September 2009 Newsletter

Dear Friends,
I have recently completed my fifth week at the Academy for Spiritual Formation. Only three more weeks to go! To be sure, my time at the Academy has been enriching and rewarding. It has also been challenging and demanding, and has required of me a lot of soul-searching.

The purpose of the academy is to encourage participants in their journey of faith. The actual stated purpose is a bit more detailed:

The purpose of the Academy is to provide an in-depth and comprehensive experience in spiritual formation for lay and clergy persons who are highly motivated in their sense of call to follow Christ and serve the church and the world.

The Academy experience seeks a spirituality that integrates body, mind, and spirit. So our sessions have included information on taking better care of our bodies, reading and teaching that enlightens our minds, and regular worship (three times a day), as well as encouragement in the practice of spiritual disciplines. Thus far I have found the Academy to be a whole lot richer and deeper than I ever dreamed it would be.

You and I as people of faith are challenged to grow in our faith. Ever since we were baptized, Jesus has been inviting us to get to know him more personally. One does not need to attend an Academy for Spiritual Formation for this to happen, for certainly there are plenty of opportunities nearby to enrich our faith in Christ. Yet we do need to take advantage of those opportunities. Why is this important? Because for every message we receive or hear about our faith, and what it means to live as a Christian in today’s society, we receive a dozen or so more messages that show life quite contrary to the message of God’s Word. You may hear about loving your neighbor on Sunday, but through the rest of the week you may hear about getting revenge, taking advantage of others, looking out for number one, and all kinds of other messages that are quite contrary to loving your neighbor. And you will hear these messages from the most unlikely places – your friends at work, the television shows you watch, the football players who take great pride on hurting an opponent, the behaviors demonstrated at school, and so forth. For many, the only exposure to life the way God wants us to live is one hour on Sunday morning. And that is hardly enough. So you can see we are bucking the odds on knowing how to live out our faith. It takes great intentionality on our part if we are to know and learn how Christ wants us to live as his disciples in a society that is not focused on his ways.

For that very reason we have opportunities for spiritual formation right here at church. We have a variety of ways in which we can grow deeper in our faith and develop a spirituality that blesses God, ourselves, and those we live with. In the history of the Church we have called these opportunities Sunday School classes, Bible Studies, and so forth. In reality, they are spiritual formation opportunities – opportunities for you and I to grow deeper in our relationship with Jesus and more intentional in our walk as a Christian.

It is my prayer that we will take advantage of the opportunities for spiritual formation right here at WCBC. Let us strive to be a people who want more and more to know Jesus and what it means to follow him. This fall, join a Sunday School class, our marriage class, Tuesday night studies, or any of the other studies available. And make sure to bring your children, if you have them, and assist them in their spiritual formation. In such a way we will honor Christ.

Peace,
Pastor Jim