Spiritual Practices: The Holy Habits of Faith

Celebration & Rest

June 28, 2020 • Jon Thompson

Celebration and rest are essential aspects of one's spiritual life. They produce a divine joy that fuels everything else we are called to do as believers. So how do we celebrate and rest in the midst of pain, suffering, and urgency?

Service

June 21, 2020 • Jon Thompson

Serve others: easy to say, hard to do—especially when it comes at a personal cost. Jesus calls us to actively will the good of others, including those who we'd rather ignore (or perhaps even harm). This is radical love. This is reconciliation. This is the way through which the Kingdom of God flips our cultural models upside-down and begins to emerge in the here and now. We weren't created and saved to sit on the sidelines. It's time for us to love boldly and find Jesus at the middle of it all.

Simplicity & Sacrifice

June 14, 2020 • Jon Thompson

Are you paying attention to what really matters? Nothing is more valuable than our personal time and attention, and yet we rarely create space to ask ourselves whether our choices are leading us into deeper relationship with God. In a culture obsessed with complexity and accumulation, Jesus calls us to practice simplicity and sacrifice. Why? Because these disciplines, when done as acts of worship, lead us to the One who is able to free us from the tireless cycle of never feeling like we have (or are) enough.

Study

May 31, 2020 • Jon Thompson

What is the Bible? How do we engage with this strange and ancient collection of writings today? The Bible reveals the ultimate story of reality—one that weaves our personal stories into a grand narrative that leads to Jesus. Studying the scriptures is about more than the accumulation of knowledge—it's a gateway to encounter and transformation. As is often the case with Jesus, this is about both the head and the heart.

Chastity

May 24, 2020 • Jon Thompson

Why does God care about what I do with my body? Come learn how our sexuality relates to discipleship—and how Jesus wants to help us discover a whole new way to be human in what he calls "The Kingdom of God". This is a conversation about relationship and trust. Will you accept that Jesus knows what's best for our hearts and bodies?

Fasting & Secrecy

May 17, 2020 • Jon Thompson

Fasting might be the most abused and neglected spiritual practice—yet Jesus expected his followers to fast regularly. When it comes to spiritual disciplines, our motives determine the fruit. Join us as we explore how fasting, when rightly practiced, leads to freedom and transformation.

Solitude & Silence

May 10, 2020 • Jon Thompson

How often do you spend time in the quiet alone with God? Solitude and silence were at the heart of Jesus' life and ministry. He often withdrew to the "lonely place" before engaging with the crowds and challenges that lay before him. If we treat Jesus as our model, learning how to minimize the noise and increase our attentiveness to God may be the secret to thriving within the chaos of our modern age.

Confession

May 3, 2020 • Jon Thompson

Confession is an integral part of our walk with Jesus. It's through the practice of confession that we move out of our hiddenness and into God's inexhaustible grace and mercy. Simply put, confession leads to true freedom—so how do we do it?

Prayer

April 26, 2020 • Jon Thompson

“To pray is to accept that we are, and always will be, wholly dependent on God for everything.” —Timothy Keller How do we talk to God? The disciples asked Jesus this very question; He answered by giving them the Lord’s Prayer. Using this ancient prayer as our framework, join us as we learn how to converse with the Father today.

An Introduction to Spiritual Practices

April 19, 2020 • Jon Thompson

To become like Jesus, we must spend time with Jesus. We do this through spiritual practices. If spiritual gifts are a guaranteed place of power, spiritual practices are a guaranteed place of transformation. They lead us into the presence of God after we’ve encountered him through Jesus so that he may transform us from the inside out.

Sanctus Church