Welcome back as I briefly answer what the Holy Spirit is.
The Holy Spirit is like a breath of air or a wind as described in Genesis. The Holy Spirit is something that descends upon us and something that brings us the fruits of the spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control according to the New Testament. It is something we receive that guides us in making decisions. It is something God gives us to live a spirit filled and spirit empowered life.
Thanks for visiting, see you next time!
Friday, 4 November 2016
The Summit Church (5 ways the spirit leads us)
Hey welcome back!
In this sermon we looked at the 5 ways the Holy Spirit guides us: through the word of God, through our gifts, through the church, through the spirit and through the circumstances. However, he said to hold all but the first lightly because there is no exact formula for hearing the Holy Spirit. The best way to hear from God is to read His word where there He will guide us. Other people have special gifts-God may put someone in your life to speak to you but you should still check with the scriptures to see if they line up. God will also use the spirit to provoke us of things we should be aware of and finally he uses our circumstances to speak to us.
We know that when we are making a major decision to first read the Scriptures, but a question I have is how do you know the Holy Spirit is speaking to you or if it is just something I made up in my head?
Anyways thanks for visiting and see you back for my next blog!
In this sermon we looked at the 5 ways the Holy Spirit guides us: through the word of God, through our gifts, through the church, through the spirit and through the circumstances. However, he said to hold all but the first lightly because there is no exact formula for hearing the Holy Spirit. The best way to hear from God is to read His word where there He will guide us. Other people have special gifts-God may put someone in your life to speak to you but you should still check with the scriptures to see if they line up. God will also use the spirit to provoke us of things we should be aware of and finally he uses our circumstances to speak to us.
We know that when we are making a major decision to first read the Scriptures, but a question I have is how do you know the Holy Spirit is speaking to you or if it is just something I made up in my head?
Anyways thanks for visiting and see you back for my next blog!
Tuesday, 1 November 2016
Spiritual Disciples (sinkhole syndrome)
Welcome back!
After reading this article about how Christains are vulnerable to being pulled into the sinkhole, I realized how hard it can become to maintain a relationship with Christ. Life gets busier, life moves faster, people grow up...and for some reason I thought spiritual maturity came with age but the article says otherwise. This is a very interesting article but at the same time disappointing. It seems as if I have already started being pulled into the sink hole. I have slowly grown more distant from God. But what now? Whats the solution?
According to the article I am to "Pursue the Lord with a relentless, lifelong, obstacle-defying passion. Resolve never to let your daily life keep you from Jesus daily."
Lord,
Please help me. It seems as if I am being pulled away from you and I need to be reigned in again. Please draw me closer. Please give me the strength as I am battling with my sin and with my doubts. Please reveal yourself to me and show me where I can do better. I desire to desire you. I want to grow. I want to be committed so Lord give me the strength and the discipline to do so, and bring those who can encourage and keep me accountable. Please give me an open mind and an open heart so that I can learn more when I read from your word.
In the name of Jesus I pray,
Amen
After reading this article about how Christains are vulnerable to being pulled into the sinkhole, I realized how hard it can become to maintain a relationship with Christ. Life gets busier, life moves faster, people grow up...and for some reason I thought spiritual maturity came with age but the article says otherwise. This is a very interesting article but at the same time disappointing. It seems as if I have already started being pulled into the sink hole. I have slowly grown more distant from God. But what now? Whats the solution?
According to the article I am to "Pursue the Lord with a relentless, lifelong, obstacle-defying passion. Resolve never to let your daily life keep you from Jesus daily."
Lord,
Please help me. It seems as if I am being pulled away from you and I need to be reigned in again. Please draw me closer. Please give me the strength as I am battling with my sin and with my doubts. Please reveal yourself to me and show me where I can do better. I desire to desire you. I want to grow. I want to be committed so Lord give me the strength and the discipline to do so, and bring those who can encourage and keep me accountable. Please give me an open mind and an open heart so that I can learn more when I read from your word.
In the name of Jesus I pray,
Amen
Monday, 31 October 2016
Shepherd Voice
Hey guys!
After reading these articles about we neglect our Bibles, I realized how lame these common excuses are. The first excuse being that we don't read our Bibles because it seems irrelevant to us however the Bible is supposed to be guidelines for us on a daily basis whether we are at work or at school. Therefore, the Bible applies to everyone. The second excuse, we don't read our Bibles because we don't have time, however, we can easily find time to disciple our children and family or friends even in little ways- like talking over a coffee about what God is doing in a persons life. The third excuse, that we don't have to read the Bible because we go to church, but that shows how little we desire to know God-its not good enough to only "wet our tongue." The final excuse being that we don't read our Bibles because it is confusing, however, there are many ways to make it less confusing like a commentary, asking a friend for help, or even doing a little research. None of these excuses are valid for giving up.
To me I find the second and third excuse the most convicting-"I don't have time" and "I go to church." It is true that I don't always have time for spending time in Gods word or in prayer, but that means that something is off. If I believe in God, and if I claim to passionate about what I believe, why cant I find the time? My priorities are off, Christ should be first and I know that. I need to balance everything-my schoolwork, family time, and time to get to know God-but right now school has taken the priority. There is so much pressure for me to do good and I don't want to let me teachers, friends, parents and sisters down-so I try to do my best in school. But really, school is important, but so is spending time with God and spending time with my family. The third excuse that I sometimes struggle with is "I already go to church, to mission every day and to bible class every morning, do I really need to spend more time with God?" Well I already know the answer to that-yes. I am working out currently on taking my faith onto my own hands-in three years mom and dad wont be there to make sure I attend church-soon I will be an adult. Soon Bible and mission wont be something I have to do. I need to take ownership of my faith now and stop expecting everyone to do it for me. I am very privileged, I have a bible, a Christian family, a Christian school-I have no excuse to work out my faith and ask for help along the way. I hope to see my self as an independent believer-one who is not completely dependent on the school or on my parents to help me get by.
Thanks for visiting, let me know what you think in the comments and see you next time!
After reading these articles about we neglect our Bibles, I realized how lame these common excuses are. The first excuse being that we don't read our Bibles because it seems irrelevant to us however the Bible is supposed to be guidelines for us on a daily basis whether we are at work or at school. Therefore, the Bible applies to everyone. The second excuse, we don't read our Bibles because we don't have time, however, we can easily find time to disciple our children and family or friends even in little ways- like talking over a coffee about what God is doing in a persons life. The third excuse, that we don't have to read the Bible because we go to church, but that shows how little we desire to know God-its not good enough to only "wet our tongue." The final excuse being that we don't read our Bibles because it is confusing, however, there are many ways to make it less confusing like a commentary, asking a friend for help, or even doing a little research. None of these excuses are valid for giving up.
To me I find the second and third excuse the most convicting-"I don't have time" and "I go to church." It is true that I don't always have time for spending time in Gods word or in prayer, but that means that something is off. If I believe in God, and if I claim to passionate about what I believe, why cant I find the time? My priorities are off, Christ should be first and I know that. I need to balance everything-my schoolwork, family time, and time to get to know God-but right now school has taken the priority. There is so much pressure for me to do good and I don't want to let me teachers, friends, parents and sisters down-so I try to do my best in school. But really, school is important, but so is spending time with God and spending time with my family. The third excuse that I sometimes struggle with is "I already go to church, to mission every day and to bible class every morning, do I really need to spend more time with God?" Well I already know the answer to that-yes. I am working out currently on taking my faith onto my own hands-in three years mom and dad wont be there to make sure I attend church-soon I will be an adult. Soon Bible and mission wont be something I have to do. I need to take ownership of my faith now and stop expecting everyone to do it for me. I am very privileged, I have a bible, a Christian family, a Christian school-I have no excuse to work out my faith and ask for help along the way. I hope to see my self as an independent believer-one who is not completely dependent on the school or on my parents to help me get by.
Thanks for visiting, let me know what you think in the comments and see you next time!
Sunday, 30 October 2016
Big Teach 5
Hey guys and welcome to my blog as I will be working out what it means to be a spiritual follower vs. a shallow follower.
In this final sermon, Pete raised the question of what people will say at your funeral. Will they say you were a genuine believer, an example to others, a light to the world, or a fake, a phony, a shallow believer? I thought wow what a tough way to open a sermon. This is because that question has actually on my mind recently. I mentioned in a previous blog that if others cant see what I claim to believe, am I a fake Christian?
But upon the opening of the sermon, I began to understand what it means to be "spiritual." Its not a peaceful thinking you enter on top of a mountain, or a meditation but an acting or living out what you claim to believe (Galatians 6:1). Pete makes three points to back this up:
1) Spiritual people live for others- but cant do that in isolation (Galatians 6: 1-5)
2) Spiritual people love the Word of God
3) Spiritual people look to the future
So overall, I should "should not think less of myself but think of myself less" (C.S Lewis) and serve others with an open heart-even in little ways. I should also have a passion for the Bible- and have a constant (daily) time with Christ. Finally, I should look to the future- encourage others and keep my eyes on Jesus- the ultimate redeemer. These will help me see what a spiritual Christian looks like vs a shallow and fake Christain.
Thanks for visiting, until next time!
In this final sermon, Pete raised the question of what people will say at your funeral. Will they say you were a genuine believer, an example to others, a light to the world, or a fake, a phony, a shallow believer? I thought wow what a tough way to open a sermon. This is because that question has actually on my mind recently. I mentioned in a previous blog that if others cant see what I claim to believe, am I a fake Christian?
But upon the opening of the sermon, I began to understand what it means to be "spiritual." Its not a peaceful thinking you enter on top of a mountain, or a meditation but an acting or living out what you claim to believe (Galatians 6:1). Pete makes three points to back this up:
1) Spiritual people live for others- but cant do that in isolation (Galatians 6: 1-5)
2) Spiritual people love the Word of God
3) Spiritual people look to the future
So overall, I should "should not think less of myself but think of myself less" (C.S Lewis) and serve others with an open heart-even in little ways. I should also have a passion for the Bible- and have a constant (daily) time with Christ. Finally, I should look to the future- encourage others and keep my eyes on Jesus- the ultimate redeemer. These will help me see what a spiritual Christian looks like vs a shallow and fake Christain.
Thanks for visiting, until next time!
Monday, 24 October 2016
Believe- Reflection
Hey and welcome back to my blog!
In the unit of believe, the key concept was answering the question of what would it take to experience a bold and confident faith? I am going to answer this question based on what we have learned in class.
We had said that to have a bold and confident faith we must have an active faith and this begins with the humility to repent. Belief is the step following repentance, and we are invited to experience that confidence. However, to achieve this boldness we have to grow in our understanding. We have to change our thoughts to Christ's thoughts, we actually just need "new thoughts" according to Romans 12:1-2. To add to our confidence, we need to have reasoned belief. Belief in itself is not enough. Even Satan believes in God, so what does that say? It means that we need something more-we need reasoned belief. This looks like knowing the scriptures that we claim to base our lives upon as well as actively living out what we claim to believe. According to the parable of the sewer, unreasoned faith is like a plants without root-completely meaningless.
Our faith is meaningless if we are not growing and if we can not differentiate the right from wrong. Our hearts and actions should add up to what we believe, and currently I am wondering if others can see Christ living in me by the way I live my life. Otherwise, my faith is meaningless. Also, I am trying to work out whether or not I am growing, this is a stressed issue for me. I am worried because if I am not growing is it a fair question to see that I am not a true believer? I don't want this to be so, but honestly I don't know if I have seen a change. This is probably something I will talk about with my mentor-so that I may know for sure if I am growing, and if I am not, how can I grow? I do have interest in growing I really do, but I first need to work out where I am in my faith.
Ultimately, for me to experience the boldness and confidence of faith, I need to be growing, changing and developing. Also, I need to know if others can see me changing, developing, and changing otherwise- is what I claim to believe meaningless? Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you back for my next blog!
In the unit of believe, the key concept was answering the question of what would it take to experience a bold and confident faith? I am going to answer this question based on what we have learned in class.
We had said that to have a bold and confident faith we must have an active faith and this begins with the humility to repent. Belief is the step following repentance, and we are invited to experience that confidence. However, to achieve this boldness we have to grow in our understanding. We have to change our thoughts to Christ's thoughts, we actually just need "new thoughts" according to Romans 12:1-2. To add to our confidence, we need to have reasoned belief. Belief in itself is not enough. Even Satan believes in God, so what does that say? It means that we need something more-we need reasoned belief. This looks like knowing the scriptures that we claim to base our lives upon as well as actively living out what we claim to believe. According to the parable of the sewer, unreasoned faith is like a plants without root-completely meaningless.
Our faith is meaningless if we are not growing and if we can not differentiate the right from wrong. Our hearts and actions should add up to what we believe, and currently I am wondering if others can see Christ living in me by the way I live my life. Otherwise, my faith is meaningless. Also, I am trying to work out whether or not I am growing, this is a stressed issue for me. I am worried because if I am not growing is it a fair question to see that I am not a true believer? I don't want this to be so, but honestly I don't know if I have seen a change. This is probably something I will talk about with my mentor-so that I may know for sure if I am growing, and if I am not, how can I grow? I do have interest in growing I really do, but I first need to work out where I am in my faith.
Ultimately, for me to experience the boldness and confidence of faith, I need to be growing, changing and developing. Also, I need to know if others can see me changing, developing, and changing otherwise- is what I claim to believe meaningless? Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you back for my next blog!
Sunday, 23 October 2016
Big Teach 5
Hey and welcome back!
Todays big teach was about freedom-freedom from sin. In this talk, Pete used 4 dogs to make an illustration -Spike, a dog who was always struggling and strangling, Buster, a dog who was totally out of control, Max, a dog that stands by the side of the owner, and Benji, a lazy dog with no desire. In this illustration, Pete said that Max was the way a Christian should live their life- a person who grows and desires to be with their master, in our case, with God. However, the journey isn't easy being with God, in fact, its much more of a conflict or war zone between ourselves. We are battling with our old selves, "we are saved from sin but we battle with sin within us." But Pete described this as normal for christains we will mess up, but we know that God will keep calling our names to keep us aligned.
Thanks for coming and hope to see you back for my next blog!
Todays big teach was about freedom-freedom from sin. In this talk, Pete used 4 dogs to make an illustration -Spike, a dog who was always struggling and strangling, Buster, a dog who was totally out of control, Max, a dog that stands by the side of the owner, and Benji, a lazy dog with no desire. In this illustration, Pete said that Max was the way a Christian should live their life- a person who grows and desires to be with their master, in our case, with God. However, the journey isn't easy being with God, in fact, its much more of a conflict or war zone between ourselves. We are battling with our old selves, "we are saved from sin but we battle with sin within us." But Pete described this as normal for christains we will mess up, but we know that God will keep calling our names to keep us aligned.
Thanks for coming and hope to see you back for my next blog!
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