We are just over halfway through Lent – and the messages about growing in our faith have been met with enthusiasm!
How are you doing with getting in touch with the SCRIPTURES every day? Many people have been using The Upper Room devotional online at https://www.upperroom.org/devotionals
Have you been practicing a new form of PRAYER? The A-C-T-S formula seems to work pretty well! (Acknowledge/Confess/Thanksgiving/Supply)
I would like to see more small groups – let me take that back; I would love to have everybody in a small, caring community! Building each other up in the FELLOWSHIP and having a safe place to wonder about your faith is important for everyone.
These next two weeks we will tackle GIVING and SERVICE – putting our priorities of Time and Money in a good relationship with God. Be ready for both fun and challenge –
I want to give a reminder that it’s all of these working together that help us to be our strongest. Just as an athlete has to exercise AND practice AND eat right AND get enough sleep AND listen to their coach, so it is the combination of these spiritual practices that creates the right environment for growth.
It’s also important to see that you don’t have to have all of these elements perfect right now; developing a good Koinonia group, for example, takes time. And if you aren’t used to tithing, it takes a bit of planning!
But I do encourage you to get started with each of these. Maybe only one chapter a day of the Bible, and five minutes of prayer, and finding at least one friend to get together and pray with weekly, and starting with a smaller percentage of your income, and volunteering for something simple. It’s not the perfection that counts; it’s the intention of your heart.
I’m looking forward to hearing your stories about what this journey has meant for you, and what you are going to continue after Lent because you found a new habit that you liked! In the meantime, just keep coming to the Lord every day and seeking His face.
– Rev. Bill