How does God guide us?

• God promises to guide us. 
• He also has a good plan for our lives. 
• Even Jesus sought God's guidance. 
• Our attitude to recieving God's guidance needs to be one of humility.

We will look at 5 ways God can guide us, all beginning with CS

1. Commanding Scripture (the Bible)

The Bible reveals general instruction for marriage, work, money, children, elderly relatives etc.

It may also bring to light a particular verse in to a specific situation.

2. Compelling Spirit (The Holy Spirit)

God speaks to us as we pray. This can be thoughts, strong impressions and feelings.

God will give us a strong desire to do something.

Sometimes He guides in more unusual ways, such as prophecy, dreams, visions, pictures, angels or an  audible voice.

Whenever God guides us through the Holy Spirit we need to test it. Is it loving? Is it in line with the Bible? Is it strengthening, encouraging and comforting? Does it bring the peace of God?

3. Common Sense

John Stott said this, 'God's promises of guidance were not given to save us from the problem of thinking.'

Use the gifts God has given you.

4. Counsel of the Saints (seeking advice from other Christians).

The book of Proverbs tells us several times to seek the advice of others. We need to be sensible about who we ask.

Any decision we make is our responsibility, not the responsibility of those we have sought guidance from.

5. Circumstantial Signs

Ultimately, God is in control. He will open and close doors in our lives.

We need to watch the circumstances but hold these in light of other guidance.

Sometimes we need to persevere in spite of the circumstances.

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We need to look for more than one area of guidance when possible. 

We need to be patient when Waiting for God's plan to unfold.

We all make mistakes in interpreting God's guidance.

God is always working for our good.

Recommended Reading

'Chasing the Dragon' by Jackie Pullinger

Why and how should I read the Bible?

The Bible is popular, precious and powerful.

We should read the Bible because it is God Himself speaking to us, and doing us good, both in this life and the life to follow.

In Matthew 4:4 we read, 'People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'

The Bible brings revelation
The Bible is a collection of books written by over 40 authors over a period of about 1500 years. The entire Bible is inspired by God, sometimes referred to as God-breathed. The Bible is useful as a manual for life, providing guidelines for healthy living and guidance for good decisions.

The Bible builds relationship
The Bible is one way God speaks to people. It speaks to those exploring the Christian faith. God also speaks to Christians through the Bible, about such things as: becoming like Jesus, joy and peace in the midst of a storm, guidance, health and healing, defence against spiritual attack, power, and cleansing.

So how should we read the Bible?

Find a time
Develop a regular pattern.

Find a place
The Bible says find 'a solitary place' (Mark 1:35)

Find a method
Before you start reading, ask God to speak to you as you read. Read a short passage. Access Bible reading notes. Be disciplined about it. You could use an email program such as 'Bible in one year'.

Ask yourself:

• What does it say to me?
• What does it mean to me?
• How does it apply to me?

Respond in prayer and then, crucially, put what you have read into practice. We are meant to be 'doers of the Word.'

Recommended Reading

'Why Trust the Bible?' by Amy Orr-Ewing, '30 Days' by Nicky Gumbel, 'NIV Alpha Bible in One Year' and The Bible, alpha.org/bioy

Why and how do I pray?

On the Alpha Course we are talking about Christian prayer! Lots of people might have said a prayer without really knowing if anyone, or anything, was listening, and even if someone was listening, did they care?

Put simply, prayer is a conversation... a conversation with God!

Prayer is perhaps the most important activity of our lives. The whole of the Trinity is involved in prayer. We pray to God the Father, through Jesus the Son, and by the Holy Spirit. We will learn more about the Trinity further on in the course.

Jesus prayed, regularly. If He felt the need to pray, probably we need to also.

Why do we pray?

Prayer allows us to develop our relationship with God. We need to remember that prayer is a two-way conversation with God, a dialogue, not a monologue.

Isn't it incredible that the God who created the universe speaks to us?! We will find out more about how God does this in two weeks when we look at 'How does God guide us?'

Prayer brings a peace, knowing that God is involved in your circumstances. It also brings a different perspective. A big problem can seem very small knowing that God is with you. Prayer also has power. Circumstances can change, sometimes instantly, because of prayer.

Some might say the results of prayer are simply coincidences. William Temple, a former archbishop of Canterbury, said this: 'When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don't, they don't.'

God hears our prayers - all of them. However, He doesn't always give us the answers we want. However, He will give us the answers we need. Imagine a child, still at school, asking to join you for a large glass of your favourite alcoholic drink at the pub. You might say 'No' or you might say 'Wait'. Why? It is not good for the child to have a large glass of alcoholic drink in a pub! Prayer is not a spiritual magic wand to get what you want.

Some things we ask for in prayer are not right for us, not good for us, even though we think they are. God answers prayers with a 'Yes', a 'No' or a 'Wait'. His answers will always be perfect for us.
He is a loving father. He wants the best for us and will answer prayers accordingly.

How do we pray?

There is no set way to pray. You can pray anywhere. You can have you eyes open or your eyes closed.  You can be stood up, walking, running, driving, kneeling down, sat down, even lying down. Prayers can be long or short. You can pray out loud or in your head. You can use any spoken language. You can use sign language. You can pray on your own or with others. When you pray with others it is good to pray out loud so that others can join in with your prayers! And if you are driving, keep your eyes open!

Prayers are not just to ask for things! Imagine if you had a child that only ever spoke to you when they wanted something. Of course, you would still love them, but you would probably want to train them in the art of conversation! God wants us to tell Him everything, to chat with Him about everything.

Some people use ACTS to help to know how to pray.
A for adoration. Tell God you love Him.
C is for confession. Tell God you are sorry for anything you have done wrong today.
T is for thanksgiving. Thank God for things He has done for you.
S is for supplication. Last of all, supplication; in other words, make your requests to God.

This is only a helpful guide to get you started in prayer. It is not in any way a 'rule' for praying.

It is good to have some regular times to pray, but it is good to pray here-and-there throughout the day, about anything and everything, and for anything and everything.

Start speaking to God, and then listen for Him speaking to you!

Recommended Reading:
'God on Mute' by Peter Greig, 'Too Busy Not to Pray' by Bill Hybels and 'What About `Other Religions?' by Nicky Gumbel.

How can we have faith?

God wants us to know, with certainty, that believers have eternal life. Faith is built not on feelings, but on facts; it is not a blind faith, but a faith built on evidence. In 1 John 5:13 we read this, 'I write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.'

Alex explained to us that there are three main reasons that allow us to be sure of our faith:

1, The word of God (the Bible).
We can not trust our feelings, as they change and can even be wrong. We rely on God's promises, such as:

• 'I will come in' (Revelation 3:20)
• 'I am with you always' (Matthew 28:20)
• 'I give them eternal life' (John 10:28)

Faith is believing in God's promises and daring to believe them!

2, The work of Jesus

We have heard from Toni (last week) that we cannot earn God's forgiveness, but Jesus died on the cross so that we can have a relationship restored with God. Alex pointed out the following facts:

• We can have a gift of eternal life given from God, rather than dependant on anything we have done (Romans 6:23)
• God loves us and died to prove it (John 3:16)
• He took our sins (wrong words, actions and thoughts) upon Himself (Isaiah 53:6 and 2 Corinthians 5:21) 

3, The witness of the Holy Spirit

When someone becomes a Christian, God comes to live inside them by His Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9)

• He transforms us from within. Our security, relationships and characters change over time (Galatians 5:22-23)
• He brings a deep personal assurance that we are His child (Romans 8:15-16)

We will hear more about the Holy Spirit later on the course!

Thankfully, our lives with God are not dependant on us, but on Him! We may have doubts and changeable feelings, but God doesn't!

Why did Jesus die?

Every person has a problem, and that problem is sin. The Bible tell us that 'All have sinned...' (Romans 3:23). Sin is thinking, saying or doing anything that is against God and his perfect standard. There are some very important consequences of sinning. We can remember these with 4Ps:

• Pollution of sin (Mark 7:20-23)
• Power of sin (John 8:34)
• Penalty for sin (Romans 6:23)
• Partition of sin (Isaiah 59:2)

Sin pollutes us, makes us feel guilty, embarrassed, ashamed. Sin is powerful, we can fall into addiction and bad habits: this can be drinking, drugs, gambling etc. but also things like gossiping, being lazy or a control freak. There can be a penalty for sin. This can be a legal penalty for breaking the law, but also things like family break-down if someone has commit adultery. However, the biggest consequence of sin is the partition it causes between us and God. Toni referred to sins as like black spots against our name. Even one sin, one black spot, means we can not earn a relationship with a perfect God or earn in a place in a perfect Heaven.

However, God had a plan to solve this. Because of His great love for us, He sent his only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for us. Jesus willingly went to the cross in our place, taking the punishment that we deserved, so that we don't have to face that punishment.

This has fantastic results for us. We are cleansed. Toni showed us that our black spots are taken from us and given to Jesus. This means when we die there are no longer any black spots against us. Jesus paid the price for us. Toni explained that this is our choice. We choose to give our black spots to Jesus by saying 'Yes' to Him and following Him. 

When you say 'Yes' to following Jesus you begin a relationship with Him instantly. Toni explained that Christianity is a relationship with the living God, not a religion. Jesus helps you in life now, through His Holy Spirit, and helps you overcome sinful habits and behaviour, even though we all still stumble sometimes. Then, when we die, we stand before Jesus without any black spots against us, because Jesus paid the penalty for them at the cross, and we go to Heaven! 

Toni pointed out that you can never be good enough to earn your place in Heaven, only choosing Jesus, as the person whom paid the price for you, can give you entry.

That is why Jesus died and why it is so important to Christians.

Who is Jesus?

There is evidence outside the New Testament that Jesus exists, including Tacitus and Suetonius (Roman historians) and Josephus (a Jewish historian).

The major point of evidence lies with the New Testament. But how do we know that what was written down in the New Testament has not been changed over the years? Scholars use a process called 'textual criticism'. Essentially, the more manuscripts we have, and the earlier they are to the original, the less doubt there is about the original. The New Testament compares better in this process than just about any other ancient book. One of the greatest textual critics ever, F. J. A. Hort, said this: `In the variety and fullness of the evidence on which it rests, the text of the New Testament stands absolutely and unapproachably alone amongst ancient prose writings’ — and no secular historian would disagree with that conclusion. Sir Frederick Kenyon, who’s an expert in this field, sums it up like this: `The interval, then, between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established.’

Work	Date Written	Earliest Copy	Time Lapse	No. of Copies
Herodotus	488 - 428 BC	AD 900	1,300 Years	8
Thucydides	460 - 100 BC	AD 900	1,300 Years	8
Tacitus	AD 100	AD 1100	1000 Years	20
Caesar’s Gallic Wars	58 – 50 BC	AD 900	950 Years	9-10
Livy’s Roman History	59 BC – AD17	AD 900	900 Years	20
New Testament	AD 40 - 100	AD 130 (full manuscripts AD 350)	30-310 Years	5000 + Greek 10,000 Latin 9,300 others

Jesus was fully human. We know he had a human body, for example, he got tired and hungry. He had human emotions. we know he got angry, he loved, he felt sadness. We know he had human experiences, such as temptation, learning, work and obedience.

He also had a lot to say about himself! He made lots of 'I am...' claims, especially in the book of John. He forgave people of their sins and he said he would judge the world. They are dramatic claims! Even more dramatic were his claims to be the messiah, the Son of God, and God the Son.

CS Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, said this: 'A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be insane, or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Let us not come up with any patronising nonsense about his being a great moral teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. We are forced then with a frightening alternative. However strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that he was and is God.

There is a lot of evidence to support the view that Jesus was the Son of God: his teaching, his works, his character, his fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy, his rising from the dead!

Further reading: 'Mere Christianity' by C. S. Lewis, 'The Case for Christ' by Lee Strobel, 'Orthodoxy' by G. K. Chesterton, 'Jesus is' by Judah Smith