Make Yourself Available

This past Sunday, we kicked off our spring series in our Central Steps year-long series of series. We’ve taken a “Step Up” in the fall and a “Step In” in the winter – and now we’re taking a “Step Down” as we learn to become like Christ.

That’s what our spring season of Step Groups is going to be focusing on: becoming like Christ.

Becoming like Christ is a life-long journey.

It’s a key part of the process called “discipleship”. There are a million books about and philosophies of discipleship – what it looks like and means to follow Jesus – but one of the more popular ones recently is by a pastor named John Mark Comer.  It’s called “Practicing the Way”, and in general, I think it’s pretty good. The one thing I really do like about it is how he breaks discipleship down into three easy to remember modes:

be with Jesus,
become like him,
do as he did.

Simple, clean, elegant. It covers all the bases. In the fall, during “Step Up”, we started to dip our toes in the ideas in the “being with Jesus” part – and in the summer, during “Step Out”, we’ll get into the “doing as he did” part.

But now, we’re focusing on the “becoming like him” part.

Listen to what Comer says about “becoming like” Jesus:

“Formation into the image of Jesus isn’t something we do as much as it’s something that is done to us, by God himself, as we yield to his work of transforming grace. Our job is to make ourselves available.”

(p. 75).

Our job is to make ourselves available.

It is God who does the work to make us like Christ (and as we’ll see this Sunday, it is God’s personal empowering presence with and in us that does it – the Holy Spirit), but we have a role too. We’re called to “cooperate with God’s transforming grace”, to “yield”, to “make ourselves available,” to surrender.

That’s what, in a way, this series is all about – and it’s what our Step Groups this spring will push us towards. Being part of a Step Group is one single step towards growing to become like Christ, it’s one way that we “make ourselves available” to God’s transforming grace and Spirit.

So if you’re not finding yourself growing to become more like Christ – try as you might – now is the time to join a Step Group.  Ask yourself,

Am I becoming more patient, or less?
Am I becoming more generous, or less?
Am I becoming more kind, or less?
Am I becoming more compassionate, or less?
Am I becoming more loving, or less?

Am I becoming more like Christ?

We all have ‘steps’ to take to become more like Christ – more loving – so join a Step Group this spring and take those steps together.

Let us know you want to join one today!