SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES AND

PRACTICES, #4

The Corporate Disciplines

Confession

Confession Worship

Confession Worship

Guidance

Confession Worship

Guidance Celebration

Confession

What do you think of when you hear or see the word “confession”?

An attempt to defineHelps one live into the truth of being God’s

new creationOpens oneself to God for transformationViews oneself and one’s community first as

a fellowship of sinners and then as a fellowship of saints

Confession

Why should disciples practice confession?To replace sinful habits with healthy habitsTo examine one’s “sin network,” resulting

from broken relationships, unhealthy patterns, and besetting weaknesses, in order to experience transformation

To deepen relationships within the community through honesty and insight

Confession

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16).

The discipline of confessionSpiritual Classics (241-2, 248)Spiritual Disciplines (93-94)Confession as a response to the 10

commandments

Worship

What is worship? An attempt to define

Cherishing and valuing God above all elseKnowing, feeling, and experiencing the

resurrected Christ in the midst of the gathered community

Responding to the overtures of love from the heart of the Father

Worship

Why should disciples worship?To seek first God’s kingdomTo be in the presence of JesusTo delight in the LordTo respond to God’s truth and direction in

order to practice a life of obedienceTo learn how to sacrifice body, mind, and

soul to the will of God

Worship

“To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God” –William Temple

“The tendency of all worship to decline from adoration to demand, and from the supernatural to the ethical, shows how strong a pull is needed to neutralize the anthropocentric trend of the human mind” –Evelyn Underhill

Worship

The discipline of worshipSpiritual Classics (254, 262 discussion #2)Spiritual Practices (46)

Guidance

What is guidance? An attempt to define guidance:

Listening for and recognizing the voice and pattern of God’s direction, individually and corporately

Living under the immediate rule of the Holy Spirit

Trusting in God’s good intentions

Guidance

Why should disciples practice the discipline of guidance?To take time to listenTo bring head and heart into alignment with

God’s willTo seek the Guide rather than a map for

one’s lifeTo rest

Guidance

“When the vessel is ready, the precious liquid is poured in. There is no more precious vessel than a loving soul and no more beneficial drink than the grace of God”—John Ruusbroec

Guidance

The discipline of guidance - Celebration of Discipline (181-4)

Conditions for Communal Discernment

Common Purpose

Resolve to Decide

Together

Mutual Regard and Acceptance

Clearly Framed

Matter for Discernment

Good information and Good Research

The meeting to discern

Discussion toward Resolution

Moderator asks for comments and observations that have arisen out of prayer

A “sense” may emerge that there is more agreement among the group than originally thought possible

Prayer and Silent ReflectionMeeting for Clearness Extended time of listening prayer

Open DiscussionThreshing Meeting Issues, concerns, observations, and perspectives are

freely expressed

Celebration

What comes to mind when you hear the word “celebration”?

An attempt to define follows:Taking joyful, passionate pleasure in God

and in the radically glorious nature of God’s people, Word, world, and purposes

Engaging in actions that orient the spirit toward worship, praise, and thanksgiving, delighting in the never-changing presence of the Godhead

Celebration

Why should disciples celebrate?To live from a mentality of abundance rather

than of scarcityTo rejoice always in the One who rejoices

over the belovedTo enjoy the good and perfect gifts of GodTo cultivate a spirit of gladnessTo take oneself less seriouslyTo live out the joy of salvation

Celebration

“The Christian should be an alleluia from head to foot”—Augustine of Hippo

“Celebration is central to all of the disciplines. Without a joyful spirit of festivity, the disciplines become dull, death-breathing tools in the hands of modern Pharisees”—Richard Foster

Celebration

The discipline of celebrationSpiritual Classics (315)Spiritual Practices (28 and Gratitude

Journal)