Practicing the Way of Jesus
Into the Desert
Of all the practices we can adopt from the life of Jesus, one of the most important is silence and solitude, and time spent “in the desert.” This soft start to the series also functions as Matt Deisen’s farewell as they head into their time of sabbatical.
Be With Jesus (Abide)
As apprentices of Jesus, we hold that our aim is to be with our Rabbi Jesus, to be like him, and to do what we see him doing. We must bring into focus, however, that before we move on to doing - the practices, the disciplines - we have to conceptualize the "why". And it is this: our first and ultimate aim is to be with Him.
Be Like Jesus (Rule of Life)
What we do does something to us. Intuitively, we know this. Whether we are intentional about it or not, each of us are being spiritually formed by our repeated rhythms, habits and practices. As followers of Jesus, our desire is to be transformed into his likeness, and thus, we exercise disciplines (or practices) for life in the Spirit. These practices (or habits) are components that make up a “Rule of Life” - a “trellis” or framework in which we practically follow Jesus in the day-to-day.
Sabbath Was Made for Man
As followers of Jesus, on this side of the resurrection, our question when it comes to the Sabbath is often, "Do we need or have to practice the Sabbath?" Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Jesus' contemporaries needed to hear that man was not made for the Sabbath - could we argue that we need to hear the first part of Jesus' statement: that Sabbath was made for man? We explore what Sabbath is and why we Sabbath and how Sabbath is a gift to be enjoyed.
Sabbath Perspectives
As we continue in our study on the practice of Sabbath, we want to take the time and get highly practical: How in our modern day do we lean into this discipline that has been practiced for millennia? In short, each of us does it differently. Today’s discussion surrounding Sabbath is a panel of Jesus’ followers giving their perspectives and what they have learned in regard to practicing the Sabbath.
Sharing the Good News
Jesus came declaring, “The Kingdom of the Heavens is in your midst!” This is the Good News: the abundant, never-ceasing, God-intended life is available and as Jesus’ followers, we get to share this Good News! As Paul described it, we are the “aroma” or “fragrance” of Christ in our World. Looking at the life of Jesus, how do we follow our Teacher and Master into sharing this Good News?
Reading Scripture
Central to the Way of Jesus is the practice of reading and meditating on the Scriptures - the Written Word of God. Jesus, as he brought a new covenant and a new Way, did not do away with this key element Jewish culture, but fully embodied it. He not only embraced the Jewish Scriptures, but fully internalized them, meditated on them, memorized them. In a world today where truth is relevant and circumstantial; where we long to know Yahweh, walk with him, and obey him; and where we recognize that what we give our attention to changes us, the invitation to consistently meditate on the Scriptures is as relevant now as it ever has been.
How’s Your Heart?
We pause and reflect this week on the reality that we can get caught up in the Practices of Jesus and end up striving in them apart from Jesus. Bryan Olsen, sharing from Nepal, encourages us that in the practices we yield our hearts to the Lord, letting him have his way.
Fasting
In our current study on the Practices in the Way of Jesus, we come to Fasting. Jesus did it, his followers fasted, when speaking to the crowd, he assumed they did it. Why? What is it about fasting and why does it find itself in the Judea-Christian tradition? Why is fasting a key element in many other religions and world traditions? Even if we can answer these in theory, how does Jesus say we are supposed to fast? We explore these elements in this week's teaching.
Slowing
As we continue our study in the Practices of the Way of Jesus, we focus this week on a Practice that is seen tucked between the lines of scripture. We understandably become focused on the ‘what’ of Jesus’ life and ministry and we often overlook the ‘how’ - How did he go about his life? His ministry? Looking at his lifestyle, we see that Jesus lived with a pace or cadence of life that allowed him to love God and others perfectly, be attentive to the Father and the world around him, be interrupted, and be fully intentional in everything he did and said. This pace of life - very slow by our standards - is difficult yet refreshing for us in our cultural moment of speed and hurry.
Family
The context in which we live as apprentices of Jesus is in a new Family. In our world, we have torn and corrupted images of family, yet what is offered to us through Jesus is a new Family, with a perfect Father, and a Spirit that unifies and unites us. In this new, diverse, multi-ethnic Family, we learn more fully what Jesus is like, we get to more completely love him, and we learn more intimately what it means to love one another.
Forgiving One Another
A key element of the Church, the community of Jesus’ Followers into his Way, is the habitual practice of forgiving and being forgiven. We follow Jesus’ example of living and walking in forgiveness. He demonstrated forgiveness perfectly - He entrusted himself to the Father and bore on himself the penalty meant for us. Forgiveness is foundational to the lavish grace of the Gospel. We love each other, bear with each other, and forgive each other because He first did so.
Prayer
One of the primary practices that Jesus taught to his apprentices was that of Prayer. In Jesus' life, it was a frequent and consistent rhythm and his constant conversation with the Father was so noticeable that his disciples came to him and said, "Teach us to pray!" This week, we unpack this core practice in the Way of Jesus and hope it encourages you.
Silence and Solitude
One of the most difficult practices, and perhaps the most radical is silence and solitude. How do we practice it? and what’s supposed to happen there?
