Life in Grace (ETN VDC)

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth.

Oh God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit instructs the hearts of the faithful, grant, that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Please close your guides and listen while I continue to pray.

I believe , Lord, that You are here present. Although my eyes do not see you, my faith senses You. Take any stray thoughts from my mind. Make me to understand the truths which You wish to teach me in this meditation. Let me make up my mind today to put them into practice. Your servant is listening; speak, Lord, to my soul.

Hello again! I bring greetings to you from God, the Father and Creator of all things, from His only Son Jesus Christ, Our Savior and Friend, and from the Holy Spirit, our Counselor and our Advocate!

Once again, my name is Pastor Chuck Benway, I made Western North Carolina Via De Cristo Mixed # 20 in the Fall of 2004, where I sat with my brothers in Christ at the table of St. Mark. This time I am blessed to be seated at the Table of the Spiritual Directors.

We have been taking a Grace filled walk with you these three days, have we not! We have seen that God is a God of Grace and loves us, no matter what. We have realized that this is not just a neat idea or philosophy, but that God personalizes, actualizes if you will, this grace for us. We have found that God makes this grace concrete and “incarnational” in and through physical and circumstantial means. And finally we found that even though there are obstacles to grace in this world, as Pastor Steve talked about yesterday, even those can be used for our building and, above all, God’s glory, as we read in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”

This talk is entitled, Life in Grace. Please write that down. This talk will answer the question, “How can I keep alive and vibrant this joy and enthusiasm of living in Christ?” Some like to call this talk, “How to keep on keeping on.”

Once again there will be some write-downs during this talk. I will try to emphasize them for you, repeat them and give you time to write them down. I’ll give you a hint: anytime I enumerate something, such as a Roman numeral, a letter or a number, that’s your cue to start writing!

Now someone has to ask the question and it might as well be me! “Is this Via de Cristo a sort of temporary insanity? Have the Chas (angels, servants) been spiking our coffee? Will we wake up tomorrow morning and find it’s all been a dream? And, if it has been real here, what’s the real world out there going to do with people like us? Many of us have felt the Holy Spirit tugging on us deeply this weekend. The Word of God, the wonderful Communion services, the prayers of people all over the world, love everywhere we turn - all of this and more has made this an intense experience. And you cannot go through an experience like this and not feel somehow different. Do you feel different than you did Thursday afternoon?

So, now what? Is it all downhill from here? In a manner of speaking it is. This is a mountaintop experience, but the real world, the real work lies ahead of us, down in the valley. I am reminded of the Transfiguration of our Lord, as we read in Matthew 2:4, when Peter, overwhelmed by the experience, said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He wanted to stay there and wouldn’t we all!. But, Jesus knew that there was much work to be done below.

Earlier our Rector shared that for everything you need, Via de Cristo has made provision. I have good news. You are going to be given some “tools” of faith today, to help you maintain your life in grace tomorrow, and every day thereafter. In fact, you have been using many of these tools already this weekend. So, let’s get right to it, shall we?!

I. The “Green” Card

(these should have been distributed before the talk)

A. This is a guide for staying alive in your faith.

I think you can see that the three sections follow along with 3 areas we have been covering this weekend. They will be highlighted further later on today.

B. The “rhythm” of the Christian life revolves around these three elements: Piety, Study and Action

This should come as no surprise to you by now!

C. There is a list of Spiritual “aids” to deepen our walk with Christ - Our Piety

Follow along on your card with me:

1) Let’s talk about Worship/ Communion

a. Do not just attend church! Go to worship!

Friends, there are a multitude of folks out there just attending God’s “Happy Hour”. They do this religiously and that is the extent of their faith / obligation to God. I am so tired of hearing people say, “I just didn’t get anything out of that service.” or “I don’t go to church because I just don’t get anything out of it.” My question is then, “Just what are you putting into it?” Why did you go in the first place? Did you go to church to worship the Lord of your life, to lift up His name in praise for the grace and mercy He has given to you? Or, did you go only for yourself? Sure, there is an element of teaching in the message, but the time to be fed is at other times, like Sunday School and Bible Study, sitting down in conversation with other Godly people. This is when you have time to get into the real meat of the Word!

b. Receive the meal (communion)as often as you can.

The Lord Jesus, in the night in which He was betrayed took bread and wine…He broke the bread and said, ‘This is my body, broken for you’; He took the cup and commanded, ‘Drink of it, all of you. This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for many for the remission of sins.’ ‘Do all of this in remembrance of me.’ - paraphrased from Luke 22.

2) Morning Offering/ Evening Thanks

a. Begin each day by offering it to God

Since we’ve been here, we have been doing it each day. So, invite the Lord to be present in all of your relationships and situations of the day. (talk about the LRU presentations, briefly, specifically about taking our faith with us into the workplace; same person everywhere we go)

b. End each day with a short word of thanks

3) Devotions/Meditation/Prayer

There is nothing like a warm and personal time with God each day. I like to pray a “centering prayer” each day, something that just puts everything into perspective.

a. Read a bit of Scripture and/or from a devotional book

There are a lot of these out there. I like to change it up in respect to this.

b. Form prayers are OK, but also be intuitive

For example, pray what occupies your mind and heart (Remember, prayer is your best friend; it is your direct link to God). Prayer doesn’t change God’s mind, it changes our hearts.

4) Examination of Conscience

We have been doing this also; it is a way to remain grounded.

a. Do this periodically

It does not have to be laborious, just real.

b. This often leads to some action

For example, healing a relationship

5) Altar /Chapel Visits

Spend a few moments kneeling at the altar of your church, alone or with a friend. It’s a very holy experience!

6) Family Prayer

a. If this has not been a practice in your home, introduce it gradually

Teenagers have been known to “freak out” at the sudden introduction of this practice! Some teenagers are already freaky enough, Amen?!

b. The family that prays together, does tend to stay together

This is very real! While 50% of marriages today end in divorce and 78% of second marriages end in divorce, less than 1% of couples who pray together daily end their marriages.

7) Blessing Before Meals (see advice above)

8) Spiritual Direction

a. Make an appointment to sit down with your pastor once or twice a year to assess your growth

Even we pastors do this. We have spiritual mentors who help guide us in our faith walks.

b. He/she will be honored to share this time - that’s why we’re there.

As a pastor, I must say that these are all possible aids to your walk with Christ. But, just doing them (like a check list) will not guarantee a deeper relationship. Any and all of them, however, can be means through which you and your Lord can express your love for one another. Believe it or not, if you did all of them, it probably wouldn’t add more than 30-45 minutes to your day. What an investment!

D. Our Study life (refer to the Study rollo)

Much has been shared already this weekend about the need to deepen our faith through some concentrated study of the Scriptures. This can be done by utilizing some readily available material.

1) Bible courses, adult education classes and Bible commentaries.

2) Christian periodicals and inspirational books.

These are books specifically dealing with aspects of the faith or theology

3) Ask your pastor.

For some good ideas of how you can approach study.

E. Making a Difference with Our Lives (Taking Action)

1) God has places for ministry for each of us

- they may be in the day-to-day routines of our lives, or in special areas of gifts, interest or concern; God can use you wherever you are.

2) It is absolutely necessary that we find our ministries and pursue them

(Note Matthew 25 (the need to be prepared if Jesus should delay or come earlier than expected; to be faithful to produce much fruit for the Master; to be sure to care for His people, to care for the prisoner, clothe the naked, feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty. And, again, in Romans 12:1 we read, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

II. Life in the “Body” - the Church

A. The primary faith community in your life - not Via de Cristo

Remember that this only lasts 3 days. Whereas you may have opportunities to serve on weekends as we have, your life in the Church will last he rest of your lives. This is just a small segment of the larger Body of Christ.

B. Be a positive blessing in your congregation’s growth in faith and witness

Go and set the example!

C. Pray, pray, pray some more!

- for your Church, your pastor, your fellow church members; everyone!

D. Make an appointment to meet with your pastor

Just a suggestion - you may want to write that on a separate piece of paper and put it in your Bible or your Pilgrim’s Guide to remind yourself to make that appointment.

1) Share the joy of the weekend

2) Ask how you can be most supportive of them and of the life of the church

E. Utilize your pastor as a “Spiritual Director” in your life

F. No secrets! Feel free to share about the substance and schedule of the weekend (minus the surprises)

Just remember how you felt every time someone got up to give a talk that was seated at your table that you thought was a pilgrim like you, or the little pieces of Palanca you found, the evening outdoor chapel, the beautiful flower covered cross this morning or, the best surprise of them all, when all those folks showed up last night to sing for you! Don’t spoil that for others.

G. No cliques!

Treat all brothers and sisters in Christ in your congregation the same. Don’t exchange expressions of affection (hugs, etc.) you aren’t willing to share with everyone else. No one is to feel different because they haven’t attended a weekend. Christ is the great equalizer. Please keep a servant heart.

III. Final Thoughts

There you have it - a prescription for a balanced Christian life. Meeting in small groups regularly will deepen your Piety, Study and Action. You will be encouraged in that area later today.

A good rule of thumb for exercising your faith on a weekly basis (apart from your personal devotional life)

FIVE FOR FAITH:

One hour for worship

One hour for large group Bible study

One hour for small group sharing

Two hours devoted to specific ministry action

Dear friends, the best is yet to be! The experience of many 1,000’s before you testify that the weekend is only the beginning. You will grow, your faith will deepen. Life can be lived in Grace - the Grace of God in Jesus Christ.