A Fall of Learning and Growing
For 10 weeks, we will study Romans 12-15. Every week there will be a few verses that describe the kind of life together God has for us.
Paul was soaring on divine inspiration when he wrote these words. Add to that inspiration his own deep passion for the community called the Church to be all it is meant to be.
We have three components to our learning experience this fall.
First, there is the Sunday message. This is the doorway and the stepping stone to a new week of learning.
Second, there is the daily devotional. We have a printed copy available at the church every new week. We also have a digital version (with several extra features) you can use every day. It is on our church app. Look for the devotional icon at the bottom of the screen.
By the way, the blog icon is right beside it!
The third part of learning is having energetic and robust spiritual conversations with your friends. Some of the best learning is learning we do together with others.
Put these three things together, week after week, and you will have a great fall of learning and growing.
Paul was soaring on divine inspiration when he wrote these words. Add to that inspiration his own deep passion for the community called the Church to be all it is meant to be.
We have three components to our learning experience this fall.
First, there is the Sunday message. This is the doorway and the stepping stone to a new week of learning.
Second, there is the daily devotional. We have a printed copy available at the church every new week. We also have a digital version (with several extra features) you can use every day. It is on our church app. Look for the devotional icon at the bottom of the screen.
By the way, the blog icon is right beside it!
The third part of learning is having energetic and robust spiritual conversations with your friends. Some of the best learning is learning we do together with others.
Put these three things together, week after week, and you will have a great fall of learning and growing.
Every time we start a new series of Sunday messages, you have before you a new time of learning and growing. This thought from Gandhi says it so powerfully.
First, he has a "seize the day" (carpe diem) message. If you know you are going to die tomorrow, then be fully alive today. Be full of love and joy. Be with friends and family. Pray and worship. Make your today AWESOME.
The second thought is just as powerful. Learn as if you are going to live forever... or at least for a very long time. Gandhi knows that learning is a major part of life.
To learn is to grow, develop, deepen, ripen, mature, increase, improve, advance...
To learn is to change, adapt, adjust, experiment, explore...
Not to learn is to become stagnant, stale, and stunted in heart, mind, and soul.
Life is about really living. Living is about ongoing learning. Live and learn. Live to learn. Learn to live. Learn and live.
This is exactly how the Apostle Paul thought and said so powerfully in Philippians 3:12-16:
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.
Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.
Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
All fall, let's press on together in this amazing part of the Bible. As we learn, let's put our best learning into consistent practice.
Together, let's discover and create the kind of community of Christ that will be what the world needs.
Learning together with you,
Pastor Brian Rice