loader from loading.io

Surrendering Control of Ourselves

The Practice Church Podcast

Release Date: 03/19/2023

An Experiment in Joy: Our Joyful God show art An Experiment in Joy: Our Joyful God

The Practice Church Podcast

Joy is a foundational element of our faith. It connects us to God, ourselves and one another, it helps us endure difficult seasons, and it grounds our lives in the loving presence of God. This month, we will craft experiments to practice together that will help us deepen our capacity for joy. In the second week of our experiments, Bethany Timmons reminded us it is okay to wrestle with joy because God is always joyful and always offering joy to us. If you haven't yet crafted an experiment, it's not too late to join us. You can find the handout for crafting an experiment . If you are forming a...

info_outline
An Experiment in Joy show art An Experiment in Joy

The Practice Church Podcast

Joy is a foundational element of our faith. It connects us to God, ourselves and one another, it helps us endure difficult seasons, and it grounds our lives in the loving presence of God. This month, we will craft experiments to practice together that will help us deepen our capacity for joy. You can find the handout for crafting an experiment . In the first week, Nicole guided us through crafting our experiments. She invited us to consider how we might move toward centering ourselves in Christ and cultivate the conditions necessary for joy to grow in our lives. If you are forming a group or...

info_outline
Easter: Resurrection Hope show art Easter: Resurrection Hope

The Practice Church Podcast

On Easter Sunday, we gathered to celebrate the risen Christ. This year we considered three great hopes of resurrection. First, Jesus is with us in our suffering. Second, God’s kingdom is present and available here and now, and finally, one day God’s kingdom will arrive in its fullness, God will make all things new and everything sad will become untrue. If The Practice Church is your home community, please join the . If The Practice Church has been meaningful to your journey, would you consider a tax-deductible gift? You can give at  

info_outline
Practice of Joyful Connection: A Practice of Gratitude and Memory show art Practice of Joyful Connection: A Practice of Gratitude and Memory

The Practice Church Podcast

This guided practice is a part of our series . We were made for joyful connection with God. The truest thing about us is that we were created to live in joy-filled communion with God and one another, but we think we can do better. We choose what is right in our own eyes and introduce disorder into the world. That disorder infects the world, and the pain, sorrow, and injustice leads us to question if God really loves us. In this series, we hope to become aware of what gets in the way of our attachment and deepen our capacity for attachment to God. This is one of the practices from...

info_outline
Practice of Joyful Connection: A Practice of Stillness show art Practice of Joyful Connection: A Practice of Stillness

The Practice Church Podcast

This guided practice is a part of our series . We were made for joyful connection with God. The truest thing about us is that we were created to live in joy-filled communion with God and one another, but we think we can do better. We choose what is right in our own eyes and introduce disorder into the world. That disorder infects the world, and the pain, sorrow, and injustice leads us to question if God really loves us. In this series, we hope to become aware of what gets in the way of our attachment and deepen our capacity for attachment to God. This is one of the practices from...

info_outline
Practice of Joyful Connection: An Imaginative Encounter with Jesus show art Practice of Joyful Connection: An Imaginative Encounter with Jesus

The Practice Church Podcast

This guided practice is a part of our series . We were made for joyful connection with God. The truest thing about us is that we were created to live in joy-filled communion with God and one another, but we think we can do better. We choose what is right in our own eyes and introduce disorder into the world. That disorder infects the world, and the pain, sorrow, and injustice leads us to question if God really loves us. In this series, we hope to become aware of what gets in the way of our attachment and deepen our capacity for attachment to God. This practice comes from the of the...

info_outline
Practice of Joyful Connection: Guided Meditation on the Parable of the Prodigal Son show art Practice of Joyful Connection: Guided Meditation on the Parable of the Prodigal Son

The Practice Church Podcast

This guided practice is a part of our series . We were made for joyful connection with God. The truest thing about us is that we were created to live in joy-filled communion with God and one another, but we think we can do better. We choose what is right in our own eyes and introduce disorder into the world. That disorder infects the world, and the pain, sorrow, and injustice leads us to question if God really loves us. In this series, we hope to become aware of what gets in the way of our attachment and deepen our capacity for attachment to God. This practice comes from the of the...

info_outline
Practice of Joyful Connection: An Embodied Practice of Centering show art Practice of Joyful Connection: An Embodied Practice of Centering

The Practice Church Podcast

This guided practice is a part of our series . We were made for joyful connection with God. The truest thing about us is that we were created to live in joy-filled communion with God and one another, but we think we can do better. We choose what is right in our own eyes and introduce disorder into the world. That disorder infects the world, and the pain, sorrow, and injustice leads us to question if God really loves us. In this series, we hope to become aware of what gets in the way of our attachment and deepen our capacity for attachment to God. This practice comes from the of the...

info_outline
Practice of Joyful Connection: A Practice of Curiosity show art Practice of Joyful Connection: A Practice of Curiosity

The Practice Church Podcast

This guided practice is a part of our series . We were made for joyful connection with God. The truest thing about us is that we were created to live in joy-filled communion with God and one another, but we think we can do better. We choose what is right in our own eyes and introduce disorder into the world. That disorder infects the world, and the pain, sorrow, and injustice leads us to question if God really loves us. In this series, we hope to become aware of what gets in the way of our attachment and deepen our capacity for attachment to God. This practice comes from the of the...

info_outline
Attached: Practices to Deepen Our Capacity for Joyful Connection show art Attached: Practices to Deepen Our Capacity for Joyful Connection

The Practice Church Podcast

We were made for joyful connection with God. The truest thing about us is that we were created to live in joy-filled communion with God and one another, but we think we can do better. We choose what is right in our own eyes and introduce disorder into the world. That disorder infects the world, and the pain, sorrow, and injustice leads us to question if God really loves us. In this series, we hope to become aware of what gets in the way of our attachment and deepen our capacity for attachment to God. In the final week of our series, we considered how we are being invited to move forward....

info_outline
 
More Episodes

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. If you were not with us last week, we invite you to make some time this week to listen to the teaching of Mandy Smith and craft an experiment.

This week, we looked at our tendency to grasp for control with ourselves. We asked what it might look like for us to surrender ourselves as living sacrifices, to lay down our lives for our friends, to love God and neighbor. How might we, as Jesus promised, lose our lives in order to find them?

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

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/