A Journey-- A Study In Spiritual Formation

We are beginning a Journey to the heart of God this year, using 2 resources:

Invitation to a Journey~ A Road Map for Spiritual Formation by M. Robert Mulholland

and

notes from my certificate course at the Institute for Spiritual Formation, Biola University.

We invite you to join us by attending the study at Trinity Presbyterian Church of Camarillo on Thursday mornings, 10 am to 11:30 am OR by following this blog.  I will post my lesson here, as well as any attachments we use in class.  Please give us feedback through the blog--it could be a lively discussion as we invite the Holy Spirit to probe our hearts and continue to fill us with Himself.


Week 1

The Journey

Invitation to a Journey ~ A Road Map to Spiritual Formation
M. Robert Mulholland & Ruth Haley Barton
plus
Notes and wiritings on Spiritual Formation from the
Institute for Spiritual Formation, Biola University


1.  Welcome.  Let’s go on a Journey together. 
We will discover some things we didn’t know, discover some things we didn’t know we knew, look honestly at our own hearts , and gaze intently into the heart of God to see our reflection there.

Opening Prayer

2.  Introduction to authors M. Robert Mulholland and Ruth Haley Barton.  DVD, part 1

3.  Christian Spiritual Formation—How does it fit into the scheme of Christianity as a whole?

  • Spirituality as a Static Possession
  • o   Information and techniques to achieve spiritual fulfillment
  • o   We are in control of our relationship with God
  • o   Who does this sound like in your experience?
  •  
  • Spirituality as a Dynamic Growing toward wholeness in the image of Christ.
  • o   Increasing faithful response to God
  • o   Holistic spirituality
  • o   God is increasingly in control as we yield to Him



4. Spiritual Theology—Discipleship and Transformation

  • All sorts of “ologies”—
  • o   Theology
  • o   Christology
  • o   Pneumatology
  • o   Ontology
  •  
  •  
  •  
  • What exactly is Spiritual Theology?
  • o   Drawing out the spiritual and practical implications of theology in order to better understand and participate in the process of transformation;
  • o   A theological discipline that seeks to integrate scriptural teaching on sanctification with observations and reflections on the Spirit’s actual work in the believer’s life.


5.  Invitation to a Journey Overview

  • o   The Road Map: The Nature of Spiritual Formation
  • o   Mulholland’s definition of spiritual formation: 
  • o   Spiritual Formation is a process of being formed in the image of Christ for the sake of others.
  • o   Counter to our culture’s “Me” focus
  • o   The Vehicle: Personality and Piety
  • o   Integration of personality and spiritual formation
  • o   Not something we add on, or use to cover up who God made us to be
  • o   Not “quick fix” formation
  • o   Each of us has a unique path
  • o   The Journey:  Spiritual Disciplines
  • o   What do you think of as spiritual disciplines?
  • o   Classic disciplines, and some that God designs for individuals
  • o   Companions on the Way: Corporate and Social Spirituality
  • o   An aspect frequently missed
  • o   John Wesley: “There is no personal holiness without social holiness.”
  • o   An essential piece of the puzzle of our own formation


Part One:  The Road Map

6.  A working definition of Spiritual Formation

o   Many definitions of Spiritual Formation
o   Some call for evidence of spirituality: speaking in tongues, handling snakes
o   Some have lists of do’s and don’t’s
o   Some allow anything
o   Mulholland’s built flexibility into his definition
o   a process
o   of being formed
o   in the image of Christ
o   for the sake of others
o   Consistent with Scripture
o   We have fallen short of God’s purposes for us
o   God is gracious to redeem us
o   Moves against an expectation of instant gratification and possessiveness
o   Rebellion against God results in self-destruction
o   Only God can liberate us from the bondage of Sin
o   He shapes us toward wholeness—like the potter shapes clay.
o   We must do this with others—there is no wholeness on our own.
§  Why?

o   2 Corinthians 12: 9,10
o   1 Corinthians 1:25; 15:43
o   Romans 8: 26-29
o   Colossians 1:15

7.  The great temptation of Moralism—Bootstrap Theology
o   Letting someone else be in control is seen as weakness, to be avoided.
o   Hiding and Covering—The Garden
o   Fortitude—the Gift of the Fall

8.  Worldview is critical—
o   Classic—Purpose, Natural Law
o   Modern—The Enlightenment
o   Post-modern—God Is Dead, Relativism

9.  The New Covenant:  Ezekial 36:26; Jeremiah 31: 31-34
o   God initiates and guides our growth toward wholeness.
o   The Holy Spirit is the agent of change

10.  The Cross has made us Flawless—without Him we are nothing.
o   John 15:5
o   Mercy Me—“Flawless”

You can share our lessons with others who can’t be here in person by referring them to http://christian-transformationblog.blogspot.com

Article by Dr. Steve Porter: Sanctification in a New Key

Next Week:  Chapter 1, pp. 23-27


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