PAUSE: A Discipleship Guide

PAUSE

a discipleship guide

“Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10

As followers of Jesus, our deepest desire is to live in the good of the life He has won for us through His life, death and resurrection. This life is founded on God’s unconditional love, which shapes all that we are and all that we do; a foundation that calls us to know who this God of relentless love is. A God who is a loving community of Father, Son and Spirit. A God who in turn invites us, through Jesus, to live in this loving eternal family of God. This foundation allows us to live lives that are whole in the deepest possible way: knowing forgiveness, acceptance, joy, peace, purpose and hope. It’s a foundation that allows us to exchange our brokenness for His wholeness.

We live in a world that increasingly doesn’t rest. Advances in technology that offer varying experiences and items to consume make it difficult to be still. The desire to build meaningful relationships while coping with the pressures of life mean that we can lose the ability to just…be.

The way to live well in this ever-changing world is still rooted in an ancient call; a call to be still…to stop…to pause…and to remember God. God - Father, Son and Spirit - is God, and He is in control. This is a call to continually place God at the centre of our lives, ensuring all else orbits around Him.

This guide outlines a daily, weekly and monthly rhythm to help us ensure we live this way. The rhythms are all based on the simple but profound challenge: PAUSE!

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DAILY PAUSE

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“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.�

John 15:9

The first rhythm of PAUSE is a daily time where we stop to ensure that all of who we are is centred on all of who God is. It is helpful to start each day with this rhythm, but to then practice it at various times throughout the day.

A simple three step pattern provides a life-giving result.

STEP ONE: PAUSE At the start of the day, even for as little as 5 minutes and then throughout the day for short moments, set aside time away from other actions or issues you are thinking about. It can be helpful to find a space inside or outside that enables you to do this. Then within this time start by asking yourself a couple of questions:

Who or what is at the centre of my life at the moment?

Who or what is everything else orbiting around?

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STEP TWO: CENTRE Invite or affirm God’s place back at the centre of your life. You may also want to ask God for forgiveness where you have allowed other things or people to take the place of God.

Having reaffirmed God’s place at the centre of your life, spend time remembering and enjoying the God your life is built around. The reading of scripture, prayer, worship and fasting can all aid our ability to enjoy who God is and how He in turn defines who we are. The disciplines of reading scripture (start with the scriptures detailed in this guide), prayer and worship can be part of both our extended pause moments as well as our shorter moments throughout the day. Fasting can be used at different points as a deeper way of ensuring God comes before all else. A 24 hour fast once a week can prove very helpful.

STEP THREE: CONTINUE The last step shapes how you then CONTINUE from this moment. These daily rhythms of PAUSE are to then permeate and shape the rest of life. These are key moments to remember that you don’t have to continue throughout your day alone and in your own strength, but that the Holy Spirit is longing to go with you.

At the end of this step it is helpful to invite the Holy Spirit to… …empower you to live in light of who God is, and therefore who you are …help you see all you do as opportunities to honour and to reveal God

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WEEKLY PAUSE

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The weekly rhythm is built around two key PAUSE Moments. Firstly a pause for rest and secondly a pause for reflection.

PAUSE FOR REST

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Matthew 11:28-29

Jesus came in order that we could know the deepest rest, rest for our souls, rest in the very core of our whole being. Rest always involves us resting from something as well as us resting in something. Jesus allows us to rest from our own effort, from wondering “are we good enough?” We can rest in His efforts which are more than sufficient! We are able to live a life characterised by rest, where we know that through Jesus we have nothing to prove.

We can celebrate and remember through a weekly rhythm of setting a day aside for a long pause…a rest…a sabbath. A day that God built into the very fabric of creation to do us good. A day that we set aside each week to REST.

Tim Keller helpfully describes what sabbath means: “Sabbath is therefore a declaration of our freedom. It means you are not a slave – not to your culture’s expectations, your family’s hopes, your medical school’s demands, not even to your own insecurities...We are also to think of Sabbath as an act of trust…to practice Sabbath is a disciplined and faithful way to remember that you are not the one who keeps the world running.”

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This weekly rhythm of pausing to rest is a declaration of my freedom to enjoy God’s good creation and to be recreated within it. This means we build time into our day of rest to do things that are different to the other six days - things that refresh us and do us good. If we live with others in our household it can be good to talk about how to seek to enjoy the freedom this day offers, both as individuals and together.

This weekly rhythm of pausing to rest is also a declaration of trust in God. It’s a day to profoundly remember that God is at the centre, not me! The world will keep revolving without my involvement. Jesus is enough! It is never Jesus plus my efforts. It is all about Him and I get to live in the good of all He has done.

This is a day when we can set aside significant time to celebrate in who God is.

The key thing is not which day we sabbath, but that we do set aside a day each week to PAUSE. This will take planning in advance. We need to prepare to rest – otherwise the day can be swallowed up by the pressures of life.

QUESTIONS: In this PAUSE moment of considering sabbath, it can be good to ask: •

How is my practice of sabbath going at the moment?

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How could I develop my weekly practice of sabbath?

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PAUSE FOR REFLECTION

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbour as yourself.”

Luke 10:27

Jesus simplified the multitudes of laws that had developed throughout the OT into two clear commands. To love God with the whole of who we are and to love others as we would love and care for ourselves.

It is good to spend time reflecting on how we are doing in respect to these ways of living. The goal of this weekly rhythm is to do just that. To set aside an extended time to reflect on these two areas:

1. HOW AM I GROWING IN MY LOVE FOR GOD? It can be helpful to review three areas: A. Who God is: The more we understand and know of someone, the more we can seek to love them. The more we see and understand who God is, the more fully we will want to love God. We’ll seek to know Him with the whole of who we are, by living lives that are centred on and celebrating in who He is.

Our Lord God, who is a loving community of Father, Son and Spirit is longing to be known. The Holy Spirit is longing to reveal more of who God is to us through our experiences, the world around us, communion, other believers and most importantly through the Bible.

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The Bible allows us to understand more and more of the wonder, greatness, beauty, majesty, goodness and otherness of the God we are called into relationship with. God’s desire is not to remain hidden from us. Rather, He has revealed the fullness of who He is through Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:9).

The key place to start is to keep looking at the person of Jesus and at His life, death and resurrection, as He allows us to understand more of who God is. Life is an adventure of knowing God more fully.

B. How I relate to God: After Jesus’ resurrection He revealed the wonder of how we now get to relate to God, in His words that He was returning to ‘My Father and your Father’ (John 20: 17). The invitation to anyone who is a follower of Jesus is to relate to God in the intimacy of that relationship. We are invited to partake of the eternal loving relationship that the Father, Son and Spirit have always enjoyed. We are called not to be onlookers of who God is, but intimate partakers of who God is, through faith in Jesus which unites us to Him. We can live our lives exploring this eternal family that we are now part of.

We can share in the eternal love and honour the Father has always had for the Son which is now lavished on us. We understand that we are never alone, that nothing can ever separate us from this loving family that we have been brought in to by Jesus. We therefore relate not as dutiful servants of God, but as children of God (1 John 3:1).

C. How I am defined by God: In addition to our knowledge of who God is and how we relate to Him, how He defines us continues to transform our love for Him. The New Testament writers are continuously seeking to open our eyes to our new identity made possible through Jesus. The call is to keep plumbing the depths of this identity, as it not only redefines us but also transforms our love for God. This identity is multifaceted, and understanding these things is a lifelong journey. As a starting point four A’s can be of help: 10

Acceptance: Within every human are those niggling questions: “Am I good enough? Is what I have done good enough?” Jesus was and is good enough, and what he accomplished on the earth was good enough. In following Jesus, we are invited to live defined by who He is and what He has done on our behalf, so that at the core of our being we know we have nothing to prove. We are good enough…we are accepted. This is a revolutionary way to live.

The acceptance we now know through Jesus also offers us a remedy to the guilt of what we have done and the shame of what has been done to us.

Through Jesus we are offered forgiveness for what we have done, allowing us to know that we are free from guilt. Through Jesus the acceptance He offers us also redefines us from the shame of things that have been done to us, allowing us to know healing through this acceptance so that wounds become scars.

Adoption: We have already touched on this reality but through Jesus we are now called “children of God”. We are now part of the heavenly family.

In this family we are unconditionally loved, we have a Heavenly Father who is supremely good, who delights in us and longs to provide for us. The Holy Spirit longs to well up within us so that we know and experience the Father’s eternal love.

Our status as children reminds us that we are not alone and that we are eternally loved, and this liberates us from comparing or competing with others. We are all equally His children.

Appointed: God not only transforms who we are but reveals why we are.

God appoints us for purpose, to live lives as fully human. God originally intended in Genesis 1 for us to be bearers of His image who seek to honour and reveal Him in all we do. We are liberated to know that our life on this earth is not about proving ourselves or gaining for ourselves, but rather all we do is to glorify God and to reveal Him by allowing others to taste and see how good He is.

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We can live this way from the basis of how God defines us, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Awaiting: Part of our identity is a deep understanding that we have a hope for the future; that Jesus has brought us home to be with God. We are those who know that Jesus’ work on the cross was not just to change our destiny but was to change the whole of creation, to ensure what was broken would finally be made whole. This earth will one day be the dwelling place of God with His people! This earth will be filled with God’s goodness and love. We can be a people who await that new home, which brings strength in the face of the trials and sufferings we face. We can also bring the characteristics of that new home into this earth. This does good for all and causes others to taste and see how good God is.

QUESTIONS: In this PAUSE moment of answering the bigger question of “how am I growing in my love for God?”, it can be good to ask: ● Are there any areas of my life that I need to submit more to who God is in my love for Him? ● How am I being more defined by who God says I am? ● How can I be developing my relationship with God at the moment?

HELPFUL SCRIPTURES: 1 John 4:7-12

John 17:20-26

Ephesians 3:17-19

Romans 8

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Ephesians 1:3-10

2. HOW AM I GROWING IN MY LOVE FOR PEOPLE? The outworking of knowing we are loved by God is that we love people. As we live increasingly defined by who God is, it allows us to understand that we are to reveal all we have gained through Jesus to others.

It can be helpful to consider how we are doing this as those who are now uniquely part of God’s family on earth, the church. Firstly, how we love others as we gather together with our church family. Secondly, how we love others as we scatter into the unique environments we find ourselves in as members of the church family.

A. Gathered: The Bible uses many images to show the intimacy, interdependency and privilege we have of being and gathering as church. Images of a temple (Ephesians 2: 19-22), a priesthood and holy nation (1 Peter 2: 9), a branch (John 15: 1-4) and a body (1 Corinthians 12). It is this last image of body that we are going to zoom in on.

As the body we are reminded of the privilege of who we are and how we treat others. We are no ordinary body‌we are the body of Jesus on earth. This causes us to live with an amazing privilege, but also responsibility because it means that how we treat others in the body is how we are treating Jesus.

We therefore love people by ensuring we are seeking to honour, protect and encourage others.

As the body we also recognise that it celebrates our differences just as our physical body is made of different parts. We are freed from competing or comparing ourselves with others. Rather we seek to love others by simply being who we are with the unique gifts and characteristics that we have. In celebrating our differences, it also ensures we love others through welcoming them in, no matter how different from us they may be.

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Lastly, as the body we recognise how deeply connected we are, understanding that what happens to one part affects the others. We love by seeking to know others and to be known, and by seeking to celebrate as well as stand with one another.

B. Scattered: The adventure of loving people continues as we understand that we can live our lives as followers of Jesus, part of his family the church, in the unique environments we have been placed. The places we live, communities we live in, families we are raising, workplaces, schools, universities, recovery programs, retirement and more. Into these unique environments we get to live understanding that we are there to honour and reveal God. As we seek to do this we understand that we are there not to gain but to give‌to give and show the love we have known.

This allows us to be the salt and light of the earth that Jesus called us to be (Matthew 5: 13-16). We are to love others by adding God’s flavours and colours into the world in order that others can taste and see that God is good. These colours and flavours are vividly revealed at the end of the Bible in Revelation chapters 21 and 22, when God finally fills the earth with His love and goodness; His Kingdom. We discover a home characterised by comfort, beauty, justice, healing, peace, hope, forgiveness, belonging, safety and honour. We then get to love others by doing exactly that.

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QUESTIONS:

In this PAUSE moment of answering the bigger question of “how am I growing in my love for people?”, it is good to ask:

● How am I viewing the gathered church family? (Both Oasis Church and the wider body of Christ) ● How am I seeking to know and be known? ● What do I need to do to honour, protect and encourage others? ● In what ways am I seeking to play my part within the gathered church family? ● Where am I uniquely placed in the world? (The “scattered” expression of church) ● Am I living in the knowledge that God has placed me there for His good purpose? ● How can I be revealing God’s flavours and colours more?

HELPFUL SCRIPTURES: Gathered: Ephesians 1:22-23

Ephesians 4:15-16

Corinthians 12:12-27

Scattered: Ephesians 2:10

Matthew 5:13-16

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Revelation 21:1-4 & 22:1-4

MONTHLY PAUSE

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PAUSE FOR WELLBEING:

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.�

John 10:10

Jesus came not only to make us right in relation to God but to offer us a life that is full, whole and well! A life that is all about wellbeing! The fullness and wholeness Jesus offers is to permeate the whole of our being, physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally and relationally. This life of wellbeing is to be explored and enjoyed in the face of our circumstances. The invitation is to live in the good of this fullness, wholeness and wellness that Jesus offers.

The final PAUSE rhythm seeks to aid us doing this. Once a month, we are to PAUSE and set aside time to evaluate our wellbeing in five key areas. Use the gauges and questions at the end of this rhythm to evaluate how you are doing in each area, and which areas need more attention.

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FIVE KEY AREAS OF WELLBEING:

A. Physical: God has designed us with physical bodies. Jesus liberates us from seeing our physical bodies either as something that is be loathed and therefore abused – or as something to be worshipped and put before God. He liberates us to see that our physical bodies are a gift from God, even with their frailty.

In seeing our bodies as a gift, He in turn calls us to a lifestyle of living in the fullness of this fact, by being thankful to God. Even now, the mechanics that are enabling you to breathe are surely worthy of thanks!

Along with thankfulness, He also causes us take care of the gift. We are to take care of our bodies with our diet, exercise and sleep.

B. Mental: In Romans 12:2, Paul writes that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This is an act of worship to God. Our minds are complex and have the ability to lead us in ways that bring deep understanding, revelation and freedom, or direct us along patterns of thought that become destructive and imprisoning. Jesus calls us to identify wrong ways of thinking in order that we can find new ways of thinking. These allow us to turn our attention to Jesus and the comfort, hope and wisdom he is able to provide.

C. Spiritual: We are invited into a life of the Spirit. We can live consumed by the Holy Spirit, who interacts with the deepest part of who we are…our spirit.

The Holy Spirit longs to reveal and lead us more in… …defining our identity in God as the adopted children of God (Romans 8:1516) …revealing the freedom we now know from guilt and shame and the power of sin. (2 Corinthians 3:17)

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…shaping our lives by His character of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5: 22-23) …providing power to live in the good of the life Jesus has afforded us (Ephesians 1: 18-21) D. Emotional: As humans we reflect God’s image in many different ways. One of these ways is through our emotions. God is an emotional God and He has designed us to be emotional like Him. Jesus offers us a life where we don’t have to see emotions as something either to be switched off, or, on the other end of the spectrum, continuously controlled by. Rather our emotions afford us a deep and profound ability to both know and be known by God and other people.

The key to living in the good of this way of living is to learn to healthily express our emotions. We do this through understanding them and then giving voice to them. We can voice them to God, knowing His comfort. We can voice them with others in ways that are not destructive to them or ourselves.

For more on this, I would strongly recommend reading “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality” by Peter Scazzero.

E. Relational: We are created to be relational beings. We were designed and created to flourish from a place of relationship with God, and Jesus has restored and enabled us to enjoy this in its fullness. We are also created to have relationship with other people. Our deep relational need is met in God, and allows us to know that we are unconditionally loved and accepted, and now belong to the eternal family of God. From this foundation we are then able to function in healthy relationships with other people. We can enjoy a mixture of relationships, some where we are seeking to primarily give, others where we primarily receive, and lastly those where we mutually give and receive. Living with a balance of our deep relationship with God and a variety of differing relationships with people allows us to have relational wellbeing.

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EVALUATION: Jesus offers us a full life. Take a PAUSE moment, and for each of the five key areas mark on the gauge where you think you are from a scale of empty to full.

Use the questions below each gauge to help you answer.

Physically

Spiritually

What exercise am I

How am I doing

Am I looking to

taking?

living defined,

people for what I

How is my diet?

How is my sleep?

freed, shaped and

Mentally

empowered by the

What patterns of

Holy Spirit?

thinking are proving

Relationally

Emotionally

God? How well am I giving Am I spending the voice to my emotions right time with the to God and others?

destructive?

can only get from

right people?

Is my thinking

Do I need to forgive

bringing freedom

or be forgiven?

or captivity?

QUESTIONS: â—? Which of the five areas do you need to focus on? â—? What steps are you going to take over the coming month to enjoy more of the fullness Jesus offers in each of those areas?

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RESOURCES: UPWARD: ● Christ Our Life by Michael Reeves ● The Cross of Christ by John Stott ● The Crucifixion by Fleming Rutledge ● The Good God by Michael Reeves ● What’s so Amazing about Grace? by Philip Yancey ● God’s Lavish Grace by Terry Virgo ● King’s Cross by Timothy Keller ● The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller ● The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard ● The ‘For Everyone’ Bible Commentary Series by Tom Wright

INWARD: ● Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster ● Being Disciples by Rowan Williams ● The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence ● Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren ● Desiring God by John Piper ● Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero ● The Happy Christian by David Murray ● Subversive Sabbath by AJ Swoboda ● The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer ● How to Pray by Pete Greig ● How to Read the Bible for all its Worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart

OUTWARD: ● Surprised by Hope by NT Wright ● Called to Influence by Karen Kircher ● Every Good Endeavour by Timothy Keller ● Culture Making by Andy Crouch 21

Find out more at:

www.theoasischurch.com