Step Two: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

The Gospel declares that we are rescued, healed and transformed by God’s power in Jesus Christ.

“The Set Aside Prayer": God, Please help me set aside everything I think I know about myself, my sinful idolatry or spiritual workarounds, my spiritual recovery journey, and especially You; So I may have an open mind and a new experience of all these things. Please let me see the truth. Amen.

"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." - Romans 7:15-20

The Gospel of Jesus Christ confronts us with our powerlessness to overcome our sin and brokenness.

“Let me sum up, then, the foundational ways that I believe Jesus and the 12 steps of AA are saying the same thing but with different vocabulary. We suffer to get well. We surrender to win. We die to live. We give it away to keep it.” – Richard Rohr, Breathing Under Water

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” - Ephesians 2:1-3

Listening to AND obeying Jesus's teachings is the strong foundation for our lives.

Reflection Questions:

1. How am I working the words of Jesus into my everyday living?
2. What words of Jesus am I hearing, but not obeying?
3. Am I building my life on the rock or on the sand? Am I on the broad road that leads to destruction, or the narrow road that leads to life?

“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.” - Matthew 7:24-27 MSG

1. The Test of Inside-Out Consistency – Is there integrity between what they say or do on the outside, and who they are on the inside?
2. The Test of Good Fruit – Do they display the fruit of the Spirit and the character of Christ (especially when it seems no one is watching)?
3. The Test of Lordship rooted in Relationship – Do their words/actions overflow from deep abiding in Christ and surrendered obedience to Jesus’ Lordship?
4. The Test of Biblical Authority - Are they using the Bible to make their point, or are they highlighting the point the Bible makes?

“Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other.” - Matthew 7:15-16 MSG

1. Principle #1: We only judge (ie. provide loving accountability) through the lens of righteousness that comes by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
2. Principle #2: We only judge (ie. provide loving accountability) AFTER confessing and repenting of our own sin.
3. Principle #3: We only judge (ie. provide loving accountability) when people want help with the speck (or log) in their eye.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” -Matthew 7:1-2

1. Forgiveness is birthed from COMMUNION with God.
2. Forgiveness is fostered by HUMILITY before God.
3. Forgiveness is practiced in OBEDIENCE to God.

"This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." -Matthew 6:9-15 NIV

"The goal of prayer is to become a friend of God."

"We don't fast to impress God, but to be impressed by God."

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." -Matthew 6:5-8 ESV

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." -Matthew 6:16-18 ESV