This guest post was done by Bill Walton. He was a member of the FBC group that memorized the Sermon on the Mount. I asked him to provide his thoughts on the last few months.

If I summed-up in one word what I came away with while Partnering to Remember: The Sermon on the Mount, it would be “practice.”

“… but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:19)

Before I accepted God’s gift of salvation I remember thinking that there is no way I could live a life serving God. It would be too difficult to do all the things that a Christian is commanded to do. It would be impossible. Going to church was never a priority in my home while growing up. Until my wife and I joined First Baptist Church in 2006 I never regularly attended church anywhere. Needless to say I lived a life that was missing the mark about being a Christian.

Partnering to remember the Sermon on the Mount brings back familiar feelings, but now I embrace these feelings from a different perspective. It is through faith that I can take comfort in knowing that what God wants from me is to trust him and to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and he will provide the things I need to do the rest. Sometimes it is hard to separate how God expects me live with the way I want to be. As I read and memorized the verses the message made me look at my inner state of mind and heart and take an accountability of my Christian discipleship. I am far from God’s standard. I routinely pray for forgiveness and a stronger desire to read, study, and abide in God’s word and get out there and “practice” the examples that Jesus showed and taught. Good practices turn into good routines.

The time our group set aside each week to meet and recite verses was uplifting. It’s a blessing to have peace of mind to openly discuss God’s word and give your take on it or learn something you may have not known. Partnering to Remember is, for me, a great way to fellowship through scripture reading and discussions and then put them into practice.

I once heard that Wednesday’s night services are like the old stick our moms used to hold-up the middle of the clothes line. I never understood that until I experienced the difficulty of living according to Jesus’ examples. You need support and encouragement through the week. To fellowship outside of church with a “kingdom seeking” group who cares for your knowledge and development in God’s word is another great way to hold you up through the week until you reach Sunday.