So…we are on the other side of Your Next 40 Days. How's it going?
Today, we're starting a series of posts about how to grow your faith.
After all, that's your goal, right?
Whether you belong, believe or want to become, spiritual growth is something that unites us all.
But the question is:
How do you grow?
There are at least five ways Christians over the centuries have grown in their faith. I want to share those with you over the next week.
The first way God grows your faith is through practical teaching.
You've probably noticed by now that we're passionate about practical teaching at Connexus.
We believe that knowledge is important, but knowledge that you can apply leads to real growth.
We're passionate about it because most of us have had the experience of listening to a 45 minute talk and not being able to remember a single thing that was said an hour later. Maybe even ten minutes later.
What's the point of that?
Exactly. There is none. It was a waste of time.
So we focus heavily on application. Because we believe that we not only want to message to be clear and understandable, we want you to be able to walk out the door and apply it.
Apply it at home. At work. And in your key relationships.
In fact, every time one of our communicators writes a message, we filter it through five questions:
What do people need to know? (This is the main point.)
Why do they need to know it? (This addresses relevance.)
What do people need to do? (This addresses application.)
Why do people need to do it? (This addresses urgency and importance.)
How do we make the message memorable? (We want you to remember the point.)
That's the secret sauce on how we try to make sure our teaching is practical.
We could finish the post there, but if we did, we'd miss the most important part.
Your part.
When you leave on Sunday, the most important thing you can do is apply the message.
You need to do something about it.
It's kind of like having a gym membership.
Paying your monthly dues doesn't make you fit.
Hanging around the gym doesn't get you in shape.
Having really fit friends doesn't make you buff.
The only thing that actually gets you in shape is working out.
When you take all that intention, desire and knowledge and apply it, you start to get in shape.
When you take what you've learned and apply it, you begin to grow.
Sure, our teachings can be challenging because the bible is challenging.
But haven't you grown most when you've faced your biggest challenges?
So that's the first way to grow your faith: apply what you've learned.
By the way, you can watch all our message for free online here, or on your tablet of phone via our free Connexus App, or access the free audio or video podcast via iTunes.
We're always going to have a bent toward practical teaching, because the Bible leans that way (it was written to be lived, not just learned).
The best way to grow under someone's teaching is to apply it.
What helps you apply what you've learned?
– Carey
