Spiritual Formation for this Generation | Breakout Session @ CPC 2012

Notes from: Spiritual Formation for this Generation

Breakout Session @ CPC 2012 Orlando by Kit Rae

How do we grow into the image of Christ? What does it take? Process?

Galatians 4:19 – Christ formed in you

Do I really know what it means to have a relationship with Christ?

Reflect on a word that describes the feeling or what happened when you accepted Jesus Christ:

• comfort
• broken
• transformed
• need
• love
• freedom
• acceptance
• joy
• peace
• hungry
• compelled
• relief
• undone

Bait & Switch?

• what started as a relational endeavor (faith in Christ)… became autonomous
• we start to strive for approval
• Christianity becomes about doing and striving

Three Temptations:

1. To make our ministry simply about information, facts, and head knowledge and to not allow knowledge to a place of knowing… a place of relationship…It’s difficult to assess spiritual growth.Perhaps make the Bible stories not about “Noah” for instance, rather the Main Character: GOD.
2. To make our ministry about moral training, about good behavior. Striving in the power of the self to be good, to be more loving, to be more kind, rather than allowing relationship with Christ to bring these about in our lives.The greatest counterfeit for authentic faith is good behavior.
3. To simply despair of the process and to start looking to counterfeit things. To make our ministry about something else.

Hebrews 12:2 – “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of our faith…”

Creating space to allow the Holy Spirit to work

1. Allow kids to ask questions
2. Allow kids to pray and talk to Jesus
3. Connecting relationally with kids

Redeeming the time you have (in ministry or at home) – i.e. bath time, carpooling time

COMMUNITY

Kit does family ministry because they (his church) believe it to be the best way to bring about spiritual formation in kids and adults 3 core values:

1. parents are primary,
2. church plays a supportive role, and
3. Holy Spirit brings about growth and transformation when and how he chooses

Homefront Weekly: pre-teach curriculum ask parents to ask 2 questions and the next week @ CM time in church they ask what they came up with (it is a pre-emptive curriculum)!

Family Time: share a meal, one activity, close by praying together; instead of mid-week programming, families do it @ home.

Adult Services: key times in the year that kids are invited to be in the adult services and they get to watch and witness God moving.

NARRATIVES

We often believe false narratives, and truth needs to counteract the “false narratives.”

Jesus told stories to counteract the “false narratives” of the day.

Ask volunteers to be aware of the false narratives in children and tell them: “That is not true about you… let me tell you who you are!”

Replace false narratives with things that are true.

God-centered… we teach the main character is God.

Chronological… bringing them in to the Big God Story… and you are a part of it!

DISCIPLINES

• prayer
• fasting
• Bible reading
• something that you habitually do to create space to pay attention to what God is doing
• Do we read our Bibles for information or toward a relationship?
• We should memorize Bible verses in order to know God better.

Kit holds off on application and does a response where they ask (for instance): “God, who do you want me to love” application should be informed by the Holy Spirit.