Community Guides

Tyler Hanns 1/9/22 Tyler Hanns 1/9/22

Teach Us To Pray, Pt. 2: Be Still & Know

Overview

One of the most commonly known lines in the Psalms comes from chapter 46: “Be still and know that I am God.” When we think about praying, there are three really helpful ideas in this statement: to be still, to know God, and to know yourself. With inventions like the clock, the lightbulb, and the iPhone, our natural tendency towards hurry and efficiency has only increased. The invitation of prayer is the invitation to be still — to stop playing God over your own life for a moment. To put productivity and busyness aside for a bit, to release control, and to return to the created order.

But stillness is only where prayer starts. In that stillness, we begin to know God and to start to see things from God’s perspective. We are all addicted to ego and control, prone to go about our lives like we are the center. Stillness is the quiet space where God migrates from the periphery back to the center — and prayer pours forth effortlessly from a life with God at the center. Lastly, beyond self-help and ego management, prayer is an invitation to really know yourself. When we live in constant noise, we forget our own mortality and forget who we are. But when we remember our mortality, we recover who we are. When I pray, when I see myself as I really am from God’s perspective, I behold not only my own smallness but also how valuable I truly am to God.

This week, we want to recover a vision of what it means when God says to “be still and know that I am God.”

Discussion

Why do you think we stay busy? What does busyness do for us?
What is your response to the idea of being still? Does it bring up anxiety? Do you long for it? Maybe both?
Do you have any regular rhythm of “being still”? If so, share what it is and what it’s been like for you.

Practice for Tonight

Last week, we explored forming a regular rhythm of prayer for the duration of this season. Tonight, we want to debrief how that’s been going. Whether you want to talk together as a whole group or break into smaller groups, spend time updating each other on what that experience has been like for you. Some questions to help guide that time, should you need it, might be:

What prayer rhythm did I want to try through this series?
What has been good about it? (e.g. it feels more natural than I thought it would, I had a cool moment with God, I am feeling more centered each day, etc.)
What has been difficult? (e.g. I haven’t been able to keep the rhythm as often as I thought, it’s felt frustrating or boring, I don’t know if I’m doing it right, etc.)
What changes to your rhythm do you think would be good?

Practice for the Week Ahead

Pick a consistent time — perhaps the first or last minutes of your daily routine. It may be the final moments before rushing off on your morning commute, the sudden silence right after dropping the kids at school, the daily run out of the office for lunch break, or after your roommates leave in the morning. And try to make the time consistent, since there is no such thing as a habit or priority that doesn’t happen consistently.

Next choose an ordinary place — your favorite chair, the back porch steps, the upstairs balcony, or the window seat of the city bus — and let it become a sort of “ordinary holy ground.” Set a timer, so you don’t have to keep checking the clock, and then be quiet and still. Wait. Start with two minutes. (Bump it up as you feel ready.)

Sit up straight with your two feet planted firmly on the ground, hands open on your lap. Close your eyes. Breathe in deeply and exhale slowly three times. Pray something simple like, “Here I am, Lord,” or “Come, Holy Spirit,” or “Lord, have mercy.”

The purpose of this stillness is not revelation, though it’s nice when that happens. The purpose is consent — consenting to the work of God’s Spirit, which is deeper than understanding or words. Practice this silence as a sacrificial offering to God. After the timer goes off, let spoken prayer follow as a response.

Close in Prayer

Before you end your time together, pray, asking the Spirit of God to fill and empower you to pray as you can. Take some time to pray for other prayer requests as they come up.

Tyler Hanns 1/2/22 Tyler Hanns 1/2/22

Teach Us to Pray, Pt. 1: Pray As You Can

Overview

Most of us don’t really enjoy prayer. We feel bad or guilty about how little we pray. And when we finally make time to pray, we either don’t know what to say or are too distracted to focus. And yet, right now, all over the world, people are praying — to the gods or to Allah or to Yahweh, through meditation or chanting, out loud or silently, corporately or alone, with an unshakeable belief that Someone is listening or as a last second hail Mary to the universe. Prayer is something of a global language that is ancient and modern.

Jesus’ disciples noticed how close he was to the Father, so they asked him to teach them how to pray. And what did Jesus do? Rather than giving them a sermon on prayer or a theology about God, he prayed. Then and there, Jesus prayed with them. And as he did, the disciples learned that Jesus’ praying started with the assumption that God loved him. Prayer, we discover, is about bringing to God what is in us, not what we think should be in us.

The invitation this week is to commit to praying as you can, rather than as you think you should.

Discussion

How would you define prayer? And do you think prayer is important? Why or why not?

What has your experience with prayer been like?
What could God be inviting you to in the area of prayer through this next season?

Practice for Tonight

At its core, ‘praying as you can’ simply entails starting right where you are – in whatever season, with however much faith, for however long, and however you choose. Instead of stretching yourself, start small and attainable. If you don’t pray regularly, then probably don’t start by committing to pray for an hour every day. Maybe commit to begin each day in prayer. Or perhaps commit to praying for someone in particular. Or commit to praying with your spouse or roommate each night. There is no ‘right’ or ‘better’ way to pray.

As you consider what you feel God inviting you into for this series, we want you to keep in mind a few traits that can make a goal easier to meet. An attainable goal is:

Achievable — Don’t go too far beyond what you’re currently doing.
Sustainable — Remember that this series will be 2 months long.
Simple — The simpler and more tangible, the better.
Spirit-inspired — We can do a lot on our own willpower, but the Spirit is our most empowering source.

By now, you at least have begun to formulate a few ideas of what it might look like for you to pray as you can in this season. Work through the following prompts together to help each person decide what they want to commit to:

We already listed some ideas at the beginning of this section (feel free to go back and reread them), but work together to come up with some other goals someone could set when it comes to praying as you can.
When it comes to creating an attainable goal, which of the 4 traits above do you tend to find yourself struggling with the most?
Finally, whether or not you’re actually ready to commit to it, what could it look like for you to pray as you can?

Before moving onto the next section, go around and have everyone in your Community say what invitation to prayer they want to try committing to in this season. If someone’s not sure, that’s ok — they’re welcome to offer an idea or a potential goal.

Practice for the Week Ahead

The Practice for the week ahead is to begin to pray as you can. Take some time to develop a rhythm for whatever it is you committed to. If you wanted to pray for a particular person in your life each day, maybe write their name on a sticky note and put it on your bathroom mirror. If you want to start your day with prayer, perhaps you put your Bible on top of your phone when you go to bed as a reminder. If you want to pray with your roommate or family, have a conversation with them to see if it’s something they are interested in and then make a plan. If you want to do midday prayer, block it out in your calendar each day.

Whatever it looks like, take a practical step towards your goal this week.

Close in Prayer

Before you end your time together, pray, asking the Spirit of God to fill and empower you to pray as you can. Take some time to pray for other prayer requests as they come up.

Kylee Logan 12/19/21 Kylee Logan 12/19/21

Advent, Part 4: Love

By Gavin Bennett & Bethany Allen

Candle Lighting & Communion (2 minutes)

In the Advent season, lighting a candle is used to symbolize Jesus being the Light of the World who comes into our darkness. So grab any candle from somewhere in your house, dim the lights, light the candle, and take communion as one person reads the following prayer out loud:

God of Love,

Your Son, Jesus, is your greatest gift to us.

He is a sign of our love,

Of your light coming into our darkness.

Help us to walk in that love during the weeks of Advent.

May we celebrate the first coming of Jesus,

even as we await his return.

We pray all this in the name of Jesus, our Savior.

Amen.

Read This Overview (5 min)

Though it is often overused and misused in our culture, love is something that we as humans not only desire but need, at both a conceptual and an emotional level; it is the glue to our relational connection and wholeness.

And it’s not just a human thing: God’s base emotion towards us is love. When God looks at us, he brims over with delight and affection. The Scriptures even go as far as saying that God is Love, meaning that the fundamental element making up the Trinity is Love. And so it’s no surprise that love plays a central role in the Christmas story—from Joseph’s protective love for Mary, to Mary’s deep love for her newborn son, to the Father’s love for us in sending Jesus in the first place, love is laced the whole way through. As the people of God, we get to sit in this love, abiding in it, and letting it wash over us. And as we allow it to reach us to our core, we realize that it is our call to embody it, as well.

Scripture Reading (5 min)

Each week of Advent, we want to read aloud a portion of the birth story of Jesus that helps us look deeper at each of the four themes of Advent (hope, peace, love, and joy).

1 John 4v7-21

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

Reflection Questions (30 min)

Spend some time working through the following questions:

Where did I experience God’s love this last week?
Where do I need to experience God’s love this coming week?
How can I embody God’s love this week?

Kylee Logan 12/12/21 Kylee Logan 12/12/21

Advent, Part 3: Joy

By Gavin Bennett, Joy Schlichter, & Bethany Allen

Candle Lighting & Communion (2 minutes)

God of Joy,

Your Son, Jesus, is your greatest gift to us.

He is a sign of our joy,

Of your light coming into our darkness.

Help us to walk in that hope during the weeks of Advent.

May we celebrate the first coming of Jesus,

even as we await his return.

We pray all this in the name of Jesus, our Savior.

Amen.

Read This Overview (5 min)

While anticipation can produce anxiety or fear, in Advent we remember that God’s original plan was that it cultivate joy and connectus to love himself. The perfect expression of love is God embodied, Jesus, and joy is the fruit or byproduct of knowing that God is near to us.

Christmas is a mixed bag of both joy and sadness for many. We each come to the holidays with some combination of disappointment, nostalgia, pain, and excitement. When it comes to joy, though, the truth is that many of us often confuse it with simply a good feeling or sentimentality. But it is so much more than that.

If joy as the culture sells it can only leave us numb, where does true joy come from? As we look in the Scriptures, true joy is ultimately born of and from salvation. And salvation is God stepping into and changing our reality, breathing life into the things we thought dead.

For the apprentice of Jesus, our salvation, our rescue from sin and its effects on our world, is not static. It is something that has happened and keeps happening. In the Scriptures, joy is rooted both in God and in the ways of God, or living life as God intended it. Through Jesus, God is showing us the best way to be human, to live a life filled with joy. In Advent, we watch as joy comes to earth and we wait for the fullness of it to come again.

Scripture Reading (5 min)

Each week of Advent, we want to read aloud a portion of the birth story of Jesus that helps us look deeper at each of the four themes of Advent (hope, peace, love, and joy).

Luke 2v8-15

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Reflection Questions (30 min)

Spend some time working through the following questions:

Where did I experience joy this last week?
Where do I need to experience joy or remember the joy of my salvation this coming week?
How and to whom can I embody and reflect God’s joy this week?

Practice For the Week Ahead (5 minutes)

Jesus came for everyone — adults and children alike — so this year our Advent practices will be inclusive of children! That said, there will be two sections in each Advent practice: one for families with children to work through and one for individuals without children to work through. The practices are essentially the same, just with more interactive elements in the children’s one. So whether you live by yourself in an apartment or with a house full of kiddos, there’s something this season for everyone.

Advent Practice for Families

If you haven’t discussed Advent with your child before, start with a moment to define the practice. (Keep in mind that the following is written at the Kindergarten level — feel free to change as you see fit for your child.)

Advent is a special time before Christmas where we remember the birth of Jesus. A long time ago, God promised he would send a Rescuer to fix everything in the world that was broken and make things whole again. God’s people waited a very long time for that Rescuer. Finally, after waiting for what felt like forever, the great rescuer came! He came in a way people wouldn’t expect: as a baby. Jesus is that Great Rescuer. During Advent, we remember how God’s people waited for Jesus for a long time. We light four candles to help us remember four very important things that Jesus brings us: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.

Next, grab a candle (any kind will do!). Invite your child to sit with you and to quiet their mind and their body. Once you’re ready you can read and do the following:

On the third week of Advent, we remember joy. [Light the candle or help your child light the candle] Joy is happiness we feel deep down in our hearts. Sometimes, you can’t help but smile and laugh when you feel joy. You might feel joy when you get to eat your favorite food or play with your best friend. Or you may feel joy at the end of a really fun day. The Bible tells us that news of Jesus’ birth will bring people joy! During Advent, we remember that we can have joy because our Great Rescuer has come.

Ask your child to share about a time they experienced joy. They may remember a time they laughed so hard it made their belly hurt. Or they may remember a night they went to bed with a happy heart after a really good day. Take time to listen and engage with their ideas. Share a time where you experienced joy from God. We see in the Scriptures that a natural response to experiencing joy is singing. Cue up your favorite family song. Preferably a worship song or a Christmas carol, but if the Trolls soundtrack has been on repeat in your home, that’s absolutely fine too. Spend a few minutes dancing and singing to the song as a family. Be as silly or as fervent as you see fit. If an expression like this is new for your family, be the first to jump in. If your family is in a season that feels void of joy, consider honestly discussing that before playing a song, knowing that we can praise God and enjoy Him, even in difficult seasons.

To close, pray a blessing over your child:

May you experience joy in the coming of Jesus this Christmas. When you laugh, dance, and sing, would you know that God is present with you in your joy. May you look to Him as the greatest source of joy.

Advent Practice for Individuals

Grab a candle (any kind will do!). Quiet your mind and body. Once you’re ready you can light the candle, remembering that on the third week of Advent, we remember joy. Joy is a deep, profound happiness, the fruit or byproduct of knowing that God is near to us.

As you sit there, ask yourself where you have experienced God’s joy — whether in the short visit of blue skies during a rainy day, in a friend visiting from out of town, in early morning prayer, in a conversation with a roommate, the options are endless!

Next, we see in the Scriptures that a natural response to experiencing joy is singing. So cue up a favorite worship song and spend a few minutes singing and dancing before the Lord. If you are in a season that feels void of joy, consider honestly discussing that with God before playing a song, knowing that we can praise God and enjoy Him, even in difficult seasons. Remember that sometimes joy overflows into singing and/or dancing, but sometimes joy is the byproduct of worshipping by singing and/or dancing.

Before ending your time, take some time to reflect on the truth that there is a deep joy in the first coming of Jesus and there will be a deep joy upon his return. Ask for God to help you look to Him as the greatest source of joy.

Kylee Logan 12/5/21 Kylee Logan 12/5/21

Advent, Part 2: Peace

By Gavin Bennett, Joy Schlichter, & Bethany Allen

Candle Lighting & Communion (2 minutes)

God of Hope,

Your Son, Jesus, is your greatest gift to us.

He is a sign of our hope,

Of your light coming into our darkness.

Help us to walk in that hope during the weeks of Advent.

May we celebrate the first coming of Jesus,

even as we await his return.

We pray all this in the name of Jesus, our Savior.

Amen.

Read This Overview (5 min)

What if the problem isn’t that peace is so far off? What if the problem is that we don’t actually understand peace as the Bible means it? In the Bible, peace is more than just the absence of conflict. Shalom, the Hebrew word for peace, is when God steps into creation and sets the world right. Not just by stopping evil, but by restoring all that it’s taken. The peace that God brings is not about the absence of something; it’s about the presence of Someone.

The kind of peace God brings is not passive, it is God actively breaking into what’s wrong and making it right. So, if the shalom of God is the power of God, then our path of formation and transformation as disciples of Jesus is to not remain peacekeepers, but to become peacemakers. We get to prepare the way for his return by actively making peace around us.

Scripture Reading (5 min)

Each week of Advent, we want to read aloud a portion of the birth story of Jesus that helps us look deeper at each of the four themes of Advent (hope, peace, love, and joy).

Luke 2v8–15

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Reflection Questions (30 min)

Spend some time working through the following questions:

Through Jesus’ incarnation and the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, we have access to God’s peace in the midst of our fear. Where have you encountered this peace? Where do you need it?
Where are you still experiencing fear and where do you need to experience greater peace that’s on offer through God’s presence?
Where are you feeling the absence of something and needing the presence of someone?
Beyond your story, where have you seen peace come to earth this year?

Practice For the Week Ahead (5 minutes)

Advent Practice for Families

Next, grab a candle (any kind will do!). Invite your child to sit with you and to quiet their mind and their body. Once you’re ready you can read and do the following:

On the second week of Advent, we remember peace. [Light the candle or help your child light the candle] Peace is when everything is how it’s supposed to be. Peace may give you a calm feeling in your heart and your body. Sometimes you may even feel a peace inside you when things around you feel scary or sad or really busy. When Jesus came as a baby, he was called the Prince of Peace! Jesus came to bring peace to our hearts and gave us the Holy Spirit to help us bring His peace to the world around us.

Ask your child to share about a time they experienced peace. It may be a memory of a time they felt peace, or a particular place or situation that was full of peace. Take time to listen and engage with their ideas. Share a time where you experienced peace from God. Then, brainstorm as a family ways you can engage with the theme of peace this week. You might choose to create peace in your home by planning a cozy family movie night. Or perhaps spend a morning in nature together, taking in the peaceful rhythms of creation. Other families may choose to engage with our city as peacemakers, by donating to or serving with local organizations like Because People Matter or Portland Rescue Mission.

Whenever we see our hope list, we can pray: “Thank you God! Thank you that I can hope in you!”

To close, pray a blessing over your child:

May you experience the peace of God, which transcends all understanding. Would God fill you with His Spirit of Peace, so that as you grow, you bring peace to the world around you.

Advent Practice for Individuals

Grab a candle (any kind will do!). Quiet your mind and body. Once you’re ready you can light the candle, remembering that on the second week of Advent, we remember peace. Peace is not about the absence of conflict, but about the presence of God. Peace is when God steps into creation and sets the world right.

As you sit there, ask yourself where you have experienced God’s peace — it could be in the form of a deep settledness in the character of God even though the world around you felt like chaos, or a literal seeing of God’s restoration of something or someone. Next, think about how you can engage with the theme of peace this week. Whether creating peace in your home by planning a cozy family movie night, spending a morning in nature to take in the peaceful rhythms of creation, engaging with our city as peacemakers by donating to or serving with local organizations like Because People Matter or Portland Rescue Mission, or something totally different. Whatever it is, engage this week in peace.

Before ending your time, take some time to reflect on the truth that the peace of God transcends all understanding, circumstance, or logic. Ask for God to fill you with His Spirit of Peace, so that you become someone who brings peace to the world around you.

Kylee Logan 11/28/21 Kylee Logan 11/28/21

Advent, Part 1: Hope

By Gavin Bennett & Joy Schlichter

Candle Lighting & Communion (2 minutes)

God of Hope,

Your Son, Jesus, is your greatest gift to us.

He is a sign of our hope,

Of your light coming into our darkness.

Help us to walk in that hope during the weeks of Advent.

May we celebrate the first coming of Jesus,

even as we await his return.

We pray all this in the name of Jesus, our Savior.

Amen.

Read This Overview (5 min)

Each Sunday of Advent is meant to draw our attention to the realities of Jesus coming into our world, God’s incarnation. We are called to cultivate and align our hearts with those who first waited for the coming Messiah through our own practice of waiting. In the waiting of Advent we remember what was prophesied, promised, and realized in Jesus, and we anticipate his return, when he will set everything to right.

One of the gifts we receive from God in this waiting is hope. Hope, as we understand it in Scriptures, is the expectation of coming good based on the person and promises of God. A little bit of hope can cover over a whole lot of waiting. And in the stories of the Scriptures, we discover our rich heritage as a people who wait—from Abraham to the Prophets, Simeon and Anna to Paul, we find the invitation to wait with a hope in One who fulfills his promises. More than just helping us as we wait, hope also provides an opportunity of encounter with God.

Scripture Reading (5 min)

Each week of Advent, we want to read aloud a portion of the birth story of Jesus that helps us look deeper at each of the four themes of Advent (hope, peace, love, and joy).

Luke 2v22, 25-38

When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord… Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,

you may now dismiss your servant in peace.

For my eyes have seen your salvation,

which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and the glory of your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Reflection Questions (30 min)

Spend some time working through the following questions:

Can you identify with Anna or Simeon in their waiting? What stirred up in you as you heard this passage being read?
What are you hoping for in this season?
Where has your hope been unmet? Where have you felt disappointment?
Where do you need help from the Spirit to hope with greater faith?

Practice For the Week Ahead (5 minutes)

Advent Practice for Families

If you haven’t discussed Advent with your child before, start with a moment to define the practice. (Keep in mind that the following is written at the Kindergarten level, so feel free to change it to help your child best understand and engage.)

Next, grab a candle (any kind will do!). Invite your child to sit with you and to quiet their mind and their body. Once you’re ready you can read and do the following:

On the first week of Advent, we remember hope. [Light the candle or help your child light the candle.] Hope is the feeling when you’re waiting for something really good and trust deep in your heart that it could happen. Sometimes, when we’re sad, hope is that feeling we have when we’re looking forward to a time when we’re not sad anymore. Other times, you feel hope when you’re happy and excited about the future.

Ask your child if they’ve felt hope before and what they hoped for. Take time to listen and engage with their ideas. Share things you hope for, perhaps things you hope for in their lives as they grow. Write down or have your child draw the things that are shared and put the list in a place the whole family will regularly see it, like the refrigerator or front door.

Whenever we see our hope list, we can pray: “Thank you God! Thank you that I can hope in you!”

To close, pray a blessing over your child:

May you experience the hope of Jesus this Christmas. May you know that God always keeps his promises and that you can hope in Him.

Advent Practice for Individuals

Grab a candle (any kind will do!). Quiet your mind and body. Once you’re ready you can light the candle, remembering that on the first week of Advent, we remember hope. Hope is when we wait for something really good that we also believe could happen.

As you sit there, ask yourself what you are hoping for in this season. Write these things down and put the list in a place you will regularly see it, like the refrigerator or front door. Whenever you see your hope list, read each item and pray: “Thank you God that I can hope in you.”

Before ending your time, take some time to reflect on the truth that God always keeps his promises and that you can always find hope in Him.

Kylee Logan 4/11/21 Kylee Logan 4/11/21

Part 9: Justice & Mercy

Community Guide

The Community Guide below is based on Sunday’s teaching for our current series: Future Church. As your whole Community gathers (online or socially distanced), use the Community Guide below to give shape to your night together.

Begin by Practicing the Lord’s Supper Together (5 minutes)

Begin your night by partaking of the bread and the cup together. Have each person bring their own Communion elements. To facilitate your time, you can either ask a member of your Community to come ready with a short prayer, liturgy, or scripture reading, or assign someone to read the scripture we’ve provided below and spend a moment in silence before continuing.

Isaiah 58v 6 – 9
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

Emotional Health Check-in (10 Minutes)

As we focus in on this series, we want to continue to create space for checking in on each other, but doing so in a shorter amount of time. Take a few minutes to do an emotional health check-in with your Community, creating space for each person to answer the question below:

What or who is making you feel hopeful or joyful this week? What’s one area we can pray over, perhaps where hope feels lacking?

If the need arises, spend a few minutes praying for one another, asking God to meet needs and help each person carry what feels heavy right now.

Read this Overview (5 Mins)

All over the Gospels, we find Jesus, who is the exact representation of God, engaging the world’s brokenness. As we pay close attention to what he says and does, we learn how important justice, mercy, and peace are to God’s heart. In one story, Jesus is recorded quoting something God said in Hosea chapter 6: “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” And then he invites his listeners to “go and find out what this means.” As readers of this text, we become these listeners — this invitation becomes our invitation. And this invitation is not one of learning or studying; it’s an invitation of experience.

In our world, it’s expected that we put ourselves above others; but Jesus instructs us to lay our life down for others. In and through the life and teachings of Jesus, we learn that in God’s Kingdom the last will be first. The question we want to lean into in this season is: How can we help make the last first today? Not just in the future. And not just as a one time act of charity. How can we invite people, through relationship and life together, into the family of God?

To start orienting our hearts towards people on the margins is through the practice of intercession.

Debrief this Sunday’s Teaching (20 Minutes)

With that in mind, work through the following discussion questions as a Community:

What did you think of the distinction between serving the poor on occasion (charity) and being with the marginalized, inviting them in as family? Have you ever thought about it this way?
Have you ever had the experience of being invited in, when you felt like an outsider? If so, how did that experience impact you or your life?
As you listened to the teaching, did anyone come to mind who you feel called to have at your table (literally or figuratively)? What’s one step you could take toward that person or persons this month?

Practice For The Week Ahead: Revisiting your Rule of Life for Justice & Mercy (10 Minutes)

This week, continue revising and working on your Rule of Life Chart, keeping in mind that the goal is not to fill in every box, but to come to a good balance and rhythm in each category.

As you work through the Justice & Mercy section, consider what your existing practices are in this area and write them down. Take some time to consider and pray through what your next step in justice and mercy might be, and what God is inviting you into in this season of your life. Remember, aim to start where you are, not where you think you “should” be.

RULE OF LIFE

Below are a few ideas to get you started as you brainstorm and pray through your next step in justice and mercy.

Entry-Level Practice: Set aside time each week to pray for your neighbors, by name if you can — particularly neighbors on the margins, such as the houseless.
Baseline Practice: Half of the world lives on less than $2 per day, mainly eating some form of rice and beans. Dedicate one meal each week (with your family or Community) to enter into the burden of not having options by eating rice and beans yourself. During this meal, pray for those friends, neighbors, and strangers in need.
Reach Practice: Set aside funds you might be saving by eating rice and beans rather than your regular meal or takeout, and utilize those funds for hospitality. Invite someone outside your normal circle over for a nice meal and send them away with leftovers and blessing.

Again, the goal is not to adopt a regimented practice for the sake of checking a box, but for the purpose of being someone who day-by-day is becoming transformed into a person of justice and mercy.

Prayer (10 Minutes)

Spend a few minutes praying for God’s grace over each other, that we might become a people who seek to be like Jesus: pursuing justice alongside mercy, and creating invitation to family wherever we go. Pray there might be a sweeping renewal of the Holy Spirit in our city. Ask that God would stir up within us a desire to be with him in prayer and to serve him, one another, and our neighbor in love.

Kylee Logan 3/28/21 Kylee Logan 3/28/21

Part 8: Sabbath

Community Guide

Begin by Practicing the Lord’s Supper Together (5 minutes)

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

– Matthew 11v28–30

Emotional Health Check-in (10 Minutes)

As we focus on this series, we want to continue to create space for checking in on each other, but doing so in a shorter amount of time. Take a few minutes to do an emotional health check-in with your Community, creating space for each person to answer the questions below:

What are you hopeful for as we look toward spring and summer?

If the need arises, spend a few minutes praying for one another, asking God to meet any needs within your Community.

Read this Overview (5 Mins)

We live in a culture of constant progress. We strive for more money, more success, more status, more connections, all of which is fueled by the expectation that life will only have us moving upward.

The result of our progress addiction is widespread burnout. Burnout is when your soul can no longer bear the weight of your life.Millennials are considered the “burnout generation.” Writer Helen Peterses writes that burnout isn’t a place Millennials visit and come back from; instead, it is our permanent residence!

It’s been said that burnout consists of three components:

Exhaustion: Physical and emotional fatigue you feel when you’ve been under stress for too long.
Cynicism: Where you switch from trying to do your very best all the time to doing the bare minimum.
Blame: Starting to blame yourself for your inability to keep up.

Over and against our culture of progress and burnout, the scriptures and the way of Jesus invite us to what Hebrews calls “a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” For all of us who are tired, weary, exhausted, and burned-out… there is for us a rest that is built into the fabric and rhythm of creation itself. On the Sabbath we are freed from progress and from our internal pharaohs. Sabbath is a rest that we can set our watches to, that we can build our lives around, and that will bring us into the rest we really need. Let us strive to enter into that rest.

Debrief this Sunday’s Teaching (20 Minutes)

With that in mind, work through the following discussion questions as a Community:

We said this week that burnout is when your soul can no longer bear the weight of your life. Describe a time when you experienced burnout. Are you experiencing burnout right now?
In what areas of your life do you feel a need for constant progress or growth?
What does your practice of Sabbath look like right now? Do you have any fears or difficulties regarding the practice of Sabbath?

Practice For The Week Ahead: Revisiting your Rule of Life for Sabbath (10 Minutes)

This week, continue revising and working on your Rule of Life Chart, keeping in mind that the goal is not to fill in every box, but to come to a good balance and rhythm in each category.

As you work through the Sabbath section, consider what your existing practices are in this area and write them down. Take some time to consider and pray through what your next step in Sabbathing might be, and what God is inviting you into in this season of your life. Remember, aim to start where you are, not where you think you “should” be.

RULE OF LIFE

Below are a few ideas to get you started as you brainstorm and pray through your next step in Sabbath.

Entry-Level Practice: Take your first step into Sabbath by setting aside a first day or time period of Sabbath. Again, start where you are at. So if you are not ready for a full 24-hour period, start small with 4, 8, or 12 hours of Sabbath.
Baseline Practice: Work towards adopting a weekly rhythm of a 24-hour Sabbath. Feel free to utilize this resource on Practicing the Way to form and organize your practice with your family, friends, or household. You can decide on your time window, adopt Sabbath rituals, and find creative ways to rest, celebrate, and worship.
Reach Practice: Expand your practice of Sabbath by powering down your electronic devices for a full 24-hour period.

Again, the goal is not to adopt a Sabbath for the sake of checking a box, but for the purpose of being someone who week-by-week is being transformed by the Practice of Sabbath.

Prayer (10 Minutes)

Spend a few minutes praying for God’s grace over each other, that we might become a people who seek refuge with the Father in the quiet place, and that there might be a sweeping renewal of the Holy Spirit in our city. Ask that God would stir up within us a desire to be with him in prayer and to serve him, one another, and our neighbor in love.

Kylee Logan 3/21/21 Kylee Logan 3/21/21

Part 7: Vocation

Community Guide

Practice For The Week Ahead: Revisiting your Rule of Life for Vocation (10 Minutes)

This week, continue revising and working on your Rule of Life Chart, keeping in mind that the goal is not to fill in every box, but to come to a good balance and rhythm in each category.
As you work through the Vocation section, consider what your existing practices are in this area and write them down. Take some time to consider and pray through what your next step in vocation might be, and what God is inviting you into in this season of your life. Remember, aim to start where you are, not where you think you “should” be.

RULE OF LIFE

Below are a few ideas to get you started as you brainstorm and pray through your next step on vocation.

Entry-Level Practice: The Hebrew word kavanah refers to an act done with holy intent. Kavanah is when we bring our full presence and a motivation of love and excellence to our work or any ordinary task in order to “reweave” the manifest glory of God into the created order. This week, whatever your current expression of work may be, commit to practicing kavanah in a few specific acts.
Baseline Practice: For the baseline practice, spend some time coming up with a list of values that make up your vocation. Or, if you already have one, spend some time going through it again. Some helpful questions to get you started may include: What is something that you feel like you were made to do? Based on your gifts and skills, what is something you have to offer to the world around you? Even if I don’t have my dream job, how can I be practicing my vocation where I currently am? (Remember that your “vocation” isn’t necessarily something you get paid to do.)
Reach Practice: Make a practice of revisiting your vocation (or values that shape your vocation) with a close friend or mentor who knows you. This could look more formal like a Quaker-style clearness committee or just coffee with someone who knows you well. Alternatively, if you are not currently in what you would consider to be your vocation, begin to craft a practical plan for how you hope to get there.

Again, the goal is not to adopt a regimented practice of vocation for the sake of checking a box, but for the purpose of being someone who day-by-day is becoming transformed God and freed from the culture of careerism.

Kylee Logan 3/14/21 Kylee Logan 3/14/21

Part 6: Hospitality

Community Guide

Begin by Practicing the Lord’s Supper Together (5 minutes)

Begin your night by partaking of the bread and the cup together. Have each person bring their own Communion elements. To facilitate your time, you can either ask a member of your Community to come ready with a short prayer, liturgy, or scripture reading, or assign someone to read the liturgy we’ve provided below and spend a moment in silence before continuing.

Host or Leader reads aloud:
The table of bread is now to be made ready.
It is the table of company with Jesus,
and all who love him.
It is the table of sharing with the poor of the world, with whom Jesus identified himself.
It is the table of Communion with the earth, in which Christ became incarnate.
So come to this table,
you who have much faith
and you who would like to have more;
you who have been here often
and you who have not been here for a long time; you who have tried to follow Jesus,
and you who have failed;
Come. It is Christ who invites us to meet him here.
Community responds:
Loving God,
through your goodness
we have this bread and wine to offer, which has come forth from the earth
and human hands have made.
May we know your presence in the sharing, so that we may know your touch
and presence in all things.
We celebrate the life that Jesus has shared among his community through the centuries, and shares with us now.
Made one in Christ
and one with each other,
we offer these gifts and with them ourselves, a single, living act of praise. Amen.

Emotional Health Check-in (10 Minutes)

Describe your week with three adjectives.

If the need arises, spend a few minutes praying for one another, asking God to meet needs and help each person carry what feels heavy right now.

Read this Overview (5 Mins)

It’s no secret that political polarization is at an all time high right now. Many of us feel the sensation of living within two Americas, one on the Right and one on the Left, and yet fitting neatly into neither. Others of us have lost relationships this year, not due to COVID-19, but to differences in belief and politics. Our culture is quicker than ever to disregard, divide, and demonize over politics.

And while the digital age has caused it to intensify, political polarization is nothing new. Into a world of tribe-against-tribe hostility came Jesus of Nazareth, who literally died to turn enemies into family, who said in his Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” (Matthew 5v9)

Jesus had an uncanny ability to turn enemies into guests and guests into family. He did this through “radically ordinary hospitality,” just eating meals around a table. The word we use for “hospitality” came from philoxenian in Greek. It’s a compound word: Philomeans love, Xenos means stranger or foreigner. Hospitality is the exact opposite of xenophobia.
It’s the love of the stranger. The welcome of all as a guest.

We ache, hope, and work for the healing of our divided nation, and few practices are more effective to this end than hospitality.

Debrief this Sunday’s Teaching (20 Minutes)

With that in mind, work through the following discussion questions as a Community:

Can you think of a time where you experienced meaningful hospitality from someone else? What marked your experience?
What would it be like for you to have a meal with an “enemy” or a stranger? Who could you imagine yourself inviting to dinner?
What is your current practice of hospitality? Do you have any ideas for how to practice hospitality in a COVID/post-COVID world?

Practice For The Week Ahead: Revisiting your Rule of Life for Hospitality (10 Minutes)

This week, continue revising and working on your Rule of Life Chart, keeping in mind that the goal is not to fill in every box, but to come to a good balance and rhythm in each category.
As you work through the Hospitality section, consider what your existing practices are in this area and write them down. Take some time to consider and pray through what your next step in hospitality might be, and what God is inviting you into in this season of your life. Remember, aim to start where you are, not where you think you “should” be.

RULE OF LIFE

Below are a few ideas to get you started as you brainstorm and pray through your next step in hospitality.

Entry-Level Practice: Take your first step into hospitality by inviting a neighbor or coworker on a walk. Consider buying them coffee or a meal to eat outdoors.
Baseline Practice: As it’s safe, work towards adopting a monthly rhythm of hospitality. In the meantime, this could be setting aside a night on your calendar to practice hospitality in your home in the future. You can also experiment with COVID-friendly acts of hospitality, such as regular walks, picnics, dropping a meal off at the home of a neighbor or coworker.
Reach Practice: Expand your practice of hospitality by scheduling a weekly night for having guests at your table.

Again, the goal is not to adopt a regimented practice of hospitality for the sake of checking a box, but for the purpose of being someone who day-by-day is becoming transformed and freed by time alone with God in the quiet.

Prayer (10 Minutes)

Kylee Logan 3/7/21 Kylee Logan 3/7/21

Part 5: Silence

Community Guide

Begin by Practicing the Lord’s Supper Together (5 minutes)

Psalm 139v7–10
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

Emotional Health Check-in (10 Minutes)

What’s something you’re looking forward to about the coming season? What’s something you feel anxiety or uncertainty about?

If the need arises, spend a few minutes praying for one another, asking God to meet needs and help each person carry what feels heavy right now.

Read this Overview (5 Mins)

We live in a world of noise. Throughout the day and night, we are bombarded with messages from advertisers, from friends, and from the phone that has become what feels like an extension to our arms. It feels like all that noise is not just coming from without, but from within, as everything we take in begins to take root in our hearts and minds, constantly pulling at us, needling us to be anxious, outraged, afraid.

In contrast, the way of Jesus is the way of quiet. Of love and compassion. Of deep peace. How can we enter into God’s rest and way of quiet love in a world like ours? Through the practice of silence and solitude, or time alone with God in the quiet, we cultivate within ourselves a refuge to return to God and a deep peace out of which we can live in community with others based on love, not fear.

Jesus himself often withdrew to “lonely places” and prayed. Those lonely places, as they were for Jesus, are for us the places of encounter with our true selves and with God, and the place where God will transform us.

Debrief this Sunday’s Teaching (20 Minutes)

With that in mind, work through the following discussion questions as a Community:

How would you describe the noise level (literal or metaphorical) in your life? Do your days feel overstimulating or “noisy,” or are there pockets of peace and quiet?
Has there been a time in your life when you felt you operated out of peace and confidence? What did it look like? What contributed to that peace and confidence?
What appeals to you about building in time for silence and solitude with God into your week? What, if anything, makes you anxious?
What could get in the way of practicing silence and solitude this week?

Practice For The Week Ahead: Revisiting your Rule of Life for Silence & Solitude (10 Minutes)

This week, continue revising and working on your Rule of Life Chart, keeping in mind that the goal is not to fill in every box, but to come to a good balance and rhythm in each category.
As you work through the Silence & Solitude section, consider what your existing practices are in this area and write them down. Take some time to consider and pray through what your next step in silence & solitude might be, and what God is inviting you into in this season of your life. Remember, aim to start where you are, not where you think you “should” be.

RULE OF LIFE

Below are a few ideas to get you started as you brainstorm and pray through your next step in silence and solitude.

Entry-Level Practice: Attempt a short period of silence and solitude once a week. This could be a short, 10 minute time of silence to start a particular day or days of the week.
Baseline Practice: Adopt a rhythm of silence and solitude each day, perhaps in the morning.
Reach Practice: Expand your practice of silence and solitude by planning regular days or trips for silence and solitude. You can spend the day at a local abbey, somewhere in the wilderness, or wherever you can find a quiet place.

If you find yourself having trouble with this practice, please know it’s not just expected but normal. Consider this rhythm for your time in silence and solitude:

Relax: Let your mind and body calm down. Try slowing reading through a psalm, attending to your breath, or repeating a simple prayer.
Detach: Sometimes called yielding or surrender, practice releasing your anxieties, the circumstances of your life, and your will over to God in prayer.
Look: The heart of prayer is looking at God, looking at you in love. Spend time considering, looking at, contemplating God. Look beyond the other thoughts that crop up, redirecting your mind as needed back to the Father.
Listen: It’s been said that the primary posture of a disciple of Jesus is sitting at his feet and listening. God has direct access to your mind—in the stillness, listen to what the Lord might be saying to you.
Love: End your time by resting in God’s love, anchoring yourself in the peace of his presence.

Again, the goal is not to adopt a regimented practice of silence for the sake of checking a box, but for the purpose of being someone who day-by-day is becoming transformed and freed by time alone with God in the quiet.

Prayer (10 Minutes)

Kylee Logan 2/28/21 Kylee Logan 2/28/21

Part 4: Holiness

Community Guide

Begin by Practicing the Lord’s Supper Together (5 minutes)

Begin your night by partaking of the bread and the cup together. Have each person bring their own Communion elements. To facilitate your time, you can either ask a member of your Community to come ready with a short prayer, liturgy, or scripture reading, or assign someone to read the Apostles Creed we’ve provided below and spend a moment in silence before continuing:

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Emotional Health Check-in (10 Minutes)

In 7 words or less, what would be helpful to hear God (or someone close) say to you this week?

If the need arises, spend a few minutes praying for one another, asking God to meet needs and help each person carry what feels heavy right now.

Read this Overview (5 Mins)

As followers of Jesus, we choose to be a community of holiness while living in a culture of moral relativism. Apprenticing to Jesus’ way of life means that we follow his mental maps to reality. He is our transcendent moral authority. And while much of his teachings come to us through the four gospels and the writings of the New Testament, it’s based in the inner life of the Trinity itself, the inner nature of the Creator. The more we align our life to the teachings of Jesus, to his mental maps to reality, the more we flourish and thrive in relationship with God and others. And the reverse is also true: the more incongruent our life is with Jesus, the more we show up to reality in such a way that we struggle and suffer. As the British philosopher H.H. Farmer put it, “If you go against the grain of the universe you get splinters.” That said, it is so important to keep in mind that this all doesn’t put us, as followers of Jesus, at odds withour host culture; it just puts us out of place in our host culture, on both the Left and the Right.

Holiness means to be set apart. It is not just about behavior, but about the inner life. Holiness is about the whole body. It seeks to rescue us from a culture whose view of the body is low, and to put us into a worldview in which our bodies are the very temple of God. What we do and don’t do with them matters because we matter. Fasting, then becomes a practice from the life and teachings of Jesus that sets us up to starve the flesh and feed the spirit, to amplify our prayers, and to stand in solidarity with the poor. Fasting is a way of praying with our bodies as we partner with God to usher in his Kingdom to our world.

Debrief this Sunday’s Teaching (20 Minutes)

With that in mind, work through the following discussion questions as a Community:

What does the word “holiness” bring up in you? Did you have bad experiences with that word in the past? Good? What does it mean to you now?
The world’s definition of love is to follow your heart as long as it doesn’t harm anybody. Jesus’ definition of love is to will the good of another ahead of yourself no matter the cost. Which does your life tend to reflect?
The Scriptures talk of the body as God’s temple, set apart for the use of worship and lasting joy. This is a higher view of the body than the world has, which talks of it as the means to feel something. Was this the view of the body you were raised with? If not, how may your life have been different had you been raised with this view?

Practice For The Week Ahead: Revisiting your Rule of Life for Scripture (10 Minutes)

This week, continue revising and working on your Rule of Life Chart, keeping in mind that the goal is not to fill in every box, but to come to a good balance and rhythm in each category. As you consider the Prayer & Fasting subsection, consider what your existing practices are in this area and write them down. Then take some time to reflect on and pray through what healthy rhythms of reading scripture could be for you, and what your next step might be to move toward greater holiness through fasting and prayer. Remember, aim to start where you are, not where you think you “should” be.

RULE OF LIFE

Here are a few ideas to get you started as you brainstorm and pray through your next step in Fasting:

Entry-Level Practice: Try fasting for the first time. If you’re not ready to fast for an entire day, try picking a meal or two to skip. And during your time of fasting, intentionally spend time turning your attention towards God in prayer.
Baseline Practice: Adopt a practice of fasting once a week. (Note: Our COVID Rule of Life invites Bridgetown to pray and fast together on Thursdays.)
Reach Practice: Expand your practice of fasting by taking up the practice of the ancient church, until at least the 1700s, and fast twice a week and/or further focusing your time in fasting with journaling, scripture, or prayer to “break” a particular habit or sin in your life.

Again, the goal is not to adopt a regimented fasting practice for the sake of checking a box, but for the purpose of being someone who day-by-day is becoming transformed and freed by holiness.

Prayer (10 Minutes)

Spend a few minutes praying for God’s grace over each other, that we might become a people who make Jesus our Lord, and that there might be a sweeping renewal of the Holy Spirit in our city. Ask that God would stir up within us a desire to be with him in prayer and to serve him, one another, and our neighbor in love.

Kylee Logan 2/21/21 Kylee Logan 2/21/21

Part 3: Orthodoxy

Community Guide

Begin by Practicing the Lord’s Supper Together (5 minutes)

Begin your night by partaking of the bread and the cup together. Have each person bring their own Communion elements. To facilitate your time, you can either ask a member of your Community to come ready with a short prayer, liturgy, or scripture reading, or assign someone to read the Apostles Creed we’ve provided below and spend a moment in silence before continuing:

Emotional Health Check-in (10 Minutes)

What is one thing you’re having to trust Jesus with right now?

If the need arises, spend a few minutes praying for one another, asking God to meet needs and help each person carry what feels heavy right now.

Read this Overview (5 Mins)

We live in the age of ideology. By “ideology” we mean any set of beliefs that 1) takes part of the truth and makes the whole and 2) takes a good thing and makes it ultimate. Whether from the right or the left, the ideologies of our world have become for many a new type of religion, each with its own type of doctrine, dogma, and heresy. While the ideologies of our day are new, the temptation to mix the way of Jesus and what the New Testament calls “the way of the world” is as ancient as time. Further still, we’re living in a time of unprecedented deconstruction.

In the face of this temptation and moment, the invitation of Jesus is to “demolish strongholds” of the mind and to instead take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ, to fight for orthodoxy. And while it must be said that deconstruction can be good, deconstruction is not the end goal. We must push past the impulse to deconstruct orthodoxy, and move into a type of reconstruction that is not based on the ideologies of the day but is informed by the life and teachings of Jesus as they come to us in the scriptures.

Debrief this Sunday’s Teaching (20 Minutes)

With that in mind, work through the following discussion questions as a Community:

What are some of the ideologies you see in our country? Our city?
Are there any ideologies that feel easy for you to fall into? Are there areas of your faith that you feel that you are deconstructing? What are they?
What difficulties do you face when it comes to the Bible? (e.g. fear, confusion, boredom, skepticism, etc.)
What do you think the invitation of Jesus is for you in this area?

Practice For The Week Ahead: Revisiting your Rule of Life for Scripture (10 Minutes)

This week, continue revising and working on your Rule of Life Chart, keeping in mind that the goal is not to fill in every box, but to come to a good balance and rhythm in each category. As you consider the Scripture subsection, consider what your existing practices are in this area and write them down. Then take some time to reflect on and pray through what healthy rhythms of reading scripture could be for you, and what your next step might be to move toward greater orthodoxy and truth in the scriptures. Remember, aim to start where you are, not where you think you “should” be.

RULE OF LIFE

Here are a few ideas to get you started as you brainstorm and pray through your next step in Scripture reading:

Entry-Level Practice: Begin reading small portions of scripture a few times a week. You can start with one of the Gospels, the Psalms, or even picking one passage to read a few times over (E.g. John 15, Matthew 5–7, Psalm 23).
Baseline Practice: Adopt a practice of reading scripture daily and set designated limits to screen time in your days or week.
Reach Practice: Expand your practice of daily scripture reading. This can look like adopting a specific reading plan, ending your day with a Psalm, following along with podcasts and videos from BibleProject, or anything else that would take you deeper into scripture.

Again, the goal is not to adopt a regimented Scripture practice for the sake of checking a box, but for the purpose of being someone who day-by-day is becoming transformed and freed by truth.

Prayer (10 Minutes)

Kylee Logan 2/14/21 Kylee Logan 2/14/21

Part 2: Community

Community Guide

Begin by Practicing the Lord’s Supper Together (5 minutes)

Begin your night by partaking of the bread and the cup together. Have each person bring their own Communion elements. To facilitate your time, you can either ask a member of your Community to come ready with a short prayer, liturgy, or scripture reading, or assign someone to read the passage of scripture we’ve provided below and spend a moment in silence before continuing:

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11v23–26)

Emotional Health Check-in (10 Minutes)

What are three words you’d use to describe your week?

If the need arises, spend a few minutes praying for one another, asking God to meet needs and help each person carry what feels heavy right now.

Read this Overview (5 Mins)

The American experience and western culture in general are rooted in radical individualism. We are trained to look out for our own interest above all others, constantly pushing to get what we want or “deserve” and pursue our own desires over those of others. Yet, the way of Jesus and our experience show us that while looking out for our own interests and living in extreme independence—while it may be easier in the short term—leads to unhappiness in the long term. For better or worse, we need each other.

In Romans 12, Paul paints pictures of the people of God as inextricably intertwined: both as a family of brothers and sisters, as well as a body with many parts, all of which need one another. That said, if you keep reading the New Testament, and honestly if you pursue any relationship beyond the surface level, you will discover depth and community to be challenging. To stick with Community for the long haul, it becomes essential to learn to do three things:

Forgive each other for not being God. We bring high expectations to our Community at times, don’t we? We want our wounds healed, to be bound up, to be pursued, to be seen, known, to be loved unconditionally. And these are not bad things to want! But we are all human, and we all fail each other at times. When that happens—when, not if—we have to make the hard choice to love each other anyway.
Listen in love. Give relational space for each others’ stories, joys, and hurts. Share the deep stuff of your person, not just the facts of your life. Rejoice in one another’s successes, and grieve one another’s sorrows.
Stay. This may sound simple, but anyone who has been in relationship with anyone else long term (whether your Bridgetown Community, a best friend, your children, or your spouse) can tell you that sometimes, simply sticking it out is the hardest part.

During this series, we’ll each be crafting (or revisiting) a working Rule of Life to help create structure through which Jesus can grow and shape us to be more like Him. This week, we’ll be focusing on how to live in a community of tightly knit, loving relationships.

Debrief this Sunday’s Teaching (20 Minutes)

With that in mind, work through the following discussion questions as a Community:

In your life, where do you see tendencies toward individualism? (Perhaps at work, in your family life, etc.)
As you consider the three calls to forgive each other, listen in love, and stay, which (if any!) feels the most challenging for you in this season? Which (if any!) feels most natural?
What fruit or blessing have you experienced from choosing to stick with relationships (community or otherwise) for the long haul?

Practice For The Week Ahead: Revisiting your Rule of Life for Community (10 Minutes)

Sometime this week, download our Rule of Life worksheet. This worksheet is meant to help you have an overview of your Rule of Life. Please note that the goal is not to fill in every box, but to come to a good balance and rhythm in each category. Some Practices will have more boxes filled in than others; that’s ok!

This week, as you consider the Community subsection, consider what your existing practices are in this area and write them down. Then take some time to reflect on and pray through what healthy rhythms of relationship could be for you, and what your next step might be to move toward Community and close relationships. Remember, aim to start where you are, not where you think you “should” be.

RULE OF LIFE

Here are a few ideas to get you started as you brainstorm and pray through your next step in Community and relationships:

Entry-Level Practice: get together with another follower of Jesus for a regular walk or coffee or in-depth conversation. Move toward a level of communication in which you can share your true self, beyond simply facts or opinions.
Baseline Practice: share a weekly meal with a community of followers of Jesus to eat and drink the Lord’s Supper, do life, pray, and practice the way of Jesus together.
Reach Practice: establish a regular practice of the confession of sin with another follower of Jesus in your Community or Triad and the receiving together of Jesus’ forgiveness that comes to those who ask. (1 John 1v9)

Again, the aim in working toward Community in your life is not to add something new to your schedule every week, but rather to live life alongside others intentionally, vulnerably, and with love.

Prayer (10 Minutes)

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Part 1: It’s Time To Dream Again

Community Guide

The Community Guide below is based on Sunday’s teaching which began the new series: Future Church. As your whole Community gathers (online or socially distanced), use the Community Guide below to give shape to your night together.

Begin by Practicing the Lord’s Supper Together (5 minutes)

Begin your night by partaking of the bread and the cup together. Have each person bring their own Communion elements. To facilitate your time, you can either ask a member of your Community to come ready with a short prayer, liturgy, or scripture reading, or assign someone to read this prayer we’ve provided below and spend a moment in silence before continuing:

The first thing we read you doing in the Scriptures, O Creator,
Is to bring order to and create life from chaos.
Even now, so many years later, would you do it again?
As we eat and drink, we remember that you are
The God who loves us,
The God who sees us,
The God who will neither leave nor forsake us.
Come now and fill out time together with joy and clarity of mind and heart.
Let us love you. Let us see you. And let us neither leave nor forsake you.
Amen.

Emotional Health Check-in (15 Minutes)

Take a few minutes to do an emotional health check-in with your Community, creating space for each person to answer the question below:

In what areas of your life do you feel like you are bumping up against your limits? Do you sense any invitation from God as you notice these limits?

If the need arises, spend a few minutes praying for one another, asking God to meet needs and help each person carry what feels heavy right now.

Scripture Reading (5 Minutes)

Assign one reader to read Psalm 80 aloud for your Community. After reading, spend 30–60 seconds in silence.

Read this Overview (5 Mins)

While we are still in a season of perseverance—statistics show that we are in the worst phase of the virus with more people dying now than ever—there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Spring is on the horizon; new life is around the corner. The time is now for letting new seeds germinate in the soil of your heart and grow into new life. Over the next two months, we want to stretch the atrophied muscles of our hope and practice dreaming: about our future together in Portland and about the kind of church and followers of Jesus we want to be on the other side of COVID-19.

Many followers of Jesus now believe that the future of the church will be neo-monastic, drawing on the centuries-old convictions of church mothers and fathers. Instead of leaving our lives and joining monasteries, though, it will look more like a robust discipleship to Jesus in a thick web of interdependent relationships, through what the ancients called a rule of life.

Over the next 2 months, we will be looking at the type of community we want to return to the world as. They will involve 8 practices that correlate to 8 challenges that we will face. We want to become:

A community of tight-knit loving relationships in a culture of individualism through the practice of community.
A community of orthodoxy in a culture of ideological idolatry through the practice of scripture.
A community of holiness in a culture of moral relativism through the practice of prayer and fasting.
A community of peace in a culture of fear through the practice of silence and solitude.
A community of peacemakers in a culture of political polarization through the practice of hospitality.
A community of rest in a culture of exhaustion through the practice of sabbath.
A community of contribution in a culture of careerism through the practice of vocation.
A community of justice in a culture of social Darwinism through the practice of simplicity and generosity.

Debrief this Sunday’s Teaching (15 Minutes)

With that in mind, work through the following discussion questions as a Community:

When you think about the future of the church, what do you feel? (Hope? Fear? Uncertainty?) Why do you think you feel that?
Which of the 8 challenges feels the present in your life?
What would you like the church of the future to look like?

Prayer (10 Minutes)

Practice For The Week Ahead: Reflect on Your Current Rule of Life (5 Minutes)

As we head into this series, take some time this week to think through how the 8 listed Practices (community, scripture, prayer and fasting, silence and solitude, hospitality, sabbath, vocation, and simplicity and generosity) are already a part of your life. Whether you’re doing some of them or all of them, spend time figuring out what your current Rule of Life includes. Each week of this series will be spent looking at one of the eight Practices, so taking time to reflect this week on where you already are will be helpful as we dive into each individually.

RULE OF LIFE

For each of the 8 Practices, ask yourself the following questions:

In what ways is this Practice already a part of my life? If not presently, have they been a part of your life in a different season?
Which of the 8 Practices am I more naturally wired towards?
Which of the 8 Practices will be more challenging for me?

Spend some time asking Jesus to be your guide as you start to craft a Rule of Life for returning to the world out of COVID-19, and thank him for his kindness towards you as you remember that he has your good in mind.