Whoever We Are
On Sunday 30th July, Paul continued our Frontline Sunday series talking about ‘Whoevert we are’. The reading was Galatians 4:6-7.
You can download the talk here or listen on the player below.
We showed the video below after the talk.
discipleship
Wherever we are
Sunday 18th June was our second Frontline Sunday, exploring how we meet and serve God in the places we spend everyday life: our frontlines.
Jen spoke on Genesis 28: 10-22: Wherever we are. You can download the talk here or listen on the player below.
We used the video from LICC below to introduce the theme.
Frontline Sundays
Our Central Gathering Talks this term are helping us think through how we meet and serve God in the places where we spend everyday life: our homes, workplaces, neighbourhoods. We call these our Frontlines.
We are using LICC’s Frontline Sunday material. You can watch a short video introducing the theme below.
Examen Week 6 – Story
I am able to share God’s story and my story.
Your story is caught up in God’s great story of creation, fall, redemption and new creation. Your story has always been part of God’s story and with each step you take following Jesus the stories become more intertwined.
Sometimes we find it hard to understand or articulate this, sometimes we’re not sure about the story we are telling or want to tell, or about the stories we’ve heard about God. But God invites us to immerse ourselves in God’s story. The primary way we will be able to do that is as we read, explore and chew over the bible. Its the bible that shows us the story God is telling. One of my favourite ways I’ve heard the bible described is as ‘a unified story that points to Jesus.’
You also have a story that you are living out and telling to the world, it is a story of God and you and the people around you, it is a story where the hero is Jesus! You are one of the best demonstrations and explanations of what it looks like to follow Jesus in the present day.
How confident do you feel telling God’s story?
What is the story that your life tells?
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15
Thank you Father that I have a story
and I’m part of your story.
Help me find my voice,
and share our stories well.
Amen.
Ponder
Do you find it easy to read, understand and tell the story the bible tells?
What might help you grow in confidence about knowing and sharing God’s story?
What are you most grateful for about scripture? What do you find hard or difficult?
When do you get to encounter the bible? How often do you find yourself reading, listening to or sharing God’s word?
How do you feel about the story your life is telling?
What is your story? Why is it that you are trying to follow Jesus?
What is God teaching you or doing in you at this time?
Try This
Are you intrigued about the idea of the bible as a ‘unified story that points to Jesus’? Its a phrase used by The Bible Project.
Their website is full of videos and tools to help make the bible more understandable and shareable. Why not spend some time exploring: bibleproject.com
If you are working through a book or some daily readings try telling someone else about it. If you aren’t try asking some Kairos friends what they use.
Can you describe why you are following Jesus? Take some time to write down your story. Thank God for it, and ask for a chance to share part of it with others.
Can you describe what God is showing you or teaching you right now? Can you think of a way to describe what you are practicing or trying this Lent? Again write a few thoughts down, thank God and ask for a chance to share.
Deliberately practice telling other people about things your are interested in or passionate about – often people are interested in people who have interests. This doesn’t have to be specifically faith related – just practice getting used to sharing the things that are important to you.
Practice asking others what they are interested in or thinking about. Often we miss out on sharing stories because we don’t ask people about theirs.
Do you use social media? Is there a way you could share a part of God’s story in a positive, generous, loving way.
Continue a ‘try this’ practice you found helpful last week.
Examen week 4 – fruitfulness
I experience fruitfulness on my frontlines.
God invites us to experience fruitfulness in the places where we are planted. We have started to use LICC’s language of frontlines – a place where we are often, where we get to know people around us and are involved in some sort of activity or work. A frontline could be a workplace or school, a home or neighbourhood, a club or social group you spend lots of time with.
Fruitfulness is not just about looking for opportunities to tell people about Jesus. Its about discovering how to live with purpose in those place, staying connected to Jesus and so bearing fruit.
LICC talk about 6Ms of fruitfulness. Together these give a holistic impression – fruitfulness looks like:
- Modelling godly character
- Making good work
- Ministering grace and love
- Moulding culture
- Being a Mouthpiece for truth and justice
- Being a Messenger of the gospel
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17
May the Father who loves us, the Son who sends us
and the Spirit who empowers us be with us and bless us,
Wherever we go, whatever we do, whoever we’re with,
To His praise and glory, Amen.
from ‘The One About’ by Mark Greene. © LICC Ltd, 2018.
Ponder
Where do you spend most of your time. How do you feel about describing these places as your frontlines?
What are you most grateful and least grateful for about these places?
Read the description of fruit in Galatians 5: 13-23. How might your life display more of God’s fruitfulness?
Take some time top read through the list of 6Ms. Can you spot ways you are already doing these things on your frontline.
Is there one of the 6Ms that intrigues you, that you don’t quite understand or that you want to learn more about?
Try This
Take some time to watch LICC’s 6M people. Notice what these stories prompt in you. How do they inspire you to embrace fruitfulness on your frontline. If you want to go further you could try the 6MOT. https://licc.org.uk/ourresources/6m-people/
Map out the places where you spend most of your week and the people you often meet there. Spend some time praying for those places, ask the Holy Spirit to help you be fruitful in those places.
Think about some of the people you encounter on these frontlines. Spend some time praying for them.
Talk with someone (perhaps in your community) about your frontlines. Tell them something about the challenges and opportunities you face there. Ask them about the places they spend everyday life and pray for each other. Are there any ways you could serve or encourage each other as you seek fruitfulness?
Continue a ‘try this’ practice you found helpful last week.
Revelation and Response
On Sunday 15th January Ben spoke on Revelation and Response. What is God showing you, or calling you to, at the start of the year and how are you going to respond? The reading was John 1: 29-42.
You can listen to the talk on the player below, or download it here.
With Our Whole Lives
At the Feast on Sunday Ben shared a vision for the year, encouraging us to respond to this unsettled time by following Jesus with our whole lives.
You can watch a video version of the talk below or download audio only here: https://kairoschurch.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/With-our-Whole-Lives.mp3
You can find a copy of the giving booklet Ben mentions here or click here to find out more about giving to Kairos.
Tals from the Feast – Kairos is 10
Kairos celebrated its 10th Birthday earlier this month! If you missed Ben’s talks, or want to watch them again, you can find pre-recorded versions here.
Recovering the Art of Conversation
“One generation will tell your works to another.” Psalm 145
We are continuing to look at our third Rhythm of GRACE – Asking questions and telling stories. John McGinley, who came up with the idea of a rhythm of grace (great book here) describes this rhythm as recovering “the art of a loving conversation”. We do seem to have found ourselves in a world where there are many voices, emails, text messages that are issuing instructions: what to do, what to buy, how to live. There are far fewer that invite us into a conversation. I don’t know about you, but I find I am far more drawn to questions and stories than I am to instructions.
Asking questions and telling stories is about learning to use empathy and curiosity to have loving conversations with one another and with those around us; as we build these kind of conversations we will find we develop close friends and we will see those friends drawn to Jesus. A few weeks back I encouraged you to find ways to immerse yourself in God’s story. As we continue to do that, and also look to make good use of questions and stories in all our relationships, we will find that our ability to share God’s love with those around us will increase.
Let’s think for a moment about asking questions. How do we learn to practice loving curiosity? For a while our approach to discipleship has been based on questions. We ask one another “What is God saying and what am I going to do about it?” When we gather round the bible lots of us use the Discovery Bible Study Questions to increase the impact of God’s story on our lives. When we think about our own growth, or walking on a journey with people of peace we ask “What next Lord?” We know a bit about how to ask questions to develop disciples.
Practicing this rhythm starts with taking that same approach into all of our relationships and thinking of good questions that might open up conversation and friendship. It also means not asking a question and then rushing on to give an answer, but taking the time to listen, to pay attention to people, to learn what they are really saying.
A great way to take a next step with this rhythm is to start asking God questions about people in your life. Did you start praying for five people during Thy Kingdom Come? Why don’t you continue to pray for them and ask God:
“What do you love about this person?”
“What are you wanting to do in this person’s life?”
“How can I serve this person Lord?”
Learning to Receive
I find it incredibly encouraging to remember that even Jesus had to regularly find ways to sustain his ministry. The gospels make it really clear that he certainly didn’t constantly give out, but rather lived in a rhythm of receiving and releasing. In fact if you have time why not grab a notebook right now and see if you can jot down the ways in which you remember Jesus receiving support, sustenance or encouragement from God or others? I’ve got a list of at least 12 ways in which he was sustained (I cheated, it’s in a book) – see how many you can find. I’d love to see what you come up with!
Life as God’s representative can be draining! The very act of maintaining hope in the midst of some of the difficulties and challenges we see in our lives and the world around us can be hard enough. We’ve talked in the past about people who go from be to do, not do to be. That means we live out of our identity as God’s beloved children. We look for ways to receive his love, presence and affirmation, and we then naturally release that to others. We allow God to bless us, and we pass blessing on to others. We seek places where we can meet God, and we lead others to join in.
The places where you can be free to receive from God and the people who encourage you to grow are incredibly important. They are what gives you the sustenance to live as his follower. Have you still got that notebook? Good – write some of the times and places where you meet God – on your own, with others. Do you have regular patterns that help you draw near? What is working well for you and what could do with a bit of change?
Jesus says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Next week I’ll share some thoughts about specific practices that might help with this, so if you have something that you know works for you let me know – perhaps it will be an encouragement to others!