I enjoyed being back at home and with my friends at aplacetotalk. I am really enjoying what we do together. I wish I knew how to get more people involved in the weekly conversations though.
Today we looked at a passage in Acts 5 – where Peter says we would rather obey God than men, and then Gamaliel says that the other Pharisees should let the disciples alone, and then the disciples continue to teach and preach in the name of Jesus.
Over the next few weeks we are going to discuss as a group how a person could grow by participating with us and aplacetotalk. I would like for a visitor to be able to simply attend one Sunday and walk away knowing what his or her journey might look like if he or she allowed us (the people of aplacetotalk) to be a part of his or her journey in faith.
For example – they might first attend searching for some answers for his or her life
-they might first attend searching for some answers for his or her life
-then they might realize their need for a personal Savior or a relationship with Jesus Christ
-may decide to make that decision public through Baptism
-often new believers attempt to mimic the behaviors or practices of other believers
-then they begin to notice how others live and they may even begin to attempt to convince others to behave differently
-eventually we hope that believers learn that Christianity isn’t about following men, pastors, priests, or religious institutions
-freedom from following men – should set a person free to really walk in and know Jesus personally
-later that person will realize that Christianity isn’t about following rules but is about following the Spirit of God
-following the Spirit is sometimes frowned upon by others who are following rules, and you are sometimes tempted to try and convince everyone to follow what you believe you have learned through the Spirit of God
-eventually some grow to the point that they can follow the Spirit of God and allow others to follow God too, hence not judging others and attempting to be the religious police
-at this point I believe witness takes on another facet because you begin to have people ask you why you are different – you aren’t pushing Jesus or a church on anyone but instead you are allowing people to live
As you are being formed into a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ, He (Jesus Christ) starts allowing you to be a part of helping others learn to follow Him – it is at this point that people begin wanting to follow you (earlier in your journey you would have longed to have people following you) but now you want people to stop following you and begin a relationship with Jesus Christ. Because watching someone find the freedom and joy that comes in really walking in Jesus is the greatest thing on earth.
Well I don’t know what I just said – I am not proof-reading or correcting anything – if I said something stupid please reply to this blog or join this discussion in the aplacetotalk.net forum.
Just to be clear – we are trying to come up with a catchy easy to remember, and easy to explain way to set out a path ( of spiritual growth ) for those who will consider participating with the people and ministry of aplacetotalk.net.
We are trying to build a place where:
1.Christ is exalted
2.Talking is normal
3.The Journey is Celebrated
4.Priesthood is Practiced
Maybe it is something like – exalted, talk, journey, practice and the idea is that people meet the exalted Lord, talk through beginning a relationship with Him and get Baptized (which is another way of telling people that you have chosen to follow Jesus, then the journey takes you from following rules to following the Spirit, and finally you practice the priesthood by hosting home groups and disciplining people…
Let’s work on this together….
We may need to include a new believer day now and then or a new member dinner now and then… whatever we need to think it through…
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