Walking by the Spirit

Spring ‘25 Sermon Series

3/9/25 – 5/25/25

“Walking by the Spirit.” It’s one of our eleven Marks of a Disciple. But does it look like? How do I do it? How do I know if I’m doing it?

That’s what we’re out to explore in Spring 2025.


Why Now?

Two reasons why “now” is the right time for this sermon series:

  • We could use better clarity on this one. We heard from multiple members of our church family that, out of all of our Marks of a Disciple, this one was the most “fuzzy.” We can’t live out an objective we don’t understand!

  • The spiritual formation movement is having a moment. Gen Z evangelicals are leading the way in re-engaging with spiritual practices. If you haven’t read John Mark Comer, somebody has recommended his bestselling books to you. When a movement picks up this much momentum, a local church has a responsibility to engage with it (both to affirm healthy aspects and to challenge deficiencies).


What’s Involved?

The overlap between our Mark of a Disciple and the following concepts means that this series will be a good opportunity to engage with:

  • Spirituality (and spiritualities). Even beyond the Christian spiritual formation movement, our neighbors are becoming more comfortable with the “spiritual.” But what does it mean to be spiritual? And how do we think about alternate spiritualities?

  • Spiritual formation (and spiritual disciplines). A generation ago, Richard Foster and Dallas Willard drew from previous eras of church history to reawaken interest in spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines. Their disciples (e.g. Ruth Haley Barton and now John Mark Comer) have gained significant influence in some circles. What can we glean from their work?

  • Pneumatology (theology of the Holy Spirit). If we want to walk by the Spirit, it will help to know who the Spirit is – and what he does. The scriptures we preach will give us opportunities to correct some popular misunderstandings about the Spirit.


What We Want to Avoid

As this relates to the big picture, we don’t want to be a church that uncritically jumps on every bandwagon. Pastors that do this end up being like the French leader who (probably apocryphally) said, “There go my people. I must find out where they are going so I can lead them!” Contrary to this approach, we believe the local church should be a primary, trusted source of help for Christians attempting to discerning errors found in what’s trendy at the moment. As such, we’ll offer some cautions during each week of this series.

At the same time, we also don’t want to be a church that is inflexibly afraid of what’s trendy and thereby misses opportunities for growth. Sometimes, what’s trendy is trendy precisely because it offers a refreshing and helpful corrective to a real deficiency in church culture! Past awakenings teach us that there’s not much worse than the curmudgeonly church that says “bah humbug” to a genuine move of God’s Spirit. As such, we’ll wholeheartedly affirm much that’s being taught by many present-day practitioners of spiritual formation.


Who We Might Become

I’m dreaming about going into this summer as a congregation:

  • with a clear vision of what it would look like to walk by the Spirit in the home, in the workplace, in the neighborhood, and on the Internet

  • unintimidated by conversation about the Holy Spirit and by spiritual practices

  • that has undergone pruning in order to make room to embrace habits that may posture us to receive grace from God

  • more prayerful and dependent than ever on God and on the power of his Spirit


Lord, use your Word to make it so!

- Tim Higgins


Sermon Schedule

  • Sunday, March 9 – Galatians 5:16-24

  • Sunday, March 16 – Romans 8:1-17

  • Sunday, March 23 – 1 John 4:1-3

  • Sunday, March 30 – 1 Timothy 4:6-10

  • Sunday, April 6 – Colossians 2:16-23

  • Sunday, April 13 – Ezekiel 36:22-27

  • Sunday, April 27 – Text TBD

  • Sunday, May 4 – Luke 11:1-4

  • Sunday, May 11 – Exodus 16:23-30

  • Sunday, May 18 – Matthew 9:14-15

  • Sunday, May 25 – Colossians 3:12-17


Resources Recommended

To get up to speed on the “waves” that have dominated recent history in the evangelical church (and as such, to learn how we got to where we are!), read here or listen here for Trevin Wax’s excellent summaries.

To familiarize yourself with the most popular voice in the current spiritual formation movement, read John Mark Comer’s Practicing the Way.

To understand the perspective on spiritual formation from which North Sub is approaching this series, check out the work of Kyle Strobel, David Mathis, and Justin Whitmel Earley.

If you only have one hour to give to a “prime the pump” input for this series, listen to this podcast from Trevin Wax.


Other Resources Consulted

  • Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines

  • Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rhythms; Invitation into Solitude and Silence

  • Adele Alberg Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook

  • Richard J Foster, Celebration of Discipline

  • James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God

  • John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

  • Walter Brueggeman, Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now

  • Bill Hull, Choose the Life

  • James KA Smith, Desiring the Kingdom

  • Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary

  • Alex Sosler, A Short Guide to Spiritual Formation

  • J. Gary Millar, Changed into His Likeness: A Biblical Theology of Personal Transformation

  • Peter Adam, Hearing God’s Words: Exploring Biblical Spirituality