Strengthening our Relationship with God
Posted August 4, 2009 – 10:58 am in: Messages
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There are as many books available on church growth as you have money to spend and time to read. I take a simpler approach: healthy things grow.
I’ve spent some time this past month praying about the future of our church here in Bracebridge, and a couple passages kept coming to mind:
- The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30): be faithful with what we have and we will be entrusted with more.
- The message to the church in Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6): wake up and strengthen what remains.
This message is a call to wake up via repentance, and to take our relationship with Jesus seriously. As we strengthen our relationship with God, with others (next week), and the community (the following week), we will become a healthier church (that grows).
There are all sorts of ways we can mature in the faith—ways we can allow the Spirit to cut through the noise and to (trans)form our character. I quickly suggested 12 different disciplines as practical steps at the end of the message (from Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth).
If you’re wondering what all that laughter was about near the beginning of the message, here’s the video I showed:
[original header image by Silenceofnight]
Tags: healthy church, spiritual disciplines, wake up