Henrietta Ivy, Mission President
https://drmconline.zoom.us/j/5634905859
Dial in: (312) 626-6799
April 12, 2021 @ 6:30 pm
Going Back in Order to Go Forward
Chapter 3 - Session A
Genesis 50:15-21
Sessions
1 - The Problem of Emotionally Unhealthy Spirituality (Held February 2021)
Emotional health and spiritual maturity cannot be separated. It is not possible 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 behavior, but deeply rooted behavioral patterns for our pasts 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.
We are made up of deep layers that exist well beneath our day-to-day awareness. The 10% above the surface represents the way we conduct ourselves and the changes we make that others can see. The 90% below the surface represents the roots of who we are that continue unchanged and unmoved.
2 - Know Yourself That You May Know God (Held March 2021)
Self-awareness is intricately related to our relations with God. In fact, the challenge of Scripture to shed our old “false” self in order to live authentically in our new “true” self, strikes at the very core of true spirituality.
In AD 500, 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 of 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 vast majority of us go to our graves without knowing who we are. Without being fully aware of it, we live someone else’s life, or at least someone’s else’s expectations for us. This does violence to ourselves, to our relationships with God, and ultimately to others.
David had to cut through three obstacles to be his authentic self in God (1 Samuel 17:26-45).
- His Family – unsupportive family that judged him, he was ignored, disregarded and put down
- Significant Others with Authority and Experience – Saul had led army of 330,000 men - David was just a shepherd, Saul tried to give David his armor to wear – it was too big and bulky, everyone was giving him advice.
- Goliath – Told David he would kill him - Goliath despised David for thinking he could fight him.
However, David knew himself and God (a powerful combination). David was true to himself and to God. Are you true to yourself and to God?
3 - Going Back in Order to Go Forward
4 - Journey through the Wall
5 - Enlarge Your Soul Through Grief and Loss
6 - Discover the Rhythms of the Daily Office and Sabbath
7 - Grow into an Emotionally Mature Adult
8 - Go the Next to Develop a "Rule of Life"