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March 22, 2026 - For the Church at the St. John Church of Christ
Spiritual Discipline: Journaling
In a consumer society, it’s easy to accumulate experiences, believing the more we have the better! Yet experiences don’t necessarily bring wisdom, nor do they automatically transform us. We need to listen and reflect on our experiences in the presence of the Holy Spirit to learn from them. Journaling is a way of paying attention to our lives – a way of knitting the vast ball of our experiences in to something with shape that attests to the state of our soul.
On the pages of a journal, in the privacy of a moment, we can take tentative steps into truth and scour our feelings, hurts, ideas, and struggles before God. Over time repetitious themes, sins, compulsions, hopes, and concerns emerge. We begin to recognize our besetting sins, limitations, and desires. During times of transition, travel, loss, joy, illness, and decision making, journaling can provide a way of processing the hopes, fears, longings, angers, and prayers of our heart. It can be the place we sound off before God so we don’t sound off in an inappropriate way to others.
The ongoing nature of a journal catalogs the journey of a soul into God. It reveals how we hammer out our identity as a Christ-follower through the ups and downs of daily routines as well as in times of crisis. If you don’t write well – use photos or drawings – you don’t even need to write in complete sentences.
Journaling is a way for you to be with God and your thoughts, not an exercise in language arts. Tell the truth to God and yourself as best you can. Review what you write on a regular basis. As you do, you will begin to recognize recurring life themes, desires, frustrations, and patters of interaction. These insights become matters for dialogue with God.
Daily Verse of the Day
Worship Times
We meet together regularly on Sunday mornings. We would love to have you join us!
We have bible classes for all ages at 10:00 a.m. Following classes, we meet together as a church family at 11:00 a.m. for worship services.
On the first Sunday of the month we enjoy a potluck meal together following worship service.
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