Making Progress in our relationships!

Happy Monday! Yesterday was another great day at Albany First! Today, I am enjoying the company of my daughter and my beautiful little granddaughter as I write this blog!
The following are some questions to consider this week as we continue to lean toward actions that cultivate healthy progress in our relationships.
1. Acceptance is valuing another person the same way God values us. Describe a time when you felt accepted by a person or group. How did that make you feel? What about a time when you didn't feel accepted?
2. What are some practical ways to show biblical acceptance? Discuss the difference between acceptance and approval. How does understanding that the two are different help you with showing the biblical value of acceptance.
3. The Bible teaches that communication includes seeking to understand and be understood. How does this help or change the way you approach a conversation? Describe a time when you felt a person was listening with the goal of formulating a response versus listening with the goal of understanding. How did it make you feel?
4. Describe a time when someone hurt you, and you were able to work through the process of forgiveness. How did that impact your relationship with one another? How did it affect you? In other words, how did forgiveness impact your life?
May our great God's love, acceptance and forgiveness fill your life this week!

Grace and peace,

Pastor Frank

Making Relationships Work!

Let me start off by saying “Thank You” for all the positive feedback I’ve received from the Hope Rising teaching series we’ve been in since Easter Weekend.
Yesterday we started looking at Hope For Our Relationships as I set out to answer the question, “How do we cultivate healthy relationships over the long haul of life?” Philippians 3:12-15 offers two broad ideas or “moves” for making progress in our relationships. We studied the first one yesterday...Leave the past behind you.
Here are a few questions to consider this week as we work out what God is working in our lives.

1.      Share a time or two when you learned something about God, yourself, or life because you took time to reflect on past experiences.

2.      In Philippians 3:13 it says, No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. Why do you think the great Apostle Paul expended so much energy to forget what is behind him and press ahead toward the goal of God for his life?

3.      Why does the Bible place so much emphasis on confession, forgiveness and reliance on God when it comes to leaving our hurts behind? Do you believe that relying on past experiences, or nursing old wounds is one of the ways we indulge desires that do not please or honor the Lord? Read Galatians 5:13-15 in as many different translations as possible and then discuss whether or not it applies to this question.

4.      Share a time when something from your past was affecting a present relationship. What did you do to move past it? Is there something you still need to leave behind today? If so, consider sharing it with your small group or a trusted friend, and ask them for prayer and encouragement as you work through the process of forgiveness.

I will never forget the day I chose to leave behind a wounded relationship with my father. My mother had recently passed away, and after the funeral I drove to my father’s house (they had been divorced for years). I stood in his kitchen where we had a heart-to-heart conversation...I confessed my hurt and told him I wanted to start fresh in our relationship. That took place in 1996. That day marked a renewed relationship with my father that I have enjoyed to this day.

My prayer is that the Albany First Assembly church family will continue to experience many fresh starts as we learn to leave behind the past and lean forward to the future blessings, joy, and opportunities God has for us all!

Grace and peace,

Pastor Frank   

Family Matters!

Happy Monday to all!

...Another great Sunday at Albany First!
This week, I will defer my blog to the Parenting and Home Group Study that will be posted on our website today. Please go to http://www.albanyfirstassembly.org/ and click on the appropriate link. The material can be used in a variety of ways depending on your needs.

Have a great week!

Pastor Frank