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Jesus-Shaped Life: Fasting

The Practice Church Podcast

Release Date: 03/16/2025

Walking in the Parables: The Soils show art Walking in the Parables: The Soils

The Practice Church Podcast

Parables are a significant part of Jesus’s teaching. These brilliant stories paint a picture of life in the kingdom, teaching us about God, ourselves, and the Lord’s presence and activity in the world. But they are not easy. Rather than give us simple platitudes and truisms, Jesus challenges us with parables. They are intended to draw us in. Jesus wants us to wrestle with them, to walk around with, meditate and have conversations about them. In this series, we will dig into the context of parables from Luke’s Gospel. We will consider the picture Jesus is painting of God’s kingdom, and...

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Walking in the Parables: The Great Banquet show art Walking in the Parables: The Great Banquet

The Practice Church Podcast

Parables are a significant part of Jesus’s teaching. These brilliant stories paint a picture of life in the kingdom, teaching us about God, ourselves, and the Lord’s presence and activity in the world. But they are not easy. Rather than give us simple platitudes and truisms, Jesus challenges us with parables. They are intended to draw us in. Jesus wants us to wrestle with them, to walk around with, meditate and have conversations about them. In this series, we will dig into the context of parables from Luke’s Gospel. We will consider the picture Jesus is painting of God’s kingdom, and...

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Walking in the Parables: The Lost Sons show art Walking in the Parables: The Lost Sons

The Practice Church Podcast

Parables are a significant part of Jesus’s teaching. These brilliant stories paint a picture of life in the kingdom, teaching us about God, ourselves, and the Lord’s presence and activity in the world. But they are not easy. Rather than give us simple platitudes and truisms, Jesus challenges us with parables. They are intended to draw us in. Jesus wants us to wrestle with them, to walk around with, meditate and have conversations about them. In this series, we will dig into the context of parables from Luke’s Gospel. We will consider the picture Jesus is painting of God’s kingdom, and...

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Practice: An Atonement Examen (Christ's Influence) show art Practice: An Atonement Examen (Christ's Influence)

The Practice Church Podcast

At the heart of the gospel is a story of Christ's redeeming work. How we understand this story impacts who we understand God to be, how we see ourselves, and how we relate with God. In this series, we will consider what Jesus accomplishes in his life, death, and resurrection, and we will seek to live in the fullness Christ’s atoning work. This week, we reflected on the atonement story that invites us to consider the life of Jesus in addition to his death and resurrection. How does the heart of God expressed in Christ invite us to be formed by God to live a cruciform life like Jesus? This...

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Stories of Atonement: Christ's Influence show art Stories of Atonement: Christ's Influence

The Practice Church Podcast

At the heart of the gospel is a story of Christ's redeeming work. How we understand this story impacts who we understand God to be, how we see ourselves, and how we relate with God. In this series, we will consider what Jesus accomplishes in his life, death, and resurrection, and we will seek to live in the fullness Christ’s atoning work. This week, we reflected on the atonement story that invites us to consider the life of Jesus in addition to his death and resurrection. How does the heart of God expressed in Christ invite us to be formed by God to live a cruciform life like Jesus? If The...

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Practice: An Atonement Examen (Christ's Victory) show art Practice: An Atonement Examen (Christ's Victory)

The Practice Church Podcast

At the heart of the gospel is a story of Christ's redeeming work. How we understand this story impacts who we understand God to be, how we see ourselves, and how we relate with God. In this series, we will consider what Jesus accomplishes in his life, death, and resurrection, and we will seek to live in the fullness Christ’s atoning work. This week, we reflected on a story of atonement grounded in Christ's victory. How have we expereinced Christ's victory in our lives, and how do we long to live more deeply in his victory of sin, death, and the evil one?  This practice is a part of our...

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Stories of Atonement: Christ's Victory show art Stories of Atonement: Christ's Victory

The Practice Church Podcast

At the heart of the gospel is a story of Christ's redeeming work. How we understand this story impacts who we understand God to be, how we see ourselves, and how we relate with God. In this series, we will consider what Jesus accomplishes in his life, death, and resurrection, and we will seek to live in the fullness Christ’s atoning work. This week, we considered the Orthodox story of atonement. Jesus in his life, death, and resurrection is victorious over the evil one. This story invites us to consider God’s great love which leads to the Lord: Offering forgiveness without the need for...

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Practice: An Atonement Examen (Tragedy and Intimacy) show art Practice: An Atonement Examen (Tragedy and Intimacy)

The Practice Church Podcast

This guided practice is a part of our series Stories of Atonement. At the heart of the gospel is a story of Christ's redeeming work. How we understand this story impacts who we understand God to be, how we see ourselves, and how we relate with God. In this series, we will consider what Jesus accomplishes in his life, death, and resurrection, and we will seek to live in the fullness Christ’s atoning work. In this examen practice, we reflect on the work of Jesus. How might we rightly see sin as a tragedy and experience Christ's atonement as a restoration of intimacy and union with God? ...

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Stories of Atonement: Tragedy and Intimacy show art Stories of Atonement: Tragedy and Intimacy

The Practice Church Podcast

At the heart of the gospel is a story of Christ's redeeming work. How we understand this story impacts who we understand God to be, how we see ourselves, and how we relate with God. In this series, we will consider what Jesus accomplishes in his life, death, and resurrection, and we will seek to live in the fullness Christ’s atoning work. This week, we reflected on a story of atonement rooted deeply in love. How might we, like Julian of Norwich, see sin as a tragedy rather than a crime and experience the atonement, like Father Richard Rohr, as a restoration of intimacy and union with...

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Practice: An Atonement Examen (Substitution) show art Practice: An Atonement Examen (Substitution)

The Practice Church Podcast

This guided practice is a part of our series Stories of Atonement. At the heart of the gospel is a story of Christ's redeeming work. How we understand this story impacts who we understand God to be, how we see ourselves, and how we relate with God. In this series, we will consider what Jesus accomplishes in his life, death, and resurrection, and we will seek to live in the fullness Christ’s atoning work. In this examen practice, we reflect on the substitutionary work of Jesus. How have we seen Christ at work in our lives, and how do we long to experience his healing more fully? This practice...

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More Episodes

As we walk through the season of Lent, we will craft and practice experiments in living a Jesus-shaped life. We live in the influence of a world teaching us to put ourselves first and seek our own safety, comfort, wealth above all else, but the Christ Hymn in Philippians 2 teaches the way of Jesus is one of self-emptying, self-giving love. How can we engage the traditional practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as a way of opening ourselves to be formed by Jesus to be like Jesus for the sake of the world?

This week, we considered the practice of fasting and how it softens our hearts to experience the hidden hunger and thirst for God in our lives.

If you have not yet crafted an experiment. It is not too late. You can find the handout here. We also want to experiment together in community. You can form your own group for this experiment, or we would be happy to help you get connected. Whether you form a group or would like help, will you let us know here? This will allow us to send some reminders and help support you along the way.

For additional resources, please visit our website.

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