ATOMIC HABITS
It’s crazy to believe, but we are in our last series of the semester! We are ending this year with a BANG in our series, “Atomic Habits.” Throughout these four sermons we will be discussing small habits we can add to our lives that will invoke atomic change in our Spiritual walk. Over the next four weeks we’ll be discussing the importance of making it a habit to spend time with God, to invest in relationships, to share our stories and to worship with our lives.
Make It a Habit to Spend Time with God
Habits! We all have them, so let’s talk about them. Whether you’ve got good habits (like getting enough sleep or remembering to floss) or bad habits (like biting your nails or checking your phone too often), most of your habits are probably small, tiny, hardly noticeable habits. But over time, those tiny habits can really impact your life — for good, or bad.
The same goes for our spiritual habits. What are the small things you do every day that either draw you closer to God or keep you at a distance from Him? To answer that, we’re going to take a look at Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples. Peter was definitely not a perfect Jesus-follower, but he made it a habit to be close to Jesus. In fact, he spent so much time with Jesus that God eventually used him to do some pretty big things in the world. Which makes you think, “What could Jesus do in my life if I made it a habit to spend time with God?”
Week 1: 3/23 & 3/27 – Palmer Dill
Scripture: Matthew 17:1-8 | Corinthians 3:18-4:2 | Psalm 51:10-12
Make It a Habit to Invest in Your Relationships
Let’s talk relationships. Family, friends, mentors, coaches — you get the idea. There are a lot of people in your life, but not every relationship is equal. There are some people you only know from the hallways or social media, and people who you like but don’t often see and people you laugh and have fun with but don’t usually have very deep conversations with.
And then there are your inner-circle people. The ones who’ll always answer your “I-need-someone-to-talk-to” texts. The people who have the biggest impact on your life and faith because of how much they invest in you. Scripture makes it clear that we were created for relationships — with God and each other. In many ways, our relationships with others can have huge impacts on our relationships with God. Especially the relationships that are closest to us. Which makes you think, “How could my faith grow if I made it a habit to invest in my relationships?”
Week 2: 3/30 & 4/3 – Allie Redmond
Scripture: John 15:9-13 | Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 | Proverbs 27:17
Make It a Habit to Share Your Faith Stories
Everyone loves a good story. Whether it’s an epic quest, a romantic love story, or the classic good-guy- defeating-the-bad-guy thing—we love to hear good stories. Often this is because we can see our own stories reflected in them. And yes, you have a story too!
Your story is a combination of all of your good times and bad times, your wins, your losses and everything in between. Your story may not seem particularly interesting or special to you right now, but your story could actually change someone’s life. Seriously. Especially when Jesus is part of your story.
In the Bible, you see Jesus inviting the people He met to share their stories of faith with others. Even when their stories were imperfect and unfinished, their stories helped others discover the truth of God’s love. Which should make you wonder, “Who could I impact if I made it a habit to share my faith story?”
Week 3: 4/6 & 4/10 – Daniel ”stallion” Stevanus
Scripture: Mark 16:9-15 | Psalm 27 | Romans 1:16
Make It a Habit to Worship with Your Life
To some people, “worship” is just a genre of music or that thing you do on Sundays before the sermon. It’s something that happens inside the walls of a church, or when there is music involved or when your eyes are closed and hands are raised. Yes, all of this is worship, but it’s not all that worship is.
In fact, you can worship God while doing all sorts of things, as long as what you’re doing is meant to bring God glory. That’s how the apostle Paul describes it. He wrote most of the New Testament of the Bible, and he once said that whatever we do or say, we can do it for God’s glory. So whether we’re at church, at school, walking, eating, shopping, playing football, doing homework or hanging with friends, we always have opportunities to honor and connect with God through worship. Which should hopefully make you wonder, “In what ways can I make it a habit to worship with my life?”
Week 4: 4/20 & 4/24 – Trevor Miller
Scripture: Colossians 3:14-17 | Psalm 63 | James 2:14-17