Habits of Grace
The Word
The Word is the Bible - it is the primary way God reveals himself to us. Through it we know who God is, who we are, and how to trust in God in all of life.
- Gives you rest in God’s presence and freedom from the slavery to ‘do more’
- Reminds you that God is in control
- Helps you to trust in the finished work of Jesus, not in what you can accomplish
- Your soul is restored and healed outside of the ‘hurry’
- Plan to engage with the Bible on a consistent basis (Individually and with others)
- Engage in various ways; simply reading, study, memorisation, meditation, visual, audio
- Ask the Holy Spirit to help you receive the Word (1 Thessalonians 2:13)
- Prioritise it (scripture before screens)
- Get into groups of 2-3, preferably men with men and women with women.
- Within your groups each of you choose a 5 minute window in your day that is most predictable. (Often 5 minutes after waking or before bed are the most predictable times.)
- Decide on a book of the Bible you will read. Can be the same or different for each person. Default suggestion: Philippians
- Each day over the next week, read the Bible for 5 minutes and text the group 1 verse from your reading that day.
“Jesus in all the Bible” is a 3-4 minute daily devotional podcast that walks through the bible and shows you how all scripture points to Jesus.
Chapters 1-3 of How to Read the Bible for All it’s Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart
Sabbath
Sabbath is a day set aside to cease from your work, rest from your burdens, celebrate life and delight in God’s unhurried presence. It is God’s good gift of repetitive and regular rest given for your flourishing.
- Gives you rest in God’s presence and freedom from the slavery to ‘do more’
- Reminds you that God is in control
- Helps you to trust in the finished work of Jesus, not in what you can accomplish
- Your soul is restored and healed outside of the ‘hurry’
- Prepare well. When, how and with whom?
- What practices should you engage in to connect with God’s unhurried presence?
- What practices must you cease from to help you connect with God’s unhurried presence?
Service
Service is seeking to do good to everyone, especially to other believers. (Galatians 6:10, Philippians 2). Using our varied gifts to minister to others before ourselves, shaped by a desire to serve rather than be served.
- Allows you to identify with and become more like Jesus who took on the nature of a servant
- Is obeying the glorious calling of all who follow Christ
- Comes with the promise of heavenly reward and honour
- Is an overflow of what Christ has done in your life
As you walk with Jesus, you begin to serve others because you are free from sin and loved by God. Service also calls for humility - an intentional emptying of yourself, and a surrender that allows God to use your life however He sees fit.
Community
Community is joining with people who share a common Saviour and a common mission in Christ. Jesus brought us into God’s family and united us to all the other believers in His body, the church.
- Become more known and loved as you seek to know and love others
- Can encourage one another towards love and good deeds and carry each others burdens
- Experience the breadth of God’s gifts and goodness through others
- See different facets of who God is, reflected in different members of the community
- Corporate Gathering: the weekly meeting of all believers in a local church body
- Unity: exalting Jesus’ will and ways above differences with other believers
- Small Groups: Jesus followers being known, loved, encouraged and challenged to live for Jesus
- Spiritual Friendship: Walking closely with another believer who you can openly share about your walk with God and receive support, encouragement, prayer.
Fasting
Community is joining with people who share a common Saviour and a common mission in Christ. Jesus brought us into God’s family and united us to all the other believers in His body, the church.
- Exposes emptiness and reorientates you to embrace your need for God’s presence
- Reminds you to turn to Jesus, who alone can satisfy
- Is a means of partnering with God for break through
- Start small, and plan well
- When will you fast? What will you fast from (eg.food/entertainment/pleasure/comfort)?
- Why are you fasting? Is someone joining you?
- Make time to embrace (and not avoid) the emptiness
- Have Bible, notebook and water bottle ready
Worship
Worship is to honour and adore the Trinity as the supreme treasure of life. All of life is worship, but it is only when we worship God with our lives that our world is ordered rightly.
- Fulfilling your God-given purpose and longing to adore and praise your Creator
- Drawing near to God and bringing him joy
- As you taste and see that God is good, your heart desires are oriented towards him
- Keeping company with Jesus in all circumstances
True worship begins by beholding God, and exalting who He is with your whole life. It can include; responding to God’s truth with loving obedience, regularly engaging with a worshiping community, seeking first the kingdom of God, keeping secondary things second.
Generosity
Generosity is the willingness to freely and abundantly give of your resources for God’s purposes. It is orientating your heart to be like Christ’s - “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20v35)
- Grows your trust in God’s provision in your life
- An earthly investment in an eternal inheritance
- Practically demonstrates that nothing you have is your own, everything belongs to the Lord and comes from Him
- A means of imitating Christ who poured Himself out for you completely
- Pray that your desire for God, will displace your desire for temporary material things, and free you to use your possessions and time for His glory
- Financial generosity can be demonstrated by giving, tithing, supporting missionaries, meeting needs, supporting charities, and being generous to others
Prayer
Prayer is simply communication with God. Through it we are able to pour out all of our hearts in a divine dialogue.
- Grows you in relationship with God and in dependence on Him
- Exercises your faith and leads to a heart of gratitude
- Brings you into agreement with God and His will for you and the world
- Builds your intimacy with God as He hears and answers your prayers
- Jesus gave us a model for prayer in Matthew 6:9-13
- If in doubt, pray the scriptures, and build from there
- Pray in secret and pray with others
- A growing dialogue with God may take many forms such as adoration, petition, lament, supplication, confession, thanksgiving, declaration
Current Teaching Series:
Who is Jesus to you? Lord and saviour? Prophet? Teacher? Or the greatest con man who ever lived? While who Jesus is has always been a point of debate, one thing every historian agrees on is that Jesus was a real, living, breathing human being. This series explores and reveals the incredible realities of Jesus through the lens of Colossians.
