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Spiritual Formation

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Spiritual Formation Ministry Plan

God expects individuals that call themselves “Christian” to grow spiritually. The Word of God encourages personal examination as a part of the growth process, as found in Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.” Becoming more Christ-like focuses on how He works in us and not on our work for Him. The Cycle of Works demonstrates that regardless of work we complete, the acceptance of others, the sustainability of our works and the significance it brings, we cannot compete with God’s Cycle of Grace that show us that we are significant in His sight and that brings us sustenance and acceptance as His child and that it is only by His work of dying on the cross that we can be forgiven.
There are obstacles to developing any kind of plan for the church. People complain of not having enough time to study because of work, family, and other obligations. It is a matter of establishing personal priorities and because they see no tangible earthly benefits to spiritual practices, no effort is made in developing a personal plan for spiritual growth. According to Simon Chan in Spiritual Theology, we are a society of partially committed Christians (p. 105), demonstrated by his model of the world, the visible church, and the remnant. Chan contends that those in the remnant are disciplined and committed to corporate rule and prayer. Using that thought as a basis, it is necessary to constantly encourage those in the visible church – individuals that attend worship services but have little to no spiritual life outside of the church walls – to set up their prayer life. Being wholly dependent on the Holy Spirit to plant the desire to grow in the hearts of church, leaders then need to model and talk about what practices they have in

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