- “We are as close to God as we choose to be.” - Oswald Sanders
- How close are you to Jesus?
- How close do you want to be?
John 15:12-13 // My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
- How Close Can We Come to Jesus?
James 4:8 // Come near to God and he will come near to you.
Jeremiah 29:13 // “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jesus’ 6 Circles of Relationship:
- The Crowds – the place of “watching & listening” from a distance;
- The 5000 – the place of “feeding & healing”;
- The 70 – the place of “working & serving”;
- The 12 – the place of “leaving all & following”;
- The 3 – the place of “joys & sufferings”; and,
- The One – the place of “sacrificial love.”
Matthew 16:24 // Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
- THE CLOSER CALL is … A Call to INTIMACY.
- THE CLOSER CALL is … A Call to SURRENDER.
- THE CLOSER CALL is … A Call to LOYALTY.
- How Far Have You Followed Him?
John 15:14-15 // You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
- How close can you come to Jesus?
- How close do you want to come?
- The experience of knowing Christ is more of a lifelong journey than a momentary experience.
