01/11/2026 - Rhythms for Life - Love for Rhythms

``we set out as a pastor team kind of at the beginning of the school year, and we said, what might God do if we pressed in over this next school year to develop healthy rhythms? And, and so that's another word for that might be spiritual disciplines or healthy habits or, but we've really wanted to seek to grow in our rhythms of our lives. And if you just think back over this morning, like, you probably woke up and did the same things you always do. You brush your teeth. You take a shower. You do all the things. You drove here in the same way. Like, rhythms are healthy and good. And we said, man, what if we tried to establish healthy rhythms for our life to grow as we follow Jesus together? [00:00:03] (49 seconds)  #HealthyRhythms

But I wanted to actually slow down even more this morning. That we've we've looked at bible study. We've looked at prayer. We've looked at stewardship. And what is it what would it look like for us to be people who have a habit of being in God's word and live by the book, trust the book, like have worn out bibles that are represent put together lives. We've looked at prayer, and we spent five weeks, like, soaking in and practicing the Lord's prayer and being people who aren't ashamed to pray what we have and give it to God because he's big enough to take it. [00:01:35] (34 seconds)  #RelationshipOverRitual

But in all of these rhythms, there's a temptation to become about performance, to become about the rhythm and forget that it's really about a relationship. So rather this morning than adding on a new rhythm, we're gonna look at what does it mean to not just have healthy rhythms, but how our rhythms are really defined by our relationship. Or let me say it maybe another way. A healthy relationship with God seeks him out of love, not out of law. We don't wanna just come back every so often and and give ourselves new laws, but be reminded that all of this flows out of a loving relationship with Jesus. [00:03:12] (45 seconds)  #ComeWithOpenHeart

Now for those of you who are, like, I'm gonna call you bible nerds, but I say that with all the affection in the world because I am one. Like, we just stopped mid story. And for some of you, that's gonna be like something stuck in between your teeth. I'm gonna ask for grace. I want you to go home and read the rest of that story this week in one of your personal devotion times. We're gonna pause right there because what Jesus just did with this man is show us what it looks like to have a healthy relationship with God. And this morning, the questions I want us to ask ourselves are, are your rhythms with Jesus healthy? And if not, that's probably revealing your relationship with him isn't healthy. [00:05:44] (45 seconds)  #EternalLifeQuestion

and Luke gives us a little bit of the intention of the heart of this lawyer. He's not questioning Jesus because he wants to know him. He's not questioning Jesus because he's confused or he needs guidance or direction. He stands up as an expert trying to test or trap Jesus in a corner. He's looking to to to really kind of expose Jesus. At this point in Jesus' ministry, he is wildly popular, and people are following him and not following the experts in the law anymore. Their territory has been threatened. And so rather than come to Jesus with an open heart or an open mind, he comes to him to accuse and trap and try to get him into trouble. [00:09:24] (45 seconds)  #NoCondemnation

But he asks what is perhaps the most important question anyone can ask. What do I have to do to inherit eternal life? Have you ever sat with that question? Like, let's not be too religious here this morning. I know it's church, and we gotta pretend about some things, but, like, let's be real and honest. Have you ever sat with that question? Have you ever contemplated, what what do I have to do to get eternal life? There's life beyond this one. And what do I have to do to make sure that I inherit eternal life? [00:10:38] (41 seconds)  #LetScriptureSpeak

Maybe this morning, you need to sit with that. This is the most important question. And I love Jesus does not condemn him even though his motives are wrong. There is no condemnation in this conversation for asking a question. Jesus can take what we've got. He can take wherever you're at with whatever you've got to come to Jesus and ask him or approach him. This man is not condemned, but rather Jesus flips the script masterfully. [00:11:20] (35 seconds)  #AgapeLove

I love Jesus as a leader here for just a second. Can we can we marvel at here's this guy, an expert in the law, trying to trap him in a question and get him to discredit some of the Old Testament law, to get him to pick something and leave something out so he can call him a heretic. And what does Jesus do? He turns the question right back around. He doesn't give him the answer. He's gonna let this man discover the answer for himself. All of a sudden, this expert in the law who thought he had Jesus under the hot lights of interrogation, it has totally flipped, and now he's the one facing a test. He's the one having to give an account. He's the one having to answer. And Jesus says, well, what's written in the law? You expert in the law? What's the Bible say? Do you how do you read your Bible? [00:11:54] (53 seconds)  #ReceiveAndReturnLove