Our Heavenly Father has adopted us into His family and our adoption is the foundation for our transformation. Spiritual transformation is a gradual process of change as we learn the ways of our Father. Christians want to live a victorious life immediately. Talk of being radical or revolutionary Christians excites us but these descriptions imply that other Christians are lesser members of the family of God. Many consider the normal Christian life inferior to the higher Christian life. What is a normal Christian life? The Apostle Paul describes a normal Christian life in Romans 6-8. A normal Christian pursues holiness while wrestling with sin throughout life. The habits of sin must be replaced with the habits of holiness by the power of the Spirit. We grow to be like Christ as we walk in step with the Spirit. We are children of God by adoption so we must learn the ways of God by practice. When we fail we run into the arms of our Father and find our security in His love.

Is your Christian life dull and dry, full of rituals and responsibilities without any passion or joy? Has your obedience become a duty and your faith turned into an obligation? Renew your relationship with Jesus through this study of John 13-16. Jesus invites you to be His friends not merely His servants. Kindle the passion of fresh friendship with Jesus as He opens His heart to you in these chapters. His self-disclosure encourages your transparency as you explore what it means to be friends with Jesus. Jesus wants you to experience the depths of spiritual intimacy with Him. He desires your friendship, not just your service. Enjoy the riches of His love as you explore Jesus most intimate teachings shared just before He died for you.

The Faces of Forgiveness:

Forgiveness is not easy despite the pictures painted in many sermons. We all struggle to forgive the hurts we feel. Bitterness and resentment threaten our souls if we do not release the poison to God. Pastor David Christensen deals honestly with the pain we feel while pointing us to the wonderful release we can enjoy when we give and receive forgiveness. The book uses the metaphor of faces to teach about forgiveness. The faces of those who experience healing form the backdrop for a theology of forgiveness. There are vertical and horizontal faces of forgiveness as we look to God and others. There are judicial and relational faces of forgiveness as we deal with God and others to find the healing that forgiveness brings to our hearts. David lays out the practical steps we must take to experience the healing power of forgiveness. We must learn to accept the grace, name the blame and release the poison of unforgiveness to find healing for the hurts we feel.