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Relevance of spiritual formation
Importance of spiritual formation
Developing spiritual formation
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As we begin a new year, I hope it is the desire of every believer to want to grow closer to God in the weeks and months ahead. He can then say at the end of 2013 that he has indeed experienced the love of Jesus more deeply and in a more personal manner than at the start of the year. This actually describes the process of sanctification whereby the believer becomes more and more like his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as he makes his way on earth to his heavenly home. One of the most important ways to grow spiritually is to be involved in Christian fellowship. In fact, one can say that Christian fellowship is essential for the spiritual health of every Christian. I am sure all of us know that much of our spiritual vitality comes from our personal …show more content…
Although each organ is a unique entity, its identity is also corporate. In fact, it discovers and expresses its individuality in its relationship with the other organs. Each organ needs the contribution of the other organs, and each organ needs to make its contributions to the other organs. In a healthy and growing body, each organ acts consistently with its identity. Should any organ begin to function contrary to its identity, physical sickness will be the …show more content…
They therefore feel that it is sufficient to attend the morning worship services and then go straight home after that. They are never seen in the ABC and DHW Classes held after the morning service nor do they attend any fellowship or contact group meetings. As a result, they might have attended the church for many years but no one seems to know them. They have truly missed out on the blessings and richness of the Christian life and I dare say that they are probably living a humdrum, lonely and tasteless Christian life where there is no joy in the
Engagement with others is the most fertile ground for spiritual growth. Yet, salvation cannot come through individual questing nor good works in the community of the world alone. Salvation can only come when the journey and the work become
Bonhoeffer’s writing concerning community in Life Together sheds a great deal of light and marks boundaries for Christians on how to relate with each other. It is of utmost importance to remember that community is nothing but a gracious gift of God. When this understanding is grasped, love flows between brothers and sisters under the guidance of the Spirit and life is lived in the freedom of redemption and under the Word and “fruits that grow healthily in accord God’s good will in the rain and storm and sunshine of God’s outdoors” (37) will grow. Finally, it is always a good reminder, in the words of Bonhoeffer; “we are bound together by faith, not by experience” (39) so let us love and live through faith in the redeeming work of our Lord
Christianity is one of the largest religions in world with believers spreading across barriers of language and culture. Christianity can come in many forms with beliefs on different subjects varying wildly, but there is one practice that remains relatively the same: church attendance. The ritual of getting up every Sunday morning and attending a church service including a sermon by a pastor and sometimes a smaller, more focused lesson given during what is called “Sunday School”, is something that is practiced by many faithful Christians across the world and the United States, in particular. Attending church is a practice that is integral to the Christian faith as it is shown in the Bible. It informs and impacts the lives of many believers of
In this regard, the paper will be bridging the mind-body divide and explain the relation of the body, by ascertaining that the body of the patient that is suffering from chronic illness is communicating both to the person and the world that
To be completely transparent I don’t think that prior to this year I’ve lived in true communion with God. I compartmentalized my life in many ways, and I did not put one hundred percent of my life on the altar. The past few months and especially this book have shown me the attitudes, the compromises, the hurts, the habits, and the many other things in my life that have been displeasing to God. The things that have grieved His heart and broken the communion.
First, I have a daily centering prayer practice, where I sit for 15 to 20 minutes in the morning in silence with the intention of opening to the presence of God and his action within. I find that this practice gives me an opportunity to center my attention on becoming receptive to God and has created in me an appreciation for prayer in which I say nothing and rely on Grace to be the catalyst for my experience and transformation, not my doing or saying the right thing. I also like to follow the liturgical season and participate in the experience of the journey of Jesus. Even though giving up something like TV for lent may not be on par with the suffering and temptation of Jesus, it does give each of us an opportunity to short circuit our devices of comfort and distraction and feel the pull of temptation. So, for each season I try to interact with its appropriate aim. Lectio Divina, is another way that I am exploring the scriptures and allowing for God to communicate with me in a new way. Reading a verse or passage, then letting go of trying to interact with the reading, but instead allowing it to wash over me and reveal a word, phrase, or experience and then repeating it a few times really allows the Bible to communicate with me new truths each time I read. Finally, I try to be a good neighbor. I am afraid that I have a long way to go in regard to being a good friend or a good
As I consider the various lessons that I have comprehended in this course further advances my calling to be an observer for the Lord. I acknowledge that an unadulterated life focused in a steady love of the Lord and a reliable sharing of my constant faith is important to satisfy the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. I have understood that my reverential life, the act of sharing my faith and administering to the lost has melted away and is conflicting.
...hat share my faith and together worship Jesus. I believe that by being in fellowship with other believers I will have a strong opportunity to pursue and fulfill God’s purpose in my life, whether it is a daily or lifetime calling.
With this in mind, the following will focus on the spiritual formation process within the Christian community. The concept of Christian community stems from the Bible with the perspective of the body of Christ. The body of Christ is compared to the humane body, a whole comprised of numerous parts; each individual part is required and created by God to form a cohesive whole, no matter believer or non-believer or social status (1 Corinthians 12). Similarly, the spiritual community is also comprised of bountiful parts and can be customized to the individual as the formation. Ashbrook appraises the significance of individuals and community, “Our spiritual formation is designed by God to happen in the context of Christian community, the chu...
The first group in these categories is the Never-Miss-a-Service Christians. They consider themselves the bedrock of the Christian faith. Their lives are centered on following Jesus Christ. Furthermore, it is unacceptable to just attend the typical Sunday morning and evening services. This group is involved in every aspect of church functions.
Spiritual wellness greatly concerns our connection to God. It involves our attitudes, actions, behaviors, and values. It exists to give purpose and meaning to our lives. It provides the core for all other aspects of wellness. From a Judeo-Christian perspective, spiritual health involves being restored in our relationship with Christ Jesus. This means believing in Him as Savior and accepting His salvation. To take it a step further and be spiritually well, a person needs to live for God every day. One should be continuously submitting themselves to God’s will and living a life like Christ. Spiritual wellness is absolutely essential to our overall health. When a person is spiritually well they can easily define their basic purpose and express the values that they hold dear. The ability to do this contributes to our satisfaction with life. This then leads to our ability to demonstrate spiritual wellness effectively. To exhibit spiritual wellness a person must learn to forgive. When we can give forgiveness to others it provides peace for ...
I’d like to state the most obvious observation that I’ve made about spiritual formation; that is that I will always need to be seeking for ways to nurture my personal spirituality throughout my life. I know that to most people this may sound like a “duh” statement, but for me it has truly become a reality and one that I must admit I have been struggling to embrace. I was brought up in a church that, like most traditional churches, stayed happy living in the “comfort zone” of their Christianity. They took everything that the Bible said at face value without digging in to find out why they believed what they believed. I had never been challenged to look deeper into the text. In the past few years I have felt the need to tunnel out of this cave of what I feel is best labeled “Christian ignorance”. In the process though, I have had to come to terms with letting go of the things that brought me comfort and provided me with what I thought it took to have a close relationship with God. Some of those things were tangible. Most were not. The things that were the least tangible actually ended up being the hardest to let go of.
This year as we were challenged to give our hearts to God and our minds to our teachers, we learned more of their goals to see us grow as Jesus did in wisdom, stature and favor with both God and man. Col. 1:28 encourages teachers to warn and teach in all wisdom to present each man perfect in Christ Jesus.
One of the many benefits of going to church and becoming a christian is understanding your purpose of being on earth and understanding how to live your life with utmost fulfillment and achieving joy while preserving your morals. While all humans are innately built with a need to achieve pleasure the main difference between those of the world and those in the church are the means and ways of accomplishing this goal. The deviation stems from the difference in the types of pleasure each set out to attain. Many of the world's pleasures conflict with our conscience and morals, and the teachings of the church. It's these conflicting actions which lead to many non-christians being dissatisfied and being unhappy. “Many who don’t belong to a church try desperately to convince themselves that they are happy. They fool everyone but themselves. Or they know they are not happy and try to drown their sorrow in drinking, drugs, sports, work or something else to keep their minds off their unhappiness”(Gritters). This dissatisfied feeling leads to thousands and thousands to suffer from d...
...can see that to nourish the soul is not a difficult task. There is no need to make a trip to a Buddhist temple, drown yourself with the calming mediation music found on YouTube or convert into a particular religion. It’s all about engaging and releasing, but of course if you wanted to do these things, you are more than welcome.