Everything in life has basic principles.  There is a rule or understanding that if you are going to be all that you must first possess, do, or believe some basic things.   Another way to say basic is to say fundamental or foundational.  No major sport star ever started out as a star…..there was a time he/she learned the basic fundamentals.  Still to this day that star still possesses and practices these basic things.  Take away the basic things and any situation turns into the story of what once was or what might have been.  It’s a sad story of a cool possibility.
 
If I were to claim to be something you would have some ideas of some basic things to immediately ask or look for to determine if I’m telling the truth or not.  That or you really are foolish to believe everything I claim without some proof.   If I claim to be an amazing juggler I would be able to do something basic like catch a single ball thrown to me.  That’s basic right?  To ever be able to juggle multiple things I must first be able to juggle one thing.  It seems really simple but in the end something complex is really just multiple basic things pulled together.
 
Our spiritual life is the same.  There are some basic things we must have in order to be called a Christian.  We can’t just say we are a Christian without some things being in place.  We can’t claim to be a chicken without producing some eggs, right?  The reality of our life and walk with Christ is that this life is made up of basic principles.  This year we’ll look at some of these.  We’ll put them in 3 sections: Attitudes, Actions and Beliefs.  These basic things come together in one life led by Christ to produce something extravagant…..all for God’s glory.
 
We feel that these basic things be present in the life of the one that claims Christ as their savior and as one who claims to follow Christ and belong to God.  We are always to be striving for and working towards these things as we seek to know Christ and make Christ known.  We haven’t perfected these things but are simply pursuing these things.  These things aren’t complex, they are basic.
 
This year we’ll spend our time together focusing on these things.  Basic things that must be present for the greater Life to be a reality.  No one was ever extra without first possessing the basics.  BELIEF influences Attitudes influences Actions.  If this is true, and we feel it is, then we must ensure we are centering all our thoughts, attention, focus and priorities around what we believe to be true about God.  Then and only then will our attitudes and actions proclaim Him loudly in a world that is desperate for Him. 
 
So our heart this year is to be about the basic and allow God to bring about the extra.
 
 
 
 
Attitude     Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him,
Actions       bearing fruit in every good work and
Belief          Increasing in the knowledge of God.                             Colossians 1:10