Vineyard Covington

Abiding Practice: Silence and Solitude - Part Two

Getting quiet and alone with God helps us turn our attention to the father’s voice of truth and love. In that space our hearts are open and we face the fears and lies that can so often control us.

Keep practicing silence & solitude with us this week! Find a time and place to turn off the external noises and tend to your heart and mind with God.

Abiding Practice: Silence and Solitude

You need a break from the constant noise and chaos of this world.

We're practicing a rhythm that creates space to silence the other voices so we can clarify and turn up the volume on the loving voice of the father in our lives.

This week be intentional about creating space to turn off the noise and withdraw from other voices to connect with God. It's simple, but not easy!

Put your phone in another room, find a quiet place, or maybe get outside for a walk. And then just be present to God and to yourself. No agenda. What do you hear? What do you feel?

Abiding Practice: Remain in My Love

Jesus invites us to learn a new way of living life with him, in constant connection with his love for us. That's where all the good fruit comes from, but it's easy to miss, get distracted, and move on.

What are the ways you make space for staying connected to Jesus?

What are the ways throughout your days where you find yourself wandering off from the love of God?

***Thanks to the amazing Jon Pauly for creating this hopeful song!

Missional Practice: Prophetic Words

When I look at you I see...

As we go about a life of mission with Jesus, the Holy Spirit often gives us words for people that reveal the heart of God for them and how the Father sees who they really are. Sharing these encouraging words and calling out the gold we see in others can lead to powerful moments of encounter with Jesus.

This week pray for the people in your life who don’t yet have relationship with Jesus, and ask the Father to give you something encouraging to share with them. An easy prompt to get you started is, “When I look at you I see…”.

Missional Practice: Healing Prayer

Can I pray for you right now?

There is no sickness in heaven. We want to see his Kingdom come in our city, just like it is heaven. Jesus gives his followers the authority to heal as we go sharing the good news that the Kingdom of Heaven is breaking in. We get to show, not only tell, people what this looks like in a naturally supernatural way, not making it any weirder than it has to be.

This week take a risk of faith to step out and pray. When you see someone in pain ask, “Can I pray for you right now?” And then do it.

Missional Practice: Serve Someone

God blesses his family to be a blessing to the whole world. Jesus came to serve others and calls us to take that same posture as we go to love the world around us.

This week find a way to intentionally serve someone who doesn’t know Jesus as a way of expressing his love. Bake some brownies, deliver a meal, do some lawn work. When you see a need, meet a need. Great creative and let them know it's just a simple way of saying Jesus loves you.

Missional Practice: Talk About What You Love

What are you overflowing with?

People talk about what they love, and when we get below the surface with each other, our deeper experiences and passions naturally come out. Talking about Jesus shouldn’t be weird or scary when it’s your story. It doesn’t mean debating theological doctrines or defending Christian history; it’s simply telling your story with Jesus.

This week, as you spend time with people who don’t know Jesus take a risk and share some of your story with Jesus. Let your experience with him come out and talk about what you love about Jesus.

Missional Practice: Be Interruptible

How do you respond to interruptions in life?

In the Bible so many of Jesus’ encounters with people happen on the way somewhere or in the middle of something else. When we're partnering with the Holy Spirit to live a life of mission, what seems like an interruption can become a moment of life change when the Kingdom breaks in. Divine appointments seem to happen more often when we ask for them and make space to listen and be available.

This week, pray for God to interrupt your busy life with opportunities to share His love and hope with the people around us. How can you make space in your week to be available?

Missional Practice: Hospitality

God has been so generous and welcoming to us so we extend his hospitality to others as a way of putting his goodness on display, giving others a taste of the Kingdom.

Hospitality has a way of breaking fear and loneliness and connecting us together. Many of us are so blessed to have deep community, but a lot of people don’t have that right now. And remember people aren’t projects, they're just people to be loved.

This week, invite your neighbors or friends from outside the family over for brunch or a meal on the front porch/back yard. Get creative in this season. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but do something and have fun!

Missional Practice: Deeper Questions

What's going on below the surface?

Jesus came to be with and find people because he loves them so much. He was an expert at asking deeper questions to get to the heart of who they were and what they wanted so he could invite them to experience his life.

We want to take this posture of compassionate curiosity with the people around us to make a real connection and see where the Spirit is at work. We don't have to have all the answers to start interacting with people.

Let's practice asking deeper questions with the people around us this week.