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Sermons from 2015 (Page 2)

Know Yourself That You May Know God

Self awareness is intricately related to our relationship with God. In fact, the challenge of Scripture to shed our ‘false’ self in order to live authentically in our new ‘true’ self strikes at the very core of true spirituality. In AD500, Augustine wrote in ‘Confessions,’ “How can you draw close to God when you are far from your own self?” He prayed: “Grant, Lord, that I may know myself that I may know thee.” In 1530, John Calvin wrote in his opening of the ‘Institutes of the Christian Religion:’ “Our wisdom…. consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other.’

The Problem Of Emotionally Unhealthy Spirituality

Emotional health and spiritual maturity cannot be separated. It is impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. When we ignore the emotional component of our lives, we move through the motions of Christian disciplines, activities, and behaviours, but deeply rooted behavioral patterns from our past continue to hinder us from an authentic life of maturity in Christ. We often neglect to reflect on what is going on inside us and around us (emotional health) and are too busy to slow down to be with God (contemplative spirituality). As a result, we run the high risk of remaining stuck as spiritual infants, failing to develop into spiritually/emotionally mature adults in Christ.

Growth – God’s Part And Your Part

Over the years, I’ve often heard people say, “Jesus changed my life.”
Bit how does Jesus change your life?

There’s a lot of confusing advice about how God does this.
• Some people say, “Just wait on the Lord.” (passive approach). Other people say, “It’s up to me.” (activist viewpoint).
• What am I supposed to do in order to grow? Is it all me or is it all God or is it a mixture of the two?

Paul Says- When it comes to your spiritual growth, the fact is, God has a part and you have a part.