Julie Fillinger

Welcome to the Courage Live Mid Series Recap!  

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https://feeds.transistor.fm/courage-for-the-journey

Today, Eric is joining me for our Courage for the Journey LIVE mid-series recap. In other words, we are half-way through the live sessions at our church, and we are reporting on how we see it has been going.  

Just to give you some context, Courage for the Journey LIVE is a 6-session series that Eric and I are teaching it to our home church – Cullman First Baptist, in order to gain valuable feedback before we take it on the road to other churches and conferences in the future. 

Welcome back to the show babe. Little fun fact…the last time you came on has been my most downloaded podcast to date. So, thank you for that.  
For any of you who haven’t’ yet listened, it posted December 30 ^th and is how we kicked off this series. 
( Link to episode)

Podcast Interview  

Okay, let’s get into this interview. 

General Reflections 

In general, how do you think it’s going?  
It is fun to see people make the connection with the Word of God and start applying it to their daily lives.  

Highlights so far 

What have been some highlights thus far?  

It is always a shot in the arm to reflect on the character of God – who He is and how He deals with us.  And then also re-visiting those “heroes of the faith” who certainly are flawed but God used them in amazing ways.  Their journeys give us courage as we walk along our own faith journeys.  It is also encouraging just to get together with other people and hear their stories and their struggles and their victories.  

Foundational Beliefs

Why do you think our view of God has to be the starting point? 

Starting with God is good and why He is good and how His goodness impacts our daily lives and how His goodness is actually accomplished because of his omnipotence, and omnipresence, and His omniscience, and His love and His grace and His…  In this class we don’t necessarily exhaust all of His attributes, but looking at these 5 foundational ones really is the starting point for being able to have courage for the journey.  When the going gets tough (and it will), remembering Who God is, will help you make it through the “valley of the shadow of death.”  

On Suffering 

No one wants to suffer, but it seems the class appreciated knowing they are not alone in their suffering. Can you expand on that? 

Athletics was a very big part of my formative years.  I love sports and I love the parallels athletics has to life.  Even the apostle Paul drew on the analogies of the athletic arena and the Christian walk.  In that arena, an athlete does all kinds of hard things so that they are ready for the game – running mile after mile, sprint after sprint, lifting weights to the point of complete exhaustion, doing drills over and over until “muscle memory” is developed – these are all analogous to the trials and the suffering we endure.  Look how many times national champions will point to an adversity during the season that strengthened resolve.  Well, the same is true in our Christian walk.  Suffering isn’t punitive, it is developmental.  

Teaching Courage 

Wasn’t it so good to finally talk about courage? That is a fun lesson to teach. 

Courage is the shot of adrenaline!  The last couple of lessons have been the pep rally, the time to rally the wagons and get excited about the journey again – even though it may be during a season of especially trying times for someone – to look at David fighting Goliath, and Daniel spending the night with the lions, and Paul using his imprisonment to witness to the Roman Imperial guard, and Peter and John and the Church shaking the place with genuine prayer!  That is fun stuff to teach.  

What’s Next in the Series 

Can you tell our listeners what’s left in the series?  

Hope – not wishful thinking, but assurance based on a promise and believed in faith.  Hope does not disappoint but strengthens.  Hope is the aid station at the 18 ^th mile of the marathon that refuels us and revives us to continue on in the race.  

Peace with God – the calm that comes in the middle of the storm.  This is why we “fear no evil” even though we are walking the scary, threatening valley.  God is with us and for us.   

And finally, prayer.  The realization that we are completely dependent on God to make it to the finish line of this journey.  

The Role of Prayer 

We started with our view of God, why are we waiting to emphasize prayer until the end? 

Logically (and admittedly my strength and weakness is logic, haha)   
understanding what prayer is, it is beneficial to know Whom you are praying to, and then why I even need to pray.  Prayer becomes much more passionate and powerful when you fully comprehend the character of the Person you are petitioning and knowing the why forces you to come with humility – not with presumption (like our heroes Shadrach, Mesach, and Abed-nego) – no presumption because you understand that God is always Good and always does what is right.  No matter the outcome, you can trust the answer as being the Right answer.  

While prayer is something that we get better at as we progress in our journey, understanding Who we pray to and why helps.  So that is why the course is set up the way it is.  

Looking Ahead  

Are you willing to come back and do another recap at the end of the series?  

Okay, folks, you heard him. You can look forward to that interview in several weeks. And then Courage for the Journey LIVE is hitting the road! 

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