Elements City Church
Unhurried ... Week 1: practice of slowing
Following Jesus as an act of resistance to our cultural push toward hurry, hustle, distraction and shallowness. Most of our greatest mistakes tend to come when we’re in a hurry. Maybe the life Jesus invites us to is to move more at the pace of grace. We are not anti-work, we are anti-hurry. As followers of Jesus, we're called to walk in the way of love and one simply can not love in a hurry. Join us as we seek to slow down. We’ll lean into some practices and rhythms that help us live unhurried, so we can actually build up our life with God and others.
Locations & Times
Elements City Church
1825 N Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85712, USA
Sunday 5:00 PM
Thanks for joining us...
Whether you're on-site or online, we are praying that tonight will be an encouragement to your soul. May God whisper to you and help you in taking your next steps in a journey with Him. If you're new, we'd love to have you fill out our connection card.
https://connect-card.com/yr4Y0g8VLBSqzKXeubjbQuote:
"As followers of Christ, we must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives." –Dallas Willard
"As followers of Christ, we must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives." –Dallas Willard
In his book Three Mile an Hour God, the late Japanese theologian Kosuke Koyama put this language around it:
“God walks “slowly” because he is love. If he is not love he would have gone much faster. Love has its speed. It is an inner speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed. It is “slow” - yet it is lord over all other speeds since it is the speed of love.”
“God walks “slowly” because he is love. If he is not love he would have gone much faster. Love has its speed. It is an inner speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed. It is “slow” - yet it is lord over all other speeds since it is the speed of love.”
Key thought:
Practicing the life rhythms of my Savior,
with HELP from my Savior,
will actually enable me to live more like my Savior.
Practicing the life rhythms of my Savior,
with HELP from my Savior,
will actually enable me to live more like my Savior.
"Time Creep" throughout history... (we went through examples)
I often think Christ’s lifestyle wouldn’t be compatible with the typical pace of our western / American culture…
hurry sickness robs us of Christ’s light burden & leads to fatigue
I often think Christ’s lifestyle wouldn’t be compatible with the typical pace of our western / American culture…
hurry sickness robs us of Christ’s light burden & leads to fatigue
**Highly recommend John Mark Comer's book: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World
HURRY SICKNESS SYMPTOMS:
Irritability
Hypersensitivity
Restlessness
Workaholism
Emotional numbness
Out-of-order priorities
Lack of care for your body
Escapist behaviors
Slippage of spiritual disciplines (habits)
Isolation
...an over-busy, hurried life of speed is the new normal in the Western world, and it’s toxic - potentially dangerous and seems incompatible with living a life of union with Jesus.
HURRY SICKNESS SYMPTOMS:
Irritability
Hypersensitivity
Restlessness
Workaholism
Emotional numbness
Out-of-order priorities
Lack of care for your body
Escapist behaviors
Slippage of spiritual disciplines (habits)
Isolation
...an over-busy, hurried life of speed is the new normal in the Western world, and it’s toxic - potentially dangerous and seems incompatible with living a life of union with Jesus.
Greatest problem of hurried sickness: it diminishes our capacity to love.
Exercising slowing & solitude allowed Jesus to have a busy schedule WITHOUT living with a hurried heart and mind.
Exercising slowing & solitude allowed Jesus to have a busy schedule WITHOUT living with a hurried heart and mind.
Living unhurried trains us to not elevate tasks over people!
Exercising slowness, prepares us to minister to the aloneness needs of people around us. …to minister at deeper levels.
Living unhurried trains us to be sensitive and aware to the people around you.
Exercising slowness, prepares us to minister to the aloneness needs of people around us. …to minister at deeper levels.
Living unhurried trains us to be sensitive and aware to the people around you.
Hurry just might be one of the biggest weapons Satan fires against Christians in our cultural moment.
Quote:
“Corrie ten Boom once said that if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy. There’s truth in that. Both sin and busyness have the exact same effect—they cut off your connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul.” -John Mark Comer
Quote:
“Corrie ten Boom once said that if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy. There’s truth in that. Both sin and busyness have the exact same effect—they cut off your connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul.” -John Mark Comer
Quotes:
“It’s because it kills love that hurry is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life. Hurry lies behind much of the anger and frustration of modern life. Hurry prevents us from receiving love from the Father or giving it to His children. That’s why Jesus never hurried." –John Ortberg
"Hurry is not just a disordered schedule. Hurry is a disordered heart."
--John Ortberg
“It’s because it kills love that hurry is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life. Hurry lies behind much of the anger and frustration of modern life. Hurry prevents us from receiving love from the Father or giving it to His children. That’s why Jesus never hurried." –John Ortberg
"Hurry is not just a disordered schedule. Hurry is a disordered heart."
--John Ortberg
We must relearn the power of pause (of slowing & stillness)
→ start weaving slowing practices / moments into your day:
...to get reprogrammed to live for things of the Kingdom of God and to resist getting swept up pushing forward for the earthly Kingdom of Things.
Practice of Slowing fights against our “hurry sickness” – It’s the Spiritual Vitamin C we all need.
Quote:
"As followers of Christ, we must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives." –Dallas Willard
→ start weaving slowing practices / moments into your day:
...to get reprogrammed to live for things of the Kingdom of God and to resist getting swept up pushing forward for the earthly Kingdom of Things.
Practice of Slowing fights against our “hurry sickness” – It’s the Spiritual Vitamin C we all need.
Quote:
"As followers of Christ, we must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives." –Dallas Willard
Thank you for partnering with our mission...
Thank you for enabling us to be the Church in our city! Your gifts help fuel the mission of Elements City Church, as well as our capacity to share His love with as many as we can. You help us bring the HOPE and LIGHT of Jesus to our city! You can give online at the link below or through the Elements app.
http://elementscitychurch.org/giveWhether you joined us on-site or online, thanks for being with us tonight!
Let's make plans to get together again NEXT SUNDAY as we continue our series: UNHURRIED...living more at the pace of grace.
Let's make plans to get together again NEXT SUNDAY as we continue our series: UNHURRIED...living more at the pace of grace.