A Closer Walk With God

 

Sermon Study Questions

 Phil 3:7-14, James 4:8a

Purpose: If we want a closer walk with God we must choose it 

I’d like to call your attention to a scene which we have all observed.

Those of you who are mothers have actually done it, but those of us who aren’t mothers have seen it. Do you recall the scene of a baby crying and when the mother takes the baby up in her arms to comfort the baby, she lays the baby on her breast and the baby stops crying?

Do you know why that works so wonderfully nearly every time? It is because that baby lying on his mother’s breast hears that heartbeat that he heard for those first nine months as he waiting to make his entrance into the world. That heartbeat that always there, so close and so comforting.

That heartbeat that told him that there was someone greater close by that loved him immensely and was supplying his every need. Babies hear that heartbeat and know they are close to the one who loves them beyond measure. The heart of every baby desires to be close to the heart of its mother. The soul of man desires a closeness with his Creator. The emptiness and purposelessness that plagues so many people in our society is caused by a secret longing of the soul to be closer to God and not knowing how to satisfy that longing.

How do we achieve that closer walk that our soul so desperately needs? The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians about his walk with God and what it meant to him. In this text we will find the answer. So, let us turn to the text to answer the question of how we achieve a closer walk with God.

 Understanding The Text

 2.  Read Philippians 3:7-14  What stands out to you in this passage?

 3.  What does James 4:8  teach us about God’s character?

 4.  Look at the other Bible passages in this lesson.List the reason (s) that each gives that we draw near to God!

•  Jeremiah 20:9

 

•  Gal 5:22-23

 

•  John 14:6

 Applying The Text

5.  Name four (4) of the things  mentioned in the sermon that we should choose if we want to draw closer to God.

•  Choose to _____________. what God   _____________.

•  Explain what this means to you.

 

•  Choose to _____________. God in faith.

•  Explain what this means to you.

 

•  Choose to be _____________. with God.

•  Explain what this means to you.

 •  Choose to seek God’s  _____________. above all else..

•  Explain what this means to you.

Owning The Text

6.  What does Romans 8:35-39 give us the assurance of?

 7.  What does John 14:15 exhort us to do?

 8.  If you learned what God wants you to learn from Proverbs 16:7 , how would it impact those around you?

 9.  What should be your first step in getting close to God?

 Sermon Study Questions. Copyright 2012 by Rev. S. J. Bowers