Pause: Make Space for God
Life is busy. Grocery shop. Pay the bills. Call your mother. Finish an important project. Get the mail. Eat. Clean the kitchen. Sleep. Oh, wait… where does my relationship with God fit in?
How often do we find ourselves at the end of the day without having put the focus on our spiritual lives that we had intended? We want to look to God, we want to live an active spiritual life, and yet the days slide away without us making those things a priority. The 5th New Church Journey Program, Pause: Make Space for God, provides tools to support purposefully building our relationship with God throughout our daily lives. Pause provides a structure to engage in spiritual growth specifically spending time exploring the Bible and hearing God’s message for us.
New Church teachings state that “The acknowledgment and worship of the Lord, and the reading of the Word, cause the presence of the Lord; but these two together with a life according to His commandments effect a relationship of love with Him” (Apocalypse Revealed 796). Think about the power in that statement. The Lord is telling us the equation that results in being in His presence, and from that, being in conjunction with Him. Our part is to acknowledge the Lord, worship Him, read the Word and then actively honor His commandments. When we are doing these things, we can look forward to and expect a powerful connection with our Creator. We can experience the presence of the Lord.
The Lord invites us to experience His presence in every area of our lives. This can be a simple yet transformative process.
Our upcoming Journey Program, Pause: Make Space for God, focuses on tools to help us read and apply the teachings of the Word in our daily lives. By filling ourselves with ideas and insights from the Word and applying them in our lives, we can feel a closer connection with God.
During this program we are invited to ask questions about who God is and how we can relate to our Creator. We will explore the following topics:
- How Does God Speak to Me?
- Why Did God Create Me?
- Who Is Jesus, and How Does He Relate to My Life?
- How Does the Lord Work in My Life?
- What Does the Lord Want from Me?
- How Do I Follow the Lord?
- How Does the Lord Want Me to Serve Others?
With each of these questions we’ll have the opportunity to examine them in prayer and reflection, through reading and studying the Word and by living and applying these teachings to our lives.
Participating in this program, whether participating as an individual, online or with a local congregation, we will be given the opportunity to commit to taking a step forward on our spiritual path. And by taking the time to worship, read the Word, and follow the Lord’s commandments in our lives we can enter into a growing experience of the Lord’s awesome presence.
By Anna Woofenden, the Program Manager for General Church Outreach. For more information email anna.woofenden@newchurch.org.
