Spiritual Life Basics Beginning the Spiritual Life Welcome to Spiritual Life Basics

Lesson 1, Activity 1

Welcome to Spiritual Life Basics

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This course focuses on spiritual growth through four foundational spiritual practices: Bible reading, prayer, fellowship, and witness. You will learn how to grow to be like Christ in your attitudes, thoughts, and actions.

Learning outcomes

By completing this course, you will be able to:

Examine the importance of prayer, Bible study, fellowship, and witnessing for spiritual growth.
Identify how to prioritize and cultivate meaningful devotional time.
Enhance your prayer life by following Jesus’ model.
Recognize the benefits and responsibilities of Christian fellowship.
Acquire techniques for sharing your personal testimony and the gospel message with others.

Select the headings of each lesson to read about the specific learning outcomes that you will achieve by working through the content of each lesson.

Lesson One: Beginning the Spiritual Life

In this lesson you will identify what it means to be a Christian, the process of spiritual formation, and four foundational practices of spiritual communication.

When you complete this lesson, you should be able to:

Identify four practices of spiritual communication (Bible study, prayer, fellowship, and witnessing) that lead to spiritual growth.
Recognize the biblical meaning and imperative of spiritual formation.
Reflect on where you are in your spiritual journey and identify your goals for growth.

Lesson Two: Making God and His Word a Priority

In this lesson you will learn practical ways to develop a meaningful devotional practice based on spending time in the Bible and in God’s presence, in order to build a deeper relationship with Him.

When you complete this lesson, you should be able to:

Cultivate two-way communication with God through Bible study and prayer.
Describe the biblical foundations for taking a relational approach to your devotional time.
Identify new devotional methods that you will implement.

Lesson Three: Learning to Pray

In this lesson you will examine how Jesus Christ made prayer a priority, learn a helpful model for prayer based on the acrostic ACTS, and recognize that prayer is meant to be a continuous conversation rather than a one-time event.

When you complete this lesson, you should be able to:

Structure your prayer time using Jesus’ model and the acrostic ACTS.
Identify what Scripture reveals about the true nature of prayer.
Practice prayer as a continuous conversation with the Lord.

Lesson Four: Connecting in the Church

In this lesson you will learn why it is important to connect with people in the local church. You will identify the benefits and responsibilities of Christian fellowship through worship and service.

When you complete this lesson, you should be able to:

Recognize the benefits and responsibilities of church involvement.
Explain what Scripture says about the purpose of Christian fellowship and service.
Assess your own spiritual gifts and commitment to serving the body of Christ.

Lesson Five: Sharing the Good News of Christ

In this lesson you will appreciate the importance of sharing the redeeming love of God with others through your personal conversion story. Using the book of Romans as a model, you will learn how to share the essential gospel message with others.

When you complete this lesson, you should be able to:

Recognize the essential gospel message in the book of Romans.
Describe the biblical definition of witness and why it is an important part of your spiritual journey.
Compose and share your personal story of how you came to Christ.

All Scripture quotations in this class, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

How to Maximize Your Learning from This Course

In order to maximize your learning through this online course, you are encouraged to make use of all the learning opportunities presented to you. To take full advantage of the wealth of knowledge presented in the course content, we recommend that you:

Watch, listen to, or read all the lectures.
Reflect on the content and questions in your journal.
Complete all learning activities.
Share your ideas with your fellow learners in the discussion.
Implement what you have learned in your Action Plan.
Enrich your learning by reading the bonus material.

Online learning is an excellent way to bring large numbers of participants together to learn and share about God’s Word. Although this course is asynchronous and therefore other participants may not complete the course at the same time as you, there are interactive opportunities to share your learning and to gain valuable, unique insights from individuals with a diverse range of backgrounds and life experiences.

What online course engagement means

Full engagement in this course further means:

Working through the lessons in the suggested order—they’ve been arranged for a reason and each course has been designed with a logical sequence. Jumping ahead without completing the previous lesson may give you a disjointed learning experience.
Reading and listening across a variety of learning activities—some of which are text-based, some with video. (Transcripts are provided with audio-visual resources for those learners who require or prefer the written format.)
Sharing your learnings with other course participants in discussion opportunities.

When engaging in social learning activities, such as sharing ideas or commenting on other learners’ ideas in discussions, be mindful of how you express yourself in writing. In written communication, we do not have the advantages of interpersonal cues (e.g., facial expressions, voice tone, and gestures), so it can be difficult to express intended meaning. Remember that other course participants may have different perspectives, opinions, and life experiences than you. Therefore, when communicating online, it’s important to assume the best intentions of others and use polite and respectful language.

Technology requirements

Engaging with the materials in this course requires minimal technological skills or equipment:

An electronic device such as a computer, tablet, or smartphone capable of running a web browser and playing video and audio.
Internet access capable of streaming videos, loading webpages, and downloading files.
A PDF reader (optional) for working with downloadable PDF files. Though most browsers allow PDFs to be viewed within the browser, we recommend downloading and saving them to your device so that you can save your work.

For premium subscribers, the ODBU app is available in Google Play and the App Store. In addition to providing full functionality of all course features, the app also allows you to download courses for offline study.

Have a question?

We have made every effort to make this course accessible for all learning styles and abilities. If you have a question or need assistance, please contact us.

What Activities to Expect

Each lesson will guide you through a series of activities. Select the headings below to read a brief description and instructions for completing each activity. Activities with a “lock” symbol 🔒 are available to premium subscribers only.

Overview and Objectives

This activity offers a brief introduction to the lesson and informs you of the lesson’s objectives.

Viewing this activity is required for course completion.

Lecture

This activity provides the main teaching content for the lesson. You may choose to watch the video, listen to the audio, or read the transcript. Closed captioning is also provided for any video segments. In each case the content is the same.

This activity is required for course completion.

Check Your Understanding 🔒

This quiz activity checks your understanding of the concepts learned so far. It is not a timed activity, and the quiz can be attempted as many times as needed.

Earning a quiz score of 70% or better is required for course completion.

Scripture Meditation 🔒

This activity allows you to spend time in Scripture and connect it to the topic of each lesson. Spend some time carefully reading the passage provided in the activity, utilizing the simple three-step method of Receive, Reflect, and Respond.

Receive simply involves reading the text and asking, “What does the text say?”
Reflect challenges you to ask, “What does the text mean?”
Respond invites you to apply the meaning of the text to your life.

Instructions for reflection

Get and use a hard copy journal or an e-note-taking tool such as Notion, OneNote, or Apple Notes. You can also complete these activities in the course workbook, which can be downloaded in lesson one.
Spend time reflecting on the questions provided in the activity. Make it a time of prayer by sharing your thoughts and reflections with God.
Write down your answers, thoughts, and other revelatory ideas in your journal that God reveals during your time of prayerful reflection.

For reflective journaling activities such as this one, find a quiet place in which you will not be disturbed by other people, noises, or other distractions. Silence e-devices and quiet your mind by reading Bible passages or praying before attempting the activity.

Share Your Thoughts 🔒

This discussion activity is designed to help you articulate what you have learned in each lesson. It may also help you collect ideas from other course participants about their understanding of spiritual practices. Since this course is asynchronous (i.e., other learners complete the course at different times), you may not see many discussion submissions or receive replies to your posts. Therefore, consider your submissions to this discussion forum as a way to share your insights about what you have learned to inspire or challenge others in their learning journey, and to enable others to do the same for you.

While other learners may not see or respond to your comments in the short term, encouraging others and engaging with others enhances your learning experience.

This activity is required for course completion.

Make a Plan 🔒

These application activities are designed to help you consider how to put your learning to use in your own context. When you finish this course you will have an action plan that will help you deepen and improve your spiritual life!

Complete these activities digitally in the downloadable workbook, or write them in your own journal. Find the link to download the digital workbook in Lesson One.

Further Study 🔒

At the end of each lesson there are links to additional Our Daily Bread Ministries resources you can watch, listen to, or read that will enhance your understanding of the course content.

This material is optional and not required for course completion.

Lesson Summary

This activity appears in the course wrap-up section at the end of the course. It allows you to review what you have learned in the course and identify actions you will commit to in order to implement the course concepts.

Summative Activity 🔒

This activity appears in the course wrap-up section at the end of the course. It allows you to review what you have learned in the course and identify actions you will commit to in order to implement the course concepts.

Course Completion Requirements

To successfully earn a Completion Award for this course you will need to engage with all of the pages in every lesson, view all of the lectures, earn 70% or higher on each quiz activity, contribute toward the discussion boards, and complete the Course Evaluation. All other activities are recommended but not required for course completion.