Justin Kendrick | Habits For Spiritual Growth, 147

Habits for Spiritual Growth | Justin Kendrick

Justin Kendrick | Habits For Spiritual Growth

Justin Kendrick is the lead pastor of Vox Church, which he founded in 2011 with a small group of friends on the doorstep of Yale University. Since then, Vox has
grown to multiple locations across New England.

The dream of Vox Church is to
see the least-churched region of the U.S. become the most spiritually vibrant place on earth.

Justin and his wife live outside New Haven, Connecticut with their four children.

Justin Kendrick joins Amber to discuss creating habits for spiritual growth, moving beyond ordinary faith, and loving Jesus more.

Habits of Spiritual Growth Questions Justin and Amber Discuss:

  1. (4:14) Share a little of your faith journey with us.  When did you come to know Jesus?
  2. (7:07) Part of becoming a disciple of Jesus is believing “God is deeply satisfied with who you are.” Expound on that a bit.
  3. (12:59) You wrote, “If you ask a mature Christian at your church to ‘disciple,’ you he or she will usually meet you for coffee, listen to your problems, and encourage you to read the Bible. Those are all really good things. But is that all there is to discipleship?” So I ask you, Is that all there is to discipleship?
  4. (19:00) What are some crucial habits for spiritual growth?
  5. (31:01) What role does “burying your ordinary” play in adopting these habits and experiencing spiritual growth?
  6. (34:20) You discuss the idea of trusting more instead of trying more. What are some ways you encourage followers of Jesus to practice trusting vs. trying?
  7. (39:29) What do you think churches are getting wrong when it comes to helping people develop habits for spiritual growth?

Quotes to Remember:

“I think the most incredible thing about God is that the more you explore and examine who He is, the more you fall in love with Him.”

“In our culture, we often think, I’m important because I accomplished this or because I make this money or because all these different status symbols we have. But God says, you’re important, because I love you, period.”

“When you receive grace through Christ. You stand blameless before God on the merits of Jesus. Now, if that’s true, it should become the bedrock of my confidence.”

“Why shouldn’t we do an autopsy on our spiritual life? Maybe we’ve oversimplified and been under intentional about spiritual growth.”

“How do we intentionally grow in a process of discipleship?  What we found was everything begins with habits, whatever you do consistently, that’s what gets momentum and health and growth and stability in your life.”

“Do you have a plan to grow your soul and your spirit in your faith?”

“The first habit, I call the habit of relationship. The challenge in that habit is to spend the first hour of your day alone with God.”

“The challenge is to reshape your morning time, so that it is inconveniently centered around time with God.”

7 Habits are included in Bury Your Ordinary:

  • 1-3 Centering Habits
  • 4-5 Guardrail Habits
  • 6-7 Long Haul Habits

“You have to see Sabbath as a faith act. It’s a decree that I live on God, not on work.”

“Every habit can go two ways. It can become a habit that proves my value, or a habit that develops my dependence upon God.”

“I don’t share my faith to get brownie points with God, I share my faith, because I love people. I don’t try to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit, so that I can look spiritual in front of others…I discern the voice of the Holy Spirit, because I love him and I want to walk with him in a personal dynamic relationship every day. And so each of these habits needs to be rooted in this idea of grace.”

“Legalism either leaves you feeling good, and then self righteousness grows, or feeling like a loser and then self reproach grows, both will destroy your soul. That’s why you’ve got to turn back to grace. Turn back to the gospel and receive the free gift of righteousness.”

It’s not about the habits, it’s about at the end of the day, I love Jesus more and I love others more. That is the essence of what it means to grow spiritually.”

Scripture References

Resources Mentioned:

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Every habit can go two ways. It can become a habit that proves my value, or a habit that develops my dependence upon God.
How do we intentionally grow in a process of discipleship? What we found was everything begins with habits, whatever you do consistently, that's what gets momentum and health and growth and stability in your life.
Do you have a plan to grow your soul and your spirit in your faith?

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