Redeemer East Side Update

Practicing PEACE

Yesterday we introduced the five Practices of PEACE that we want to see shape our life together as a community. I believe that these five simple practices kept sustainably over time will both draw you closer to God while also sending you deeper into the world. In many ways, these practices take the vision, mission, and values of our church, which we considered in the fall, and distill them into ordinary practices for your everyday life. They are:

Pause weekly for sabbath rest
Eat intentionally with those different from you
Ask curiously to spark spiritual conversations
Commune deeply with others who want to join in Jesus’ mission
Examine daily, through Scripture and prayer

I know looking at a list of spiritual practices can feel overwhelming. But I want to assure you that, as you begin to build these practices into your life, you will discover that this is actually an invitation to do more by doing less.

For the longest time, I had this belief that being close to Jesus and going out into the world were two opposite things and that the key to spiritual growth was figuring out how to go back and forth regularly between the two. This assumption left me feeling like when I wanted to be on mission for Jesus, I was somehow apart from him. And in order to be with Jesus, I had to step away from his mission. To be sure, rhythms of sabbath rest are crucial—pausing for a weekly sabbath is, after all, the first of our practices! But, this quote from the great missionary and theologian Lesslie Newbigin was eye-opening for me: “The deepest motive for mission is simply the desire to be with Jesus where he is, on the frontier between the reign of God and the usurped dominion of the devil.” It was striking to realize that the way to stay close to Jesus was to follow him where he was on mission. Suddenly, practices for spiritual health and practices for missional living were no longer opposites; I could be filled with his peace while offering and embodying his peace in the world. It felt so much simpler!

These Practices of PEACE grow out of that conviction. As hard as this pandemic and the turmoil throughout our nation have been for so many of us, it provides us all an opportunity to grow closer to God. It gives us the chance to reflect on the practices we are already (often unintentionally) keeping and the kind of person they are forming us into. It also gives us a chance to take sustainable steps towards replacing some of those practices with practices that will help form the life of Christ in us.

So, join us as we embark on this journey to be transformed together as a community. We’d love to send you an essential guidebook to help you build the practice each month. For me and my family, these simple practices have changed our lives in very real ways. And as we look to build these practices into our lives together, remember always that the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, is a gift of God’s grace found in Christ alone. We practice peace, not to achieve or earn it, but to live abundantly within it.

Warmly,

Rev. Abraham Cho
East Side Senior Pastor

---

Purposeful Transformation through Practices

What kind of transformation do you dream about? Here are some of the ways we are dreaming about what our community and city could look like when we submit to Christ through small, ordinary practices and spreading His love.

---

PEACE Stories: Introduction

Through the Practices of PEACE — Pause, Eat, Ask, Commune, and Examine — we want to open up space for God’s peace and purposes to transform us. Then, filled with the peace of Christ, we pass his peace onto the people and places where we live, work and love. together. Here's Abe and Jordyn's story of how they experienced the practices individually and as a family.

---