Introducing the Spiritual Disciplines

Don Whitney is speaking at a conference about Jonathan Edwards (1703-58). Edwards was a pastor-theologian who pastored his Church through a season of revival, and who left us a legacy of theological and philosophical works that people are still writing PhDs on! Some scholars think he was the greatest theologian the English speaking world has ever produced. He was a great friend of people like George Whitfield and David Brainerd. Much of his theology is focussed on incredibly practical issues of Christian experience and discipleship. You don’t need to know anything about Edwards to appreciate this talk. If you wanted to get an overview of his life and some lessons learnt from it, there is another talk on youtube that might be helpful: Biography of Jonathan Edwards (audio only).

The focus of this talk is Edward’s own thinking on and experience of the Spiritual Disciplines, and his encounter with God as a result. Enjoy!

Discussion Questions for Invitation week:

Do you think Whitney is too optimistic about the kind of progress we could make in our pursuit of godliness?

How can we avoid making the same mistakes the Pharisees made in our practise of the Spiritual Disciplines?

Do you have any experience that resonates with Edwards’ sense of encounter with God? Do you think it is fair to put this quality of relationship with God down to his pracitse of the Spiritual Disciplines?

Is there anything in Edwards practise that you think you could learn from? … imitate? …make your own in some way? Or do you think this is a way of life that is no longer possible in the 21st Century? What do you make of Whitney’s dealing with the question of whether this is realistic or not?

What in this talk inspired and encouraged you? …what intimidated you? …what left you feel like giving up?

What surprised you in this talk?

What is your own experience of Spiritual Disciplines? What would you like it to be? What help and support would you need to pursue that?

Overview of the Book of Revelation

During lockdown we did a Bible Read Through, and as part of that I sat at the kitchen table in the vicarage and did an Overview of books as we got to them in the Read Through scehdule. We did it all by Zoom at breakfast time on a Saturday morning. Here is the one we did on the Book of Revelation, in two parts:

Should we baptize infants?

It’s hard to find good discussions about baptism on Youtube! This is one of the better ones I’ve found, but the ‘problem’ with it is that these guys are working so hard at modelling unity in the Gospel that I’m not sure they really get to the heart of the issue… but I guess there is a limit to what you can do in less than 10 minutes!

NB: For some reason, the video starts part way in, so you’ll need to scroll back to the beginning.

…and if you want a helpful restatement of the ‘We should baptize infants’ arguments, this is great:

Baptism Liturgy

…to the whole congregation:

Faith is the gift of God to His people.  In baptism, the Lord is adding to His Church those whom He is calling.  People of God will you welcome [Name] and uphold him in his life in Christ?

With the help of God, we will.

…to the parents & Godparents:

Parents and God-parents, the Church receives [Name] with joy.  Today we are trusting God for his growth in faith.  Will you pray for him, draw him by your example into the community of faith, and walk with him in the way of Christ?

With the help of God, we will.

In his baptism, [Name] begins his journey in faith.  You speak for him today.  Will you care for him, and help him take his place within the life and worship of Christ’s Church?

With the help of God, we will.

In baptism, God calls us out of darkness into his marvellous light.  To follow Christ means dying to sin and rising to new life with him.  Therefore I ask:

Do you reject the devil and all rebellion against God?

I reject them.

Do you renounce the deceit and corruption of evil?

I renounce them.

Do you repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbour?

I repent of them.

Do you turn to Christ as Saviour?

I turn to Christ.

Do you submit to Christ as Lord?

I submit to Christ.

Do you come to Christ, the way, the truth and the life?

I come to Christ.

Parents and God-parents are given copies of a Gospel as a symbol of their commitment to trust in and follow Jesus Christ and His teachings.

Signing with the Cross:

Christ claims you for his own. Receive the sign of his cross.  Do not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified.

All: Fight valiantly as a disciple of Christ against sin, the world and the devil, and remain faithful to Christ to the end of your life.

The minister prays for those being baptised.

Confession of faith:

Brothers and sisters, I ask you to profess together with [Name]’s parents and God-parents the faith of the Church.

Do you believe and trust in God the Father?

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

Do you believe and trust in his Son Jesus Christ?

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

Do you believe and trust in the Holy Spirit?

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Parents & God-parents, is this your faith?

This is my faith.

Baptism:        

[Name], I baptize you

in the name of the Father,

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism:

Thomas, by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body.

We welcome you into the fellowship of faith;

we are children of the same heavenly Father;

we welcome you.

Questions to discuss in Meet-Up Week

Congratulations on organising a meet-up for this week, beginning 19th. Hope you have a great time encouraging each other in your discipleship projects!

Of course, the conversation can be a wide-ranging one, and you may have things you’d like to talk and pray through that aren’t covered by these topics. But it would be helpful if you covered some of these questions as well:

What is different about your Christian faith as a result of DTP? What are you doing differently?

What does your Rule of Life look like (Q&A 252-255)? How has it changed over the last year? What do you want it to look like by the end of the DTP cycle? How are you planning to build into that?

What are you struggling with at DTP? What would help you as you navigate that?

How has this year’s teaching and reflection affected your engagement with Sunday services?

What would say to someone who felt that DTP wasn’t for them because it was too ‘challenging’?

How would you describe ‘spiritual maturity’?