Greetings from the Pastor, 

 

     How is your spiritual health? This may seem like a strange question. We are used to hearing questions about our physical health and even our emotional health as a recognized component of good health, but what about spiritual health?  As human beings we are designed with a need for physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. This is why human culture has always had a spiritual component to their understanding of themselves. Scripture reminds us, that God created us with an internal desire to be spiritual. Even medical science has shown evidence that spiritual practices help with healing, reducing stress and improving overall health and relationships.

         So why does spiritual health provide such benefits? I believe it is because it helps to connect us to something bigger than ourselves. It also gives us purpose and meaning to life, beyond what is seen on the outside or valued by the culture. So if spiritual health is so important, why do we shy away from discussing and promoting it?  As a culture we value that which can be measured and evaluated. Physical health can be measured, tested and determined to cause certain consequences. Even emotional health has evaluating tools that can determine a proper diagnosis. These two components of our health make sense to us, but spiritual health is not as easily measured.  Spiritual health seems like bad science, hard to measure and evaluate.

     During this Lenten season, which starts on Ash Wednesday, February 17th, we are going to be working on our spiritual fitness.  Each week we are going to discuss a spiritual practice that will develop and strengthen your spiritual health.  The schedule for the spiritual fitness is as follows:

 

     Week 1 - Developing healthy communications with God

     Week 2 - Praising God with your life

     Week 3 - Spending time with God

     Week 4 - Serving others in Jesus' name

     Week 5 - Always in community

     Week 6 - Giving away so that you might be filled

 

     Each week you will receive a guide with numerous exercises to help you develop and strengthen these components of spiritual health. And like with physical exercises, there will be different types of exercises for different types of people.  Some of the exercises will be for those who like things quiet, while other exercises are for those who like more energetic activities.

 

     On Wednesday nights, we will be walking together on our journey to Jerusalem starting at 5:45 pm, with soup supper beginning at 6:15 pm.  During worship time at 7 pm we will encourage and support each other in our spiritual fitness.  The challenge for Lent is to walk the distance between Galilee, where Jesus spent most of his time and did the majority of his ministry, to Jerusalem, where he faced his final challenge and suffered death on the cross.  We encourage you to use www.walkingdaily.org as a way for getting daily devotions.  During your time walking, we encourage you to reflect on the devotion of the day and listen for God to speak to you about your call to ministry.

 

     During Lent I encourage you to use this time to focus on your spiritual health so that your overall health can be strengthened.  I also hope you will be given the tools to help others to see the importance of their own spiritual health. 

 

See you in worship,

Pastor Mike