Opening The Door

Poster 1 – OPENING THE DOOR

My name is ??, I’m a lay person and my talk is “Opening the Door”. Please join me in reading the Kairos Community Prayer on page 11 of your Freedom Guide.

Introduction. We heard in the Choices talk that we are and will be the product of the choices we make. This is a little frightening to many of us.

Then we heard that We Are Not Alone. There are people out there who love us and want to support us. We begin to feel a little hope.

Next we learned that God is going to pursue us no matter how difficult we may be.

The last talk told us that we can live in community with God and other Christians . . . if we will but open the door to God!

Each of us can live in Friendship with God. But, many of us don’t know how to begin

We do not have to earn God’s friendship.

We don’t have to be good enough.

We don’t know how to open the door to God.

Some of us find it difficult to accept what we’ve been hearing about Jesus and about His Church, that we are worthy, and that we are wanted. And if we accept that, we are not at all sure it is something we want. Why is that?

· We may have been turned off by things done by people who are active in the church.

· We may have experienced rejection or lack of love from church people.

· We may feel we can’t be good enough and don’t even want to be good enough for a Friendship with God.

· We may have seen Friendship with God as a set of rules to be followed rather than a relationship to be lived.

<<<Personal Witness: This is how the speaker struggled with people, rejection, or not feeling good enough to form a friendship with God>>>

Poster 2

It is a very simple act to open the door to God in our lives, but it takes courage. As we heard this morning in Chapel, we have to hang on with both hands.

That means we must surrender! We must let go of:

· Ego

· Need to control

· Domination

It is a free gift – but we must accept it, unwrap it, and honor it.

Poster 3

The practice of Friendship with God is called SPIRITUALITY. Do you remember this wooden circle we called Friendship with God? It is really the top of a 3-legged stool, and Spirituality is only one leg of the stool. If I attach the Spirituality leg, can the stool stand on its own? NO! Obviously, it will take other legs to support a Friendship with God. But for now let’s focus on what Spirituality is. Write this down:

Spirituality is a personal holiness, meaning to direct our lives to God. <<REPEAT>>

Write this down: Spirituality has the following characteristics:

· It is natural.

· It is courageous. You must be willing to declare your Christianity in you action, not just in your words. A wise man once said, “Preach the gospel always; and . . . use words if necessary.”

· It is joyful.

Poster 4

The elements of spirituality:

We human beings are both flesh and spirit. It takes disciplined spiritual exercise to develop a deep spiritual life just as it takes disciplined physical exercise to develop a body. St. Paul tells us this in 1 Cor. 9:25.

Experience has taught us that there are exercises which will result in a deep spiritual life and a close Friendship with God.

· Morning offering of ourselves to God. It can be as simple as “Here I am God, use me.”

· Daily prayer:

o Confession

o Thanksgiving

o Praise

o Prayer for others (Agape)

o Petition

· Bible Study and Reflection.

· Meditation – silence: “God, I give myself to you.”

· Self-examination of actions, relationships with others and list of areas needing improvement.

· Sharing experiences of spiritual life with others.

· Spiritual direction: Seeking the continuing counsel of a trusted spiritual adviser.

Practicing these spiritual exercises will result in the growth of faith, hope and love in our lives.

Spirituality that has a goal of opening the door to a real relationship with God has both a primary requirement and a primary reward.

The primary requirement is that we place our relationship with God as the most important thing in our lives, the way Jesus taught us.

The primary reward is that we shall travel through life in joy with Jesus, the Christ. We become Christ-bearers to others.

Please bow your heads for two minutes of silent meditation.