Sept. 2 Insert Restoring Spiritual Disciplines - Establishing a Rule of ...

Establishing a Rule of Life September 2Spiritual Disciplines Series FinaleI’ve appreciated your engagement with the spiritual disciplines series this summer. We’ve said we don’t have tocontinue being stuck in our bondage to materialism, work, excess words, and inordinate self-concern – thatdisciplines of ceasing like Sabbath, simplicity, fasting, and silence and solitude can help free us to engage Godwith new meaning and joy. We’ve said further we newly engage God through prayer, Bible study, service,worship, fellowship, and other disciplines of engagement. Together these disciplines are waysChristians are not only saved, but saved unto a new way of life as God’s distinct people.But discipline isn’t easy. Believers have long seen the wisdom of translating their intentions into a plan,sometime called a rule of life. A rule of life simply means a pattern of living to structure your Christian growthand obedience. Theologian Howard Rice writes,The Christian life must have some shape, some central way of expressing itself. . . Without someclear priorities to provide guidance, we easily fall into a pattern of responding to crises asthey come, or making priorities of whatever demands our attention the loudest. When thatbecomes true for us, time for God gets squeezed out in the press of responsibility for a host ofother people and things. (Reformed Spirituality, 1991, pp. 181-182)A rule of life helps us get our priorities straight! I hope you will not allow the inspirationof this series drift away into inaction. We need a concrete plan. I hope you will set aside 10 minutes this weekto write down your plan for spiritual disciplines. For example, hereis a rule of life to which I committed a few years back:Scripture Reading - Five mornings a week, using a Scripture studybook which asks thoughtful questions of the text, plus a notebook,where I can write down my answers (I use the study book Searchthe Scriptures, by IV Press).Prayer - Pray my heart. Pray Scripture. Pray succinctly. Listen andbe quiet. Consecrate my day to God in the morning. Pray from theheart (Psalm 13). Have no TV in the bedroom; this will nurturesolitude.Worship – I’ll be at worship once a week. I’ll learn to participate inworship as a grace.Sabbath – Once a week I will take time to be quiet and restful. Partof that time will include solitude and if physical activity, it will beeasy-going and restorative. Once a month I will take a whole day tobe quiet. Once a year I’ll take a three-day personal retreat whichmay include fasting and silence.Ethical Life – I will seek to value people (Love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself).I’ll seek to keep my ambitions in check.Service – I will prioritize using my spiritual gift of pastor (I Corinthians 12), visiting people inhospitals and homes.

Don’t try to make your rule of life look like mine. Make yours shorter (or longer). Seek to make your rulepersonal, biblical and by all means hopeful (if you try to include too much or elements you’re not ready for,you’ll simply get discouraged). And develop your rule in conversation with your spouse, family or friends.Developing a rule of life does not guarantee your Christian life will suddenly be perfect,but it does create an environment for the special life you’ve always wanted (and Godwants to share with you). May God give us grace as we respond to his gift in Jesus Christ by becoming thedistinct people of God.Grace and peace,Nelson OuldWhat is Worship?The Discipline of WorshipWorship is adoring and valuing God as the supreme treasure in life. Christian worship is Trinitarian: it is aresponse to the loving grace of God the Father, it is empowered by God the Holy Spirit, and it is madepossible through the work of God the Son.True worship does not equal going to church on Sunday. Worship happens when we put God first in everypart of our lives. Jesus said, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Matthew15:8). The evidence of true worship is a heart-change that results in life transformation.Why do we worship together on Sundays?Even though worship happens every day of our lives, Christians have always considered weekly worshipgatherings vital to the Christian life. Here are some reasons why:To give God the glory due his name. The ultimate reason for worship is because God deserves it. We do thistogether as God’s saved people rather than as individuals.To rehearse the story of God’s salvation. We come together each week to remind ourselves who God is andwhat he has done.To remind ourselves who we are. In corporate worship we remember that we are only fully human when God isour supreme treasure in life and when we are connected to each other.To experience God’s transformation. God is actually present when we come together, and his promise is tochange us and make us more like the people he wants us to be.How can corporate worship become more meaningful?Here are some practical things you can do to implement a discipline ofcorporate worship:Worship all week long through the other spiritual disciplines we’ve

examined this summer. If you haven’t met with God during the week, it’s unlikely you’ll be prepared to meet himhere.Commi to weekly corporate worship. Wherever you are, whether you feel like it or not.Prepare for Sunday worship. Examine your motives and heart the night or morning before, study the Scripturepassage before arriving, come early before the service begins, pray for God to make himself known to you andothers.Listen to the words of the prayers, the liturgy, the hymns and songs. Every part of the service tells a part of thestory of salvation and conveys great meaning.Engage with God in a way that helps you express your emotions and love for God (kneel, raise hands, cry, shout“amen!”). You have permission to feel and to express!Talk with others about what you experienced or learned in worship, and talk with the worship leaders about howour gatherings can be more enriched.