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Christianity is not confined to a specific day or place. It involves daily cross-bearing, prayer, unity, evangelism, service, Bible reading, and exhortation. Daily religion allows us to experience God's presence, fosters spiritual growth, and enables us to faithfully follow Christ.
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Sunday Church Religion? • We do not have a Sunday religion; Christianity is not limited to a day (Sunday / Wednesday night) or a place (church building) • We do not have a compartmentalized religion • We do not put God on a shelf
Daily Religion • OT priests offered “daily” sacrifices (Ex. 29:38; Num.28:3; Ezra 3:4) • NT priests (Rom.12:1-2; 1 Pet.2:5) have “daily” sacrifices and services as well
Daily Religion Involves… 1. Daily cross bearing: “And he said unto all, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Lk. 9:23) Like Paul (1 Cor. 15:31), we must make the self-sacrifices (self-denials) needed to faithfully serve Christ each day in the midst of hardships
Daily Religion Involves… 2. Daily prayer: “Give us day by day our daily bread” (Lk. 11:3) Incense offered daily in the OT is a type of NT prayer (Ex.30:7-8; Rev.5:8; 8:3) Like David (Psa. 88:9) and Daniel (6:10), we must make time for prayer each day to address our necessitites
Daily Religion Involves… 3. Daily unity: “And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple … (Acts 2:46) Like the NT Christians, we must make time to be together each day
Daily Religion Involves… 4. Daily evangelism: “And every day, in the temple and at home, they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus [as] the Christ” (Acts 5:42) Like Jesus (Lk.19:47; 21:37) and Paul (Acts 17:17; 19:9), we must seek out prospects to try and teach daily
Daily Religion Involves… 5. Daily service: “…there arose a murmuring of the Grecian Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration” (Acts 6:1) Like NT Christians, we must make time to serve daily those in and out of the church with needs
Daily Religion Involves… 6. Daily Bible reading: “Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11) Like Nehemiah (8:18), we must make time to read God’s word each day for truth and guidance (see Prov. 8:34)
Daily Religion Involves… 7. Daily exhortation: “but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13) Like NT Christians, we must make time to encourage others each day to avoid sin and apostasy
Daily Religion • Being a Christian = daily religion • Why daily religion? • Because God is there for us daily (Psa.68:19) • Because daily religion produces daily growth (Ac.2:47; 16:5; 2 Cor.4:16)