Sabbath, Study, Serve

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Galatians 5: 16-26

From the Sermon:

Discerning is _____________________________________.

God gave us the ability to make _________.

___________ and discernment are one in the same.

Discernment starts when we acknowledge that we lack ________ and need divine ___________.

Our _____________ flare up and it can distract us from discerning God’s will.

Discernment is also realizing the difference between a _____ idea and the ______ idea.

Reflection Questions:

Do we seek out people who can help us listen for the power of the Spirit to guide us at all times or do we only surround ourselves with people who will tell us what we want to hear?

Prayer:

Lord, we join together in prayer today, presenting before you those ideas and desires that we hold most dear. We ask, O Lord, that if they are from you that you increase our desire and give us the courage to take the first step. If they are not from you, Most Gracious God, remove these desires from us. Give us people in our lives to help us to discern your way and your will so we can bring all honor and glory to you, Precious Lord. Amen. 

Joy Together: Sabbath

 I recently finished reading a wonderful book Sabbath in the Suburbs, in which the author MaryAnn McKibben Dana made the statement that our calendars are spiritual documents - they are statements of faith and speak of what we place importance on. What does our calendar say about what we value? In other words, do we value Sabbath rest? 

The truth is for many,  Sabbath often gets pushed aside or forgotten. Or synonyms with “day off” which it is not. “Days off” are for errands. “Sabbath” is for simply being in the presence of God. On a recent “Sabbath” I went to a friends baby’s birthday party. It was a great day, but as I was driving home, feeling exhausted, I realized that it wasn’t Sabbath for me. I need to be restful in the presence of family and a few friends on Sabbath. Do the things I love and that reveal God to me. As nice as the party was, it was so many people and doing so many things to prepare, that it was simply a day off. A distinction that is often overlooked.

Sabbath is something different to each person who practices it because we all approach our relationship to the Holy differently. For me, the Sabbath needs to be a time of intentionally saying “yes” to God, and “yes” to my body’s needs. Its my time to let go and simply be. But when I reject it, or cannot practice it, when I try to control my life through the calendar all the time, I get so worn down that I don’t even realize it until I hit the point of exhaustion.

What would it look like for you (and me) to be  more intentional about having a weekly Sabbath every week, and working toward having an additional day off so those activities and needs don’t crowd the Sabbath?. We need time to play and have fun and simply be.A time to be reminded that there will always be more things to do, more work to be done, but that this is our gift from God to simply be in the presence of the Divine and appreciate the Holy. For if we do not practice it even once a week, how can we live a life focused on God?

Joy Together: Sabbath Devo

Joy Together: The Discipline of Sabbath

          Exodus 31:13

Devotional

Scripture Exodus 31:13

 Read the scripture daily. Read it slowly. What is God bringing to your attention through this passage? 

Questions to consider: 

• How did you learn about Sabbath and how does this effect your thoughts on keeping the Sabbath today?
• What comes to your mind when you think of rest?
• What does communal Sabbath look like in your life?
• How do you desire the practice of Sabbath to both happen in your life and transform your life and relationship with God?

Spiritual Discipline. Sabbath

Sabbath – setting apart one day a week for regular rest. During this time we regain our energy for doing things, by being ourselves and engaging in the activities that bring us the most joy.

Scripture: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. (Exodus 20:8-10)

Spiritual Practices:

• Practice restful activities one day a week such as walks, naps, tea with a  friend, etc.
• Let go of the things that stress you out for one 24 hour period a week
• Resting in God one day a week
• Do not use this time to develop a to-do list for when your Sabbath is over 

Adapted from Adaele Ahlberg Caljou’s Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us. 

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Ex 20: 8-11 and Ex. 31:13

From the Sermon:

Sabbath is _____________________________________________.

    Sabbath really exists to remind us that _____ is ______ and that we are not.

Sabbath is a day to _______ our lives back to the God who both created us and provides for us.

We seem to fear a whole lot more what other ______ will say about us then God’s deep desires for us, and as a result, Sabbath quickly becomes one of the____ commandments that we willingly and sometimes proudly break.

Reflection Questions:

What is the purpose of sabbath? 

When you hear the word Sabbath is this what comes to mind?

What did God have in mind for Sabbath?

What Sabbath practices would work for you in your life right now?

Prayer:

Lord, we confess that it has become so easy for us to ignore your commands and teachings around the Sabbath. We think they are too restrictive. Help us be freed anew to the joy that comes in Sabbath as we look to you as our creator and provider. Amen. 

Joy Together: Fasting

    I once had a professor who shared that when he fasted, he excused himself from the dinner table and that deeply bothered me. In my home, dinner time was sacred - in fact, sometimes those few minutes were the only ones that we got to spend together throughout the week.
    But then I realized that I was taking my particular view of fasting, and my view of the world, and was laying it on top of the story my professor was sharing. What he was trying to say was 1.) that just because he was fasting didn't mean that his family was engaged in the practice as well and 2.) he felt the need to spend that time in prayer.
     It wasn't until several years later that I heard of the practice of communal fasting. For years, I carried around the image of my professor excusing himself from the dinner table as the right and proper way to fast - but really there are so many ways to fast. Some people fast from food alone. Others fast together. Still others fast from other things in their lives like TV or electronics or music.
    I have come to realize that there is no right or correct way to fast. Rather, we need to find what form of fasting works for us to deeply connect us to the heat of God and puts our attention on God through prayer.
   What images of fasting are you carrying around and are they inviting you into the practice of fasting?

Sabbath, Study, Serve

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Joel 2: 12-13

From the Sermon:

________ can be described as ____________, or abstaining from something, for a set period of ____ for the purpose of ______. 

In the Gospel of Matthew (Matt 6:17), we find Jesus telling his disciples how to act ______ they fast, not if they fast. Jesus, too, is assuming that fasting would be a normal part of people’s spiritual lives.

Fasting, no matter what specific purpose it is undertaken for also ultimately, _____________.

We cannot use any spiritual discipline, including ________, to force God’s ___________. We don’t fast in order to win God’s approval. We cannot force God’s hand.

As we fast, we create _______________ for God’s voice, to seek what God is up to and ask how we can parter in God’s Kingdom in a powerful way.

Reflection Questions:

Why do we fast?

If fasting has such a rich history, why is not a more practiced discipline?

What if for 12 hours, half of one day sometime in the next week, we each fasted and were in prayer throughout that time seeking God’s vision for us as a faith community?

Prayer:

Lord, we know that if we have not practiced the spiritual discipline of fasting before that it can seem overwhelming. It can be so easy to get in our own way and make our own excuses as to why we can’t fast. Lord, help us get out of of our own way in order to enter into this joy of this particular discipline and draw closer to you. In your name we pray. Amen. 

“Joy Together: Thanksgiving” Col 3: 15-17

    I grew up learning about different types of prayer and I remember being taught that there was a clear distinction between praising God for who God is and thanking God for what God has done. But as I've gotten older, that distinction has become fuzzier and fuzzier.
    As we have been talking this week thanking God, and specifically the spiritual discipline of thanking God, I have once again been reminded that it is so hard to separate out what God has done form who God is, because what God does for flows out of God's love for us. God's care for us. God being God.
    And I couldn't help but think what a wonderful disciple thanksgiving was to start with. Because it reminds us both of who God is and what God has done for us, in such a way that we are reminded of the very heart of God. Spiritual disciplines as whole, whether engaged in as individuals or as the body of Christ, help us to seek after the heart of God instead of our own desires. But how can we seek after that which we do not know.
    Hence why we need the spiritual discipline of thanksgiving.
    How do you plan on engaging in the practice/ discipline of thanksgiving in the coming days? How does thanksgiving impact your relationship with God?

Thankfulness Devo

Joy Together: The Discipline of Thankfulness 

Colossians 3: 15-17

Devotional

Scriptures Colossians 3: 15-17

Read the scripture daily. Read it slowly. What is God bringing to your attention through this passage? 

Questions to consider: 

• When life seems to not be going well, how can you be thankful?
• Tell of a time that you were not thankful when you were faced with a situation, but were thankful after it happened. What can this teach you about thankfulness?
• Think of a person in your life who had a thankful heart. What was that person like? How did they teach you about being thankful?
• How does being thankful connect you deeply to God?
• When and where do you find it easiest to thank God?
• How can we engage in the practice of thankfulness together as a congregation?

Spiritual Discipline: Thankfulness 

Let my whole being bless the Lord

    and never forget all his good deeds.

Psalm 103:2

Praise the Lord!

    I thank the Lord with all my heart

    in the company of those who do right, in the congregation.

Psalm 111:1

Spiritual Practice: 

• Keep a journal full of thanksgivings. What are you thankful for each day? Does it become easier to think of things to be thankful for as the goes on? Why or why not?
• Start off your time of prayer each day by saying one thing that you are thankful for.
• Send thank you notes to people who have impacted your life. 

Adapted from Adaele Ahlberg Caljou’s Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us. 

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Colossians 3: 15-17

From the Sermon:

____________________-  that which we engage in to help us grow in our relationship with God.

Spiritual disciplines can be engaged in as ______________ or in ____________.

If ___________ is seeking God’s will and way for us as a church, and these are some ____________ that can help us ask God to make clear that vision for us together.

Thanksgiving is ______________________________________________________. 

Paul was so ________ and _______ for what God had done in his life.

_________ gives us moments throughout the day give us the opportunity to stop and focus on God and be reminded of God’s goodness.

When we forget God’s _________,  it doesn’t take much for us to look to other places for life and fulfillment apart from God - quickly getting off track.

Reflection Questions:

How much of it would you say is intercession or asking God for things - usually on the behalf of yourself or other people? And how much of your time in prayer is spent telling God thank you?

What would it look like to live into Paul’s word to that particular church, here and now today?

Ways to Practice Thanksgiving:

Start your time of prayer off by saying thank you to God for something that happened during the day. 

We can have the eyes of our hearts open during the week for the movement of God. 

Find another person in the congregation to share your thanksgivings with throughout the week.