For those who have kids, can’t commit to the evening, or if we pass the 12 person limit, there will still be some additional, but limited, seating in the event center meeting room. If you fall into that category, please submit your reservation early!

Please email karl.leifeste@gmail.com if you are interested in attending, and specify whether or not you want one of the 12 bunks. Guys and gals will have separate sleeping arrangements.  Cost: $35

Five Things – Five Catalysts – God Uses to Grow Our Faith

Your faith in God matters to God. In fact, God is most honored through your living, active, death-defying, out-of-the-box faith.

Spiritual growth doesn’t follow a recipe: Add a dash of prayer here; Two tablespoons of Bible knowledge there; Follow that with three quarts of regular church attendance – Voila . . . FAITH! That’s really not how it works. Life is too messy for us to believe that there’s a simple formula for faith.

Then how does our faith grow? How do we get to the point of completely trusting God with every facet of our lives? We all want to grow spiritually, but sometimes we can be at a loss for how that actually happens.

Imagine how different your outlook on life would be if you had absolute confidence that God was with you. Imagine how differently you would respond to difficulties, temptations, and even good things if you knew with certainty that God was in all of it and was planning to leverage it for good. In other words, imagine what it would be like to have PERFECT faith.

What to expect in this study

On this retreat, we will begin to build a biblical case for five things God uses to grow BIG faith.  We will use video portions of a sermon series by Andy Stanley to help introduce each element that will then lead into short discussion sessions.  The remainder of this, at least, 6-part study will be completed in a Wednesday night Small Group Study (also lead by Ramon) starting in January.

Synopsis

Part One:         “Big Faith” – Matthew 7:24; Matthew 8:5-10
Part Two:         “Practical Teaching” – Matthew 7:24-27
Part Three:      ”Providential Relationships” – Proverbs 13:20
Part Four:        “Private Disciplines” – Matthew 6:2-4, Mark 1:35
Part Five:         “Personal Ministry” – Matthew 14:19-21
Part Six:            “Pivotal Circumstances” – James 1:2-4, John 11:1-45

Please e-mail Ramon (ramon.jordan@gmail.com) if you have any questions regarding the study topic.

Religions around the world have practices and beliefs that help people understand the meaning of life and give people answers to the important questions that they have about life, death and the existence of God. Specific questions include: What is ultimate reality? What is the nature of the world? What is the nature of humanity? What is humanity’s primary problem? How is that problem solved? What happens after death? We will look at each of these questions through the lens of each of the studied world religions.

We’ll be meeting Wednesdays, July and August, from 7-9pm at Grace Community Church (in the Lobby Atrium). If you have any questions please contact Ramon.

Return here often as we post information and questions for your pre-study review and for your comments.

July 1st – Introduction;   July 8th – Hinduism;   July 15th – Buddhism;   July 22nd – Judaism;
July 29th – Christianity;   Aug 5th – Islam;   Aug 12th – Atheism;   Aug 19th – Wrap Up, Final Thoughts

To get the most out of this series, you’ll want to join a Small Group by contacting Ramon Jordan or Jess Brunn.  However, even if you don’t join a Small Group, you can still come to the Sunday gathering and participate in that week’s “drill down”.