Welcome!
Pastor Bill Bergstrom
What does it mean to Grow Spiritually? In the fifteenth century Thomas à Kempis, a German monk, gave us a succinct answer to this question in the opening paragraph of The Imitation of Christ when he wrote,
"He who follows me can never walk in darkness, our Lord says. Here are the words of Christ, words of warning; if we want to see our way truly, never a trace of blindness left in our hearts, it is His life, His character, we must take for our model. Clearly, then, we must make it our chief business to train our thoughts upon the life of Jesus Christ.”
You could think of this journey God invites us on as an invitation to enter the greatest story there is - the story of God seeking and calling a people who will respond to him and love him, trust him, and live a life in harmony with him. A life lived in harmony with God means living a life where we grow in our love for God and express this love in service to others. This kind of love is expressed through a growing and deepening sense of joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, as God transforms our hearts, our souls, and our minds.
As Christians, we should not seek to define or understand God on our own; God reveals himself to us. We believe in a God who reveals himself through the Bible, in the person of Jesus Christ, and through the Church, which is the true body of believers in Christ throughout history. It is through these, as the Holy Spirit guides us, that we begin to understand and come to know the true God who created us for himself. What a joy it is to discover that God invites us to go on the journey of entering a deep relationship with him, learning about the unique way we are created to serve him and others, and spending eternity in paradise with him!
HOW TO USE THIS BLOG
As you seek to grow spiritually I invite you to click on and look through the pages on the right side of this blog and they will appear in this column. Click HOME to return to this Welcome page.
As you read my comments on Scripture I would encouraged you to have your Bible available to read. Always remember that as you study Scripture the primary purpose is not knowledge, which is important, but transformation of your life.
