The Rhythm of Life
Jesus says to all who want to be his friend ‘follow me.’ But what does this mean today?
The Rhythm of Life takes three scriptural teachings and makes them a real part of our daily lives. We’re all given one hundred and sixty eight hours in a week. Gradually, in this Rhythm of Life, we’re asked to structure our weeks so that we give about five of those hours to God in four special ways.
1. The psalms tell us to ‘worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (Ps. 96:9)’ and so we set aside an hour a week to worship in our church.
2. In his great sermon on the mount, Jesus bids us to ‘go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret (Mt. 6:6)’ and so we set aside twenty minutes a day to pray.
3. Jesus admonishes us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit the lonely. Furthermore, he teaches us that ‘just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me (Mt 25:40).’ So, for an hour a week we serve our local community by, for example, volunteering at a soup kitchen, visiting our local prison or serving hot breakfast to probationary teens.
4. Finally, even this simple rhythm can be a challenge. So the fourth practice is to join a small Discipleship Group, often for an hour every other week, so that others can offer us the safety and challenge we all need to keep drawing closer to Jesus.
Experience shows that most of us don’t start doing all four things at once. We gradually take on more as we grow. You can begin the journey by looking at the inviting website prayworshipserve.com which encourages a 2011 campaign (20 plus 1 plus 1) based on the work of the Restoration Project.
To see a community rooted in these practices, check out the website of St. Paul’s, a community whose mission is ‘following Jesus together in worship, prayer and service.’
Or you can contact Christopher at Christopher@TheRestorationProject.net.