Pastor Marty Sloan | April 19/20, 2025

The Simplicity of Following Jesus

I Corinthians 15:17-22 (NIV)
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Acts 15:19-20 (NIV)
“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.

Acts 15:28-29 (NIV)
It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

Luke 9:23 (ESV)
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

John 14:6 (NIV)
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Romans 3:22-23 (NIV)
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God …

Romans 10:9-11,13 (NIV)
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” … for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 6:8-14 (NIV)
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Questions and reflections:
1. How is my belief in Jesus being lived out daily?

2. How is my behavior reflecting a transformed life?

3. Where am I on the journey to being more like Jesus?

Resources used and suggested for this message:
1. “I Corinthians: The Word of the Cross” by Stephen T. Um
2. “The Case for the Real Jesus” by Lee Strobel
3. “All That Jesus Asks” by Stan Guthrie