Hendrickson Publishers - Community

Everyday life today is busier and more distracting than it has ever been before. While cell phones and texting make it easier to keep track of children and each other, they also make it harder to get away from the demands that overwhelm us. Time, it seems, is a shrinking commodity. But God, the Creator of time, has given us the keys to leading a life that may be challenging but not overwhelming. In fact, he offers us tools to do what seems impossible and come away refreshed and renewed. These tools are called spiritual practices, or spiritual disciplines.

Spiritual practices are holy habits. They are rooted in Gods word, and they go back to creation itself. God has hardwired us to thrive when we obey him, even when it seems like his instructions defy our common sense. When we engage in the holy habits that God has ordained, time takes on a new dimension. What seems impossible is actually easy; its easy because we are tapping into Gods resources.

The holy habits that we call spiritual practices are all geared to position us in a place where we can allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us, to grant us power and strength to do the things we cant do on our own. They take us to a place where we can become intimate with God.

While holy habits and everyday life may sound like opposites, they really arent.

As you learn to incorporate spiritual practices into your life, youll find that everyday life is easier. At the same time, you will draw closer to God and come to a place where you can luxuriate in his rich blessings. Here is a simple example. Elizabeth Collings hated running household errands. Picking up dry cleaning, doing the grocery shopping, and chauffeuring her kids felt like a never-ending litany of menial chores. One day she had a simple realization that changed her life. That day she began to use her chore time as a time of prayer and fellowship with God.

Whenever Elizabeth walked the aisle of the supermarket, she prayed for each person who would eat the item of food she selected. On her way to pick up her children, she would lay their lives out before God, asking him to be there for them even when she couldnt. Each errand became an opportunity for fellowship with God. The chore that had been so tedious became a precious part of her routine that she cherished.

The purpose of these study guides is to help you use spiritual practices to make your own life richer, fuller, and deeper. The series includes twenty-four spiritual practices that are the building blocks of Christian spiritual formation. Each practice is a holy habit that has been modeled for us in the Bible. The practices are acceptance, Bible study and meditation, celebration, community, confession, contemplation, faith, fasting, forgiveness, gratitude, hospitality, justice, mentoring, outreach, prayer, reconciliation, Sabbath rest, service, silence, simplicity, solitude, stewardship, submission, and worship.

As you move through the practices that you select, remember Christs promise in Matthew 11:2830:

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

Introduction

to the Practice of Community

Do everything with love. (1 Corinthians 16:14)

We are surrounded by messages and images that say that living in the moment is the highest form of existence. But the reality is that moments are fickle. The bright, fragrant bouquet of flowers soon turns floppy and starts to stink. The balloon pops. The song ends. You turn into the driveway and the trip is over. The phone message says he doesnt want to see you againor the message never comes. Moments are unpredictable, bound to lead us to chasing the next thing. But living in Christ instead of just living in the moment is our goal to truly live and not merely exist. Spiritual disciplines help us to offer our moments and our days, as the hymn says, in a life of endless praise.

In Christ, we live the eternal. Our lives have fullness and purpose because our past, present, and future belong to God. Community is part of living that eternity now. In our perception is reality world, it might seem that the best thing to do is shift our outlook. But the disciplines arent just about looking at something in a new way. It isnt just changing our point of view as if we can create a new reality, an abracadabra happiness out of the dust of our dreams.

God transforms us by his grace and we live in itsome days bit by bit, some days boundlessly. We follow faith. Our disciplines arent dependent on circumstances. We dont rely on feelings to propel us forward; we take action. Community isnt about putting on rose-colored glasses or ignoring issues and problems. It is about walking step by step in Christthe new life that makes us truly alive. Because of Christ who is in us, we can stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love, as Paul charges the church in 1 Corinthians 1314.

Community is about sharing our journey. It demonstrates our interdependence on God and on each other. It shares in common a revelation of aspects of Gods character and essence. At the center of community is the expression of Gods love. If we want to understand what fullness of life and true wholeness are like, we have to explore this discipline. God helps us understand how community isnt just for Sundays. This discipline helps us to integrate our faith into every aspect of our daily lives and not create compartments. We thrive when we are wholly engaged in our life together in Christ, walking by faith through the struggles and big and small wins.

As we explore this discipline, we are working out how to walk in love and joy. We have cobbled together a mishmash of ideas about what joy and love look like. The Everyday Matters Bible for Women describes how through the spiritual disciplines God gives us rest and reinvigoration, satisfaction, joy and enjoyment. This happens as we live out our calling.