Back to Basics - Week One
“Let us follow God's Word and not the
traditions of men”
Pastor Matt.
January 2, 2005
Mark
7:1-8. The religious leaders wanted the disciples to be religious on the
outside because they thought what you do on the outside is what connects a person to God.
Let us pray that we do not have all the
symbols of religion and still not be following God’s will as a church.
1
John 5:2-3a. If we love God, we obey His commands. We must seek His Word and follow His commands as a church. The
days of following the traditions of men instead of the commands of God have come to an end at Westwood
Baptist Church.
This
is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
This is love for God: to obey his commands…
Luke 5:36-39. wineskins
The natural man likes his old ways. He likes his old wine—that is, his old religion.
The
important thing is to recognize that our Lord brought something new to mankind—the gospel. He did not come into
the world to do any patching of the old garment. He did not come to patch up the Law. He came to pay the penalty of sin by
dying on the cross. But He did more than that. He arose from the dead so that He could place upon us His robe of righteousness.
He gives us the new wine of the gospel.
The new wine of the gospel must be placed in the new wineskin of grace, not into the old one of law.
There is a constant contrast between the law and grace.
2 Tim 3:1-5 a form of Godliness but…none of the power
But
mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers
of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love,
unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God-- having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
1 Corinthians 15:1-8…the cross…focus on the cross
Now,
brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.
Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you
as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised
on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and
then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the
brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
We are going to focus on the cross as we study the Scriptures and discover what God wants us to do
Will you join with me in this process?
Dt 10:12-13. The Lord wants us to walk with Him and observe His commands
And
now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him,
to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that
I am giving you today for your own good?
Don’t be fearful, don’t be
afraid, unless that fear comes because you do not want to do the things of God.
Be on board as we seek the face of
God. As we attempt to find God’s direction for this church and walk in
it.