You might be asking yourself some questions right about now like:
Why even continue with Grace and Truth in Your Story?
Where are we even at in this class and where are we going?
Are we going to be able to continue with coronavirus limitations? How can I focus on class when my life has changed so drastically?
Good questions! Let’s talk about this.
Why did you want to begin this class? Was it because something inside you was unsettled? Was it because you looked around at your life and thought some things needed to change? Was it because there are difficult relationships in your life? We’ve learned so far that we cannot change our circumstances. We’ve seen lately that circumstances can be dramatically out of our control. So what is it that we are after anyway?
We are after changed people. But they aren’t the people we do life with… they are the ones who look back at us in the mirror. We are looking to find our real selves created by God. We are after a deeper relationship with Jesus, which comes from journeying into the unknown of ourselves with Him. By following the Steps of this class, relationships in your life will change: your relationship with Jesus, with others, and with yourself.
Here’s another question to ask yourself:
Have you been living your life without knowing who you are? Is this what God wanted for you when He gave your life? The hope of this class is that you will experience both grace and truth as you look back over the story of your life, the story of who you are. It is our sincere hope that you start to think of your story as holding value and begin to honor the person that you are.
We want to help your head and heart sync up together and begin to see the gospel come alive in your life. So many times our head knows one thing, but our heart doesn’t feel it. Other times our heart can feel something very true and real, but our head dismisses it and denies it. We want you to know and feel the love of God. We want you to experience His infinite grace and mercy. We want you to be able to recognize and call out lies, then replace those lies with truth.
The first half of the year, we covered several different topics in order to help us understand the Steps. Then we started our study of the Steps, which give us a clear pathway to understanding and engaging our world in a way that looks like Jesus, while at the same time helping understand who we truly are underneath the masks we present.
Step 1: I admit I am powerless over my sin, addiction, and self- defeating behaviors and my life is unmanageable apart from God.
Step 2: I believe God loves me and will comfort and transform me as I explore and grieve the reality of my sin (addiction/ destructive responses) and its effect on my life.
Step 3: I choose to surrender my free will and follow Christ example as my guide.
Step 4: I choose to join God in my transformation by doing the heart work required of me.
This is where we have been in the class and where we left off. Because of the current pandemic, we do have to slow our class down for the time being, however we can keep moving forward - very mindful of our current situation.
In every crisis there is an opportunity to explore something in ourselves we may not otherwise have explored. We are not undone or shaken by this crisis. We continue to press on toward our Savior and toward the life He wants for us.
Even though we are physically distant from each other, our hearts don’t have to be. I hope that you can find ways to connect during the week with each other. We strive to be a close community in this class. Sometimes we fall short, but it is never our intention. Please continue to make your needs and feelings known whether it is through groupme, a private text, email, or however you feel comfortable. We love you. We believe in this class and the Steps. We are here and we aren’t going anywhere.
Here are some questions to journal about.
Tonight what is stopping you from continuing your work or blocking the way to experiencing god right now?
How could you make room for this in your life during this time?
In what ways has your life or plans change so you find yourself depending on God more?
What internal or external storm is in your life as a sign that something is not spiritually right? Explore that storm and ask God to reveal some truth about yourself in that storm that will refine you.