Table Rhythms

Yeah, there we go.

All we gotta do is take it off mute.

That's all we have to do.

It does work better that way.

Thank you, sir.

My name's Russ.

I'm one of the pastors here at Church of the Grove.

I am so grateful to see this room filled at 8.45.

Welcome to the new routine.

I'm also scared to death that nobody will be here at 10.15.

Or 11.45.

It is good.

It's a new routine.

And you get, listen, I I was, I mean, I I really was moved when I came, I went out to go to the restroom and I come back in, the room is full at 8:45.

And so thank you, church.

Thank you so much.

What a great morning and a new beginning to our new routine.

I'm a routine kind of person.

And my wife would will tell you if you're here later, she'll be here later.

But she'll be here at 10:15.

But she says I she she started calling me an old man 30 years ago.

Because I'm just, I like routine.

I like to get up at the same time.

I like to exercise in a certain way and time.

And so I like routine.

And so I new routines are tough sometimes for me to adjust.

But this is a new routine.

It's an exciting routine.

Routines are easy to plan and hard to practice.

Right?

We experience that probably every January, don't we?

New routines.

I'm like, I'm going to the gym every day.

I'm going to put in my hour.

And we're going to do that.

We're going to, hey, we're going to, we're going to do family dinners.

We're going to have family dinners.

How does that work out for you?

Does it come real easy?

You know, the enemy is against the kind of routines we're talking about.

He wants to keep you from spending a Sabbath day with him.

And he wants you to feel guilty.

He wants you to feel like you're being lazy.

Whether it's Sabbath or fasting, it's a tough routine.

Another routine is to make time for the kind of relationships that will help us, that will encourage us, that will help us to move forward.

And it's really about learning the types of rhythms and practices that will form us and shape us into what God wants us to be, which is to be Jesus to broken people, to be Jesus in a difficult world.

And so the rhythms and the practices and the routines that we establish, some are by accident.

They're not intentional.

Some are intentional and they need to be intentional.

They need to be on purpose.

They all influence the person that we're becoming.

Our routines, our practices, our rhythms in life, listen to me, whether they're planned or unplanned, they will shape you into the person that you will end up becoming.

And it's true for all of us, whether we realize or not, we need healthy rhythms in our life.

John Mark Comer says, we become our habits.

You can say we become our routines.

What we give our attention to, he says, is the person we become.

And so the question is, who are you becoming?

What are you being shaped into?

And is that plan intentional?

Because you will have rhythms and practices and patterns, routines.

You will have them, whether they are planned or unplanned, whether they are intentional or unintentional.

And so what we learn in Scripture is that God puts routines in place so we can be formed into the image of Jesus, intentional rhythms.

And listen, we struggle with that.

This past year has not been a great year for me to maintain rhythms because I had a surgery in January of 2024.

I've had a mother that has been terminally ill, passed away in May, and so it's it's been a complete upheaval.

And so I desperately yearn for some of these routines.

And and and and and I I want to do it all in one day.

I want to go from zero to my workout plan that I had before I had surgery.

And I can't do that.

I've got to take, I may have to take that and cut it in half, or I may have to cut it again down to a fourth to start.

And so we get frustrated, and so we we throw in the towel.

And one of the things that I've learned, and I think we all need to learn and learn together, is that faith is not something that is like a microwave.

Faith is more like a crock pipe.

And it listen, faith is most often formed in the small, slow, mundane, everyday routines of life.

And so you gotta start somewhere, you gotta jump in somehow.

And so here's a question what if our spiritual life isn't just about what we believe on Sunday, but about what we build into our entire week?

Listen, that's where God meets us in those small, mundane rhythms.

And yes, listen, I love the big miracle moment.

I love the big, you know, Saul to Paul kind of testimony.

I love it when it I love hearing that.

That's incredible.

But God, we read His scripture, we look at the entire arc of the historical narrative of the gospel.

That God works in the ordinary rhythms of our life.

And so, what if God wants to meet us in these rhythms?

And here's the big idea for today.

If you're a note-taker, this is something you could write down and repeat and put on a post-it note or an index card, the rhythms you practice, the rhythms that I practice determine the person I will become.

The rhythms you practice will determine the person you become.

And so, if you've got your Bibles, turn to Luke chapter 22, and we're going to talk about this routine and rhythm that God established through his son Jesus Christ, where he takes an ancient tradition and he redefines it with a new routine and tradition.

Luke 22 · chapter mention

And we call it the Lord's Supper or Communion, the Eucharist.

And it's a, listen, it's one of these routines, it's one of the rooms that we practice that we we can't do alone.

I mean, that's one thing about the Lord's Supper is that somebody has to serve communion or the Lord's Supper to somebody else.

I mean, and I can't serve it to myself.

I need the routine, and this is a reminder, this routine, this rhythm that God instituted, that Jesus instituted.

Luke 22, 14 through 16, here's what he says, and with the hour came, he reclined at the table, and the apostles with him.

Then he said to them, I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

What is he about to suffer?

He's about to suffer arrest.

He's about to suffer a cruel beating.

He's about to suffer through through giving his body and his blood as a sacrifice for you and for me.

In verse 16, he says, For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

What's he instituting?

What is he, what routine is he talking about?

He's talking about the Lord's Supper.

And what is what does he use?

What's the ancient tradition?

It's the Passover celebration.

See, rhythms and routines were built into the Jewish way of life.

They still are to this day.

And so they have several major festivals throughout the year that helped them refocus, help them re-engage with their identity as God's children.

And so one of those, and it was the Passover, so significant, you know, it came out of the experience of the Exodus when God's people were set free and they had to slay and kill a lamb and take the blood of that lamb and wipe it on the doorpost.

And so that became an annual celebration and remembrance and and moving forward to this, Jesus uses this ancient tradition and redefines it for God's people, God's family.

And so what we have learned in this series that the table is significant in our life.

The table is important.

The table is a place where we gather and we experience the invitation that Jesus gives.

And I love it because Jesus invites the outcast.

He invites the people that all the religious leaders didn't anticipate that he would invite.

And this becomes a practice that he establishes everybody's welcome at the table.

And the table is a place where we experience that love and that mercy and that grace of Jesus.

It's also a place where we experience the fellowship with one another and a place where we can be vulnerable, a place where we can confess our sins, a place where we can challenge and encourage one another.

We've learned that throughout this series, and I'm just so thankful for Jonah and Pat and Nathan and all those that teach the word and have been a part of this series.

And so what we learned today is this is that there's routines and rhythms.

Well, the table is where rhythms are found.

The table is where rhythms are found.

And so Jesus and the disciples, they had been experiencing and practicing the routine of the Passover celebration, but then Jesus takes the Passover celebration and he gives it a new identity.

And so we probably would look at it like experiencing Christmas or Easter, some of those key moments throughout the year.

But the Passover, it was more than just sitting down and having a meal.

It was a storytelling routine, a storytelling rhythm and ritual.

And it was a way for God's people to remember that God is good and God is faithful and God is with us.

And they tell the story about how God would have rescued their ancestors generations ago and how they would experience that very first Passover and the significance of the fact that the death angel came over all of Egypt and all of those homes that had blood on the doorpost, the death angel passed over.

And so, Russ, we we still experience death, yes, we do, but but when we are marked, our hearts are marked with the blood of Jesus, although our bodies may give in to decay at some point in the future, when we look at the eternal perspective, we will never experience death.

And the death angel passes over us.

And so Jesus takes this ancient practice and he points to it and introduces a new rhythm called the Lord's Supper.

And I love the Lord's Supper.

I love communion.

I'm so thankful for Don and Charlene Ken.

I was, I can't help when I drive up on this property right now in this season, I feel like a baby with candy.

I mean, I don't know about you, but I mean it's like I had to pinch myself.

But I was thinking just recently about my introduction to Don Cannon as a mayor, and he's beginning to share a vision about this community.

I love this because we got two mayors here this morning.

One of our past mayors and our current mayor.

And so the beauty of that is being able to look back and see how God has brought that vision into reality through the leadership God has provided, and we as a church to get to be a part of that.

And so these new rhythms are about us as a community, the historical, theological significance.

And so this rhythm is a way to honor and remember who God is, what he's done for us, how faithful he is, but it's also meant to be a spiritual formation tool, which is spiritual formation, another word for that phrase is discipleship, a tool of discipleship.

And it's part of this long obedience.

We want microwave.

We want to be transformed like a microwave, but this is crockpot formation.

Eugene Peterson says, following Jesus is a long obedience in the same direction.

And so I don't know about you, but I feel like sometimes I'm not making any progress.

Sometimes I feel like I'm going backwards, but I have to be reminded this is a marathon, it is not a sprint.

And so we have these reminders, like the Lord's Supper, like these annual celebrations, they become tools in our spiritual formation.

We see it in the early church.

The early church continued looking back at the ancient traditions and bringing it into the fresh, new, redefined family of God, God's people, the church.

And so we know Jesus was crucified, he was buried, he rose again on the third day, he spent a period of time investing in his disciples, and then he tells them to go to the upper room and pray and wait for the helper, the comforter, the Holy Spirit.

And so the Holy Spirit comes and he comes in power, and they experience this incredible manifestation of God's power, very unusual, tongues of fire on their heads.

They're speaking in languages that are unknown to them, but are in the languages of all the people who have come from all over the world to celebrate God and remember God.

And so the church is born in that event.

But what happens?

It's great.

See, we're we're reborn at salvation.

Sometimes we think, hey, check, got that done, but it's really a beginning place.

It's a starting point for God to do his work of forming us.

And how does he work?

He works through our routines and our rhythms.

And so the early church, what do they do?

They they established this raw power and passion.

It says in verse 46, every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple.

It's a rhythm.

Broke bread from house to house, rhythm, routine.

They eat their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

Can you say all the people?

Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

And so the early church had been gathering in the temple.

They're also gathering around the table daily.

They're praying, they're teaching, they're remembering God's goodness.

They're sharing gratitude and thanksgiving.

They confess their sins one to another.

They share needs, they encourage one another, they provide financial resources to make sure that nobody has a need that is unmet.

They served, they gave and they served and gave resources for the poor.

They didn't have cathedrals.

Listen to me.

I'm thankful for this season where God is leading us.

But let me tell you something that I told a group of people 19 years ago today.

19 years ago today, we had our first gathering at youth middle school.

And I told everybody that day, I said, the church is not a building.

And people are going to ask you where your church is.

I told them, don't give the address of youth middle school.

When people ask you where your church is, and it's still true to this day, don't think 1050 Walnut Grove Parkway.

I mean, because that's not the church.

That's a building.

It's a tool.

My vision is it would become a hub.

Out of that hub would be more church plants, more ministry, more missionaries, more church campuses.

And then out of this hub, we continue to see God do his work.

But that is not the church.

On any given day, my church can be found at work, at school, shopping, playing pickleball, fellowshipping, having meals together, going about life, but doing it with other people.

That's why, listen, we had a we had a membership gathering, our covenant membership gathering last night.

We were talking about the importance of church because we don't take attendance.

We don't want to be a church that judges you for missing a Sunday.

That's just not who we are.

But we don't want to say that it's not important because it is.

And it's why is it important?

Because it's a rhythm.

It's that weekly reminder.

I can't do this alone.

I need God.

I want to thank God.

I want to worship Him.

I want to pray to Him.

And so praying, it's like praying before a meal.

Is that a routine, a ritual?

Is it something you do?

You connect with God, but it's a good anchor.

It's a good anchor for us.

You need time with God every day.

You need to be in the Word every day.

You need to establish routines where you nurture your relationship with God.

But you know what else is involved?

Is other people become part of our rhythms and routines.

And so at Church of the Grove, we we put together community groups.

We organize and facilitate.

We can't create community for you.

We try to facilitate it.

It's up to you to take a step.

And you know what?

Listen, here's what a lot of people do.

They try to take a step.

They haven't ever been experienced, experienced, you know, community and routine and rhythm like this.

They try it one or two times, they don't see any change, and all of a sudden you say, Well, that's not working.

And that's why you've got to be reminded that this is not a microwave life, it's a crock pot life.

It's a long obedience.

And you do that with other people.

You do that.

And so the this idea is that we establish rhythms and routines that include other people.

Now, I know community is something that's organic.

You can't force it, you can't, you can, you know, like these groups don't necessarily uh help us arrive at community, but they they hopefully push us toward community.

And then at some point you'll you you know, you you'll you'll wake up and you'll there there's a group of people that you found that you've been doing life with.

Some of them might you might work with, some of you go to church with, but some of them might go to other churches, but you have some community.

Why do we need this?

Why does it seem so hard?

The enemy doesn't want you to experience this.

The enemy wants you to struggle.

Why?

Because he wants to direct our culture, because our culture idolizes spontaneity over structure.

And so we want to wait until the last minute to commit to something because we're just want to make sure that nothing better comes along.

Ouch.

We're overstimulated as a culture and a society.

We have a hard time committing because we are constantly being distracted.

Because busyness has become a badge of honor, and we don't build any margin into our lives.

Margin is the extra, and it's the extra that you need.

Just like the margin or the shoulder of a road gives you a little extra space.

Just like having a little money in the bank provides for that emergency.

You need margin, you need spiritual margin and emotional margin as well.

And sometimes it's in that space.

And so we've learned and we've been trained to compartmentalize our lives, and we say, God, get Sunday, but I'm going to keep the rest of the week.

That's just where real life is.

And so here's what we learn through the rhythms through the Lord's Supper is that we have to prioritize what we value in life.

We live in a culture that wants to talk about values, family values, relational values, Christian values.

But listen, a lot of times, those of us that preach it good, we don't live it well.

And so we let we let other things become our priorities.

And so Jesus would have never considered skipping out on this meal with his people.

He knew it was part of becoming who God had called him to be.

And he introduces this idea about this new family, this new way of life, this new people.

And that's what we learned here, and this is kind of where I'll conclude this morning the table is where family is redefined.

It's where family is redefined.

You know, when they came to Jesus and they they said Jesus is preaching and teaching, and his mother and his some of his siblings were coming to try to grab him and get his attention.

And they said, Jesus, your mother's here, your brothers are here.

And he said, Who is my mother?

Who are my brothers?

He said, but you all are my family.

You, the church, the people, my disciples are my family.

And so he redefines family.

Family is not just limited to biological.

Family now primarily is defined by how you relate to God.

Is he your heavenly father?

Have you embraced this new identity of redemption and forgiveness and grace?

In verse 17, he comes back and he institutes a new rhythm and routine.

Verse 17, then he took a cup.

And after giving thanks, he said, Take this and share it among yourselves, for I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.

And so Jesus tells the disciples to share it among themselves, which might seem ordinary to us, but it's deeply significant.

This was not your typical dinner party.

This was a holy, sacred moment, the Passover meal.

And in Jewish tradition, the Passover was meant to be celebrated with your immediate and extended family in your home.

This is intimacy.

This is this is this is family.

This is something that you wouldn't share your family opportunities with those outside your family, but Jesus is redefining family.

It's not defined by your biological connections.

It is defined by who is your heavenly father.

Are you a child of God?

Are you a part of God's family?

Can you look back to the Exodus?

Can you look back to King David?

Can you look back to Jesus?

Can you look back to the early church and say, I am a part of this?

I am significant in this way that I am part of God's family.

As a result, we have these new rhythms in our life.

And it's a spiritual family gathered around the truth of the gospel, coming to remember the past and what God has done.

But Jesus institutes a new vantage point of this meal.

It's not just about looking back, it's about looking forward.

He tells the disciples, You won't celebrate, I won't celebrate this meal with you in person again until we gather around the table at this celebration of the kingdom when I return.

And so this celebration, as we take the wafer, the bread, and we dip it into the juice, the fruit of the vine, we are looking back.

We are looking back at what Jesus has provided through his death, his broken body given for us, for our redemption.

The fruit of the vine represents the blood that was spilled for you and for me.

And I love it because when we're singing, sometimes we're singing songs that are celebratory that, hey, we are all the children of God.

We are God's people.

Isn't this good?

And then all of a sudden we go to the next song.

The next song, I'm not talking to anybody except Jesus.

And it's not either or, it's both and.

I am in the presence of God.

And it is so personal, but I am with my family.

And so we celebrate together.

So will you come in a second?

And we've got tables here, and y'all know that we have a little bit of a new routine.

If you're kind of in this back part of the room, we've got a table now outside in the lobby.

And so these front sections can come, and this back sections can go out.

The back, you take the wafer of the bread, you dip it into the juice.

You can pray, you can gather with your biological family.

You might gather with some of your extended family and your community of Jesus community.

Pray together and then look for opportunities.

Maybe to pray for somebody else.

Maybe to share a word of encouragement, a word that could be prophetic and powerful in the life of somebody.

And to celebrate the goodness of God, celebrate the connection that we have as a family, and to understand that God has called us to routines and rhythms, and that we He wants us to be intentional.

He wants us to be intentional and establish and not forsake Him, not forsake His presence, not forsake His grace, and not forsake the family, not forsake the gathering of the saints.

We come in our rhythms and routines, being dependent.

Saying, in a sense, in what we're about to say here, that we trust in God.

We trust in what He has provided in Jesus, our own personal redemption, but we also celebrate, hey, we as a people are redeemed.

And then I don't know about you, but I've needed to be reminded of this so significantly.

In this season, is how you talk to yourself.

It matters so much.

Because your identity, what you think about yourself, what you say to yourself, is a reflection of how you see yourself in relationship to God.

And this verse, it's just, I've come back to this verse, God brings it back over and over.

As your eyes are closed and heads are bowed.

Isaiah 43.

But now, thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who has formed you, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you.

I have called you by name.

I've called you by name.

You are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.

When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

Father, we love you.

We thank you for your goodness and grace.

We thank you for our new identity.

Lord, may our thoughts, even our self-talk, our perspective change.

I am a child.

I am no longer a sinner in identity.

I am a saint.

I am a righteous one.

I am a child of the Heavenly Father.

I'm redeemed.

I am bought by the blood of Jesus.

We come to his table to remember his goodness.

Thank you, Jesus.

Our team's going to lead us as they lead us that as soon as they begin to sing the first note.

Depending on where you're seated, come make your way to the tables.

My left, right, or out in the lobby area.

Father, we thank you for your goodness.

Help us to establish routines that honor you and help shape and form us into the image of your Son Jesus.

Amen.