A Story-formed Faith
For better or worse, our lives are the product of the stories we immerse ourselves in. So as a Church, we need rhythms and practices that reorient our lives around the story God. This week, we’re talking about how our Church practices the story of Jesus together – and how you can walk with us.
1. Paul calls us to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice” (12:1). In what ways does offering our everyday, embodied lives to God reorient us from living out the dominant cultural story to living inside God’s story? Can you name places where this reorientation feels costly or freeing?
2. Romans 12:2 contrasts being “conformed to this age” with being “transformed by the renewing of your mind.” How does immersion in God’s story—through Scripture, worship, community, and practice—reshape what we desire, value, and pursue? Where do you notice the “pattern of this world” pulling you in a different direction from the pattern of Christ?
1. In the message, Justin makes this statement: for better or worse, our lives are the product of the stories we immerse ourselves in. What are some of the dominating stories in our culture that Christians tend to lose themselves in?
2. When it comes to your own life, what are you currently doing to intentionally be presence to God? What rhythms and practices do you want to see be more a part of your daily faith journey?
For better or worse, our lives are the product of the stories we immerse ourselves in.
We want to learn to live the story of Jesus together.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Romans 12:1 NIV
“You don’t think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking.”
— Henri Nouwen
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Romans 12:2a NIV
What’s more, don’t let yourselves be squeezed into the shape dictated by the present age. Instead, be transformed by the renewing of your minds…
Romans 12:2a NTFE
Our task as a church is to live the story of Jesus as an act of resistance.
Advent — What are we waiting for?
Epiphany — How are we encountering Jesus?
Lent — Where are we being drawn into repentance?
Easter — What are we seeing come to life?
Pentecost — What are we receiving from the Spirit?
Ordinary Time — Where are we noticing God’s presence?
We’re in this together.
How will I practice being present to God?
How will I practice being present to my church family?