Elevate Your Game

I start a new series of sermons this Sunday that focuses on three vital spiritual disciplines. Faith is a lot like a muscle.  Use it and it grows stronger.  Ignore it and it grows weaker.  With enough neglect a muscle will become useless.  Faith is the muscular system of the Christian life.  Exercise is essential in order to grow stronger and more flexible.  The spiritual disciplines are the exercise routines that strengthen and harden your spiritual muscles (your faith).  A consistent regiment of exercise (practicing the spiritual disciplines) will ELEVATE YOUR (spiritual) GAME.

Richard Foster in his classic work, "Celebration of Discipline," divides the spiritual disciplines into three categories consisting of Inward, Outward, and Corporate disciplines.  He then focuses on four spiritual disciplines within each category.  The Inward Disciplines include: meditation, prayer, fasting, and study.  The Outward Disciplines include: simplicity, solitude, submission, and service.  The corporate disciplines include: confession, worship, guidance, and celebration.  Practice these twelve consistently and there is little doubt that it will revolutionize your life. 

Twelve can be overwhelming.  What I want to suggest is that you start with three: Pray, Give, and Serve. All three are foundational disciplines of the Christian life and will strengthen your faith muscles.  Over the next three weeks we will be looking at each one in more detail as God helps you to ELEVATE YOUR GAME.
.