What is our testimony? It is evidence or proof of what we believe.

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1 "Maintaining our Christian Testimony" Community Group Questions 1. What is your prayer life like? 2. What is the next step your faith you need to take? 3. What are some things in your life that lead you to sin? 4. Do you ever get consumed with what others think of you? 1 One of the biggest struggles as a Christian is maintaining our Christians testimony. So many of the questions that came in have to do with living a life that protects us from those sinful pitfalls and maintains or Christian testimony. What is our testimony? It is evidence or proof of what we believe. Here are some questions that came in that focus around maintaining our Christian testimony. "How do I keep calm and not to be stressed out?" "Now that I am a Christian, why does life seem harder?" "What should I do when I feel beaten up by this cold world?" We all struggle to live a life that is pleasing to God and have a testimony that brings attention to the Lord and does not defame Him. Today in view of the these and questions and the common struggle I want teach 7 things from the Scriptures that will help us maintain our Christian testimony. - Prayer- (maybe you have communication issues) Nothing can substitute going to the Almighty, most high creator of the universe with our daily issues and needs. You cannot and will not maintain a solid Christian walk without the daily assistance and dependence on Jesus. 1 Peter 3:12 1

2 John Bunyan Author of Pilgrims Progress said Prayer will make a person cease from sin, or sin will entice a person to cease from prayer. - Take the next step in your faith (maybe you have growth issues) It is difficult to maintain a solid testimony if you are becoming stagnant, so push yourself to do something that will spark a newness in your faith...baptism, committing to membership, prayer life, study time, service opportunities. What are you not doing that you need to be doing? 2 Peter 3:17-18, William Burroughs said in his book "Junky" said "when you stop growing you start dying" As a Christian we need t realize that if we are not actively growing in our faith we are not only stagnating we can be dying. Hebrews 5:11-13 Which then leads to... - Consistency- Hebrew 5:14 (maybe you have follow through issues) In secular studies they found there are some common things found in successful people. One of those commonalities is having consistent routine. What does your routine look like? Does it address your spiritual, emotional and physical needs? If you are not consistent, with things in life it will manifest itself into self control and self discipline issues. Whatever issue is recurring in your life that is damaging your Christian testimony remember if you are consistent in your spiritual disciplines it can't possibly beat you everyday. When you fall get back up and try again. Nelson Mandela said The greatest glory in living, lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. 2 2

3 - Realize what leads you to sin. (maybe you have weakness issues) Matt 18:7 Superman kryptonite, what is your weakness. You can easily blow your testimony by falling into sin. It is so important to figure out where your weak points are, what leads you down the wrong path? A person, a substance, a computer, a thought pattern, a place etc. 3 Listen to the counsel of Jesus Matthew 18:8-9 Think about it this way...you can have a life of accomplishments but have one significant sinful fall and guess what everyone remembers you by? If I were to ask what was the US President Richard Nixon known for? Watergate Scandal. Do any of you know he started the EPA? Do you want your life to be defined by a sinful decision? As Christians we want to finish well. - Don't worry about what other Christians "should be" doing (maybe you have brothers keeper issues) Some people make it their habit or calling to make sure every Christian they know is doing what they think they should be doing. For example if one person finds a lot of value and fulfillment in ministering to children they may look at that as the only "real ministry" and criticize others who do not do so. This is not the accountability the Bible talks about the believers should have with one another. It is ignorance on how the Body of Christ should function. Romans 14:12 You are accountable to the Lord for yourself not them and when we start pointing the finger and criticizing it compromises our testimony and takes our focus off of what we are supposed to be doing and puts it on what "they" should be doing. As Christians we have to realize other Christians have the same Holy Spirit as we have. 3

4 - Don't worry about what non- Christians think of you. Proverbs 29:25 (maybe you have Fear of man issues) Many times we are afraid of what people will say or think about us. We are very concerned with being normal in their eyes. Because of that we do not do what we need to do for our spiritual life, we are afraid other will not approve or others will mock us. This works in a different way as well, sometimes we get consumed by what non- Christians think we should be doing as Christians or as the church because we want to impress people. Often times we want a pat on the back from non- Christians and although we may receive that sometimes, what non- Christians think should not be our focus in doing good things. We need to be concerned about what the Lord thinks and the fact that He defines what the church is called to do. Remember last week we learned about the Nature of Truth and we realize that is very unpopular with people who don't trust Jesus. So now when we are struggling to maintain our testimony the final thing we need to remember is... - The Gospel needs to be our focus. (maybe you focus/purpose issues)- Matt 28:19-20 here is why it is easy to get off track. We start to do good things because they are good things and we lose the focus that are good works are supposed to be done to bring people to Jesus. but for the Christian. Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. In our cultural climate people will never know that your good is done in vie w of the Lord unless you point them to Him. 4 4

5 Everything we do flows out of that message. Our Christian testimony will suffer if we focus on any one cause or good work and make it more important then the Gospel So today we remember our focus in communion. 5 5