We are finishing our second round of Back to Basics classes at Christ Church Cathedral. Basic Discipleship is the lynchpin course -- during the five weeks we learn about and experience the spiritual practices of prayer, worship, learning, serving and giving -- and build a community of support and accountability for integrating them into our lives. For each week of the class, I'm going to post a very truncated summation of the ideas we discussed and the homework given. It's not meant to be a substitute for the class ... but I hope it will whet your appetite.
I'm thinking of offering Basic Discipleship twice a year. Let me know if that is something you'd be interested in. And if you would EVER like to talk more with me about any of this PLEASE DO! I would LOVE it!
As Christians, we have an image of who God dreams for us to be. It’s best encapsulated in Jesus’ words in John 10:10. “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” and later, in Jesus final prayer with his disciples, he says, “And this is eternal (abundant) life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
God’s dream for us is zoe, it is life that is rich and deep and overflowing in every direction. And that kind of life is the life of deeply, intimately knowing God, and our path to knowing God is the path of Jesus. Discipleship … following Christ having a life that is deep and rich and overflowing in all directions. And it is that deep and that rich because why? Because we are growing closer and closer and more and more intimate in relationship with God in Christ. Because step by step, little by little, our lives are being moved in line with the life of God.
The root of “discipleship” is “discipline.” It is habits. Our habits shape who we are and who we are becoming. Some of the hardest things to do are to eliminate bad old habits and establish new good habits. The best chance a habit has of being quit or developed is if you have relationships of support and accountability. The primary reason the church exists is discipleship, is changing our lives Godward so we can live these incredibly abundant, zoe lives. And we do it together, in relationships of support and accountability.
That’s what Basic Discipleship is. It is about us as a group looking at the “holy habits” that, over time, will draw us deeper into the heart of God and will bring deep joy to our lives.
So what are they? Pray. Worship. Learn. Serve. Give.
A good way to frame these scripturally is to look at the summary of the law in Matthew.
A lawyer asked Jesus a question, to test him, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law.” Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
If you were in basic Bible or Basic Christianity, you’ll recognize the first one. Original sin is putting anything in the place of God. God is at the center, not us, not anyone or anything else. A life in response to God being at the center is a life lived as God incarnate, as Jesus, lived – a life given away for the sake of the world … love your neighbor as yourself.
These five “holy habits” or disciplines are about doing this.
Pray and Worship – putting God at the center
Serve and Give – living and loving as Christ, giving your life away for the sake of the world.
Learn – the hinge. It infuses everything. We learn from not just studying but from everything we do. It’s the Benedictine idea of seeing all of life as theological text. Looking at the ordinary and seeing the extraordinary. You can learn about God from the text of a book but also from the text of washing dishes or playing with your child. Learning is about intentionality.
In this class, we’ll take one a week and dive in depth. We’ll also look at how we can support each other and hold each other accountable. At the end people in the class will have the opportunity to form discipleship groups that will continue this.
Prayer (everyone was sent into small groups – what is your experience of prayer. Be honest. What has been wonderful. What has been frustrating. Back to large group to share. )
BCP definition – Prayer is responding to God, by thought and by deeds, with or without words.
Responding to God - God starts the conversation by breathing life into us in creation.
By thought and deed - not just traditional prayer but prayerful work, work as a love offering.
With or without words - this is the "sighs too deep for words" that Paul writes about in Romans.
This is not only how our part of prayer works but how God’s does .. by thought and deed, with or without words.
We're going to look at two types of prayer -- Focused Prayer and Prayerful Work. Each one can be talked about in terms of relationship.
Focused prayer. Time with no purpose or intention other than being with God. Sailors used celestial navigation, charting their course by the north star. But to do that they would need to continually be checking that star. Prayer is celestial navigation. It is intentionally taking the time to focus on God. Relationships need deeply intentional tending. They need focus.
What can spending this time together look like? It can be silent prayer. Using a form from the prayer book. Petition. Using the Daily office readings. Journaling. Just sitting in God’s presence saying “thank you” or “I love you.” Whatever you choose will feel strange at first, so don’t let that throw you. This is about getting in habit.
Prayerful work. Prayerful work is prayer in action not word. It is taking a task and viewing it as an offering of love. Prayer can be offering the simplest most mundane task to God as a love offering. Very Benedictine. Worshipful work. Prayerful work.
Homework! - Begin a discipline of two types of prayer. Start small. Because we are creatures of habit who are highly influenced by our natural rhythms, our environment and our relationships, we need three things to make this work:
*A Time
*A Space
*Relationships of Support and Accountability.
Part I: Find or create a prayer space in your home or workspace. Try to make it a space you use for nothing else so that when you go there you are naturally drawn to prayer. Don’t make it your bed or your favorite napping chair. Make it a place where when you are there you are naturally drawn to prayer. By next week have that place chosen, if not perfected.
Part II: Spend 10 minutes a day in prayer. It can be silent prayer. Using a form from the prayer book. Petition. Using the Daily office readings. Journaling. Just sitting in God’s presence saying “thank you” or “I love you.” Whatever you choose will feel strange at first, so don’t let that throw you. This is about getting in habit. See handout for helps.
Part III: Once a day pick one activity – the simpler and more mundane the better – and do it solely as a love offering to God. It can be washing your hair or brushing your teeth. It can be doing the dishes. It can be anything. What matters is the intentional adoration you cultivate and offer while doing it.
Part IV: Draw a name from the basket. That is your prayer partner for this week. Pray for them every day. Then twice a week – on Saturday and on Monday - phone them, remind them that you have been praying for them and ask them if they have chosen their prayer space, if they’ve been spending 10 minutes a day in prayer and if they’ve been doing their prayerful work. If the answer is no, ask “how can I help you say yes the next time I ask you?” I’ll be sending out email reminders Saturday and Monday morning to remind you to do this. The idea is that knowing this person will be calling will be part of the incentive to start and maintain the habit. But it is support and accountability, not shame and accountability, hence the “how can I help?”
I'm thinking of offering Basic Discipleship twice a year. Let me know if that is something you'd be interested in. And if you would EVER like to talk more with me about any of this PLEASE DO! I would LOVE it!
As Christians, we have an image of who God dreams for us to be. It’s best encapsulated in Jesus’ words in John 10:10. “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” and later, in Jesus final prayer with his disciples, he says, “And this is eternal (abundant) life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
God’s dream for us is zoe, it is life that is rich and deep and overflowing in every direction. And that kind of life is the life of deeply, intimately knowing God, and our path to knowing God is the path of Jesus. Discipleship … following Christ having a life that is deep and rich and overflowing in all directions. And it is that deep and that rich because why? Because we are growing closer and closer and more and more intimate in relationship with God in Christ. Because step by step, little by little, our lives are being moved in line with the life of God.
The root of “discipleship” is “discipline.” It is habits. Our habits shape who we are and who we are becoming. Some of the hardest things to do are to eliminate bad old habits and establish new good habits. The best chance a habit has of being quit or developed is if you have relationships of support and accountability. The primary reason the church exists is discipleship, is changing our lives Godward so we can live these incredibly abundant, zoe lives. And we do it together, in relationships of support and accountability.
That’s what Basic Discipleship is. It is about us as a group looking at the “holy habits” that, over time, will draw us deeper into the heart of God and will bring deep joy to our lives.
So what are they? Pray. Worship. Learn. Serve. Give.
A good way to frame these scripturally is to look at the summary of the law in Matthew.
A lawyer asked Jesus a question, to test him, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law.” Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
If you were in basic Bible or Basic Christianity, you’ll recognize the first one. Original sin is putting anything in the place of God. God is at the center, not us, not anyone or anything else. A life in response to God being at the center is a life lived as God incarnate, as Jesus, lived – a life given away for the sake of the world … love your neighbor as yourself.
These five “holy habits” or disciplines are about doing this.
Pray and Worship – putting God at the center
Serve and Give – living and loving as Christ, giving your life away for the sake of the world.
Learn – the hinge. It infuses everything. We learn from not just studying but from everything we do. It’s the Benedictine idea of seeing all of life as theological text. Looking at the ordinary and seeing the extraordinary. You can learn about God from the text of a book but also from the text of washing dishes or playing with your child. Learning is about intentionality.
In this class, we’ll take one a week and dive in depth. We’ll also look at how we can support each other and hold each other accountable. At the end people in the class will have the opportunity to form discipleship groups that will continue this.
Prayer (everyone was sent into small groups – what is your experience of prayer. Be honest. What has been wonderful. What has been frustrating. Back to large group to share. )
BCP definition – Prayer is responding to God, by thought and by deeds, with or without words.
Responding to God - God starts the conversation by breathing life into us in creation.
By thought and deed - not just traditional prayer but prayerful work, work as a love offering.
With or without words - this is the "sighs too deep for words" that Paul writes about in Romans.
This is not only how our part of prayer works but how God’s does .. by thought and deed, with or without words.
We're going to look at two types of prayer -- Focused Prayer and Prayerful Work. Each one can be talked about in terms of relationship.
Focused prayer. Time with no purpose or intention other than being with God. Sailors used celestial navigation, charting their course by the north star. But to do that they would need to continually be checking that star. Prayer is celestial navigation. It is intentionally taking the time to focus on God. Relationships need deeply intentional tending. They need focus.
What can spending this time together look like? It can be silent prayer. Using a form from the prayer book. Petition. Using the Daily office readings. Journaling. Just sitting in God’s presence saying “thank you” or “I love you.” Whatever you choose will feel strange at first, so don’t let that throw you. This is about getting in habit.
Prayerful work. Prayerful work is prayer in action not word. It is taking a task and viewing it as an offering of love. Prayer can be offering the simplest most mundane task to God as a love offering. Very Benedictine. Worshipful work. Prayerful work.
Homework! - Begin a discipline of two types of prayer. Start small. Because we are creatures of habit who are highly influenced by our natural rhythms, our environment and our relationships, we need three things to make this work:
*A Time
*A Space
*Relationships of Support and Accountability.
Part I: Find or create a prayer space in your home or workspace. Try to make it a space you use for nothing else so that when you go there you are naturally drawn to prayer. Don’t make it your bed or your favorite napping chair. Make it a place where when you are there you are naturally drawn to prayer. By next week have that place chosen, if not perfected.
Part II: Spend 10 minutes a day in prayer. It can be silent prayer. Using a form from the prayer book. Petition. Using the Daily office readings. Journaling. Just sitting in God’s presence saying “thank you” or “I love you.” Whatever you choose will feel strange at first, so don’t let that throw you. This is about getting in habit. See handout for helps.
Part III: Once a day pick one activity – the simpler and more mundane the better – and do it solely as a love offering to God. It can be washing your hair or brushing your teeth. It can be doing the dishes. It can be anything. What matters is the intentional adoration you cultivate and offer while doing it.
Part IV: Draw a name from the basket. That is your prayer partner for this week. Pray for them every day. Then twice a week – on Saturday and on Monday - phone them, remind them that you have been praying for them and ask them if they have chosen their prayer space, if they’ve been spending 10 minutes a day in prayer and if they’ve been doing their prayerful work. If the answer is no, ask “how can I help you say yes the next time I ask you?” I’ll be sending out email reminders Saturday and Monday morning to remind you to do this. The idea is that knowing this person will be calling will be part of the incentive to start and maintain the habit. But it is support and accountability, not shame and accountability, hence the “how can I help?”
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