Pseudo-Quarterly Check-In

Are you guys finding the practice of Divine Hours beneficial in its current form? Is it worth continuing? Are there any communal habits or practices you'd like to see us start developing?

I'm beginning to find that our current Divine Hours setup is hard for me to maintain on my own and provides little or no communal support, so I'm thinking it might be best to stop for the time being. I'll take silence as agreement. If you have ideas about how to adjust or replace the practice, or if you love it the way it is, please comment or otherwise get in touch so we can keep going inward and upward together.

Divine Hours for August 28-September 3, 2011

Passage: Romans 8:1-8

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Theme:

Ask God to free us from any condemnation that continues to affect us and replace it with freedom in Jesus.

Community:

Ask someone in the community how you can serve or pray for him this week and start doing it.

Divine Hours for August 21-27, 2011

Theme: Wait on the Lord to receive what he desires to give.

Passage: John 1:14, 16-18

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

...

And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Community: Pray for God to prepare buildings for us to meet in and to live in, and people for us to befriend, serve and serve with.

Divine Hours for August 14-20, 2011

Theme: Thank God for the great kindness he has shown us.

Community: Ask God to help us form new and deeper relationships with people he has gifted in worship and intercession (whether they know him yet or not).

Passage: Isaiah 61:10-62:3

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;

my soul shall exult in my God,

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,

so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise

to sprout up before all the nations.

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,

and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,

until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,

and her salvation as a burning torch.

The nations shall see your righteousness,

and all the kings your glory,

and you shall be called by a new name

that the mouth of the Lord will give.

You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,

and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

Divine Hours for August 7-13, 2011

Theme:

Pray for one another that we will take Christ as our strong refuge and hope.

Passage: Hebrews 6:9-20

9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Community:

Pray for God to grant clear communication as we invite people to join our community and to give wisdom, love and unity to us and to those we invite as the conversations and decisions unfold.

Divine Hours for July 31-August 6, 2011

Passage: Psalm 16

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;

I have no good apart from you.”

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,

in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;

their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

or take their names on my lips.

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;

you hold my lot.

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;

in the night also my heart instructs me.

I have set the LORD always before me;

because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;

my flesh also dwells secure.

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,

or let your holy one see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

(Psalm 16 ESV)

Theme:

We choose God Himself as our reward and His glory over any other goal or purpose.

Community:

Pray that God will confirm to each of us the neighborhood he wants us to commit to together.