Have you ever desperately wanted to change? To be more loving, patient, generous - more like Jesus - but keep finding yourself falling back into the same old patterns? In this message from Robyn Elliott, we explore why trying harder isn’t always the path to becoming like Jesus, and how practices of wonder, attention, and reverence can create space for God to meet us, reshape us, and change us from the inside out. What if feeling stuck isn’t a sign that you’re failing spiritually, but an invitation to grow in a different way? Discussion Questions 1. Robyn suggests that spiritual growth begins not with guilt, but with desire - and that desire itself may need to be cultivated. What do you genuinely want when it comes to your relationship with God? Is there a difference between what you think you should want and what you actually desire? 2. Paul describes wanting to do what is right but finding himself unable to do it. Why do you think knowing what is right so often fails to produce the change we want? Where have you experienced that gap between knowing and doing? 3. What role does wonder play in your spiritual life? When have you recently been genuinely awestruck - by nature, another person, beauty, God, or something you couldn’t fully explain - and what effect did that experience have on you? 4. Richard Foster describes spiritual formation as divine love becoming so deeply rooted in us that certain ways of living begin to happen almost naturally. What would it look like if kindness, patience, generosity, forgiveness, or love became less of something you had to force and more of something that flowed from who you are? 5. If you believed that “every minute is a gateway to the divine if we’re paying attention,” how might that change the way you move through an ordinary week? What is one ordinary thing you could pay attention to differently this week? (See below for opportunities to pay attention and practice wonder this week) This Week: Practice Noticing Choose one of these simple practices this week: - Look up at the stars. Stop and look at the night sky three times this week. We see the stars so often that we forget how extraordinary they are. Imagine if they only appeared once every thousand years - everyone would stop and look. Can you stop and look three times? - Notice a tree. Pick one tree and really pay attention to it. Notice its colours, texture, shape, movement, and the way the light falls on it. Allow yourself to be caught up in its beauty. - Notice people. As you go about your day, let yourself wonder about the people around you. Not by staring, but by remembering that each person has a story. See them as someone who is loved, someone who may be carrying things you know nothing about, and wonder what might be happening in their life today. - Choose the human checkout. Instead of automatically choosing self-checkout, choose a checkout staffed by a person. Have a genuine human moment with someone you may never see again. Notice them. Ask how their day is going. Be present. - Savour your food. Slow down and really taste what you’re eating. Notice the flavours, textures, and smells. Let an ordinary meal become an opportunity to experience gratitude.
