The Lord makes firm
the STEPS
of the one who
delights in him;
though he may stumble,
he will not fall,
for the Lord
upholds him
with his hand.
Psalm 37.23-24
245 S. Raynolds,
Canon City, CO 81212
729-269-3695
[email protected]
www.vineyardlive.org
God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run
on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our
spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed
on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us
happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us
a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.
How did it go?
Take a minute and comment on how this STEP was for
you to complete.
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Introduction:
Welcome to STEPS, the beginning of your spiritual journey with Jesus.
One of the unique things about a journey with God is
that you must take a risk and ‘step out in faith’. In STEP
1 you’ll read some bible verses, reflect on some questions, and say a prayer out loud to God. If this is new for
you, it may seem strange! But I think you’ll be surprised
with the results. You’ll complete this step by doing the
Activity of Completion before moving on to the next
booklet. You’ll keep the completed booklets for yourself. You can get your completed STEP stamped at our
reception desk if you like or just proceed to the next
one.
The beginning of any spiritual journey starts with the
most basic of concepts: God! Is there a God? How can
we know him? And if He exists, how do we make contact? What does he want from us?
These are some powerful questions, perhaps asked by
every person ever to live on planet earth. The bible addresses these and many other questions with some
powerful truths about the God of the universe who has,
in fact, made contact with us.
Sign, bring to the church receptionist or Welcome Desk for the seal
and get your next booklet!
__________________________
(Signature)
Conclusion:
These scriptures make the following claims; that God is
revealing himself to us at every moment through nature;
that this should impact what we ‘give ourselves’ to in
life; that this revealing occurs even in our internal conscience; that he has revealed himself specifically in the
Scriptures, and finally how our participation in these
truths will bring blessing to our lives. Now take these
truths and form them into a prayer.
Prayer:
“God, if you’re real will you please open my eyes to see
you as you reveal yourself in many ways. Help me not to
replace you with ‘lesser’ things.”
Here are some of the things the bible has to say: 1) God
is real 2) He has been reaching out to mankind the
whole time 3) He reveals himself continually to us, in a
general way through creation (internally in our conscience, externally in nature) and 4) more specifically
through the Scriptures themselves.
Scriptures/Reflection (Questions)
The following are some scripture passages for you to consider and
reflect upon. If you don’t have a bible, just ask the church receptionist (or person at the Welcome Table) and we would love to provide one for you. You can find the verses by looking in the table of
contents.
1. Psalm 19—Read this psalm, starting with verses 1-6.
How is God revealing himself to us here?
(express some of those ‘lesser’ things out loud and surrender them to God as best you can).
Activity of Completion: (The final portion of each STEP is completed when the “Activity of Completion” has been done. It is intended to solidify what you have been learning through a tangible
action)
(Suggested time: 30 minutes) Go to the Arkansas River
and find a comfortable, private place to sit (in your car if
it’s cold out!). Starting on your left and working your
way to the right, pause for everything you see, identify it
out loud, and thank God for making it. After you’ve
done this with all you see, ask God to reveal himself to
you in new ways. Ask God to reveal his glory to you.
Wait at least 5 minutes, asking God these things and to
give you calm.
2. Romans 1.20— What are the two things it says have
been ‘clearly seen’? Do you see these things when
you look at some of the awesome parts of nature?
3. Romans 1.20 ends by saying ‘people are without
excuse’ when it comes to deciding whether there’s a
God or not...What do you think of this?
6. Read Psalm 19.7-9. This passage gives 6 attributes of
the scriptures and 6 ways they bless us—write these
out in your own words and comment on how this
would affect you personally.
4. The passage continues (Romans 1.21-23) by outlining what people have substituted for the knowledge
of God. What have you personally replaced the
‘glory of God’ with?
5. Read Romans 2.14-16. What has God placed inside
of us? How does this reflect the reality of his existence?
7. Psalm 1.1-3 contrasts the person who ‘meditates’ on
scripture with the one who does not, ending with a
beautiful image of this person. Comment and consider what it would take for you to be a person who
does this.