Growing in Grace

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Growing in Grace

A Discipleship Path for Adults

Join with us on the greatest journey of your life—a journey where
you grow to know, love and serve God
as a follower of Jesus Christ.
Our Adult Ministries Team is here to help you find your way
to a ‘cell’ (small group),
and to a variety of opportunities to help guide your path.
Journeying into life as God intended us to live it will bring joy, challenge and
meaning as nothing else in life will.

First Steps

“First Steps” is a great place to begin your discipleship journey. It’s here that adults explore what Christianity, the United Methodist Church and Holy Covenant UMC are all about and can sample different ministries. Sunday morning worship is the first place to start—to experience the love of God through the body of Christ—the church community. Adults in this phase are learning the basics of how to study the Bible and understanding how God has equipped them with different gifts that enable all of us to work together to make our church, community and world what God intends for it to be. These “first steps” help to begin GROWING IN GRACE toward a lifelong
relationship with God.
Adults in this phase participate in:
*Attending worship                    *Bible 101 class
*United Methodist Church 101 class        *Spiritual Gifts class

In Christ’s Footsteps

Those in this phase of GROWING IN GRACE are active members of the church—living out our membership vows by participating in Worship +2 (cell and call) and are invitational so that they and others are becoming more faithful followers. Adults are involved in a cell group, participating in a call to service and taking part in classes and studies to help them further develop their
knowledge and love of Christ.
Adults in this phase regularly participate in:
*A “cell” group *A “call” to service
*Short-term classes - ex: Disciple Bible Study, Share the Love, etc.
*Need-based classes—ex: Financial Peace University, Divorce Recovery, Grief
Recovery, Parenting Classes, etc.
*Serve on a church team or committee
*Using their spiritual gifts to support and build the church & community

Blazing a Trail

Christ is now the center of life for those in this phase of GROWING IN GRACE. Adults work closely with pastors to learn what resources and disciplines will take them deeper so that they may lead, teach and practice their faith—setting an example for other members of the community.

Adults in this phase regularly participate in and/or lead:
*Activities in “Christ’s Footsteps” phase
*A new ministry here at HCUMC
*Discussion with pastors for the ’next steps’ to take in their spiritual lives

Where are you GROWING IN GRACE?
Are you making steps toward the next phase?
We’re here to help and look forward to journeying alongside you as disciples of Christ!

Contact Adult Ministry team leaders Mark Millar— mcmillar@att.net
or Susan Kasten— kastens@verizon.net
and visit www.hcumc.org for recommendations on classes and ministry opportunities.

Prayer

Prayer is first and foremost conversation with God. Communication with God is
essential to us as the air that we breathe. Like tennis, prayer takes practice to become
accomplished. Spiritual guides and sages, pastors and other church members are filled with advice and counsel. Here's some of that wisdom condensed into 10 tips about prayer:

You are worthy.
Do not feel guilty about the quality of your prayer life, or fall victim to doubts and
despair about your worthiness to talk to God. Each of us has a spiritual gift or prayer.

The more you pray, the richer your prayers become.
Like anything in life, to become good at prayer you must be disciplined. Just as running is an exercise in physical fitness, prayer is a spiritual discipline.

Prayer is active.
Prayer involves action; namely being attentive to God's voice in your life. Listening for God means stopping and sitting still. It means paying attention to what God may be saying to you at any point in your life.

Prayer should not be an afterthought.
Prayer was the backbone of Jesus' ministry. Often, he broke away from his disciples to spend time with God. In the same way, prayer is essential to individual lives and to the life of the church. Break away from your daily routine for quiet time in prayer.

God doesn't require eloquence.
Don’t worry if you fumble for words when you pray. God is not looking for Toastmaster's graduates, but sincerity (not that you can't have both at once). If the words won't come, God still knows what's in your heart. Lift up that desire.

Prayer need not involve words.
The great Christian saints all write of prayer as a time of sitting quietly with God. Jesus even went off for 40 days of prayerful solitude. Take a deep breath. Exhale. Follow the breath as it flows in and out of your body. Think of it as the Spirit of God breathing life into you.

Prayer is a time for conversation with a friend: God.
Whether you see that friend routinely or just every once in awhile, know that whenever you turn to God, you're turning to someone who loves you.

Ask God for help if you get stuck.
Maybe you've hit a dry spell. There's no shame in asking God to guide you to pray in a new way.

The three Ls of prayer: Listen, listen, listen.
Listening for God is central to prayer, according to the great saints. It's so critical that St. Benedict began his famous Rule with this command for monks: "Listen with the ear of your heart."

And remember, prayer can happen anywhere --
it doesn't have to always take place in church. **

On Line Resources

Many of these sites will send you a daily devotional when you sign up on their site with your email address.

Explore Faith— www.explorefaith.org/prayer/ A site that has guided prayer through words, music, art and spiritual images. An excellent place for spiritual nourishment.

Sacred Space—www.sacredspace.ie Guided daily prayer. A wonderful spot on the Internet to take a break during your workday. This site also sells very inexpensive seasonal devotional books you can purchase from their web site. Their Lent devotional is really good.

Painted Prayerbook by Jan Richardson—www.paintedprayerbook.com This site is good for those who like to meditate on images while they pray. Painted Prayerbook is an especially great resource for Lenten prayer.

The Center for Action and Contemplation—www.cacradicalgrace.org Richard Rohr, one of Pastor Andy’s favorite authors and a favorite of many clergy, is the leader of the CAC. Their daily devotional is inspirational.

Pray As You Go—www.prayasyougo.org This site has daily prayer you can download as MP3 or WMA files. There are also breathing and centering exercises to help you
prepare yourself for quiet time with God and an 8-minute guided prayer to use at the end of the day.

Please contact any of the Holy Covenant pastors for additional guidance
about prayer or for more resources.

**excerpted from 10 Ways to Improve Your Prayer Life by
Susan Hogan, UMNS 2009