In the gray of the morning, there is a steady ebb and flow of life-giving, sleepy breath.
As the treadmill turns, there is the steady padding of tennis shoes bouncing and a heartbeat thudding.
There is the steady drip of morning coffee and the steady calculated footsteps from kitchen to bedroom to bathroom.
Steady. Rhythmic.
There are many forces that keep the steady beat of our lives, many patterns and rhythms into which we fall: our commute to work, our eating schedule, our exercise, our evening schedule. As I move into a new apartment in a new city with a brandy new husband, I am learning that rhythm is not just something that happens but it is a sacred entity that governs our lives. We seek a daily rhythm to give us comfort and stability, to ground our lives when they are full of change and transformation.
With the school year still fresh, I expect many of you are settling into new or renewed rhythms of life: getting kids off to school, packing lunches, making beds, doing chores, preparing meals, keeping up with after-school activities. These rhythms begin to settle upon us, sometimes at a pace we can easily maintain, other times at a pace that overwhelms us.
Even at times when our pace is on point, adding another item to our routine can throw us off our game. They say it takes one whole month to establish a new habit or a new rhythm and two months to eliminate a bad habit. So as we at Unity prepare for the commencement of Youth Group 2015, I recognize that this becomes a rhythmic shift for families and for students. Sunday nights begin to look different, and preparations for the school week need to happen on a different schedule. Pretty soon, the weekend will be full of sports, competitions, musical engagements, and rehearsals. Suddenly, it will be 3:00 on Sunday afternoon and the mountain of homework assignments will block your doorways as you begin to think about youth group. Before you know it, youth group (and church and Sunday School) becomes one more thing you cannot fit into the rhythm of life. Youth Group becomes that one notch up on the treadmill that you can't quite keep up with; that snore from your spouse that disturbs your sleep; that one Jenga piece that causes the entire tower to fall.
All of this is very normal and understandable when we are unprepared for our rhythms to change. So, as we prepare for the Parent Meeting on Sunday, September 13 and the kick-off of Youth Group on Sunday, September 20, I am preparing myself for a change of rhythm through spiritual practices, and I hope you will join me in this endeavor. Consider these scriptures:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured much hostility against himself from sinners so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.
Hebrews 12.1-3 (NRSV)
But thank God that although you used to be slaves to sin, you gave wholehearted obedience to the teaching that was handed down to you, which provides a pattern. Now that you have been set free from sin, you have become slaves to righteousness.
Romans 6.17-18 (CEB)
I pray that we would feel the calling of the Holy Spirit to change the patterns of our lives. Certainly, our daily rhythms of work, school, extra-curricular activities, and paying bills must remain; they are essential parts of our lives. But the core of our values and the goal of our endless running becomes altered: we run with perseverance following the footsteps of Jesus who goes before us as our guide and friend. We run for the sake of the joy set before us, because we pursue the Kingdom of Heaven on earth not the kingdom of earth.The patterns and rhythms of our lives begin with God, and our actions are informed first by our commitment to discipleship. When we go to work, we are still disciples of Christ, ambassadors for God's Kingdom. We become disciples by establishing patterns of discipleship behaviors: worshiping, gathering with other believers, prayer, educating ourselves.
Let us, therefore, pursue discipleship in our patterns of life.
What does it mean for your life-patterns that youth group and Sunday Night Live are upon us?
How will you make your discipleship a priority?
What are the other life-pieces that need to shift as the pattern changes?
How can we as the church help to support these pattern shifts?
Some resources for the week:
The Call To Discipleship by Timothy Keller
Joyless Christians and The Lord of the Rings by Nadia Bolz-Weber
What Christians Get Wrong About Discipleship - Relevant Magazine
All of this is very normal and understandable when we are unprepared for our rhythms to change. So, as we prepare for the Parent Meeting on Sunday, September 13 and the kick-off of Youth Group on Sunday, September 20, I am preparing myself for a change of rhythm through spiritual practices, and I hope you will join me in this endeavor. Consider these scriptures:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured much hostility against himself from sinners so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.
Hebrews 12.1-3 (NRSV)
But thank God that although you used to be slaves to sin, you gave wholehearted obedience to the teaching that was handed down to you, which provides a pattern. Now that you have been set free from sin, you have become slaves to righteousness.
Romans 6.17-18 (CEB)
I pray that we would feel the calling of the Holy Spirit to change the patterns of our lives. Certainly, our daily rhythms of work, school, extra-curricular activities, and paying bills must remain; they are essential parts of our lives. But the core of our values and the goal of our endless running becomes altered: we run with perseverance following the footsteps of Jesus who goes before us as our guide and friend. We run for the sake of the joy set before us, because we pursue the Kingdom of Heaven on earth not the kingdom of earth.The patterns and rhythms of our lives begin with God, and our actions are informed first by our commitment to discipleship. When we go to work, we are still disciples of Christ, ambassadors for God's Kingdom. We become disciples by establishing patterns of discipleship behaviors: worshiping, gathering with other believers, prayer, educating ourselves.
Let us, therefore, pursue discipleship in our patterns of life.
What does it mean for your life-patterns that youth group and Sunday Night Live are upon us?
How will you make your discipleship a priority?
What are the other life-pieces that need to shift as the pattern changes?
How can we as the church help to support these pattern shifts?
Some resources for the week:
The Call To Discipleship by Timothy Keller
Joyless Christians and The Lord of the Rings by Nadia Bolz-Weber
What Christians Get Wrong About Discipleship - Relevant Magazine
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