Series Outline for Less Is More
This four-week series was taught to prepare for Lent in 2015. It takes a look at the paradox that doing and having less can actually lead to a life that is more fulfilling, focused on what is most important.
Less Is More – Lent
Lent is patterned after Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness. It is a time when we fast, pray, confess sin, and set aside distractions so we can fully seek God to be empowered by His Spirit.
Luke 4:1-2, 14
Glorified!
The consummation of our salvation will happen at the return of Christ, when our bodies will be raised from the grave and transformed to be like Jesus’ body, and all of creation will be renewed. At that point, we and all of the renewed creation will experience the glorious freedom of full redemption and will radiate the glory of God.
Romans 8:18-25
The True Nature of Freedom
Christ came to give us true freedom, the ability to be who we were created to be – the image of God, serving others in love.
Galatians 5:13-15
The Race Well Run
There are three crucial and life-altering realities that we must never lose sight of If we endeavor to walk out the Christian life faithfully – the fight, the finish, and the faith.
2 Timothy 4:7
Enduring In A Transient World
We are called to live for that which endures – things which have been passed down for generations, and which should be passed on to generations to come. But we live in a world of perpetual novelty, which is dominated by the trendy and the trivial, and is often disdainful of that which has gone before.
Psalm 78:1-8
Focused In A Distracted World
Walking with God requires us to give focused, sustained reflection to God, His Word, our lives, and the world in which we live. But we live in a world of constant distractions, making sustained, focused reflection and living very difficult.
Luke 10:38-42
Idolatry In the iWorld
Christians must be vigilant to keep themselves from Idols – anything we look to in place of God, assigning it god-like powers to give us what should be sought in God alone. Idolatry is rampant in the iWorld, and is concentrated in and perpetuated by technology.
1 John 5:21
Contextualizing Without Conforming
We are called to engage our current culture, contextualizing the Gospel so that it will be accessible to our friends, but we must be aware of the unique but ever present dangers that come with each culture, age and technology, understanding the world will always try to seduce our hearts away from Christ and the Gospel.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23
Devoted
To grow spiritually, we need to be devoted and follow a plan of studying Scripture, applying it to our lives, and passing it on to others.
Ezra 7:10
Praying For Believers To Be Strengthened
Christians should pray for strength from God to be able to fulfill our call to be in the world but not of it.
John 17:6-19
The Life of Jesus Revealed
In a world shrouded in death see Jesus.
2 Corinthians 4:10
Our Present Call – Walking Dead To Sin
Christians have been made alive to God but dead to sin in Christ, and are called to live in light of that reality.
Romans 6:11-14
A Christlike Life and Community
As those who have been given new life in Christ, believers must put on the virtues that reflect the character of God shown to us in Christ, and they must walk in unity with the Church.
Colossians 3:12-17
Spring Cleaning
As those who have been given new life in Christ, believers must put off their former vices so they can be like Christ.
Colossians 3:1-11
Counterfeit Spirituality
Counterfeit spirituality depends on rituals, hyper-spirituality, and legalism, rather than on the simplicity of Christ, Who alone can deliver from sin.
Colossians 2:16-23
Fullness In Christ
Christians have been given a full salvation – our sins forgiven, our enemies vanquished, and our sinful nature effectively dealt with – through Jesus, Who is the fullness of God.
Colossians 2:8-15
The Law and the Spirit in Sanctification
Because our sin has short-circuited God’s Law, our progress in sanctification comes from the power and ministry of the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-4
The Benefits of Baptism
Water baptism is the sign and seal of our union with Christ, a means of grace to provide strength in our struggle against sin, and the medium through which we testify of our faith in Christ and membership in the church. Romans 6:1-7 Reading: Colossians 2:9-15 Benediction: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 […]
Why Should I Be Baptized?
Christ commands His followers to be baptized in water as the sign and seal of our union with Him, to receive power in our struggle with sin, and testify of our faith in Him.
Matthew 28:19-20
Yahweh Tsidkenu – The Lord Our Righteousness
God is Yahweh-Tsidkenu – the One who defines, fulfills, and imputes righteousness to His people through Jesus, and then begins to produce righteous fruit in them by His Spirit.
Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33;15-16
Yahweh M’Kaddesh – The Lord Who Sets You Apart
God has set us apart to Him, to live a holy life sanctified by Christ and in the Holy Spirit.
Leviticus 20:7-8; 23-26
God is Perfect
If God is perfect, what should our response to a perfect God look like in our daily living?
Transformed by the Holy Spirit
Christians live in the New Covenant and are being progressively transformed by the Spirit into the image of God as we consistently behold His glory.
2 Corinthians 3:12-18
Led by the Spirit
The Holy Spirit leads God’s children by revealing God’s will in Scripture, enabling us to understand, giving us a desire to follow, and empowering us to obey.
Romans 8:12-17