At Renew Church, we strive to pour ourselves out for the good of all our neighbors. This is the core of our mission: “To follow Christ to renew our neighborhoods, city and world!” Common sense will tell you (and experience confirms): pouring yourself out without being refilled will lead to burnout, fatigue and disillusionment. We need to be refilled and refueled as we extend ourselves on behalf of others!
Thankfully, Jesus never recruits friends to “just get stuff done” at the cost of their own well-being. God always goes first; pouring into us, filling us up with abundant vitality, so that we have plenty to offer the world as we go about the work of loving and serving our neighbors. We find this in some of the earliest pages of scripture, where God promises God’s people, “I will bless you… so that you will be a blessing.” Jesus constantly called his friends away to a quiet place where they could be refilled before sending them out into the towns and countryside as his ambassadors of God’s kingdom of renewal.
Christians today are called into this rhythm of pouring out and being refilled. We call it “action and contemplation.”
Spiritual disciplines are those activities we’re invited to partake in order to be filled up. As we’re reunited with God and reconnected with our truest selves, we are ready to be redirected outward to serve all our neighbors from a place of health and joy.
Just as we engage in exercises in the gym to build physical strength; as we train on a bike, run on a trail or swim in the ocean to develop endurance… spiritual disciplines are the actions we take to create space for God to do what we cannot do: break through with grace, mercy, love, wisdom and creative energy to restore us as we go about the great adventures of life, with all its ups and downs.
Classic spiritual disciplines include studying scripture, praying, giving generously, spending time in intentional solitude and reflection, fasting from food or other important aspects of life, sacrificially serving others, participating in corporate worship, seeking justice in our community, and living simply.
In our Renew Church community; we strive to encourage, challenge and support one another to engage in these essential practices of deeper life with God and one another.