Dianne lead us through Lesson Two on Wednesday and we had some great discussion. Here is a quick summary of the chapters that we covered (pages 26-36):
Here are some of the comments and questions that were raised during our discussion:
- Our purpose for simplifying is to draw near to Christ and to be more focused on Him.
- If our devotions are dry, we have perhaps forgotten that the reason we have them is to focus on Christ.
- All our thoughts and experiences should be tied to scripture.
- Our spiritual life should be focused on the Trinity.
- There is no such thing as Lone Ranger Christianity...Christ is the head of the church and we are His body...all of us together.
Here are some of the comments and questions that were raised during our discussion:
- "Any spirituality without God is just self-worship by another name. It is the ultimate self-centeredness, and in fact, often uses terminology about "centering." D. Whitney. This ought to help us when we are listening to "spiritual" celebrities and such.
- "But the cross is as central to following Christ daily as it is to knowing Him initially." D.W. With that..."We must be willing to follow Jesus to the cross, daily dying to any desires that conflict with His so that we may daily live for Him.
- "The ultimate reason for all we do should be Christ. Is He the reason you want to simplify your spiritual life?" D.W.
- On page 26 it says, "We prune activities from our lives, not only to get organized, but also that our devotion to Christ and service for His kingdom will be more fruitful." The question raised was, "Do we necessarily need to prune things from our lives, or do we need to learn how to do them to the glory of God? And how do we know the things we need to prune and the things we just need to change our attitude about?" What do you think? Any input?
- Concerning our congregational spirituality, "The New Testament knows nothing of the individualized spirituality of today...the church is Jesus' idea, not man's. More than that, the church is His body...and Christ is the head of the church." D.W. So, "why wouldn't anyone want a part in what Jesus Himself is building?" D.W.
- And Hebrews 10:24-25 says, "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
- Ruth added that if we are all drawing near the same "center" then we will draw nearer to each other as we draw near the center :).
- And, Dianne asked a question that I remember to be, "How have we cultivated having spiritual conversations with others? Some of the answers were: Praise God in our conversations for the things he has done in our lives; ask leading questions that will focus others on "spiritual" conversation; ask what people are reading; and, ask how we might pray for people. These are all great suggestions for how we can try to keep our conversations with others focused on Christ.
I look forward to more good discussion next Wednesday as Karen will lead us through pages 37-46.
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