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BFHCC PASTORS
(April
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&
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ELDERS
9, 2000)

RETREAT

PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY FOR LEADERS

Session
What ls Spiritual Formation?
Spiritual Formation is the ongoing work of sanctification by the Holy Spirit in the believer's life and with the believer's cooperation. (lustification is God's work, but spiritual formation calls for our involvement.)
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Spiritual Formation is a lifelong process through which our new humanity, hidden with lesus Christ in God, becomes ever nrore visible and effective through the leading of the Holy Spirit.
(lohn Mogabgab)

Spiritual Formation is an intentional process through which a Christian joins God's Spirit in ways that pronrote continuous transformation into the likeness of Christ. Progress in Christian spiritual formation is measured by growth in love for Cod and growth in love for others. (loel Hogan)

Small Group Discussion

Exercise

1. Form into small groups of 4-5 people.

2.

Discuss what the definitions above have in common. language

3. Work together to write your own definition in your own words (in the of your choice).

Why is spiritual formation necessarv? In 1990, Peter Benson and Carolyn Elkin did a research project in which they examined the effectiveness of Christian Education in congregations. What they found was troublesome. ln the study, 64 percent of the young people in Christian churches had an "underdeveloped" faith (underdeveloped faith was defined as being low on the vertical dinrension of a "deep, personal relationship with a lovirrg God"). This is very discouraging, but even more discouraging was the fact that the majority of adults in the study had a "poorly integrated faith" (an integrated faith includes high levels of both vei'tical faith and horizontal faith - resulting in actions of love, mercy and justice). ln the analysis of tlre study, the authors attributed these alarming results to Christian Education programs which were cognitive in nature and did not result in an ongoing transformation of the hearu and habis of the learners.
The word "formation" comes from the root word "morphe" which is found in Romans 12:2 and ll Corinthians 3:1 8. lust as a Transformer Toy "morphs" into something totally different, the use of this word indicates that the inner being of a believer is supposed to be radically altered so that he or she is no longer the sanre.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be (morphed) transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rorrr. i2:2)

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being (morphed) transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the lord, (2 Cor.3:18) who is the Spirit.

Large Group Discussion

Discussion smrter questions:

1. What are the symptoms of an underdeveloped faith? (Write list on blackboard)

2. What are the symptonls of poorly integrated faith? (Write list on blackboard) 3. The lack of involvement in spiritual formation leads to a love deficit in our lives. Do the lists on the blackboard reflect people with a love deficit? In what ways?

4.

ls your faith well developed and well integrated? Do some listed describe you? Do you feel. a love deficit?

of the symptoms we

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BFHCC PASTORS

& ELDERS RETREAT (April 1B-19)

PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY FOR LEADERS

Appreciating God's Grace in Our Faith Journey

Even though you may not have been intentionally involved in or aware of the process of spiritual formation in your life, God's Spirit has been at work shaping and influencing you from the very beginning of your existence. ln theological terms, we call this process sanctification. It is God's work to form and transform us, not ours. However, we must agree with God's transforming work and respond to his grace. We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit as he works with us through Cod's Word. We can think of our spiritual life as a path or a journey. This helps us to continually make progress toward the ultinrate goal, which is to be conformed to the likeness of lesus Christ.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ (Eph 5:1-2a) loved us...

Spirituat lournev
One of the best exercises to begin the intentional process of spiritual formation is to look at what the Spirit of God has already done in our lives.

l.

Take a piece of Cartolina and some crayons.

2. Tell the story of God's grace in forming you throughout your spiritual .iourney by drawing a picture or whatever you wish to draw to represent the map of your spiritual formation.

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You might want to include the beginnings and foundations of your faith journey. You might want to include the resources God has invested in your spiritual formation such as key people, key events, key books, key concepts/ etc. You might want to.include the significant mountain-top experiences as well as the deep valleys you have passed tlrrough which God has used to shape and transform you.

3. Get into groups of 4-5 and, if you are willing, be prepared to share your spiritual journey map within 3-5 minutes. (l might ask two or three people, who are willing, to share with the whole group.)

Recording (Journalinql Your Spiritual Formation Journey

will receive a Spiritual Formation lournal which I would like you to use during the course of this retreat. I hope that you continue the practice of journaling after the retreat and that you make it a regular habit. lournaling takes a Iittle extra tinre, but it is well worth the effort.
There is no right or wrong way to do iournaling. Some people write their prayers. Some people write the insigha they receive from Scripture reading. Some people write down the meditations of their heart as they encounter God in his Word and in his creation. Some people write down what they believe Cod has said to thenr as they listen to him in prayer. I personally do all of those things from time to time, but not all of them every day. The point is to make a record of your quiet time interactions with God. The benefits of keeping a spiritual formation journal are many. First, the Holy Splrit gives wisdom and revelation as we meditate on God's Word.
Each of you

tkeep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdam and revelation, so that you may know him better. (Eph I :1 7)
Simply reading large portions of God's Word is a great discipline, which I encourage wholeheartedly; however, don't avoid the habit of meditative reading. When we slow down, read a smaller portion and chew on it with our minds and hearts we are often lead into deeper insigha anci fullei'revelation.

Another benefit of keeping a spiritual formation journal is that it helps you to develop a listening ear to what God is saying to you. Sadly, many Christians usually do not really hear God in their quiet time. They read a couple of chapters, witlr their eyes ratl'rer than with their ears, they shut the Book and, finally, they talk in prayer fcr awhile until they lrave nothing more to say. When they say the "Amenr" the quiet time is over. Cod is speaking and we need to discipline ourselves to hear him. lournaling helps this process.
Finally, keeping a spiritual formation journal ensures that you will not forget what God's Spirit has said to you: you have a written record. An added advantage of this written record is that it can become the resource for future lessons, sermons or other teaching materials. My best sermons have come from my spiritual formation jourrial.
Depending on your level of vulnerability, it might be good to guard your spiritual formation journal. The journal is an intimate record of your personal love relationship with God.
Unless you give permission, this should be left between you and the lover of your soul. lust so that you can have an idea of how I use my journal, I will allow you to lrear a couple

of my journal entries.

BFHCC PASTORS

(April 18-l9)

& ELDERS RETREAT

PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY FOR LEADERS

Session 3
A Story - The Condemned Man and The Merciful Master
I will read a story (an allegory). As I read, reflect on your situation and see if there are any parallels.

Luke 10:38-42 - Takinq Time To Sit At Jesus' Feet I will read the passage and make comments about the roles which we read about in Luke 1 0:38-42. As I read and lead you in a meditation of this passage, please do
the following:

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Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you through this fresh encounter

with His Word.

Write down, in your Spiritual Formation ]ournal, any insights or revelations that the Spirit gives you and any weakness or sin that the Spirit shows you.
-then-

Make a covenant, witlr the Lord, for your future commitment to the process of spiritual formation. Be as specific as you can.

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Homework Assignment - Read "Rooted In The Word" before the next session

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BFHCC PASTORS

& ELDERS RETREAT (April 1 B-19)

PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY FOR LEADERS Session 4

Using "Lectio Divina"
The goal of spiritual formation, as we learned earlier, is to grow in a personal, intimate love relationship with God and to grow in love for others. As we continue the journey of growth in love, we increasingly look like lesus. The place to start is to focus on our own walk of obedience to God's revealed will. When I fly on international fligha, they have a short video that all passengers are asked to watch. The video gives information about the safety features of the airplane and it gives information about what to do in the unlikely event of an emergency landing. The passengers are informed that an oxygen mask will drop in front of you if the cabin pressure drops. The person on the video instructs adults or parents to always put the oxygen mask on themselves before putting it on the children. The reason for this is that, in the event of a rapid drop in pressure at high altitude, you have approximately 1 O-2O seconds before you begin to weaken and faint because of the lack of oxygen. If you do not take care of yourself first, you will probably not be able to get your own nrask on in time and your children will not know how to help you. The lesson is simple: before we can effectively love and serve others and help them to grow in their relationship to God, we have to first see to it that we are growing in our own love relationship with God. One way to "sit at ]esus' feet" in order to grow in our relationship with him, is to practice "lectio divina." There are many other ways also. For exanrple, one of my most helpful disciplines is the discipline of spiritual retreat. I take a 24 hour spiritual retreat once every month. I make this my "Mary" time so I can just get away from all distractions and listen to whatever the Spirit of God has to say to me. However, lectio divina is important because it helps us to listen to God's Word with our heart and our ears rather than just read it with our eyes and mind.
I want you each to go to your own private spot where you can be alone with God and do each of the 6 steps listed in the article I handed out yesterday. AIso, be sure to journal whatever experience you have and whatever God teaches you. The text you will read for this exercise is 1 Cor 1 3:4-8a. Ask God to help you go beyond merely desiring change to being truly transformed into ltis likeness as you learn what true love is. Return to the meeting area at the time indicated for the wrap-up time.
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