Practicing the Way

All too often, there's confusion when it comes to ideas and words like.

Religion; Church; Spiritual; Faith; Christian

We're all looking for more: More meaning. More substance. More goodness. More fulfillment.

Most of us are looking for but not living out lives that reflect Jesus' words "...life that is truly life": Rushed. Hurried. Overwhelmed. Stressed. Exhausted.

What if things could be different?

What if there is a way to live that not only leads to peace, joy, & happiness but you can experience all of those right now...not just after this life.

Following Jesus has long been likened to a spiritual journey. When Jesus invited his first disciples to “follow” him on the “way,” he was simultaneously saying that discipleship to him is a lifelong path.

The purpose of this series is to get you started on the journey of spiritual formation, help you get unstuck if you’ve stalled out, or just guide you into taking your next step. Ultimately, its goal is to train you to live as an apprentice of Jesus: to be with Jesus, become like him, and do as he did.

Session 01: Follow Jesus

Following Jesus is more than going to church or believing the right things; it is practicing a way of life. The meaning of “follow Jesus” is rooted in 1st-century practices of rabbis and apprentices, practices that inform our understanding of how to follow Jesus today.

Session 02: Formation Part 01

Whether we realize it or not, all of us are being formed — by our habits, relationships, the stories we believe, and our environment. This session explores the six primary forces shaping individuals: habits, relationships, stories, environment, time, and experience.

Session 03: Formation Part 02

Many of us desire to become more like Jesus, but we feel stuck. We need a training program, a reliable pathway to transformation. We find this in the Way of Jesus, which shows us how to intentionally engage formation.

Session 04: The Practices

The Practices are disciplines that create space for the Spirit to transform us from the inside out. Learn about practicing ancient disciplines that open us up to God to change us at the deepest level.

Session 05: Meeting God in Pain and Suffering

The Practices can expose pain as our soul begins to process and discharge suffering. This session explores the three primary ways people deal with pain (deny, detach, or drug), how unhealed pain sabotages transformation, and how God can meet us in pain to bring lasting change.

Session 06: Healing from Sin

This session covers three dimensions of sin — sin done by us, sin done to us, and sin done around us — and explores four layers of sin we move through in our healing: gross sins, conscious sins, unconscious sins, and attachments. Finally, the session covers our part in healing, the practice of confession.

Session 07: Crafting a Rule of Life

Transformation is possible, but it’s not inevitable. Learn how to build an intentional plan, or what the early Christians called a “Rule of Life”: a schedule and a set of practices and relational rhythms that create space for us to be with Jesus, become like him, and do as he did.

Session 08: Life Together

To sustain a lifelong journey of following Jesus, we need to key in on one final critical truth: You are meant to follow Jesus in community. Learn how to cultivate a community of depth, vulnerability, and commitment to transformation.

The Spiritual Health Assessment

The Spiritual Health Assessment is a tool designed to help you gauge your inner life with God and the person you are becoming in Christ. It typically takes about 5 - 10 minutes to complete.

We suggest taking the Reflection in a quiet, distraction-free place, when you have the time to work through it slowly. After you’ve finished the questions, you’ll be provided with a visual overview of different aspects of your spiritual formation and suggestions for next steps.

The Reflection is designed as an ongoing tool to track the trajectory of your formation over time. Once you’ve completed more than one Reflection.