Personal Formation Training

  

Learning Objectives:

  • Be able to identify liturgical movements in our society including you life and be empowered to choose your worship.

  • Be able to build and 1 new rhythm that would incorporate into their personal formation plan

Laying Groundwork

Q: Why are you here?

Our heart, and desire for this training is not just that you would fill out a piece of paper well, or have a discussion, but that you would regularly encounter the living God.

Desire

“Desire has its own rhythms. Sometimes it ebbs and sometimes it flows. But in the end it is the deepening of spiritual desire and the discipline to arrange our life around our desire that carries us from the shallow waters of superficial human wanting into our soul's movement in the very depths of God.” — Ruth Barton

Everyone is Being Formed

Liturgies are set patterns than form, reinforce, or reform our worship.

Most basic definition is: “the work of the people”.

Cultural Liturgies (a term coined by philosopher James K.A. Smith)

Ex. Laker Home Game

Small Cluster Exercise:

You’ll be assigned a cultural liturgy of the city, think through each aspect of the liturgy. How does it form, reform, or reinforce your worship? What does that liturgy produce in you and others? What story does each element tell? What story do you tell as you participate?

    • A Movie in a Theater

    • A Concert at the Hollywood Bowl

    • Eating at a nice/hip restaurant

Personal Liturgies

Most are accidental, few are intentional, but all of them shape us.

Accidental = liturgies that happen to us without proactive choice.

Intentional = liturgies that happen because we choose them and fight for them because they are what we want.

Q: What are some of your personal (both accidental and intentional) liturgies? What are they producing?

Building Momentum that Lasts

Personal formation plan will only be successful if it's of greater desire than us - the glory of God, Kingdom on earth, in us and through us.

“Outside Christ, I am empty; in Christ, I am full.” — Watchman Nee

Personal Formation Tool

Holistic Calling

“O Israel, listen: Jehovah is our God, Jehovah alone. You must love him with all your heart, soul, and might. And you must think constantly about these commandments I am giving you today. You must teach them to your children and talk about them when you are at home or out for a walk; at bedtime and the first thing in the morning. Tie them on your finger, wear them on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house!” — Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Using the Tool

  1. The Scope of Time: think in terms of 1 month/your baby is born/ xyz event(over the next semester —you define and you set up a time to rethink it when that season is done). Tip think proactively about an upcoming time when logistics or life will shift and make a note, this is a plan until that time. When that happens, I need a new plan. (Mike Tyson, Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth)

  2. what are you already doing? (fill in a bit) How can it be transformed into an intentional pursuit of God? (i.e. counseling, DNA, Gatherings, working out, etc.)

  3. Choose a box or two, of things…you want to work on/low hanging fruit that match your desires, intentional liturgies you want to build out that could remain with you.

  4. What’s something within that area you would like to try?

  5. Are there ways you can combine rhythms? Can you batch those?

  6. How can you build momentum overtime? Who should you tell so you can try these rhythms? (I.e. probably let your roommate know you’re practicing a sabbath)

Exercise: take 15 minutes to go through steps 1-4

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