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Surrendering Control: Crafting our Experiments

The Practice Church Podcast

Release Date: 02/24/2023

Walking with the Kings show art Walking with the Kings

The Practice Church Podcast

In this recurring series, we are walking in the story of scripture, noticing the intricate way God’s story is woven together and shines a light on our own stories. Last year we began our journey walking in (Genesis 1-11), (Genesis 12-50), , , and the . If you missed the previous series, you can check out the links above. In this series, we will explore the period of the kings from Saul through the fall of the Northern Kingdom and Judah. We will notice how the stories of these kings echo all the way back to the garden. How do the Israelites and their kings respond to that choice to...

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Walking with the Kings: David show art Walking with the Kings: David

The Practice Church Podcast

In this recurring series, we are walking in the story of scripture, noticing the intricate way God’s story is woven together and shines a light on our own stories. Last year we began our journey walking in (Genesis 1-11), (Genesis 12-50), , , and the . If you missed the previous series, you can check out the links above. In this series, we will explore the period of the kings from Saul through the fall of the Northern Kingdom and Judah. We will notice how the stories of these kings echo all the way back to the garden. How do the Israelites and their kings respond to that choice to...

info_outline
Walking with the Kings: Saul show art Walking with the Kings: Saul

The Practice Church Podcast

In this recurring series, we are walking in the story of scripture, noticing the intricate way God’s story is woven together and shines a light on our own stories. Last year we began our journey walking in (Genesis 1-11), (Genesis 12-50), , , and the . If you missed the previous series, you can check out the links above. In this series, we will explore the period of the kings from Saul through the fall of the Northern Kingdom and Judah. We will notice how the stories of these kings echo all the way back to the garden. How do the Israelites and their kings respond to that choice to...

info_outline
A Counter-Formational Political Practice: The Examen show art A Counter-Formational Political Practice: The Examen

The Practice Church Podcast

This guided practice is a part of our series . As we seek to untangle ourselves from the partisan liturgies of our culture, we are engaging counter-formational practices. In this practice of the Examen, we consider our political activity (the media we consume and our response, our conversations, the ways we serve our communities, and voting) and ask when our activity was centered on the partisan liturgies of our culture and when they were centered on the radical alternative of God's kingdom.

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The Liturgy of Politics: The Partisan Liturgy of Tribalism show art The Liturgy of Politics: The Partisan Liturgy of Tribalism

The Practice Church Podcast

Aristotle said the purpose of politics is to create a people who are better than they would be without it. Politics has a way of shaping how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Have you noticed how this is parallel to the task of the gospel? This journey of faith creates us to be someone better than we would be without Jesus. Jesus shapes how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Is it any wonder our political activity has gotten so bound up in our understanding of the gospel? In fact, our partisanship and faith have...

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A Counter-Formational Political Practice: Breath Prayer show art A Counter-Formational Political Practice: Breath Prayer

The Practice Church Podcast

This guided practice is a part of our series . As we seek to untangle ourselves from the partisan liturgies of our culture, we are engaging counter-formational practices. In this practice, we respond to the partisan liturgy of fear with the practice of breath prayer.​ With Jesus, we pray the words, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done.” This prayer reminds us, in the words of Pastor Mike Lueken, even if the worst we can imagine happens in this election season, “Jesus is still king. The kingdom is still real, and all shall be well.” And it reminds us that we are invited to join the...

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A Counter-Formational Political Practice: Welcoming Prayer show art A Counter-Formational Political Practice: Welcoming Prayer

The Practice Church Podcast

This guided practice is a part of our series . As we seek to untangle ourselves from the partisan liturgies of our culture, we are engaging counter-formational practices. In response to our partisan culture which uses fear as a political tool, we offer a practice that can help us welcome the love and presence of Jesus into our fear so that we might be the kind of people whose political activity is marked by love.

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The Liturgy of Politics: The Partisan Liturgy of Fear show art The Liturgy of Politics: The Partisan Liturgy of Fear

The Practice Church Podcast

Aristotle said the purpose of politics is to create a people who are better than they would be without it. Politics has a way of shaping how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Have you noticed how this is parallel to the task of the gospel? This journey of faith creates us to be someone better than we would be without Jesus. Jesus shapes how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Is it any wonder our political activity has gotten so bound up in our understanding of the gospel? In fact, our partisanship and faith have...

info_outline
The Liturgy of Politics: Crafting our experiments show art The Liturgy of Politics: Crafting our experiments

The Practice Church Podcast

Aristotle said the purpose of politics is to create a people who are better than they would be without it. Politics has a way of shaping how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Have you noticed how this is parallel to the task of the gospel? This journey of faith creates us to be someone better than we would be without Jesus. Jesus shapes how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Is it any wonder our political activity has gotten so bound up in our understanding of the gospel? In fact, our partisanship and faith have...

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The Communion of Saints: Thomas Kelly show art The Communion of Saints: Thomas Kelly

The Practice Church Podcast

From the very beginning of The Practice, we have always appreciated the important lessons we can learn from various Christian traditions throughout the history of the Church. This summer, we will spend time learning about our sisters and brothers, some you may know and others you may not. We hope to not only learn about them, but also to listen to what they might have to teach us in this day and age.   This week, Ted Harro invited us to listen to an imagined letter to our community from the Quaker mystic Thomas Kelly. For additional resources, please visit our . If The Practice...

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We have a tricky relationship with control. It is true God gives us agency, and we are responsible to steward that well. However, our agency is limited. We cannot control nearly as much as we would like. So we strive and cling to control, and when the illusion of our control is broken we either cling grasp all the more for power or we resort to deflated inactivity.

This year in the season of Lent, we will experiment with surrendering control. In this video, we begin with an interview with pastor and author Mandy Smith. Mandy is the author of a wonderful book, Unfettered that explores our obsession with power and paints a beautiful picture of a childlike faith. Then, we consider our relationship with control and begin the crafting of our experiments.

The handout for crafting an experiment can be found at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g3E6vILmYsBy8sjQX400xa_y1dUb2fvR/view?usp=share_link

The form for letting us know if you have organized a group or would like help getting connected can be found at https://forms.gle/RbWoDqxcRDAS5rdM6

The guided practice resources mentioned are the apps Pause, Lectio365, and Pray as You Go, as well as the guided daily office.

For some additional resources, please visit our website.

If The Practice Church is your home community, please join the Core Team.

If The Practice Church has been meaningful to your journey, would you consider a tax-deductible gift? You can give at https://www.practicetribe.com/give/