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Written by Michael Rogers
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Tuesday, 24 January 2012 01:35 |
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"And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." --Luke 2:52
Much conversation has taken place over the last twenty years about spiritual direction and spiritual growth. It's as if the "seeker-sensitive" idea of church has reaped a harvest we are just now realizing is a beginning, not an end. Churches that have done what they could to receive new people into the Kingdom of God are talking now about how best to take the hand of the new believers and help direct them along the path of discipleship. In doing so, we have discovered that discipleship was already a problem before we became seeker-sensitive. In fact, I believe we are starting to understand that there is a connection between the two. When the church is not concerned with discipleship, fewer people come to an understanding of their privilege to share the Gospel with the lost. As this happens, the number of new believers drops. When the number
of new believers drop, the church stops growing both in number and in spirituality. In other words, where there is no discipleship, there is no movement of God. Jesus once said to us, "Go and make
disciples of all nations..."
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 January 2012 03:02 |
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Written by Michael Rogers
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Monday, 09 January 2012 21:14 |
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One of the hardest things to reconcile is how easy it is to receive salvation from God and how hard it is to be His disciple. On the one hand, Jesus says, "Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden," while on the other hand He is asking us to count the cost before we follow Him (Matt. 11:28, Luke 14:25-33). How can something that is free lead you to something that costs you so much? Isn't that the old bait and switch? Come in the store to get this free thing that you can't get until you buy this expensive thing! I'm nervous about this post because it can be so easily misunderstood. Yesterday, we talked about the fact that our only gift we can give God is our heart, but what it means to give our hearts is to live entirely in obedience to God. This seems to be contradictory, so I want to do my best to explain it. I hope this does two things for you. First, I pray it helps you understand grace better. Second, I pray it helps you commit to Christ on a deeper level.
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Written by Michael Rogers
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Monday, 12 December 2011 15:24 |
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We've talked for two years now about living a lifestyle of worship. Sermons like the one this Sunday remind me how simple it can be to live such a life. Though we had a lot of information about history and God's Word being prophetic, in the end it was all about listening to Jesus and dedicating ourselves to follow Him. I thought this week it would be good for all of us to remember what it means to do this. I'm using our core values to frame the idea, so a quick list of those to refresh our memories and then some practical thoughts on each as we face the week:
1. The Bible alone determines our path (we need grace and truth).
2. Prayer guides our journey.
3. We learn and teach as we go.
4. We serve as Jesus served.
5. We share our lives together.
6. We connect with people where they are.
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