Intentional Rhythms: Building a Spiritual Blueprint Together

Devotional

Day 1: Intentionality in Spiritual Growth

Building everyday rhythms requires intentionality and commitment. It's about creating a plan that fits your life and family, recognizing that each person's journey is unique. The key is to start with a plan, even if it's not perfect, and allow God to guide you as you grow closer to Him. Intentionality means being deliberate in your actions and decisions, ensuring that your spiritual practices align with your values and goals. This approach helps you to remain focused and consistent in your walk with Jesus, even when life gets busy or challenging. [08:12]

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:15-16, ESV)

Reflection: What is one specific area in your spiritual life where you can be more intentional this week? How can you create a simple plan to incorporate this into your daily routine?

Day 2: The Role of Transparency

Being open about our successes and failures in our spiritual journey is crucial. Transparency allows us to learn from one another and reminds us that we are all on this journey together, striving to grow in our relationship with Jesus. When we share our struggles and victories, we create a supportive community that encourages growth and accountability. This openness fosters a sense of belonging and helps us to see that we are not alone in our challenges. By embracing transparency, we can build deeper connections with others and strengthen our faith. [11:44]

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." (James 5:16, ESV)

Reflection: Is there a trusted friend or family member with whom you can share a current struggle or success in your spiritual journey? How might this transparency impact your relationship with them and with God?

Day 3: The Power of Family Moments

Intentional family activities, like movie nights, play a significant role in building strong relationships and creating opportunities for discipleship. These moments may seem ordinary but are vital for capturing the hearts of our children and fostering a Christ-centered family environment. By prioritizing these times, families can create lasting memories and instill values that reflect their faith. These activities provide a platform for meaningful conversations and spiritual growth, helping to nurture a loving and supportive family dynamic. [48:10]

"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." (Deuteronomy 6:6-7, ESV)

Reflection: What is one intentional family activity you can plan this week to strengthen your family bonds and encourage spiritual conversations?

Day 4: Trusting God in the Process

While we create blueprints for our spiritual lives, it's essential to remember that God is the ultimate builder. Our role is to trust Him, allowing Him to work in our lives and guide us as we walk towards Him. This trust is foundational to our spiritual growth, as it requires us to surrender our plans and desires to His will. By relying on God's wisdom and timing, we can experience peace and assurance, knowing that He is in control and has a purpose for our lives. [59:31]

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6, ESV)

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you struggle to trust God fully? How can you begin to surrender this area to Him today?

Day 5: Flexibility and Adaptation

Our spiritual plans are not set in stone. As we grow and our circumstances change, it's important to adapt and adjust our plans. This flexibility allows us to continue moving forward in our spiritual journey, ensuring that our rhythms remain relevant and effective. By being open to change, we can respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit and embrace new opportunities for growth. This adaptability helps us to remain resilient and committed to our faith, even when faced with unexpected challenges. [01:02:47]

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3:1, ESV)

Reflection: How can you be more flexible in your spiritual practices this week? What adjustments might you need to make to ensure your spiritual rhythms are effective and meaningful?

Sermon Summary

In today's gathering, we celebrated the culmination of our Blueprint series, a journey we've been on for the past five weeks to develop intentional everyday rhythms for our spiritual walk with Jesus. This series has been about creating personalized plans that incorporate spiritual disciplines, church engagement, emotional living, and intentional relationships. Today, we heard from various members of our community, sharing their experiences and insights on building these rhythms in their lives. Mike and Rochelle Jones, who have been practicing their everyday rhythms for about five years, shared both their successes and challenges, emphasizing the importance of intentionality in their spiritual journey. They highlighted the significance of counseling and the value of transparency in their walk with God.

We also heard from Jared and Jenna, who discussed the importance of creating intentional family moments, like family movie nights, which may not seem spiritual at first glance but are crucial for building strong family bonds and facilitating discipleship. They also shared about the spiritual discipline of silence, which Jared finds particularly enriching. Throughout these testimonies, the recurring theme was that our plans don't have to be perfect; they just need to be a starting point for our journey with Jesus.

As we move forward, it's essential to remember that while we create these blueprints for our spiritual lives, it is ultimately God who builds the house. Our role is to trust Him and allow Him to guide us as we walk towards Him. This journey is not about achieving perfection but about taking intentional steps to grow closer to God each day. As we transition into our next series on Psalm 23, let's carry forward the lessons learned from our everyday rhythms and continue to build our spiritual lives with purpose and faith.

Key Takeaways

1. Intentionality in Spiritual Growth: Building everyday rhythms requires intentionality and commitment. It's about creating a plan that fits your life and family, recognizing that each person's journey is unique. The key is to start with a plan, even if it's not perfect, and allow God to guide you as you grow closer to Him. [08:12]
2. The Role of Transparency: Being open about our successes and failures in our spiritual journey is crucial. Transparency allows us to learn from one another and reminds us that we are all on this journey together, striving to grow in our relationship with Jesus. [11:44]
3. The Power of Family Moments: Intentional family activities, like movie nights, play a significant role in building strong relationships and creating opportunities for discipleship. These moments may seem ordinary but are vital for capturing the hearts of our children and fostering a Christ-centered family environment. [48:10]
4. Trusting God in the Process: While we create blueprints for our spiritual lives, it's essential to remember that God is the ultimate builder. Our role is to trust Him, allowing Him to work in our lives and guide us as we walk towards Him. This trust is foundational to our spiritual growth. [59:31]
5. Flexibility and Adaptation: Our spiritual plans are not set in stone. As we grow and our circumstances change, it's important to adapt and adjust our plans. This flexibility allows us to continue moving forward in our spiritual journey, ensuring that our rhythms remain relevant and effective. [01:02:47]
** [62:47]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[02:42] - Blueprint Series Conclusion
[03:49] - Upcoming Events
[05:00] - Everyday Rhythms Overview
[06:15] - Mike and Rochelle's Journey
[08:12] - Intentionality in Planning
[11:44] - The Role of Counseling
[14:38] - Embracing Messiness
[45:11] - Spiritual Disciplines and Family
[48:10] - Importance of Family Moments
[50:04] - Discipline of Silence
[55:05] - Transition to Psalm 23
[57:03] - Building a Spiritual Blueprint
[59:31] - Trusting God in the Process
[62:47] - Flexibility in Spiritual Plans
[65:10] - Closing Prayer and Encouragement

Sermon Clips

1) "For the last five weeks, we've been on a journey to develop what we call our everyday rhythm. It is an intentional written plan for our own spiritual walk with Jesus. And what we've said for the last four weeks while we were kind of circling around some big kind of pieces that we put into this everyday rhythms is your plan looks different than my plan. And so we've been encouraging people, hey, be working 10 minutes a week on that. So you should have hopefully a plan done now. Today we're going to celebrate." [05:00] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

2) "I love this. There was, you've added something this year that's new. And I said, tell me something that you added this, that you're excited about. And you both chose something that you're not excited about. Tell us what that is and why you go, I'm excited, but not couple, we'll be better parents and everything just gets easier from there. Well, we could send you right now to go pray together, but they're going to be taking our elementary school kids." [11:44] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

3) "What I love, and what you heard is real transparency, right? Okay. It doesn't work. Always. I don't do the best job as a messy church for messy people. That's what we believe in. We don't want you to walk in here on a Sunday morning, feeling like you've got to put on a facade and have it all together. Cause you've got problems. You've got a mess and I've got a mess. And we're all in this journey towards Jesus." [14:38] (25 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

4) "Just start. But get a picture of what you want to look like. Right. And then start building that way. But here's what I want, you know, because it feels can feel like a lot. You saw Mike and Michelle's like canvas thing. Oh, man, that's a lot. Let me read you what Psalm 127 says. It says, unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord builds the house, the work of the builders is wasted, which means the work that's going to be done is done by God himself." [58:27] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

5) "You just get a picture. God, here's where I want to go. God, here's what I want my spiritual house for the next 12 months to look like. God, I want to be closer to you. And God, I'm going to I'm going to try some spiritual disciplines and maybe Bible prayer, maybe fasting, maybe what? God, I'm going to try this. I just want to walk towards you. And then you just turn it over to him and you let him build the house. You don't have to do it." [59:09] (22 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

6) "It's going to be an amazing thing to see. A church full of people chasing after Jesus on their own Monday through Saturday, and then bringing their friends on Sunday to meet him. That's City Church. Love that you guys are here. I'm going to close this out with a prayer. And we're all in this journey, Lord. We're all in different places. God, there's some people in this room that have everyday rhythms built out and they're batting the thousand. They're doing real well. There's some of us that are trying it for the first time, Lord." [01:05:10] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

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