Monday, October 3, 2005

Good Morning!

Hope you had a good weekend. In class, we looked at a couple of possibilities for our next study. One book that might be a possibility is Devotional Classics, which is a reader that covers many, many of the best known Christian writers. Here is a link to the books page on Amazon, which includes an overview of the book, some reviews, and the opportunity to look at some of the actual pages in the book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060669667/qid=1128338040/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8761174-3207203?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

If the link doesn't work, just go to www.amazon.com and search for Devotional Classics -- Richard Foster is the author. Foster has two other books -- one called Spiritual Classics, which is similar to Devotional Classics, and then there is a Spiritual Formation Workbook, which is a shorter, maybe six-eight week section.

The new unit for this week is Unit 23, Sanctifying Grace

Focus Scripture for the Week:

1 Thessalonians 5:23

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely.

Today's Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Today's Discussion:

-- let's start with an understanding by what is meant by sanctifying grace -- here are some nice, concise definitions that I found on the web:

What is meant by Grace?

This is the unmerited favor and love of God which we all experience. In simpler terms, this is the love that God has for all of us, even though we do not deserve it because of our sinful nature. John Wesley believed that this grace affects us in primarily three (3) different ways (Prevenient Grace, Justifying Grace, & Sanctifying Grace).

• Prevenient Grace - This is the divine love of God that surrounds all humanity and precedes any and all of our conscious impulses and actions. This is the action of God pursuing a relationship with us and urging us to turn towards God (repent) and to confess our sins so that we may be delivered from the bondage of sin and death through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
  
• Justifying Grace - Justification and Assurance - We believe God reaches out to the repentant believer with a grace of accepting and pardoning love. In justification, we are, through faith alone, forgiven our sin and restored to God's favor through the action of Jesus Christ.

• Sanctifying Grace - Sanctification and Perfection - We hold that the wonder of God's acceptance and pardon does not end God's saving work. Rather, through the action of the Holy Spirit, God continues to nurture our growth in grace in a continual journey toward "having the mind of Christ and walking as he walked." John Wesley would say this is our "going on to perfection" through the work of the Holy Spirit.

-- this week's lesson is about the idea of sanctifying grace, and how we should be open to it, and understand how it is in work in our lives. Also, this unit starts to get it where I hope we are individually after 20+ weeks of this study -- in closer relationship with Christ through a more disciplined spirtual life.

Question for Sunday:

-- this week's lesson starts to get at the idea that we've talked about some already -- the idea of "moving on to perfection.", of becoming closer to Christ. As we start to wind down this study, how would you grade yourself on your progress towards that goal?

Today's prayer request: Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims

Need to continue to remember this people, whose lives will remain in flux for the forseeable future. Need to pray for them to have peace, for comfort, and for them to get all of the assistance that they need to restore their lives.

Today's class member prayer:

Ron Ray

Have a great day.

Jay