Anchors
Sermon series about steady discipleship in unsteady waters
Go Deeper: Resources
Woven - The Art of Discipleship. Within the church, discipleship is a common topic of discussion—and for good reason. Jesus calls us to go and make disciples. Practically, what does it look like to do this? Throughout this study, our goal is to simplify the act of discipleship. By simplifying it, we do not mean taking away from the value of discipleship or turning it into a neat, pretty, and clean equation. Rather, we hope to shed light on how Jesus has shown us the way of discipleship.
Sermon Audio Files
Silence and Solitude
It is the loving, slow work of God and its power to transform our lives that lie behind and beneath Jesus's invitation to join him in silence. For anyone longing to know the hope, peace, and certainty of life with God each day, one of the most important ways to experience that is to enter the unhurried presence of God in silence and solitude.
Because here is what I believe: in the quiet, Jesus meets us. Not because we've earned it or done everything right, but because we simply followed Jesus as a disciple into the wisdom of silence and solitude.
Sabbath
The practice, which we’ve talked about a lot before, is Sabbath. Can you feel the irony of this? “Doing” Sabbath is the practice of stopping, one day a week, to be deeply unproductive and unconcerned so that God can do and be concerned for you. It is deep rest, set like clockwork, for your freedom.
You are not a slave to the clock or idols, you serve God who gives provision for your rest.
Prayer
Prayer is the most powerful gift we are taught as followers of Jesus. But prayer is powerful because of what happens when we pray. Prayer is not primarily about getting God to do things for us, in our terms. Prayer is the undoing of our compulsions, of our inner critics, of our malicious thoughts and destructive imaginings. Prayer is for our freedom.
Confession & Examine
So our practice today is simply this: confession. Confession is simply the practice of inviting Jesus to clear room for God’s Glory to dwell in us. We invite Jesus to clean the space of all that we carry, wash us clean, and be close to us. To remove all that is not of God. God does not wish to share room with the mess of your idols, but will lovingly remove them if you wish, and give you his reality which is more than real. So confess the mess, and invite the weight of God’s presence to fill you, as he so very much hopes for you.
Simplicity
Our Anchor today is simplicity. Jesus dealt with a very complex world, everywhere around him were the same lures, temptations, anger, and complexities that we face. He was not out there floating above it all, he was in it, just like us. The whole posture of Jesus was entering into the complexity, and still he modelled a kind of simplicity, but even those who criticized Jesus never called him simplistic, or a simpleton. He was both very honest and truthful, and offered his followers a simple course of action: follow me. Strangely simple. Let’s take a closer look at how Jesus leaned into simplicity.
Rule of Life
Today we’re going to explore an ancient Christian Spiritual Practice: Rule for Life. Odd sounding. It sounds maybe like you have a policy book, laws, regulations you follow to be a good Christian. That’s not what it’s about at all. Let’s explore and cut through the oddness of this anchor.
The latin word, regula, means rhythm, or regularity of pattern. It has a very gentle connotation, was never meant to feel like a policy manual. It’s meant to feel like movement. How does your life move with Jesus? How goes your walk?
Fasting
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Gratitude
Paul is thankful for his weaknesses. Weakness is our daily reminder that we are not self sufficient. The places where we come to our end. Addiction, frailty, limits, sickness, grief, rejection, sorrow, dependence, the list is long. We live in a culture where weakness is covered over and hidden. But not to Jesus, and I hope, not here at church. You see, the Story of God is one of weakness. Sarah is barren, Jacob limps, Joseph is in prison, Lazarus is in a tomb, Peter sinks, Martha is bitter, Mary is possessed, Moses stutters, David is homeless, Jeremiah is too young, in fact, every single person God uses is a portrait of weakness. Weakness almost seems to be God’s preferred starting point.
Worship & Celebration
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