JR. Forasteros - February 3, 2013
Growing Up in a Garden
When we start to live in real community, we often find frustration because we compare ourselves to those around us. We try to take their process of spiritual formation and apply it to our lives. But spirituality isn't one-size-fits-all. There's no formula for healthy spirituality. Rather, we are more like gardens. Each of us is a little bit different, and we should approach our spiritual growth with the freedom to experiment, to figure out what path God designed to lead to our flourishing.
Discussion Guide Sermon Manuscript Guide to Spiritual Practices
More Messages From JR. Forasteros...
Powered by Series Engine
Talk to someone with big faith, hear their story, and before too long, you’ll hear about a big change…
They met someone who went to this church…
Or they went on a mission trip.
Or they had a kid and suddenly those big questions seemed a lot more important.
Sometimes, really good things happen, and they can melt our cynical little hearts.
But let’s be honest. When we’re talking about Pivotal Circumstances that grow our faith, they’re not usually good. They’re usually hard… really hard.
A move took you away from everything you called home.
You lose a job.
Or someone close to you dies.
Or a really important relationship comes to an end.
Or they betrayed you deeply.
And even as they’re telling the story, they say, “I wouldn’t choose to go through that. I wouldn’t want to go through it again. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. But it was right in the midst of that, I found God. God became real to me in a way I had never experienced before. And looking back, I realize God did something right there, in the middle of it, that I don’t think God could’ve done any other way – that I don’t know I would have seen any other way.
So now I look back at that and see that it was right then I realized God is real, and God is personal and God loves me.
And I couldn’t have learned that any other way.
As we explore these pivotal circumstances, we’ll ask how we can learn to see God at work. Because it doesn’t come naturally to us. But God is not only at work, God is with us in those painful places.
