Believe part 4

Tonight, we are continuing our study of Believe.
The last three weeks we have been talking about God and the evidence that God exists, the truth of His word, and the things that we place in our lives that hinder our relationship with Him.
Last week was really difficult as I asked you to share those things in your life that keep you from making Christ the Lord of your life with someone else.
Has it helped? Did you hold each other accountable?
It’s difficult to change, why because it takes constant action.
Most of the time, we make a decision to change and never follow through with it.
Change takes dedication, but we are not alone in changing our life for Christ.
If we were alone in this, no one would be able to do it.
We, by ourselves, can never correctly change our lives for Christ.
That’s why Christ takes us as we are; we could never do it without Him.
Christ is not asking you to come to Him with your life all straightened out.
We can’t do it and He is the only one who can straighten it out for us.
Christ has promised that He will be with us and help us move closer to Him.
Many people make the mistake of believing that Christ could never change them because they’ve made too many mistakes or that they’re too messed up.
But Christ is the only one who can really make us right, so we have to go to Him.
But it takes us deciding to turn to Him and let Him take control.
Tonight, we are going to develop strategies and map out how we can make a permanent change for Christ in lives.
James 5:16
Last week, I asked you to do an extremely difficult thing.
I asked you picked someone to share your most private sins with; those things that keep you from letting Christ be the Lord of your life.
Last week, you made a confession that there were things in your life that displeased God.
That was an extremely bold step, but can we make a permanent change in those areas to get rid of that behavior altogether?
I believe the answer is yes.
I believe we can change with help of Christ and the help of other Christian believers.
Tonight, I’m challenging you to change.
I want you to pick someone to be your accountability partner for one month.
You an your accountibility partner should agree to meet or talk at least once a week for the month of March 2009.
You need to agree to share everything in your life with this person and be totally honest with your life.
You should share your struggles, your failures, and your hopes.
You should not hide any part of your life.
You should also read your Bible daily and attend church services as best as you are able to.
You should pray daily for your partner and his or her struggles and dreams.
It's an agreement you make between God, your partner, and yourself.
Doing this will help hold you accountable for your life in Christ.
I believe we can change for Christ, what do you believe?