Living Faith: From Church to Daily Life

Devotional

Day 1: The Locker Room and the Field

The analogy of football helps us understand the dual importance of church gatherings and daily life. Just as a football team needs the locker room for planning and the field for executing, Christians need the church for spiritual preparation and the rest of the week to live out their faith. The church gathering is where we receive the game plan, but the real game is played in our daily lives. This dual focus ensures that our faith is not just theoretical but practical and lived out in real-world situations. [30:37]

Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV): "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

Reflection: How can you take what you learn in church and apply it in a specific situation you will face this week?

Day 2: Daily Commitment to Following Jesus

Jesus taught that following Him involves a daily commitment, symbolized by taking up our cross daily. This means continually dying to our own ways and living according to His teachings. It's a daily walk, not just a weekly event. This daily commitment requires us to be intentional about our faith every single day, making choices that align with Jesus' teachings and reflecting His love and grace in our actions. [46:31]

Luke 9:23 (ESV): "And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'"

Reflection: What is one specific way you can deny yourself and follow Jesus today?

Day 3: The Early Church's Daily Practice

The early church practiced their faith daily, both in the temple and at home. This shows that a daily walk with Jesus has always been integral to Christian life. Our faith should be a daily commitment, not just something we do on Sundays. The early Christians understood that their faith was a lifestyle, not a weekly ritual, and they lived it out in every aspect of their lives, from communal worship to personal devotion. [43:06]

Acts 2:46-47 (ESV): "And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."

Reflection: How can you incorporate a daily practice of faith into your routine, both in communal settings and in your personal life?

Day 4: The Lord's Prayer and Daily Dependence

Jesus' teachings, including the Lord's Prayer, emphasize daily dependence on God. "Give us this day our daily bread" reminds us that our relationship with God should be nurtured daily, not just weekly. This daily dependence on God helps us to rely on His provision and guidance in every aspect of our lives, recognizing that we need Him every day for our spiritual and physical sustenance. [44:46]

Matthew 6:11 (ESV): "Give us this day our daily bread."

Reflection: In what area of your life do you need to depend more on God today, and how can you actively seek His provision and guidance?

Day 5: Living Out Faith in Daily Life

What we learn in church should be taken with us and applied throughout the week. Reflect on what God is doing in your life and what actions you need to take in response. Our faith is lived out in the 167 hours between our weekly gatherings, making every day a game day for following Jesus. This means being mindful of God's presence and guidance in every moment, seeking to live out His teachings in practical ways. [55:51]

James 1:22 (ESV): "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

Reflection: What is one specific action you can take today to live out your faith in a practical way?

Sermon Summary

### Summary

In today's sermon, we explored the analogy of football to illustrate the importance of both the church gathering and living out our faith in daily life. Just as a football team needs both the locker room for planning and the field for executing, Christians need the church for spiritual preparation and the rest of the week to live out their faith. The locker room represents our church gatherings where we receive the game plan, while the field represents our daily lives where we put that plan into action.

We delved into the significance of not just attending church but actively living out our faith every day. The writer of Hebrews emphasized the importance of gathering together, but also highlighted that our faith journey is not confined to these gatherings. Jesus taught that following Him involves daily commitment, symbolized by taking up our cross daily. This means continually dying to our own ways and living according to His teachings.

We also discussed how the early church practiced their faith daily, both in the temple and at home, showing that a daily walk with Jesus has always been integral to Christian life. Jesus' teachings, including the Lord's Prayer, emphasize daily dependence on God. Therefore, our faith should be a daily walk, not just a weekly event.

To make this practical, we handed out to-go containers as a reminder that what we learn in church should be taken with us and applied throughout the week. We encouraged everyone to reflect on what God is doing in their lives and what actions they need to take in response. The goal is to ensure that our faith is lived out in the 167 hours between our weekly gatherings, making every day a game day for following Jesus.

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Key Takeaways

1. The Importance of the Locker Room and the Field: Just as a football team needs both the locker room for planning and the field for executing, Christians need the church for spiritual preparation and the rest of the week to live out their faith. The church gathering is where we receive the game plan, but the real game is played in our daily lives. [30:37]
2. Daily Commitment to Following Jesus: Jesus taught that following Him involves a daily commitment, symbolized by taking up our cross daily. This means continually dying to our own ways and living according to His teachings. It's a daily walk, not just a weekly event. [46:31]
3. The Early Church's Daily Practice: The early church practiced their faith daily, both in the temple and at home. This shows that a daily walk with Jesus has always been integral to Christian life. Our faith should be a daily commitment, not just something we do on Sundays. [43:06]
4. The Lord's Prayer and Daily Dependence: Jesus' teachings, including the Lord's Prayer, emphasize daily dependence on God. "Give us this day our daily bread" reminds us that our relationship with God should be nurtured daily, not just weekly. [44:46]
5. Living Out Faith in Daily Life: What we learn in church should be taken with us and applied throughout the week. Reflect on what God is doing in your life and what actions you need to take in response. Our faith is lived out in the 167 hours between our weekly gatherings, making every day a game day for following Jesus. [55:51]
### [55:51]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[28:37] - Football Season and Life Analogy
[29:32] - Locker Room vs. Game Environment
[31:12] - Church as the Locker Room
[33:16] - Importance of Gathering
[35:54] - Misconception of Church Attendance
[39:22] - No Points for Locker Room Talk
[40:30] - Following Jesus Daily
[43:06] - Early Church's Daily Practice
[44:46] - The Lord's Prayer and Daily Dependence
[46:31] - Taking Up Your Cross Daily
[49:05] - Daily Dying to Self
[55:51] - Box It Up and Take It With You
[57:01] - Daily Reminders of Faith
[59:30] - Every Day is Game Day
[62:25] - Benediction and Closing

Bible Study Guide

Observation Questions

According to Hebrews 10:25, what is the significance of gathering together as believers?
In Luke 9:23, what does Jesus mean by taking up our cross daily?
How did the early church practice their faith daily according to Acts 2:46-47?
What analogy did the pastor use to describe the importance of both church gatherings and living out our faith daily? ([30:37])

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think the writer of Hebrews emphasized not neglecting to meet together? How does this relate to the analogy of the locker room and the field? ([33:16])
What does it mean to "take up your cross daily" in the context of your personal faith journey? How does this daily commitment impact your life? ([46:31])
How does the daily practice of faith in the early church (Acts 2:46-47) challenge our modern understanding of church and faith? ([43:06])
Reflect on the pastor's statement that following Jesus happens mostly outside the locker room. How does this perspective change the way you view your daily life? ([40:30])

Application Questions

How can you make gathering with other believers a priority in your life, even when it feels inconvenient? What steps can you take to ensure you don't neglect this important aspect of your faith? ([33:16])
What are some practical ways you can take up your cross daily? Identify one specific area in your life where you need to deny yourself and follow Jesus more closely. ([46:31])
The early church met daily and shared meals together. How can you incorporate more frequent fellowship and shared experiences with other believers into your weekly routine? ([43:06])
Think about the "to-go" container analogy. What is one lesson or insight from recent church gatherings that you need to "box up" and apply in your daily life this week? ([55:51])
Reflect on the idea that every day is game day for following Jesus. How can you remind yourself of this truth each morning? What specific actions can you take to live out your faith daily? ([59:30])
The pastor mentioned the importance of daily reminders of faith, such as music, nature, or scripture. What daily reminder can you incorporate into your routine to keep your focus on Jesus? ([57:01])
How can you encourage and support others in your small group to live out their faith daily? Share one way you can be a source of encouragement to someone this week. ([33:16])

Sermon Clips

1. "In your faith journey and my faith journey, in the spiritual journey that we have with God, the locker room is the church or the weekend. Service or for most of us, Sunday, even though here at the summit, we have Thursday night services as well. For most of us, Sunday, the gathering, what we're doing right now, what you're a part of, if you're joining us online from wherever you're watching, that's the locker room and the game. The game is life during the week in between the Sundays." [31:12] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

2. "Following Jesus happens mostly outside the locker room. You don't play the game in the locker room. You play the game outside the locker room. You follow Jesus, really. This is a part of following Jesus. Glad you're here because we got to get the game plan. Okay? But actually, leaving here is when the game really gets started. And so you and I don't get points just for showing up and being here. No, no. We got to live this out because following Jesus happens mostly out there." [40:30] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

3. "It's a daily walk with Jesus. A daily walk. Not a weekly skip. It's a daily walk. It's not just here and there. It's every single day. And here's what you need to know. It's always been this. It's always been this way. This is not new. It may be new to you. It may be new to us. But it is not new. It's always been baked into the recipe of what it means to follow Jesus." [42:16] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

4. "If any of you wants to be my follower, a Christian, you must give up your own way, which means to take up your cross daily and follow me. That's what it means to take up your own cross, to give up your own way. And that's what it means to follow Jesus and that happens every single day, not once a week." [46:31] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

5. "What you and I should be really asking ourselves every day is, as a follower of Jesus, what needs to die in me today? What in my way needs to die? Maybe my way of thinking, my way, my opinion, my way of living. What needs to die off so that I can follow Jesus more seriously, more passionately? Yeah. That's a different way of thinking about the Christian life, isn't it? But that's the way Jesus said to think about it." [49:05] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

6. "Following Jesus is mostly, mostly a to-go kind of thing. It happens in between. It happens in between the Sundays. In the 167 hours that you will have from the time you leave here, from the time you show back up here, assuming that you come back here or you tune back in about the same time next week. Because there's 168 hours in a week. That's 24 times 7." [41:24] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

7. "Every day you need a reminder of the power of Jesus at work in your life. Every day you need to remind yourself of the principles of Jesus. Every day you need to interact in some way with the people who are also following Jesus. Now there's, fortunately, there's things in our world that God has given us that we can't do. There's things that we can put in our lives to remind us. To be regular reminders, to tap us on the shoulder as we get really busy and remind us, wait a second, what about my daily walk with Jesus?" [56:39] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

8. "We talk about forgiving in here, but you do that out there. In between the Sundays, we talk about mercy and grace. We talk about being patient with one another. We talk about loving first and serving and all of that. All of those kinds of things. But we talk about that mostly here, locker room. When we leave here, that's when. That's when. We get to live it out. At home, at the office, in our neighborhood. When we're watching the debates. See, that's when the reality of what we talk about in here comes to play." [58:18] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

9. "Every single day of your life is game day. Without fail. Game day is not just Sunday. Game day is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And then we'll come back on. And talk about how the game's going. What adjustments need to be made with the game plan. And, and, and then, and really the game plan never changes. The game plan has been the same. Jesus laid it out and it's good for all time for all people." [01:00:10] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

10. "Now may the God of peace who brought up from the dead, our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep. And ratified an eternal covenant with his blood. How's that for an introduction? May he equip you with all you need for doing his will. You're getting ready to leave here. You're getting ready for this 167 hours. All you need for doing his will. That is my prayer for you. That is our prayer for each other." [01:02:25] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

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