The Liturgy of Politics: The Partisan Liturgy of Fear
Release Date: 09/15/2024
Imaginative Prayer: Feeding the Multitudes
The Practice Church Podcast
In this imaginative prayer, we imagine ourselves watching and participating in Jesus's miracle feeding of the multitudes.
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Through the Disciples' Eyes: Feeding the 5000
The Practice Church Podcast
Have you ever considered how fascinating the disciples are as characters in the Gospels? We often read these stories with our focus on Jesus, but how often do we pay attention to the disciples’ perspective? Throughout the Gospel narratives, the people who followed Jesus are ‘representative characters.’ In so many ways, they stand in for us as we try to understand and be formed by the ministry and presence of Jesus. In this series, we will contemplate six stories from the Gospels through the eyes of the disciples. How did they understand the teaching and ministry of Jesus? How did they...
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Imaginative Prayer: Jesus Calls the Disciples
The Practice Church Podcast
In this imaginative prayer written by Ashlee Eiland, we imagine ourselves with disciples as Jesus invites us to follow him.
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Through the Disciples' Eyes: Calling
The Practice Church Podcast
Have you ever considered how fascinating the disciples are as characters in the Gospels? We often read these stories with our focus on Jesus, but how often do we pay attention to the disciples’ perspective? Throughout the Gospel narratives, the people who followed Jesus are ‘representative characters.’ In so many ways, they stand in for us as we try to understand and be formed by the ministry and presence of Jesus. In this series, we will contemplate six stories from the Gospels through the eyes of the disciples. How did they understand the teaching and ministry of Jesus? How did they...
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Walking in the Psalms: Psalm 74
The Practice Church Podcast
Eugene Peterson wrote, “Most Christians for most of the Christian centuries have learned to pray by praying the Psalms. The Hebrews, with several centuries of a head start on us in matters of prayer and worship, provided us with this prayer book that gives us a language adequate for responding to the God who speaks to us.” In this series, we will consider how the Psalms teach us to worship and pray. The Psalms are a rich array of reflections on God’s character, power, love, and activity in the world. They are also reflections of what it means for us to know, trust, and follow God....
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Walking in the Psalms: Psalm 46
The Practice Church Podcast
Eugene Peterson wrote, “Most Christians for most of the Christian centuries have learned to pray by praying the Psalms. The Hebrews, with several centuries of a head start on us in matters of prayer and worship, provided us with this prayer book that gives us a language adequate for responding to the God who speaks to us.” In this series, we will consider how the Psalms teach us to worship and pray. The Psalms are a rich array of reflections on God’s character, power, love, and activity in the world. They are also reflections of what it means for us to know, trust, and follow God....
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Walking in the Psalms: Psalm 126
The Practice Church Podcast
Eugene Peterson wrote, “Most Christians for most of the Christian centuries have learned to pray by praying the Psalms. The Hebrews, with several centuries of a head start on us in matters of prayer and worship, provided us with this prayer book that gives us a language adequate for responding to the God who speaks to us.” In this series, we will consider how the Psalms teach us to worship and pray. The Psalms are a rich array of reflections on God’s character, power, love, and activity in the world. They are also reflections of what it means for us to know, trust, and follow God....
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Walking in the Psalms: Sing a New Song
The Practice Church Podcast
Eugene Peterson wrote, “Most Christians for most of the Christian centuries have learned to pray by praying the Psalms. The Hebrews, with several centuries of a head start on us in matters of prayer and worship, provided us with this prayer book that gives us a language adequate for responding to the God who speaks to us.” In this series, we will consider how the Psalms teach us to worship and pray. The Psalms are a rich array of reflections on God’s character, power, love, and activity in the world. They are also reflections of what it means for us to know, trust, and follow God....
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Walking in the Psalms: Psalm 88
The Practice Church Podcast
Eugene Peterson wrote, “Most Christians for most of the Christian centuries have learned to pray by praying the Psalms. The Hebrews, with several centuries of a head start on us in matters of prayer and worship, provided us with this prayer book that gives us a language adequate for responding to the God who speaks to us.” In this series, we will consider how the Psalms teach us to worship and pray. The Psalms are a rich array of reflections on God’s character, power, love, and activity in the world. They are also reflections of what it means for us to know, trust, and follow God....
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Walking in the Psalms: Psalm 23
The Practice Church Podcast
Eugene Peterson wrote, “Most Christians for most of the Christian centuries have learned to pray by praying the Psalms. The Hebrews, with several centuries of a head start on us in matters of prayer and worship, provided us with this prayer book that gives us a language adequate for responding to the God who speaks to us.” In this series, we will consider how the Psalms teach us to worship and pray. The Psalms are a rich array of reflections on God’s character, power, love, and activity in the world. They are also reflections of what it means for us to know, trust, and follow God....
info_outlineAristotle 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 become so wrapped up together, that it is like one big ball of tangled string. They influence one another in various ways (some helpful and some not), and often times it is hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. This month, we will be crafting experiments together. These experiments will center on how we engage politics and how we are being formed by politics. Together we will notice what strings in this tangled mess the Holy Spirit is drawing to our attention, and we will intentionally practice ways of untangling that thread. How can we seek to be formed in the way of God's kingdom and bring that to bear on politics rather than allowing politics to shape how we view the kingdom?
We continued our experiments this week exposing the partisan liturgy of fear, reflecting on the use of fear as a tool and noticing how it forms us. Then, we considered the counter-formational liturgy of love. What if all our political activity was rooted in love rather than fear?
You can find the handout for crafting an experiments here.
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