Bible. And Jesus is the key to understanding the meaning and purpose of our own lives.
Read the Letter to the Colossians, Chapter 1, verses 15-20.
What does the writer think about Jesus?
There are lots of religious teachers in the history of the world. But there is none who makes the claims Jesus made about Himself, or who are described by their followers in this way.
This is why we want to tell you about Jesus and invite you on this journey.
There are lots of religious teachers in the history of the world. But there is none who makes the claims Jesus made about Himself, or who are described by their followers in this way.
This is why we want to tell you about Jesus and invite you on this journey.
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