Discipleship

Union with Christ Resources

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Lent: Union with Christ

Two years ago our theme for Lent was “But for me it is good to be near God.” (Psalm 73:28a ESV). The next part of Psalm 73:28 says, “I have made the Lord God my refuge.”

But how do we practically do that? When we more fully explore the gospel, we see that it’s ultimately an invitation to God Himself. It’s an invitation to be united with Christ, the ultimate refuge.

Union with Christ is the biblical teaching that Christ is in us (“…the riches of this glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27b ESV)and we are in Christ (“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV).

This year we are making our Lenten focus to be "Union with Christ" and are journeying together in one single class during the education hour. (Feb 26 - Apr 1).

We’re exploring more fully what union with Christ means: 1) how Christ’s benefits are ours, 2) how we share in His death and life, 3) how the Trinity is essential for understanding union with Christ 4) how union with Christ is the path to transformation and 5) much more. We’ll be looking at some significant people in our heritage on union with Christ: 1) Augustine of Hippo, 2) Bernard of Clarivaux, 3) John Calvin, 4) John Owen and 5) Isaac Ambrose. Perhaps most helpfully, how do we practically press into the experience of union with Christ. We’ll be revisiting and expanding on the spiritual rhythms that we explored two years ago.

Finally, we’ll be using the image of a ladder to pull it all together on the final week…but you’ll just have to come to find out what that means!

 

Rule of Life | Exploring the Rhythms of the Spiritual Life

We have come to the end of our Lenten church-wide focus for 2010. For many this season was a time for refreshment and being reminded of the precious good news of the gospel. For others, it was a renaissance of spiritual rhythm and the graces of patterns of holiness and pursuit of God.

For all it was a welcome invitation to be near God. To experience him in new ways, to be enlivened in faith and deed, to sit quietly in the presence of the Holy Spirit and to enjoy the Lord.

On March 28, we summarized the weeks together and captured some time in class to form a rule of life, or rule of faith. We spent time considering what we have learned this Lent, what God has been teaching us or encouraging us in faith and the practice of that faith in our everyday rhythms. The desire was to help men and women establish life-giving rhythms in a daily, weekly, monthly or annual context. 

Please download the lesson material from this week:

Download Rule of Life handout.pdf

Download Rule of Life class outline.pdf

The Image Used This Lent

The image on the cover is a simple metaphor for our spiritual lives. As we journey through this world and all its stresses, difficulties, temptations, sorrow, pains as well as joys and good times, all the pieces of our life swirl around us, out of control and increasingly quite messy.

When we engage in the gift of the spiritual rhythms in our lives, we place ourselves in a spot where God transforms us and our world, weaving together all the pieces into a beautiful tapestry where Christ is formed in us. Order out of chaos. Beauty from ugliness. Nearness for what once was distant.

But as for me, it is good to be near God (Psalm 73:28a NIV)

Service | Exploring the Rhythms of the Spiritual Life

Our last rhythm (but certainly not the last of all possible rhythms) is the Rhythm of Engagement. With the previous rhythm we mentioned that we withdraw in order that we might engage more fully with God. But we mean something different here.

The natural end result of all this receiving from God in relationship through Word, Prayer, Examen, Rest and Sabbath is that it can’t be contained. We are filled to overflowing. And so we find ourselves engaging in service, acts of compassion, mission and witness.

The beautiful truth is that it’s not just a result of growing in Christ, it is also a means! While we’ll be focused on the practice of service, all of these outward expressions are places where we truly see Christ and are consequently changed by Christ.

Download two-sided handout here

 

Sabbath | Exploring the Rhythms of the Spiritual Life

The fourth of five rhythms we are focusing on this Lenten season is that of sabbath, or withdrawal.

Building on the Bible, building on a deepening, relational prayer life, building on the practice of noticing God’s presence, work and guidance will very quickly bring into stark relief those things in our lives that interfere and distract from our relationship with God.

There is so much that can get in the way, whether its busyness, circumstances, sin, relationships, etc. Any of these and more can easily derail us as we seek to move into a deeper union with God.

That’s why God has given us the gift of the rhythms of withdrawal. We step away from those things that are not God, both good and bad, that we might engage more fully with Him. Jesus Himself would withdraw in order to find the opportunity to pray, to engage in this rhythm of relationship.

Download two-sided handout here

Nate's sermon notes from March 14 on Sabbath/Withdrawal

 

Examen | Exploring the Rhythms of the Spiritual Life

The third of five rhythms we are exploring between Ash Wednesday and Easter is examen.

As we grow in the rhythms of nourishment (Bible) and relationship (prayer), we find ourselves drawn to build on this sure foundation for our relationship with Christ. This relationship can’t be boxed in and contained by just those times we may happen to be reading or talking to God. It inevitably breaks forth into living it 24/7. And that’s where the rhythm of noticing comes in.

Actually it should be rhythms, for we will be looking at two: Examen of Consciousness and Examen of Conscience.

As we increase our God awareness, we are then better able to respond to the voice and leading of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that shows us when we are looking away from our relationship with God and to other relationships, circumstances or things.  When this happens, we’re called to repent and turn yet again to the Cross of Christ. Examen of Conscience is the process of listening to the Holy Spirit for the gentle conviction we need to hear.

Download two-sided handout here.

Prayer | Exploring the Rhythms of the Spiritual Life

The second rhythm we will explore this Lenten season at our church is that of prayer.

As Christ nourishes us with Himself through His Word, we discover that He has called us into a loving relationship with Him. By His death and resurrection, He has opened the door to us being one with Him. WITH Him. In relationship. And that means dialogue.

God has given us the beautiful, relational gift of prayer. We have the opportunity to meet God in each and every moment, connected through the rhythm of prayer in our life.

Download two-sided handout here.

Scripture | Exploring the Rhythms of the Spiritual Life

The first of several rhythms we will be looking at this Lenten season is scripture.

Christ, as the Word of God, promises to come to us through the written word, through the Bible. But have you ever found yourself approaching the Bible as a mere text, as a dry academic recounting of some truths we say we believe in but have forgotten to live out? When the Bible slips into being only a textbook, it ceases to be the life-changing vehicle where we encounter the living Christ.

The spiritual rhythms and practices that God has given us are the means by which we place ourselves before God, to be near to God, to encounter God, to be transformed by God. And as we experience in deeper ways our longing, hunger and desire for God, our need for these spiritual rhythms naturally grows. All of us have, and always will have, room to grow and develop and mature in our pursuit of God.

Download two-sided handout here.

 

Lent 2010 Church-Wide Focus

But as for me, it is good to be near God (Psalm 73:28a NIV).

With these words we begin our Lenten journey together for 2010. But what do they mean for us...practically. Surely it is God who comes to us, who initiates with us, who woos us to be near to Him, who in fact does it all. Is this not the heart of the message of the Cross?

And yet, and yet, there are things for us to do in response to God doing it all. God invites us to cooperate in our relationship with Him even as He enables that very cooperation.

The spiritual rhythms and practices that God has given us are the means by which we place ourselves before God, to be near to God, to encounter God, to be transformed by God. And as we experience in deeper ways our longing, hunger and desire for God, our need for these spiritual rhythms naturally grows. All of us have, and always will have, room to grow and develop and mature in our pursuit of God.

We have set aside this season of Lent to return to this familiar place in our lives that we might catch afresh a vision for our spiritual lives in Christ, a vision wherein we are captured anew by God and (re)discover that it really is good to be near God. We want to see Jesus!

And so we will journey through the familiar, praying that the Holy Spirit will meet us in unexpected ways. The messages during Sunday morning worship will be based on texts we all know well. The songs that we will sing, especially those in this devotional guide, will be ones that we have journeyed with for some time. The spiritual practices that we will explore in the adult education class will not be new. But what will be new is that it is this time and this place in which we are opening ourselves up to listen, to see, to wait. In the words of C. S. Lewis: Further up and deeper in.