Building and Becoming in Community with Christ

Spiritual Disciplines:

The gospels are full of examples of Jesus both teaching and practicing spiritual disciplines such as solitude, silence, fasting, worship, prayer, secrecy, simplicity, celebration, fellowship, and service. One of the more interesting Bible studies you can do is to read through the Gospels and make a note of the many examples you find of Jesus using one of the Spiritual Disciplines before or after doing one of His miracles or speaking to those He wanted to make an impact on.

Many of the things we do in worship, even worship itself, are spiritual disciplines taught by the Word and encouraged by the Holy Spirit. Different spiritual disciplines achieve different results in our pathway towards God and godliness. Spiritual disciplines are the HOW on the road to becoming more like Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Disciplines of Abstinence — These disciplines are those that the Holy Spirit can use to change a person into that which more closely fits God's plans.
Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. 1 Peter 2:11.

Solitude: In solitude, we purposefully abstain from interaction with other human beings, denying ourselves companionship and all that comes from our conscious interaction with others. The intent to spend this time listening to God and to His Holy Spirit in communion. Jessamyn West comments: “It is not easy to be solitary unless you are born ruthless. Every solitary repudiates someone.”

Silence: Silence goes beyond solitude and without it solitude has little effect. Henri Nouwen observes that, “silence is the way to make solitude a reality.”

Fasting: Abstinence from anything that can be consumed by mouth or brain. I.e. Food, drink, media, entertainment, etc. Fasting confirms our utter dependence upon God by finding in Him a source of sustenance beyond food.

Frugality: Abstinence from using money or goods at our disposal in ways that merely gratify our desires or our hunger for status, glamour, or luxury. Practicing frugality means we stay within the bounds of what general good judgment would designate as necessary for the kind of life to which God has led us.

Chastity (older english word, does not necessarily convey it's proper meaning without explanation in today's language): The process of purposefully turning away from dwelling upon or engaging in the sexual dimension of our relationships to others - even our husbands or wives. Contrary to much modern thought, it is absolutely vital to the health of any marriage that sexual gratification not be placed at the center. Voluntary abstention helps us appreciate and love our mates as whole persons, of which their sexuality is but one part. Dietrich Bonhoeffer observes that “the essence of chastity is not the suppression of lust but the total orientation of one's life toward the goal” (enhanced relationship with God). Clarification RAC

Secrecy (again, an older english word, does not necessarily convey it's proper meaning without explanation in today's language): abstinence from causing our good deeds and qualities to be known. To help us lose or tame the hunger for fame, justification, or just the mere attention of others, we will often need the help of grace. As we practice this discipline, we learn to love to be unknown and even to accept misunderstanding without the loss of our peace, joy, or purpose.

Sacrifice: The discipline of sacrifice is one in which we forsake the security of meeting our needs with what is in our hands. It is total abandonment to God, a stepping into the darkened abyss in the faith and hope that God will bear us up.

Disciplines of Engagement — These disciplines are those that the Holy Spirit can use to help a believer engage their culture and engage with other believers in order to enhance their relationship with God.
Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37b.

Bible Study: The chief outwardly-focused counterpart of solitude. Study is the primary discipline of engagement. Calvin Miller well remarks, "Mystics without study are only spiritual romantics who want relationship without effort." Study is the giving of much time on a regular basis to meditation upon those parts of the Bible that are most meaningful for our spiritual life, together with constant reading of the Bible as a whole.

Worship: Engaging ourselves with, dwelling upon, and expressing the greatness, beauty, and goodness of God through thought and the use of words, rituals, and symbols. We do this alone as well as in union with God's people. To worship is to see God as worthy, to ascribe great worth to Him.

Celebration: We engage in celebration when we enjoy ourselves, our life, our world, in conjunction with our faith and confidence in God's greatness, beauty, and goodness. We concentrate on our life and world as God's work and as God's gift to us.

Service: The engagement of our goods and strength in the active promotion of the good of others and the causes of God in our world.

Prayer: Conversing with, or communicating with God. Prayer almost always involves other disciplines and spiritual activities if it to go well, especially study, meditation, and worship, and often solitude and fasting as well.

Fellowship: Engaging in the common activities of worship, study, prayer, celebration, and service with other disciples.

Confession: Letting other trusted disciples know our deepest weaknesses and failures. This will nourish our faith in God's provision for our needs through His people, our sense of being loved, and our humility before our brothers and sisters.

Submission: The highest level of fellowship-involving humility, complete honesty, transparency, and at times confession and restitution-is sustained by the discipline of submission.

If you have any questions concerning spiritual gifts, please contact Pastor Danny or Pastor Rich.