Everyday Spirituality its seems has captured our culture. More and more people are seeing spirituality as a good thing. They might say something like “I’m spiritual – but not religious!” As Christians, we are actually all for that attitude. We believe that religion is in fact an enemy of the Gospel. Religion is all about me; what I do, what I say, what I think, and if I don’t do, say, and think as I should… then God will reject me. Religion is in short, works oriented. I do the right thing and hope for God’s acceptance.
True Christianity on the other hand is grace driven and relationally oriented. It is grace driven because it is about what Jesus has done. God accepts me based not on my effort but on the basis of Jesus’ acceptable sacrifice that happened on a cross in Roman-occupied Palestine 2000 years ago. It is also relationally oriented because through Jesus’ death and resurrection we are reconciled to God. The relationship with God that was severed by Adam and Eve is restored by the work of Jesus and is gifted to us. God accepts us on the basis of Christ’s work and not our own and loves us in spite of what we do, not because of what we do.
we will be looking at how we can best respond to God’s work in us (click here for more details). The book we are using as our framework is The Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster (see left) which highlights twelve Christian disciplines that prepare us for God to work within us and allow us to cooperate in that work. First on the list is meditation on God’s word with our primary text being Psalm 119:9-16. Ideas and feedback are appreciated as the series unfolds is appreciated.
Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth
