Connect Group Studies

The Spiritual Disciplines as an Antidote to Despair

Presenceofthe

Patterns

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Contents

Overview 3

Weekly Questions & Prompts 4

ISO-FAITH // from despair to discipline 5

STORY // silence + posting 6

OBEDIENCE // confession + rule for life 7

WISDOM // mindfulness + memorisation 8

COMMUNITY // secrecy + prayer chats 9

RE-CREATION // fasting + art 10

WORK // rest + service 11

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Patterns of the PresenceThe Spiritual Disciplines as an Antidote to Despair

OverviewEveryone has found adjusting to COVID-19 restrictions difficult in one way or another. Many of the faith practices that helped us grow in faith, such as gathering physically on a Sunday, are not available to us. We need to assist and encourage each other to find healthy and life giving practices that can be exercised at home whilst under physical distancing constraints.

This reliance on being taught and encouraged by others is described well by Donald Coggan who was the Archbishop of Canterbury, “I go through life as a transient on his way to eternity, made in the image of God but with that image debased, needing to be taught how to meditate, to worship, to think.”

This series covers a different aspect of faith that is highlighted by both a practice of letting go and a practice of filling up (engagement & disengagement in the language of Dallas Willard). This pairing of practices means they are related but different. All these practices can be done under physical distancing restrictions and focus us on the joy and opportunity of this time. There are plenty of other Christian disciplines (75 according to Adele Calhoun!), but we’ve chosen to focus on a few that might be pertinent in our current situation.

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Weekly Questions & PromptsThese questions and prompts can be used each week as we work our way through the suggested disciplines.

• Check in with each other. What patterns of God’s presence have you noticed since you last met?

• What do you think these two disciplines look like? What are some creative ways to express them? How are they different under our physical distancing restrictions?

• What experience do you have with these practices? Share the good, bad, and the ugly if you’re willing!

• Read the suggested passages for the week. In a group setting maybe assign the readings to individuals and then get them to report back. What do we learn from the Bible about spiritual practices and the patterns of God’s presence? Are there other Bible passages you can think of that relate to these?

• What benefits might these disciplines open up for us?

• What dangers could there be with these practices?

• How do we keep striving in faith without becoming self-righteous and trusting in our own good works?

• What intentional practice(s) do you want to focus on in your relationship with God for the next week or so?

• Pray for each other in the presence of God.

Further Resources• Adele Calhoun - Spiritual Disciplines, Practices That Transform Us

• Peter Scazzero - Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

• Richard Foster - Celebration of Discipline

• Dallas Willard - The Spirit of the Disciplines

• Any of the staff!! Just get in contact and we’re more than happy to chat.

• Each other!! There is so much experience and wisdom in this church family.

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ISO-FAITH // from despair to disciplineThis is an introduction week thinking about the blessing of discipline when we have reasons to despair. Our relationship with God needs some pragmatic adjustments under the restrictions of physical distancing. Start this week by sharing what practices have been working for you, what hasn’t been working for you, what do you miss that you’ve really relied on?

» Bible passages to explore:

• Daniel 1:1-21

• John 5:19

• Matt 11:28-30

• John 10:10

• 1 Thess 5:24

• Eccl 3:1-8

WeekOne

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STORY // silence + postingThis week we think about STORY and storytelling which includes the big story of God revealed in the Bible as well as the smaller stories we tell about our lives. The two practices to explore are SILENCE, which might seem like the opposite of storytelling, and POSTING, which is what happens online in a massive way every second of the day but also can be as classic as posting a physical letter.

» SILENCE - Letting go of our right to make noise, the beauty of a quiet soul

» POSTING - Filling the earth with praise & thanksgiving

» Bible passages to explore:

• Hab 2:20

• Ps 131

• Rev 8:1

• Acts 1:8

• Matt 28:19-20

• Heb 12:28-29

• Prov 10:19

• 1 John 1:1-4

WeekTwo

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OBEDIENCE // confession + rule for lifeThis week we think about OBEDIENCE and the specific behaviours that occur in our daily, weekly, and monthly calendar. The two practices to explore are CONFESSION, which includes the sins of omission and commission, and RULE FOR LIFE, which are the commitments we make to shape our lives with healthy and wise choices.

» CONFESSION - Letting go of the shackles of sin

» RULE FOR LIFE - Filling your calendar with godly habits

» Bible passages to explore:

• Romans 8:13

• Col 3:5

• Deut 30:11, 15-16, 19-20

• 1 John 1:8-2:4, 3:1-3

• 1 Tim 4:6-10

WeekThree

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WeekFour

WISDOM // mindfulness + memorisationThis week we think about WISDOM and the biblical definition of a healthy mind and thought-life. The two practices to explore are MINDFULNESS, which might sound like a popular or new-age thing but actually has biblical parallels, and MEMORISATION, which could be as simple as rote learning of a single Bible verse or as broad as formal theological study.

» MINDFULNESS - Letting go of the noise in your head

» MEMORISATION - Filling your mind with God’s life by contemplating and studying

» Bible passages to explore

• 2 Cor 10:5

• Psalm 103:1

• 1 Kings 19:12

• Psalm 46:10-11

• Ps 119:11, 97

• Luke 24:8

• 2 Peter 1:13, 15

• Matt 6:25-33

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COMMUNITY // secrecy + prayer chatsThis week we think about COMMUNITY and the exact thing we might be missing most right now!! The two practices to explore are SECRECY, which involves following the way of Christ that is often hidden, and PRAYER CHATS, which is the deliberate choice to include prayer into every possible conversation.

» SECRECY - Letting go of praise for your own good deeds

» PRAYER CHAT - Filling your conversations with prayer

» Bible passages to explore:

• Matt 6:3-6

• Luke 5:16

• Phil 2:3

• John 3:30

• 1 Thess 5:16-18

• Acts 1:14

WeekFive

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WeekSix

RE-CREATION // fasting + artThis week we think about RE-CREATION and the creative new work we find in God who breathes life into dry bones. The two practices to explore are FASTING, which historically has been giving up food for a period of time but could involve giving up other things like technology, and ART, which includes traditional forms such as music, painting, and dance but also forms such as beautiful town planning and pleasing engineering or even perfectly coded software!

» Fasting - Letting go of the routine of the status quo and bodily hunger to leave more space to focus on God

» Art - Filling your canvas with co-creative expression of the gospel, including the gospel enacted through generosity and grace

» Bible readings to explore:

• 1 Sam 7:6

• Neh 1:4

• Esther 4:16

• Acts 13:2-3

• Isaiah 58:6-7

• Matt 6:16-18

• Gen 1:27

• Ex 31:1-5

• Ezekiel 37:1-14

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WeekSeven

WORK // rest + serviceThis week we think about WORK and the goodness of what it looks like to take up an active role in God’s world. The two practices to explore are REST, which some of us are getting more of in isolation life (some not!), and SERVICE, which is the perspective of seeing every good work we do as an offering to God.

» REST - Letting go of productivity and being willing to submit to restrictions

» SERVICE - Filling your days with the Lord’s work … working as to the Lord

» Bible passages to explore:

• Genesis 2:1-3

• Genesis 2:15-25

• Luke 12:16-21

• Colossians 3:23-24

• Eccles 9:7-10