This is Us

We are the church, whether we are gathered or scattered--each one of us, a part of the body of Christ, wherever we go, whatever we do.

So, where can you find us, and what are we doing? 

Jim Hill (pictured with his wife, Karen) is my small group leader. He's one of best. And at the small group leaders meeting last Sunday, he shared a recent text from a friend to illustrate the importance of praying for people in our lives who are far from God. His friend wrote, "Thank you for the fun evening last night. Dinner was Great. ...Your friendship and fellowship--outstanding!  Jim, 10 years ago today we met at Caribou Coffee. The meeting that morning has forever changed my life in a most positive way!! Thank you!" It shaped his eternity! At the time, we were in a series called "Just Walk Across the Room." Our small groups were doing the DVD series. And 300 of us had a Top 10 list to pray for daily. Jim's friend was on Jim's Top 10. He had just started praying for him daily when, out of the blue, his friend called. He needed some advice. One thing led to another and his friend went from being a non-practicing Jew to a Jewish follower of Jesus the Messiah. 

4 Neglected Paths to Spiritual Authenticity

As we continue in the book of Ezra this weekend, the Israelites are returning from exile. They have a chance to rebuild their lives, their city, and their temple. But, more importantly, they’ve also been given another chance to build spiritually authentic lives. 

Their spiritual inauthenticity is what got them into trouble in the first place.

Spiritual authenticity, in biblical faith, is about a relationship with God by his grace that more and more reflects his values and priorities in our everyday life as he transforms us into the image of Christ. 

I struggle to live a spiritually authentic life every day. 

And it’s no wonder—the paths to living out our relationship with God are extremely difficult to travel. 

And really very few actually join us on these paths. Even very few who profess to follow Christ, which can be very disorienting at times. 

Sometimes the paths are difficult because of our own bad choices. Other times because of outside pressures. And these pressures can often be subtle. 

This weekend and next, we’ll be looking at four of these paths so that we can be better equipped to travel the paths to spiritual authenticity—to a faith that’s real and lived out in our everyday lives.

Photo by alexander milo on Unsplash