7 Basic Commands Of Christ & The Story of Jonah

One of the things, I've learned, that characterizes growing churches is a focus on obeying Christ's commands. The 7 Basic commands are - as you might have guessed -

1. Repent and believe
2. Be baptized
3. Love God and your Neighbor
4. Feed on God's Word daily and Pray
5. Celebrate the Lord's Supper
6. Give
7. Make Disciples

These are very basic, because as you may recall, many church leaders find themselves in the situation of having to re lay the foundation of the church. We've gotten so used to "doing church" in the way we've been doing it, we can't relate what we do in church to a purposeful attempt to serve Jesus Christ.

I've been preaching through these 7 Basic Commands but not in this exact order (because we celebrated the Lord's Supper and I preached on that topic "out of order").

Today I spoke on Loving God and our Neighbor.

I read a variety of scriptures in the service but for my sermon I wanted to crystallize the issues through one Bible Story.

So I told the story of Jonah because Jonah personifies the issues at stake in 1 John 4:20 "Whoever says, "I love God," but hates his brother is a liar. The one who does not love the brother whom he has seen cannot love a God whom he has not seen."