RENEW

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Pastor’s Blog

RENEW

Do you ever feel like your spirit is running on empty? Are you tired of just going through the motions of superficial spirituality? As we develop patterns in our lives, especially within the rhythms of staying busy in the local church, it becomes very easy to give the appearance of spiritual activity without experiencing spiritual vitality. If that’s you, or if you want to avoid reaching that place, then I want to invite you to renew by taking a fresh look at several resources God has provided to His followers.

This Wednesday, April 20, we will begin a six-week series during the 6 o’clock Adult Bible Study (fbctlh.org/abs) exploring the spiritual disciplines of Bible study, meditation, memorization, prayer, fasting, and giving. I hope you can join us each week and be encouraged in your daily walk with Christ. If you miss a week, each Adult Bible Study session is available as a podcast via our website, iTunes, Stitcher, or TuneIn. Here is an overview of our schedule and a preview of each week.

  • 4/20 Read – Bible Study

    Don’t let your eyes just move across the words in your Bible, verse after verse, as you dutifully “spend time in God’s Word.” Read and study the Bible with focus and determination to actually understand.

  • 4/27 Reflect – Meditation

    When asked why he meditates, Dietrich Bonhoeffer replied, “Because I am a Christian.” Beyond simply studying the Bible, spend time reflecting on and thinking about what you’ve read.

  • 5/4 Recite – Memorization

    As you study God’s Word and commit more and more of it to memory, the Holy Spirit will regularly draw truth from this deep well within you and apply it to your every circumstance.

  • 5/11 Respond – Prayer

    As God speaks to us through our study of the Bible, and we gain insight and deeper appreciation through meditation, we respond through prayer. Prayer is not about you changing God, but Him changing you.

  • 5/18 Refrain – Fasting

    John Wesley said, “Some have exalted religious fasting beyond all scripture and reason; and others have utterly disregarded it.” Fasting is a humbling act of denial meant to strengthen your dependence on and satisfaction in God.

  • 5/25 Return – Giving

    If everything we have comes from God and ultimately belongs to God, anything we give to Him is simply being returned. The real question is how much dare we keep.