The Unhurried Life

By Rick Bayer, September 29, 2024

The Unhurried Life - Church on the 5th

Introduction

Welcome to Church on the 5th! We are so glad you are here. And we are grateful to all the hosts who arranged for us to use their clubhouses so we could engage in neighbourhood church. Thank you to our brunch coordinators and for bringing a dish to share.

Worship Song

Holy Spirit

Verse 1

There's nothing worth more that will ever come close

No thing can compare You're our living hope

Your Presence

I've tasted and seen of the sweetest of loves

Where my heart becomes free and my shame is undone

In Your Presence Lord

Chorus

Holy Spirit You are welcome here

Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere

Your glory God is what our hearts long for

To be overcome by Your Presence Lord

Interlude

Your Presence Lord

Your Presence

Oh God how we love Your Presence Lord

Bridge

Let us become more aware of Your Presence

Let us experience the glory of Your goodness (Lord) (repeat)

Bryan Torwalt | Katie Torwalt © 2011 Capitol CMG Genesis; Jesus Culture Music

Behavioural Symptoms of the Hurried Life:

  1. Moving from one check-out line to another because yours is moving too slowly.
  2. Constantly switching lanes while driving to get ahead.
  3. No time to care for your body: depriving yourself of sleep, healthy eating, exercise, etc.
  4. Escapist behaviours: you seek solace in binge-watching or scrolling social media.
  5. Your life is constantly speeding up: you talk faster, read faster, microwave faster.
  6. Your life has too much clutter: you keep acquiring stuff and your life feels burdened.

Emotional symptoms of the Hurried Life:

  1. Restlessness: when you try to slow down, you can’t.
  2. Non-stop work or activity: your drug of choice is accomplishment and accumulation.
  3. Irritability: it just takes a small thing or small comment to set you off and you’re annoyed.
  4. Sunset fatigue: by evening you have nothing left to give to others.
  5. Inability to love well: you are too drained or too preoccupied to love satisfactorily.

Introduce yourself and then discuss the following questions:

  1. Pick one behavioural symptom and one emotional symptom that describe your hurried life. Why did you pick these?
  2. What do you think all this distraction and pace of life is doing to our souls?

Luke 10:38-42 NIV

As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed - or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42 NIV

  1. Does your life’s balance more align with Martha’s or Mary’s? Why?
  2. What does “sitting at the feet of Jesus” currently look like for you? What could it look like?
  1. Is your prayer life more like Martha’s or Mary’s? Do your prayers consist mostly of demands of Jesus like Martha prayed (“Jesus please do this…now!”) or does your prayer life more resemble Mary’s; one sitting at the feet of Jesus?
  1. What would it look like for you to acknowledge the noise and distractions in your life? What would it take for you to be quiet so you experience the peace and presence of God (turn off TV, silence devices, find right space, set reminder on phone, etc)?

Worship Song

Build My Life

Verse 1

Worthy of ev'ry song we could ever sing

Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring

Worthy of ev'ry breath we could ever breathe We live for You

Verse 2

Jesus the name above ev'ry other name

Jesus the only one who could ever save

Worthy of ev'ry breath we could ever breathe

We live for You

We live for You

Chorus

Holy there is no one like You

There is none beside You

Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are

And fill me with Your heart

And lead me in Your love to those around me

Bridge

I will build my life upon Your love

It is a firm foundation

I will put my trust in You alone

And I will not be shaken

Brett Younker | Karl Martin | Kirby Kaple | Matt Redman | Pat Barrett © 2016 Kaple Music; Capitol CMG Genesis; Housefires Sounds; Said And Done Music; sixsteps Music; Thankyou Music; Vamos Publishing; worshiptogether.com songs; Martin, Karl Andrew; Bethel Music Publishing

Prayer