Beyond Sunday

How do we live the Kingdom Life in normal, everyday life? How do we leave traces of God Flavors and God Colors all around throughout our week?

Below are 12 rhythms. These are basically the guiding principles of our community. The things we care about. The things we strive to do.

1. Presence
We will live among our neighbors and participate in the natural activities of the city around us. We will engage in life with others not as a step to evangelism but as a follower of Christ who seeks to live as Jesus did.

2. Leave
We will intentionally give up what is comfy, cozy, easy and familiar and go somewhere else, do something different, give up time so we can connect with people. We will replace “christian” programs and personal activities with time spent building relationships with the people around us. Just as Jesus was sent by the Father into this world, so we are sent to embody and incarnate the good news of Jesus in our city.

3. Love
We will know people by name. We will eat and drink with them. We will share stories, laughter and hurts. We will be good friends. We will love others unconditionally and without judgment simply because they exist.

4. Bless
We will seek to bless someone every day. An email, a note, a call, a gift, encouragement. Simple is good.

5. Eat
We will eat with people in our community and neighborhood at least a few times each week. Coming together over a meal is an amazing opportunity to share our resources, our time, our encouragement and our attention.

6. Listen
We will commit ourselves to listening to the promptings of God in our lives. This will take different forms for different people but we will commit to a weekly time of solitude where we can listen to the Spirit of God.

7. Learn
We will read from the Gospels each week to learn more about Jesus. By studying the life of Jesus we will learn from and be inspired by his dangerous stories.

8. Rest
We will learn to take it easy. We will let God be God. We will reserve a “sabbath” day each week to rest and relax. We will set aside our work, our cares, our burdens so we can simply love others. In doing so, we will recover our lives.

9. Spontaneous
Relationships are formed, important conversations begin and moments of ministry happen during the unplanned, spontaneous moments of life. We will seek out these “interruptions” and allow them to take priority over our personal plans and agenda.

10. Serve
We will serve our city and neighbors in a tangible way. Our goal is to help others with no strings attached. This can be as simple as helping a neighbor move or volunteering our time to help serve the homeless. Whatever need moves your heart, that is where you should serve.

11. Party
Having fun, enjoying life, and celebrating people, food, wine, art, music, recreation and rest are key to a whole life and in seeing friends find God. We will be intentional about making “celebration” sacrament.

12. Fight
We will speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. We will use our time and resources to advocate with and for the oppressed and overlooked and seek to expose, challenge and fight injustice where ever it lives in our city.