Human Formation in the Way of Jesus
The vocation of Coastal Church is to “call displaced people to become a new kind of family formed by following Jesus together.” This mission has not shifted in vision or content even amidst the coronavirus outbreak. But it has shifted in context. Spending considerably more time at home with disrupted rhythms both forces us to readjust and, for some, allows us the ability to pursue renewed activities and habits.
We’re calling our entire church to commit to intentional rhythms of prayerful Presence. Amidst the instability around us, we rest in the unshakable kingdom of Christ. We must ground ourselves in this generous love, that we “may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that [we] may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17–19).
God is always at work more broadly “behind the scenes” in what can feel like pure devastation and difficulty. In addition to daily prayer, what opportunities are currently waking up in your life? How will you engage the coming days and weeks? We’ve created this page to be a resource as we navigate this strange season. Please reach out to any of us if we can be of more personal support for you.
DAILY PRAYER w/ PRESENCE
Our need for Jesus’ presence hasn’t increased, but many of us are experiencing that need more acutely during this rapidly evolving season. No matter what our daily rhythms look like right now, we invite you to prioritize daily time to simply be in the Presence of the Christ, spending some of that time in prayer.
This communion space is often best done in the morning, but it can be anytime–even multiple times–throughout your day. If this is new to you, consider cultivating five minutes or so to be still and silent before God, asking the Presence to become known to you, and spend time conversing with Christ. If you’ve been at this for a while, seek to expand your time with Jesus by another five minutes.
To provide some structure and guidance, below are some resources you may find helpful:
Book: Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day by Pete Scazzero
Playlist: Songs of Comfort for Anxious Souls
CULTIVATING A RULE OF LIFE
A rule of life is simply a set of practices that shapes our lives. Saved by grace alone and through faith alone in Christ alone, we are called to practice the way of Jesus, pursuing habits and disciplines that shape our affections and activities to image our God. Following Jesus never involves earning, but it does require joining in God’s grace and with the Spirit at work through us for the sake of the Kingdom.
If you’d like to steward this season to evaluate your life and establish some new or revised rhythms, we invite you to work through the following steps.
Because our habits shape us, we want to be attentive to what they are. How are we already living? What garners our attention and captures our time? We invite each Coastal fam member to take inventory of your current life–no matter how disheveled and disrupted it may feel right now–through completing this Liturgical Audit.
Next, download and print/fill out the Cultivating a Rule of Life Worksheet (see options below). Begin writing in the squares any practices that help you pursue and image Jesus that you are already doing. It can be encouraging to see what God has already established in our lives.
After that, pick two or three things you would like to add or tweak from your current practices. What is God stirring in you right now? Where might the playful Spirit of Christ be nudging you? There are suggestions on page two of the Worksheet above. And don’t feel like you need to fill all, or even most, of the squares. This is just a guide.
* Concepts adapted from Park Church Denver