How do I grow in my faith?

How do I let God change my life?

Spirit growth doesn’t happen by accident, it like anything, takes intentional actions.

So, some simple things to do so that we can begin to be more christ-like in our actions and thoughts.

Our desire as a christian is to love like he loved, live like he lived. plain and simple.

So, how do we do that?

by focusing on developing three rhythms in your life. The first is worship… second, connecting and third, serving. With intentionality, over the coming days, weeks, and months anyone can experience spiritual growth because God is at work in each of these rhythms.

First: Worship.

I don’t mean coming to church, but it’s about Sunday morning too. When I say worship there are two facets.

One you are well aware of, the corporate worship we share on Sunday mornings. The gathering together of the church family to pray, sing songs of faith, study God’s Word, reconnect with friends, and serve. This gathering together is vital to growing in our faith.

I hear people all the time say “i’m a Christian, I just don’t go to church”. I always think… I don’t know how you do that. Without coming together with the body of Christ, it’s impossible to be what we are saved to become. That’s right, being saved, or having a relationship with God is about a lot more than heaven. Jesus saves us to become part of a new family, a spiritual family where Jesus is the head; and if you refuse to be an active part of the family, then how in the world do we think we will spend eternity with them?

Simply, if you have a relationship with Jesus, you need to follow his lead and be a part of a local church for worship.

But worship is also about how we live our whole life.

I love the way Romans 12:1 says this:

Romans 12:1 NIV

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

in Study, study the bible.

We understand the Bible to be the revealed word of God, given to teach us history but it also teaches us how God behaves, and how God wants his people to think and act.

As we study the Bible, God actually renews our mind, our thinking.

Be transformed by the renewing of our mind…

God’s word is the foundation for how we live and get to know God as we get to know Jesus.

Second, in Prayer

You may think of prayer as something done before meals, or on your knees by the bed before you go to sleep, but prayer is really just a matter of talking to and listening to God… it’s an ongoing conversation.... it’s not just kneeling by the bed…

I’ve heard many people say they aren’t comfortable praying in public. The more you pray alone, the more comfortable you will be praying in public… because it’s really the same thing. Appreciating God for who he is, confessing your shortcomings, thanking God for what he has done, and asking God to meet your and other’s needs.

Prayer is conversation… just like any other relationship you would have, conversation is a vital part of the connection. Communicate more to grow closer together. You want a growing relationship with God, communicate with him.

Third, as a worshipper… What does this mean? I’m not talking about learning to play the piano or the guitar. Although that may be how you do it.

I mean grow in the way you express yourself in worship. I’ll be honest, I’m not the most expressive person in worship, so I have to be very intentional about this.

I’m talking about Lifting hands as you sing… scripture encourages it. I’m talking about praying aloud. Being engaged in worship. When you worship as part of the congregation, sit up front, bring your bible, take notes, volunteer to lead prayers. When you are home alone, become a worshipper in private. Listen to worship music, fill your thoughts and actions with acts of worship. Be an engaged participant in worship.

Fourth, in church.

In the local church, I’m talking about being present.

But it’s more than being present, just showing up, it’s being connected. But let’s face it, you can’t be connected to people if you are absent from their lives.

And being a part of the local church is vital to our faith. I hear it all the time from people, I’m a christian, I just don’t think I need to be a part of a church.

Wrong. Plain and simple. You need to be a part of a church because you have been gifted with talents and abilities which are essential to building up and equipping others. You can’t ignore other Christians who need YOU. They have gifts too. Some of those gifts would be a blessing to you. So when you refuse to connect in the church, you are denying others the blessing of Your gifts, and you are missing out on theirs.

For the life of me, I don’t understand why people who love Jesus wouldn’t want to be around others who love Jesus.

Does that mean every church is healthy? No, find one that is, and commit to being a part of it.

Fifth, in Service … in church & as the church

Again and again in scripture, Jesus refers to his followers as servants. Servants not in the sense that we are ignored or taken advantage of, but privileged to serve in the Kingdom of God.

It’s not that we have to, but we get to be a part of what God is doing. So if you want to grow in your faith, begin to take part in what God is doing in the church. Serve with kids, with seniors, teach, clean, cook, there are as many ways to serve as their are people willing to serve. Just take what you were wired to do and do it in church.

But also serve as the church

Becoming Like Christ takes intentionality… and as you do you and those who know you will begin to see real change in you and the way you live.