Volume 4: Hear & Obey
Summary of Volume 4
In a previous handbook, we discussed that the primary Kingdom Fundamental for disciples is to “Love God.” To do that well, we learned how to engage with each person of the Trinity and understand how God is central to our faith. We are not to read about God, learn about Him, and memorize facts about Him. Instead, we must actively participate and cultivate a relationship with God because we now have access to Him through His work.
Yet, How does God expect us to grow in our relationship with Him? To continue our conversation on loving God, we must look to the model that Jesus lays out for us; for Jesus, the Scriptures were central to His relationship with God, and therefore we must engage them similarly, not just for information about God but also a facet of conversation with God. To love God well, we must listen to His voice through the Holy Spirit in partnership with the Bible.
Over the next few weeks, we will learn how to live out the Scriptures in our everyday ordinary lives. Through discussions, tools, and resources, we will learn the Kingdom Behaviors:
Listen to Jesus’ voice
Be obedient
Fear God and not humanity
Receive God’s power in the Holy Spirit
Allow the Holy Spirit to speak through us in times of testing
Be steadfast
Topics
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As disciples of Jesus, we should not only appreciate the Bible from afar, but we should also learn to study the scriptures for ourselves. For many of us, reading the Bible in a sitting is part of our devotion to God. However, many of us are afraid to begin to move beyond simply reading the text and practicing studying the Scriptures.
Yet, for our souls to be formed towards Christlikeness, it is vital to learn how to study and read the scriptures for all God has for His people.
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As followers of Jesus at Garden Church, we see the Scriptures as vital to our discipleship. The Bible is one of the primary avenues that God has chosen to speak to His people. To truly love God, we must go beyond simply reading the Bible for information and see it as a gateway to meeting and being with God.
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As mentioned before, the purpose of reading and studying Scripture is not just to learn more information about God. The primary purpose of reading the Bible is to know God, to hear His voice, and to be in His presence.
How do we take the intellectual discipline of Scripture and grow in our relationship of hearing God through it? It is through allowing the words we read to become lived out in our lives. This is how we know we are listening to God’s voice, and allowing Him to transform our lives.
