2/22/26 - The Way of Jesus Part 1: The Way of Jesus - Pastor Josh Stelly

This is the Way

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Acts 9:2 NIV

“…and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

I. THE WAY HAS A NAME: JESUS

Jesus Claimed Exclusive Access to the Father (John 14:6)

John 14:6–7 NIV

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Jesus Is Personal, Not Philosophical (John 14:7)

"Jesus' solution to perplexity is not a recipe; it is a relationship with him."Merrill Tenney

II. THE WAY REQUIRES CONFESSION

Proverbs 28:13 NIV

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

We Must Acknowledge the Church's Failures

"I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."Mahatma Gandhi

We Must Distinguish Jesus from Cultural Christianity

"Jesus — the Jesus we might discover if we really looked! — is larger, more disturbing, more urgent than we — than the church! — had ever imagined.

We have successfully managed to hide behind other questions and to avoid the huge, world-shaking challenge of Jesus's central claim and achievement.

We have reduced the kingdom of God to private piety, the victory of the cross to comfort for the conscience, and Easter itself to a happy, escapist ending after a sad, dark tale.

Piety, conscience, and ultimate happiness are important, but not nearly as important as Jesus himself."

N.T. Wright

III. THE WAY IS A LIFESTYLE, NOT JUST A BELIEF

Following Involves Imitation

Matthew 5:1–2 NIV

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

Following Requires Community

From its very beginning, the Way was communal.

Two Questions to think about honestly this week and sit with:

Seekers:

• Would you be willing to consider that He might actually be who He claimed to be?

Followers of Jesus:

• Have you settled for Christianity without Christ? Have you inherited a religion but drifted from a relationship? Have you built your faith around the right vocabulary and the right behavior and the right tribe — but somewhere along the way, lost sight of the person you're actually supposed to be following?