Growing as an Mature Person

Introduction

Welcome

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Series: Emotional Healthy Spirituality

Emotional Healthy Spirituality

Guided

by the ethos of our value of renewal

"we experience God’s restorative power flowing into and mending the broken and hurting places, and we join the stream of this grand renewal project by making known the all encompassing love of JESUS in our neighborhoods & city”

Explored

During this series we have explored

Emotional health

Defined as our ability to be self-aware and love well

Contemplative spirituality

Slowing down to cultivate our relationship with Jesus

Growing in Maturity

Loving God and Loving Others

Luke 10:25-37

English Standard Version Chapter 10

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Peter Scazzero’s Emotional Healthy Spirituality

Todays Focus: Growing into a mature person

Growing into a mature person

Maturity requires personal ownership of your journey

Maturity requires personal ownership of your journey

Slowing Down

To cultivate our relationship with Jesus, to abide in Jesus

Abiding in Jesus

You must do this, no one can do it for you

No one can do this for you

Abiding in Jesus

No one can do the abiding for you

You must do this

You must do, no

Abiding in Jesus

Equipping

Spiritual Practices to Aid You in Spiritual Growth

You w/ Spiritual Practices to Aid You in Spiritual Growth

Encourage

Daily Office or Guide, Scripture & prayer

You to spend time w/ Jesus everyday in scripture & prayer

Into the Presence

Scripture reading & prayer

Scripture reading & prayer.

In the Presence

Give attention to silence and stillness

marks a great shift in our relationship with God

Because, the Life of Jesus was marked by intimacy w/ God

Drawing away from the noise of the crowd to consistently spend time w/ God

Silence and Stillness

marks a great shift in our relationship with God

marks a great shift in our relationship with God

Moves us from only speaking to God to listening, to a two-way relationship.

Moves us from only speaking to God to listening, to a two-way relationship.

Imagine being in a relationship with someone where they only talk to you but never listen!

Imagine being in a relationship with someone where they only talk to you but never listen! A mature relationship with someone requires listening/being with the person and not simply talking.

Imagine being in a relationship with someone where they only talk to you but never listen!

That is a bad relationship.

A dysfunctional relationship.

A mature relationship requires listening

A mature relationship with someone requires being with the person and not simply talking.

A mature relationship requires being with the person and not simply talking.

A two-way relationship is marked by love for the other.

Love is “to reveal the beauty of another person to themselves”. - Jean Vanier

Active love is for the benefit of the other

Jesus Made Loving God and Loving People Inseparable.

Christian Faith is and Embodied Faith

Jesus made loving God and loving people inseparable.

The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky

The Bro K

A wealthy woman is wrestling w/ the question of God’s existence

She asks an elderly monk how can i know God exist, No explanation or argument can achieve this, only “active love” achieves this.

She asks an elderly monk how can i know God exist

She dreams of a life of loving service, but then thinks about the cost and worthiness of those she’d serve and her dreams of service vanish and again she wonders if God exist.

No explanation or argument can achieve this, only “active love” achieves this.

To this the wise monk responds, “Love in practice is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams”.

She dreams of a life of loving service, but then thinks about the cost and worthiness of those she’d serve and her dreams of service vanish and again she wonders if God exist.

To this the wise monk responds,

then she wonders if God exist.To this the wise monk responds, “Love in practice is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.”

“Love in practice is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.”

Loving Well is the Goal of the Christian Life

Part of growing into an emotionally mature Christian is learning how to apply practically and effectively the truths we believe.

Practical Application of Truth

How can I be quick to hear and slow to speak?

How can I be a true peacemaker?

How can I be a true peacemaker?

How can I be angry and not sin?

How can I watch my heart above all else (since that is the place from which life flows)?

How can I watch my heart above all else (since that is the place from which life flows)?

How can I watch my heart above all else (since that is the place from which life flows)?

How can I get rid of all bitterness, rage, and envy.

How can I get rid of all bitterness, rage, and envy.

How can I speak the truth in love?

The problem for the Modern Christian is APPLICATION

“Love in practice is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.”

How can I mourn?

“Love in practice is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.”

Active love is for the benefit of the other.

Love is “to reveal the beauty of another person to themselves,” wrote Jean Vanier.

Active love is for the benefit of the other.

Active love is for the benefit of the other.

How can I mourn?

The Presence of People

How can I not bear false witness against my neighbor?

Jesus refused to separate the practice of the presence of God from the practice of the presence of people.

Love is “to reveal the beauty of another person to themselves,” wrote Jean Vanier.

Jesus refused to separate the practice of the presence of God from the practice of the presence of people.

Jesus refused to separate the practice of the presence of God from the practice of the presence of people.

Jesus refused to separate the practice of the presence of God from the practice of the presence of people.

I / Thou Relationships

1923 Jewish Theologian Martin Buber

Image of God

Every person deserves respect, to be treated with dignity and worth.

To be treated with dignity and worth.

Not dehumanized or objectified.

Not dehumanized or objectified.

Affirmed as having a unique and separate existence apart from me.

affirmed as having a unique and separate existence apart from me.

Though you are different from me—a “You” or “Thou”—I still respect, love, and value you.

Though you are different from me—a “You” or “Thou”—I still respect, love, and value you.

Buber argued that in most of our human relationships we lose sight of others as separate from us.

Buber argued that in most of our human relationships we lose sight of others as separate from us.

Tendency to treat people as an it - object - a means to an end

Tendency to treat people as an it - object - a means to an end

I - It Relationships

My World - O O - Your World

The result of I-It relationships is that I get frustrated when people don’t fit into my plans.

We believe our way is the right way.

We believe our way is the right way. Augustine defined sin as the state of being “caved in on oneself.”

Instead of using our God-given power to orient ourselves to God and other human beings, we focus inward.

Instead of using our God-given power to orient ourselves to God and other human beings, we focus inward.

Huddle w/ those just like us

Distance ourselves from conflict

I - Thou Relationships

My World - O Sacred Space O - Your World

The central tenet of Buber’s life work was that the I-Thou relationship between persons intimately reflects the I-Thou relationship humans have with God.

The central tenet of Buber’s life work was that the I-Thou relationship between persons intimately reflects the I-Thou relationship humans have with God.

The central tenet of Buber’s life work was that the I-Thou relationship between persons intimately reflects the I-Thou relationship humans have with God.

When genuine love is released in a relationship, God’s presence is manifest. The separate space between us becomes sacred space.

When genuine love is released in a relationship, God’s presence is manifest.

The separate space between us becomes sacred space.

Jesus is not looking for us act religious but to be filled with mercy, without judgment, towards others.