SESSION 1: March 13, 2019

Spirituality for Disciples:  From a uniquely “United” perspective

March 13: God’s Love

March 20: Worship

March 27: Scripture

April 3: Prayer

April 10: Spiritual Friendship

April 17: Service

Based on the work of Moderator Richard Bott and Rev. Dave Anderson in their study “U.N.I.T.E.D.”, Steve and Elizabeth will lead reflections involving a variety of spiritual practices, from a uniquely United Church perspective.

Session 1: Opening Prayer

O God, we thank you for the gift of life.  We thank you that each one of us is a unique story, with pages unfolding into preface and opening chapters, character development and conflict, climax and finale.  We thank you that each story is unique, each one is a blessing that enriches the whole Christian story.  And we give you thanks that every story has an epilogue, where we see your love revealed in all its fullness, and we find ourselves at home with you.  May all that we share tonight remind us again and again that we are uplifted by your love, forever and always cradled in Creator, Christ and Spirit, Amen.

Presenting the Theme:  Why do we call it “Spirituality for Disciples” (from a unique UNITED perspective) 

Richard Bott and Dave Anderson, UCC ministers serving in British Columbia were frustrated in their efforts to entice their congregations to move away from a “membership model” of ministry/pastoral, focussing on:

·         Needs of the church as institution

·         Members’ interest and care is priority

·         “success” is strength/survival of the church

To a “discipleship model”/mission:

·         Needs of the world/community beyond the church

·         Jesus’ kingdom movement is priority

·         “success” is to be more and more like Jesus

They developed a 6 part Lenten program, proposing 6 spiritual practices to ground us in a life of faith that goes beyond Sunday morning.  

What are spiritual practices? 

Something that is a regular pattern in our lives, that we make a priority, that has meaning for us.  

They came up with 6 elements of faith that most UCC members could understand (and probably already practice , without naming it “practice”):   

Worship - Scripture - Prayer - Spiritual Friendship - Service – Giving

BUT The more they refined and used the program, the more they realized “something” was missing… so they asked themselves:

·         What is at the core of Jesus’ kingdom values?    God’s love

·         What does he offer as an alternative to the dominant culture, then and now? God’s love

So they reincorporated “giving” and made the first practice:  “God’s Love”

Quote: “why is embracing God’s love as the foundation of human worth and value so important that it needs to be a spiritual discipline?  It is because your ability to work with God to build the kingdom is affected by how well you believe and embody this bedrock value.”

In the Western world, our dominant culture is materialistic – we value what we can count, show in statistics, impacts the GNP, creates jobs    Where does a person’s worth come from? 

·         Attributes – qualities that we embody (beauty, intelligence, talents)

·         Accomplishments – achievements, successes, employment, marital status

·         Acquisitions – what we have: money, transport, lifestyle

 Now look at a gospel reading about discipleship:  The Rich Young Man – Matthew 19:16-26

Then someone came to him and said, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said to him, ‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honour your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these; what do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’

·         What does Jesus say is important?  

·         What in your life has or does remind you that God loves you? 

·         How can we make God’s love a spiritual practice? 

Participants were invited to choose something to remind them of God's love:  a small poster to hang at home, with the words:  I have enough/ I am enough; or a stretchy bracelet to wear on their wrist. 

Closing Prayer:  

O God, you have unfolded your heart of love to us, now we unfold our hearts to you.  Give us courage in Christ and Spirit for the path ahead.  For this Lenten journey leads us into wilderness places where we are both lost and found, winners and losers, prophetic and pastoral, in our love for you and for each other.  We pray in Jesus’ name, and in silent reflection…  (Pause) Amen.