Living a Christian Life

1. Living a Christian Life An introduction to living your new life as a Christian

2. Contents • Introduction • Daily Life • Prayer • Baptism • Witnessing • Worship • Resources

3. Introduction • Welcome. This is not a self help guide book, this is not going to tell you how to live your life, and this is not going to tell you what you need to do as a Christian. What it will do is point you down what we consider the right path in your life. We can say this because this is Bible driven and not just a bunch of words that we have made up. Just like the Seven Steps program there will be Bible verses included, and there will be further reading suggestions, not necessarily from the Bible this time, but from authors who have written about life using the Bible.

4. Daily Life • We have broken down your day to day life into four sections • Thoughts • Sounds • Actions • Associations • Each section focusing on a different portion of your life, and how you can use that portion of your life to show that you are a child of God and that that means a great deal to you.

5. Daily Life - Thoughts • Your thoughts, something that at one point in your life you thought were just for you and that no one else knew what you were thinking. Now you know otherwise, that’s right, God can and does read our minds and out hearts, so He knows what is really going on. What do you think about that. • The thoughts of a Christian, that is rather hard to pin down in just a few sentences, mostly because they are different from person to person. So in the next few slides, we will provide some questions so that you can take a look at what you are thinking about, and then think about how you can change that.

6. Daily Life - Thoughts • I have been told by more than one person that our thoughts should be like a pray, constant communication with God, what do you want to talk to God about? What do you think that God would think about your thoughts right now? • What should I focus my mind on so that God will be happy?

7. Daily Life - Thoughts • God wants to be our best friend, what would you talk to your best friend about (remember you thoughts are constant communication with God)?

8. Daily Life - Sounds • Sounds, they are everywhere, they come out of your computer, your stereo, your car and your mouth. They can come from an instrument, a speaker, or just about anything. The sounds of your life are just as important as your thoughts, partially because they do have an impact on what you are thinking, and they partially impact your actions. • Learning what effect your music and what you say has on you and those around you is a big first step. The next few slides will once again ask some questions, then there will be some reference slides about Christian music.

9. Daily Life - Sounds • Are the words of my speech something that my English teacher would let me use in a paper? • Are my words something that a grandparent would like to hear? • What would Jesus think if I said what I say to others to him (guess what, you are, every time we interact with others, positively or negatively, we are interacting with Jesus)?

10. Daily Life - Sounds • What are the lyrics to the music that I listen to? • What do the lyrics say about life, about how we should treat others, about immoral actions, or about even God? • Is the music we listen to something that you would like to say about your best friend (God)?

11. Daily Life - Sounds • No matter what type of music that you listen to, there is God praising music out there, you just have to take a look. To take some of the work out of it, I’ve done it for you. • The next slid is of examples of different Christian bands that are God praising and they still follow whatever music style you might be accustom to.

12. Rock • Reliant K • DC Talk • Newsboys • Jars of Clay • Switchfoot • Lifehouse • Casting Crowns • Third Day • Rap/R+B • Winans Phase 2 • Techno/House • Newsboys (Remixed CD) • Ska • Five Iron Frenzy • Love Songs (Ballads) • Steven Curtis Chapman (All About Love CD) • General Praise • Steven Curtis Chapman • MercyMe • Avalon • Big Daddy Weave • There are lots of other praise bands, just ask anyone in the reference section, they will point you in the right direction

13. Daily Life - Actions • Actions, what we say and what we do. We have already covered what we say, so this will be more of what we do. • Our actions can controlled through one easy thought, What Would Jesus Do (ever seen the WWJD stuff and wonder what it meant, now you know) • The harder part comes with changing habits, or more trading our bad habits for ones that praise God, and show that we are Christian

14. Daily Life - Actions • What Would Jesus Do, four words that can be the answer to the question “What do I do now?” in every situation that you could imagine. • “Why does this work?” Jesus was perfect, Jesus never sinned. So, if we take that as our example in how we deal and interact with other people, then we ourselves will work toward that perfection that God so wants us to have. Do not fool yourself, you will never be perfect, none of us will, but living a Christ like life, is possibly the best thing that we can do as a Christian.

15. Daily Life - Actions • “What exactly is a Christ-like life?” you might be wondering. It is easy, daily prayer and adoration to the Lord, or father, helping others, sharing the word, and living life for God, not for our selves. • Read through the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, to learn more about how Jesus lived his life. Then you can read the letters that were written by the disciples and the Acts of the Apostles to learn about how their lives where directly affected by Christ in the few years to follow the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

16. Daily Life - Actions • Habits, we all have them, and we all have ones that we wish that we did not have. I do not have any flashy advice for how to break these bad habits, except hard work, and constant thought about what you are doing. • “What are some good habits that can praise God?” you might be wondering. Well once again I direct you to the life of Jesus. Jesus had many habits, all that praised God. One key habit is prayer, almost constant prayer. We will discuss prayer more in-depth in the next section.

17. Daily Life – Associations • Your friends, your co-workers, your peers: possibly the biggest influence on your life, whether you realize it or not. The affect the way that we think, they affect that we act, and they affect the way that we react. Whether we like it or not, sometimes we need to make very hard decisions when it comes to our friends. • Now that you are a Christian, just like your music, your speech, and your actions, your friends need to reflect that. No matter who you are, friends can either make or break your life as a Christian.

18. Daily Life - Associations • We are not here to tell you that you need to go out and tell all of your non-Christian friends “I’m sorry, I can’t associate with you anymore.” That is not what living like Christ is about. • What we recommend is that you change your inner circle of friends, the friends that you are going to spend the most time with, the friends that you are going to go to when you need someone to talk to, the friends that you are going to talk to when you feel lost, alone, scared. These friends should be your fellow Christians, because they are going to be the ones that want you to find peace in Christ, not through some material outlet.

19. Daily Life - Associations • We are also not here to tell you that all of your friends that are not Christian are bad influences upon you, the might not all be. That final decision, on who you need to spend more time with, and who you need to spend less time with comes down to being between you and God. Pray to God for advice when it comes to your friends. Ask him to point you toward which friends are going to build you up in Him, not bring you away from Him.

20. Prayer • Prayer, the open communication with God. There are many different out looks and beliefs about prayer and how you should pray. The general idea behind the different ideas remains the same however. We will first look at the basic structure of how you should pray, and what you need to be doing when you pray. Some of the stuff might seem rather obvious, but take a look around and you might see that they need to be talked about, even with life-long Christians.

21. Prayer – Basic Structure • There are four main parts to a prayer. • Adoration • Thanksgiving • Repentance • Petition

22. Prayer – Basic Structure • Adoration, the first and most important part of a prayer. Tell God just how awesome he is, tell him just how much he means to you. • God knows your heart, and if you mean what you say when you tell him these things, He will be really happy, and that’s what we are here for, a friendship with God.

23. Prayer – Basic Structure • Thanksgiving, God has done so much for you, and for all of us. Take some time to thank Him for what He has done for you since the last time that you prayed, thank Him for what He has done for you throughout your life. Thank Him for forgiving you and thank Him that He will continue to forgive you. Whatever you can think to thank God for, do it, for without God, we are nothing and we would have nothing.

24. Prayer – Basic Structure • Repentance, face you’re a sinner, I’m a sinner, we are all sinners. The good news though is that God is willing to wipe the slate clean and remove all that sin. All you have to do is ask. When God forgives your sin, he forgets about it and throws it as far as the east is from the west (think about it, the east and the west never meet, so that is like forever plus some). God is willing to forgive us time and time again for the same mistakes, but do not abuse that privilege (it is a privilege, not a right) try and correct in your life what you know is wrong, that is part of being a Christian.

25. Prayer – Basic Structure • Petition, God knows your heart, He knows what you need and what you want. Now is the time to ask for His help. God does not want us to come to Him day in, day out asking for money, a better job, or anything that will put us before Him. Instead learn to ask God what He wants you to do, ask Him for the strength to do what He wants you to do, ask Him for the knowledge to do what He wants you to do, ask Him for the serenity to live with the portions of His plan that might not seem like they are the right thing, or that might be very hard for you to deal with. Through your journey as a Christian you will learn that doing God’s will, not our own is so awesome and so fulfilling that no amount of money, not amount of material wealth is better.

26. Prayer • Simply that: • Adoration • Praising God • Thanksgiving • Thanking God • Repentance • Asking God to forgive you • Petition • Asking God for His help in your life • The only thing to remember, is that you need to pray with your heart, not your mind, for God can see both, what is important to Him is that you truly mean what you say, with all of your hear

27. Baptism • Baptism is a very powerful topic that means different things to different people based upon differing religious views. Here we will try and best represent what the Bible says about baptism, since that is what we should base all of our faith upon.

28. Baptism • Why be baptized? • Jesus’ last command to his disciples in the last chapter of Matthew is to go and make disciples of people of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. To teach them everything that they have been taught, so that the word of Christ might spread throughout the entire world.

29. Baptism • How can I be baptized? • There are three major forms of baptism. • The first is primarily used with infants and that is by sprinkling water on their head. • The second is by pouring water on the head while standing in a pool of water. • The third form is by total submersion into water.

30. Baptism • Which is the right form of baptism? • The Bible does not say exactly how to baptize people, that is the reason for the differing opinions. In Biblical times however baptism was the sign of a Christian, it was what separated the Christians from the Jewish and the Gentiles. It was most often done shortly after a person accepted Christ as their savior, and was most often done in public, usually in a river or lake.

31. Baptism • This Biblical form of baptism is followed most closely by the second and third types of baptism discussed earlier. This does not mean that the first type is wrong however, it is just a differing opinion upon how a baptism should occur.

32. Baptism • I was baptized when I was an infant, now that I’ve accepted Christ, should I be baptized again? • This decision is completely up to you and your parents/guardian. Usually baptism is a one time deal, it only needs to happen once, since you only need to accept Christ into your life once. However, if you want to display to the public in a ceremony that you are more likely to remember than one as an infant, and you believe that it is the right thing for you, then we encourage you to be baptized a second time.

33. Witnessing • Witnessing, the act of telling non-believers the truth in Christ, spreading the Good Word. Possibly the hardest thing for a lot of Christians, because they do not know how to, or they might not fully understand why, or they might not fully understand how dire witnessing is to the Christian fellowship. Hopefully we can give you the insight that you need to be able to be a witness for God, so that you might be able to spread the Good News throughout your area.

34. Witnessing • “Why is telling others so important?” • The answer to this question has never been better than through a song by Casting Crowns: “If We are the Body.” In just two simple lines, the reasoning behind witnessing is explained. • “Jesus paid much to high a price For us to pick and choose who should come”

35. Witnessing • Jesus died on the cross so that all who come to know and accept him as their savior might not die but have eternal life. Who are we to pick who should hear about His name. We cannot force people to accept Christ, but we do control whether they hear the Good News or not. • If we choose to not tell others the Good News, it is almost like denying Christ ourselves. Jesus said “but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in Heaven.” Matthew 10:33

36. Witnessing • “Okay, now I see why we should witness, but how?” • There are so many ways to witness to others, I could not begin to label them all, more the less write them all for you to read. What I can do is offer you just a few, and from there, take a look at your life, and see what you can do, in order that you might be a witness for Christ.

37. Witnessing • Straight forward. This method is just the way that it sounds, and to some, is the most intimidating method, and that is why it is the least favorite for many. Basically put, you tell the Good News to people, most of the time when they need to hear it. It can begin with questions from the other person, or a comment from you. Tell the Good News, tell them about Jesus and what Jesus did for us. Tell them about God, and tell them why God has done what He has done. Tell them your story, if you feel comfortable, your testimony is a good way of showing change in someone's life from a non-Christian to a true believer.

38. Witnessing • Round-about. Another method that is just the way that it sounds. This method uses a less direct method of possibly getting people to ask about God and Christ, allowing you to directly tell them the Good News. It can also be used to share the message, but might not be as effective as a straight forward approach.

39. Witnessing • Technologically aided. This one happens to be my favorite, it is the reason that you are reading this, and it is the reason that you might have gone through Students for Christ’s 7 Step program. We live in a world where technology and computers are everything, and most people have a challenging time going one day without their computer or cell phone or PDA or whatever. We might as well use this to God’s advantage and reach out with the computer screens of the world.

40. Witnessing • Action. Without saying a single word we can often witness more powerfully than through a thousand. A kind action, a polite gesture, a good attitude, and even simply a smile on your face. These are things that are going to touch people in ways I cannot begin to describe. The affect, people thinking “I want that” “That’s what I want to be doing” “I want to be happy like him, all the time.” So keep a smile on your face, and remember WWJD. • Unfortunately, action can also be the biggest testament against our faith. If we do show just how good life is with Christ and just how much of a positive affect on us being with Him had had on us, then what are other people going to look at us and think?

41. Worship • “Worshiping God, isn’t that just going to church on Sunday?” Well, that is a start, but it is just the tip of the iceberg. Worshiping God is a complete lifestyle. Everything that we do in our lives, we should do in a way that is worshipful to God. From washing the dishes, to driving our car, there are endless ways that we can find to worship God, in every activity that fills our days.

42. Worship • The different ways that people find to do intense, focused on God worship are about as many as there are people worshiping God. And that is the way that God wants it to be. Our worship to God is like a way of saying “thank you,” for everything that He does for us, it is the least that we can do in return for Him. And through this worshiping we can build our relationship with Him, which is a large part of why we are here, on Earth. • The next few slides will go through a few broad categories of ways that we can worship God in our every day lives, whether it be the intense, focused worship, or just walking with God through the halls of our life.

43. Worship • Music, I have been told that God came up with music, that we might praise Him without words. Whether it be instrument or voice, let the beautiful music that God granted you sing praises to His name, for He is the reason that you have that gift. • Art, I have been told that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well it would make sense then that we could paint a picture for God, using the talents that He gave us, to show our gratitude for what He has done in our lives.

44. Worship • Speaking, there are some of us that have been granted the wonderful ability of public speaking. Use this to speak out in public for God, witness to others His name. Thousands are crying out daily, being there to talk to them, shows God, just how much He means to us. • Driving, now wait, is not driving something at hat we all do, that we really do not have to worry about God, because we need to worry about the road. Sorry, that is not the way that it works. Believe it or not, we can drive our cars in ways that worship God. Driving with integrity, following the rules of the road, even when there is no one for miles, is driving for God. And anything that we do for God, is worship to His heavenly name.

45. Resources • Students for Christ Cheyennesfc_cheyenne@yahoo.com • Andy AdamsSigaACristo@netscape.net • Rachel SmithDaddyzgirl_247365@yahoo.com • Ian Fowdencyberpooch5@hotmail.com • Jimmy Carterjimmyneutron_2006@hotmail.com • Sarah Coffinrocasdecristo@bresnan.net