SESSION No.

5: GROWING IN THE SPIRIT

Goal
 To learn the basic tools to growth and maturity as Christians .

Specific Objectives

At the end of the session, the participants should be able to:

 Realize that beyond receiving the power of the Holy Spirit, there is a need to
grow in it.
 Appreciate each of the tools God provides for growth and start to use them.
Methodology

Talk Proper 30 – 40 minutes

Dedication Ceremony 20 minutes
Parent-Child Dialogue 30 minutes

Expanded Outline

I. Introduction

We heard and did so many good things in this retreat. First, we heard how great God’s
love is, and because of this love, we responded to His invitation for us to have a
personal relationship with Him. Furthermore, we lifted up all our sins and hurts to God,
as these are obstacles that hinder us from receiving God’s grace. We even received His
Holy Spirit. Everyone here, in one way or another, has experienced God's goodness in
this retreat. Now, after all these, when we go back to our homes and schools, what is in
store for us?

In this session, we'd like to share with you how best to sustain our renewed relationship
with God.

II. How can we grow as Sons and Daughters of God?

We know, undoubtedly now more than ever, that God's love for us is great; that His Holy
Spirit is real and that He is truly within us. God is truly great and all His plans for us are
really for our own good.

However, when we leave this venue, what is in store for us? What will happen once we
go back and be with our old friends and classmates? Most of them will certainly not
understand what we have gone through in this retreat. They might even brand us as
weird, when we share to them our experiences in this retreat.

Because of these reasons, it is very important for our hearts to take on the right posture.
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A. Posture of our Hearts:

1. We have God's gift of salvation. (Eph 2:8)

When we leave this place, we should be convicted that what we experienced was
truly a gift from God for our salvation. The way to God through Jesus is the only way
and we should resist any idea that tells us otherwise.

2. We have God's Spirit. (Acts 1:8)

We now have God's Spirit within us; to strengthen, protect and help us overcome all
obstacles that may hinder us to grow more as men and women of God.

3. We need to grow in our Life in the Spirit. (James 1:23)

We must do our part in order for us to grow in our relationship with God. Everything
we have heard in this Youth Camp will be of no help to us, unless we start practicing
it in our own personal lives. Hence, we need to invest time and effort for our spiritual
growth

B. Tools for Christian Growth: The Five Spokes

We have the different tools needed for Christian spiritual growth. All of these tools
are available for us and would help us nurture the graces we have received and will
allow us to receive so much more.

Note: You can illustrate this portion by relating the tools for Christian growth to the five spokes of a wheel. The wheel’s outer rim
represents our Christian life, which draws power from the hub or center of the wheel; which in turn represents Jesus Christ. The
power is transmitted through the four spokes of the wheel. If any one of the four spokes is missing, the wheel will not function
properly.

1. Prayer and Study of Scriptures

We need to spend time with God in prayer

and we need to read scriptures for us to
grow in our relationship with Him.

i. Steps to take:

 Decide on having prayer time of at least

15 minutes a day.

 Decide on a specific time of the day, and keep it sacred.

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 Find a place where you will not be disturbed or distracted.

 Choose a flow you are comfortable with.

a. ACTS: Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.

b. Read the Bible readings for the day

c. Use daily prayer journals, devotionals and reflection guides

ii. Praying the Rosary

In our Catholic faith, the intercession of Mother Mary is a very powerful tool.
Devotion to Mother Mary is an essential part of what we believe in. As Catholics, we
need to pray the Rosary everyday.

2. Study

It is important that we study our faith. We should be familiar with it and know it by
heart.

a. Reading the bible.

It is important that we read the bible daily as part of our prayer time. In that way we
understand the word of God.

b. Reading Christian Books, Magazines and Websites.

Reading Christian books, magazines and websites is also important because we can
draw on new insights and learn new things about God through other people’s
personal experiences and reflections. Ex. Youcat,

3. Fellowship

Fellowship refers to everything that we do together. It is being one as brothers and

sisters in Christ through fun and friendship.

a. Fellowship is important to us.

It is in our nature to enjoy the company of people our age. It is for this reason that
teenagers have their own groups in the neighborhood, and fraternities and sororities
in school.
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For young people like us, we feel the need to belong. Oftentimes, this leads to peer
pressure, which could be either positive or negative.

b. Catholic youth ministries in the parish, schools and campuses can provide a real
environment where genuine friendship can happen.

Here is where we’ll meet true friends who will accept us for who we are and be loyal
to us. Here, we can experience positive peer pressure, with friends encouraging us
to live our lives according to God’s plan.

The different Catholic youth ministry can be a venue where building strong bonds of
friendship and brotherhood are considered as important goals of its activities like
Parties, Prayer Meetings, Assemblies, Conferences and Mission Trips.

4. Service

Young people are endowed with a lot of gifts and talents that oftentimes are not
utilized productively, especially in serving God. We believe that with God as
motivation, young people, like us, will be able to share their gifts and talents in
serving God and others.

a. Ways we can serve:

 We serve God by the way we live. We give witness to our faith in Jesus
Christ; by the way we live our lives. (James 2:14-17)

Be aware of opportunities to share your faith, either through words or actions, to

your family, friends, neighbors, and classmates.

 We serve God by fulfilling the responsibilities He gave us in our life; as sons

and daughters, as brothers and sisters, as students, etc.

 We serve God by making our resources and ourselves available for His work.

We should develop a sense of mission. We should learn to share our time, talent and
treasure to make a real effort to serve God through whatever service in the Church
we can give.

5. Sacraments

We should be aware that another important tool that will enhance our Christian
growth is to participate in the sacraments of the Church. This includes attending
Mass on Sundays, having a regular Confession, and receiving Holy Communion.

In addition, we will also grow in our relationship with God if we serve actively in our
parishes as lectors, sacristans, or as part of the choir.
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Conclusion

God calls us to live a life that is pleasing to Him. He loved us first and He even died
for us. He even gave us His Holy Spirit. But more than all these things, God gives us
tools for us to grow in our relationship with Him. Now, the ball is in our hands.

We're not saying that after going through this LCS, we'll be living perfect Christian lives.
Chances are, we'll probably still fail, but it's our decision to stand up again and that is
what’s important. God died for us. Now it's time that we live for Him!

Dedication Ceremony
NOTE: Either the team leader, or the speaker may conduct the Dedication Ceremony. This segment is done immediately after the
‘Growing in the Spirit’ session is given.
We have met Christ. We have started to live Christ. We need to go and share Christ.
There is a need for us to enter more deeply into a life in Christ. Deeper transformation.
Greater empowerment. More zeal for the gospel.
Since we were blessed in this LCS, we should now be a source of blessing to others by
helping to mainstream Catholic lay evangelization. We must help bring Catholics back
to God and back to the church. All this can happen through the LCSC movement in our
parish.
1. Christian Life is not easy

 We need an environment that will support us (Mt 13:4-9). Just like the seeds in
the Parable of the Sower, an environment where there is a fertile soil where we
can grow in and where we can develop further as God’s sons and daughters.

 In the Church there are a lot of movements and organizations that will help grow
in our experience of meeting, living and sharing Christ!

 One of the movements in the Church right who is pushing for people to grow in
their Christian life is the Live Christ Share Christ Movement.

2. The Live Christ Share Christ Movement

The Church has called for a New Evangelization of the world. This is because there is a
dire need for renewal and revival in the Church and society today. There is a need to:
 Bring in nominal and lapsed Catholics. So meet Christ.
 Grow in holiness and discipleship. So live Christ.
 Raise an army of workers, evangelizers, missionaries. So share Christ.

We have a responsibility to encourage and support each other in the Christian life. We
need to grow together as Catholics. We need to serve Christ and his Church. We do
this by becoming part of the LCSC movement, through our:
a) Commitment Embodied in a Covenant.
At this point the Team Leader read the LCSC covenant and explains it briefly.
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b) Provided Parish Support.

 Monthly prayer assembly.

 Formation courses as needed (growth courses, family relationship
enrichment, etc.).
 Parish programs as desired (purity seminars for youth, liturgical Bible study,
pro-life advocacy, building communities among the poor, etc.).
 Other activities such as conferences and youth concerts.

3. What now?

Throughout this LCS, many things have happened:

a) Your repentance, personal conversion, and a renewed faith in God.
b) Your acceptance of Jesus as Savior and Lord.
c) Your empowerment through baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Now you need to allow the Lord to continue the process of your transformation in Christ.
a) Grow to know, love and serve God more. Holiness and Christian perfection.
b) Build up the parish community. Our life together as Church. Support.
c) Evangelize others.
We have come to the end of our LCS. But actually, this is not the end. It’s really just the
beginning. We have before us a whole new life with God and with one another. Let us
go forth to live Christ and to share Christ.