Way Truth Life Part 1: A Right And A Wrong Way 

On Sunday 12_th March at our morning service, we started our series 'Way Truth Life' with the topic 'The Right Way And The Wrong Way'. In this blog you will find a summary of the talk and then some questions and reflections for you to think through on your own or to discuss in your small group.

To listen to the talk on-line, please click here.
To download the talk to listen to off line, please click here.

At the start of our service we watched a clip from Sermonspice.com called 'Right Way, Wrong Way'. You can watch that by clicking here.

Talk Summary

We are starting our new series based around Jesus claim to be the Way the Truth and the life and I will be focussing on the “The right way and the wrong way”.

I used to walk up in Caesars Camp. But I didn’t have a very good sense of direction so took wrong turns and and would get lost. I would keep coming to a place where there was a choice of 5 different paths. I was lost and didn’t know the right way to go. I desperately needed to find my way home. At different times in my life I have felt lost and needed to know the right direction to go in. You might identify with either being lost physically or lost in a different way and needing direction. Being lost is scary…we need to find our way home.

Throughout life we are given lots of choices, for example; relationships, schools, jobs, buying cars etc. Sometimes we know that there is a right way and a wrong way. At other times the choices are not so clear. But we want to go the right way. Jesus claims to be THE WAY. You can read about this in John 14 by clicking here.

Jesus is going home, back to heaven to the father, he wants his Disciples to know that he is preparing a home for them. Thomas and the others really don’t understand what Jesus is talking about. Jesus says that they know the way; because they know Jesus. That is all it takes; that relationship with Jesus. That is how they are to find their way home. Jesus really does say that he is the Way… The truth… The life… and that “No one come to the father except through me”. Jesus IS the way.

A story to illustrate this goes like this; there were some people who wanted to travel through a jungle so they went to the locals to ask for directions. Someone was prepared to show them. He went in front of them with a machete hacking a way through. They told him that they appreciated his help but that they didn’t want to keep him. If he just showed them it would be okay. But he said. “you don’t understand I AM THE WAY.” This is the same as Jesus. He doesn’t point the way, direct the way he IS the way. 

In this story the guide cuts the way through. Jesus creates the way home by enabling us to have a relationship with the Father. He pays the price by dying for us and releases us from the consequences of our sins; the things that we do or don’t do that create a barrier between us and God. Jesus destroys the barrier. Death is destroyed so that he can go home. There is a right way and a wrong way but Jesus is the only way to the Father. He is the only way home.

Jesus is not offering a religion but a relationship with the God who created us. He enables us to be adopted into His family. It was only through his death that he is able to help us to find our way home. He is the only one who has gone through death and come back to show us the way; not Buddha or Mohammed, only Jesus.

A friend of mine climbed Mount Kilimanjaro recently. They had guides who cared for them, carried their loads, pitched the tents and fed them. They set the pace and kept them well, and encouraged them. This is just like Jesus. If you need find your way somewhere you need someone who knows the terrain, and how to get where you are going, someone who understands the possible problems and cares about your welfare. Jesus is like those guides; carrying our loads encouraging and helping.

Jesus knows the way home and he IS the way there.

Another aid to finding our way is a satnav. I would literally be lost without mine. I can navigate country lanes and city streets. I can take wrong turnings and it help to plot a new route. I can choose to ignore the instructions and go off somewhere else for a while. But I know that if I push the button that says “home” and follow the instructions it will take me there. Jesus is a bit like a satnav. Always there, ready when we take a wrong turn, and always there to help us find our way home. Jesus is the only way home. We need to follow Jesus because he is the only one who knows the way home. He IS the way home, the only way home.

I wonder what our lives would look like if we all decided to follow Jesus.

Are we living the life of love and forgives that Jesus calls us to? Are we meandering down the side roads of distraction, hobbies and entertainment? 

What would it look like if we came here Sunday by Sunday and followed what Jesus taught and committed our lives to following His way?

We would not only find our way home but our lives would lead others home as well.

Questions and Reflections (for you to think about on your own or to discuss in your Life Group)
 

1. Read the passage a couple of times. What is it that excites you? What is it that you find difficult or confusing? 

2. What is it that first strikes you about this message? Why do you think that is?

3. Do you find it easy or hard to believe that Jesus is the only way? Why is that? 

4. Are you aware of Jesus being like those guides on the mountain supporting you and leading you or do you feel alone on the journey and floundering? If you are finding the way difficult what do you think would make it easier?

5. There were three illustrations about Jesus being the way; the jungle guide, the mountain guide and the satnav. Which one did you like best? Why do you think that is? Can you think of an illustration of your own? 

6. What is going to be the thing that you take away from this message?

7. What do you need to do as a result of what you have heard.