Leader Guide: Welcome, A Christian Guide to Spirituality

Welcome to the Leader Guide for A Christian Guide to Spirituality and thank you. Your time is valuable and I appreciate your willingness to review these materials.

The purpose of this guide is to summarize A Christian Guide to Spirituality and to suggest that you employ this book as a devotional for your study group or congregation.

Spirituality is lived belief. When we pray, worship, or reach out to our neighbors, we live out our beliefs. Our beliefs structure our spirituality like skin stretched over the bones of our bodies. These beliefs start with faith in God the Father through Jesus Christ as revealed through the Holy Spirit in scripture, in the church, and in daily life. Our theology orders our beliefs. Without a coherent theology, we lose our identity in space and time having no map or compass to guide us on our way. In the end, we focus on ourselves, not God.

The early church interpreted and summarized God’s revelations in the biblical text and early creeds. The catechisms were developed later to summarize key church doctrines. The Heidelberg Catechism, Luther’s catechism, and the Catholic catechism focus on three key statements of faith: the Apostle’s Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. Not surprisingly, Sunday morning worship has over the centuries also focused on these three faith statements and they have often been memorized and put to music.

A Christian Guide to Spirituality discusses Christian spirituality in the form of daily devotions. Each topic is treated with a scriptural reference, reflection, prayer, and questions for discussion. When appropriate, references are provided for further study. The first four chapters (Introduction, Apostle’s Creed, Lord’s Prayer, and Ten Commandments) cover 40 days making them suitable as a Lenten study. The entire study is 50 days, consistent with beginning a study on Easter and running through Pentecost.

My prayer is that this book will encourage readers both to understand Christian spirituality better and to nurture their walk with the Lord.

Return to outline (Link).