Rhythm Week 1- Spend Time With God
Notes
Transcript
WHAT? What are we talking about today?
ACTIVITY | Score The Scene
Welcome to our first week of Rhythm. We will see how spending time with God is a lot like the music we listen to. So let's just jump right in with a musical game.
INSTRUCTIONS: For this activity, you'll need index cards and pens. To play, put students in teams of four to five and give each team five index cards and a pen. The game leader gives a prompt, and teams have 30 seconds to write down a song title that they think fits the prompt. Each team picks its best response and submits it. The game leader chooses their favorite as the winner! Here are some possible prompts to get you started:
Describe how you feel about homework…
What advice would you give your ten-year-old self?
What do you want to do most over spring break?
A song to describe Driver's Ed.
What song would be the best morning alarm?
POLL | Who Likes Routine?
When you hear the word "rhythm" in this series, we don't just mean the beat to music or your dad's lack of dance moves — we mean routine or structure.
INSTRUCTIONS: Poll your students’ responses to the following questions. You could ask them to respond by raising their hands or have them respond to each question with a thumbs up, sideways (for maybe), or thumbs down.
How many of you love daily routines?
Who likes it when your entire day is structured and planned out for you?
I love all the different answers! So much of our lives can be viewed through rhythms. Your daily rhythm may look like this: wake up, shower, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, go to school, practice, dinner, homework, bed . . . repeat. While your specific rhythm might look slightly different, you probably have some sort of routine you stick to during the week. If we have a rhythm for things like getting ready, don't you think having a rhythm or routine to spend time with God would be helpful?
VIDEO | A Clip of A Baby Playing The Xylophone
The thing about rhythms — is that they take time to build. Some of us may be great with routines. . . others of us may look like this . . .
INSTRUCTIONS: As a teaching tool, play a short clip from a video like this one (0:00–0:18) of a child playing the xylophone.
That's pretty good right? But really, it's just a beginner-level song with a relatively easy rhythm. Some of us may feel like we're getting slowly getting started. Getting a proper rhythm takes intentional time and practice.
VIDEO | A Clip of An Expert Playing the Xylophone
On the other hand, some of you may be pros! Check this out: INSTRUCTIONS: As a teaching tool, play a short clip from a video like this (0:10–1:00) of a professional xylophone player.
When someone has an established sense of rhythm, they can create incredible pieces of music. The same is true for our spiritual lives. Finding intentional time to connect with God can be challenging, but God invites us to create rhythms and routines to help us connect. It isn't always easy, because creating rhythms takes discipline and time.
SO WHAT? Why does it matter to God and to us?
SCRIPTURE | Luke 7:36–39
There is a story in the Bible about a woman who took a risk and connected with God for the first time. Before we dive in, it's important to know that it was common courtesy in first-century culture when you had people over to your house, you washed their feet. Dirt roads mean nasty feet! This wasn't just a means of staying clean but a symbol that they belonged and were protected.
INSTRUCTIONS: Read Luke 7:36–39
When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
A woman who was an outsider comes to dinner uninvited because she saw an opportunity to express gratitude to Jesus. She knew she wasn't formally invited to the meal but didn't run away in fear or shame. Talk about being courageous! With deep gratitude and vulnerability, she decided to pour costly perfume on Jesus' feet. This may seem strange, but in that day, it would have been seen as a beautiful posture of love. Simon, who was hosting the meal, was livid! This woman showed up uninvited and performed an incredibly intimate act of gratitude and devotion during a meal! Simon could only focus on this woman's mistakes and the customs he felt she violated.
SCRIPTURE | Luke 7:40–50
Let's keep reading to see how Jesus responds. INSTRUCTIONS: Read Luke 7:40–43
Luke 7:40–43 (ESV)
And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”
“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”
Jesus tells a short story to help the religious leader see that because this woman had a lot to be forgiven for, she returned that forgiveness with immense love.
Was she perfect? No. Her life was far from perfect — but she stepped out and created a rhythm of connection with Jesus, despite her imperfection. She experienced love and forgiveness through Jesus, and didn't worry about what others thought. The woman in the story was willing to go directly to Jesus — to be with him, even though she didn't have it all together. The story doesn't stop there! Jesus continues to highlight how incredible this woman's actions were.
INSTRUCTIONS: Read Luke 7:44–50
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Jesus responded to the woman with great compassion. Jesus' response is a beautiful depiction of how Jesus is eager to meet with us too . . . right where we are. Nothing fancy or formal about it! When we create space to have rhythms of connection, God meets us right where we are — no matter what we have done, or what we have been through. God will always meet us.
STORY | Finding The Rhythm
Here is the thing — if we're not careful, sometimes our rhythms of connection with God can feel like simply checking a box. It can feel like God is the strict teacher who doesn't tolerate mistakes or interruptions. Rhythms are not about performing for God, they are about being in a relationship with God.
Rhythms with God are not intended to be an obligation where you think you can appease God but rather an invitation to develop your friendship with God and become more like Jesus.
SCRIPTURE | 1 Corinthians 8:1–2
The woman who washed Jesus' feet shows us that our rhythms with God are intended to be moments of friendship with Jesus — where we offer whatever we have to give, and he responds with grace. It seems like Simon had a rhythm, too. He was singing the song of cynicism. He was skeptical and suspicious of others that didn't connect with God like him. He quickly compared himself and his "goodness" to the tainted track record of the woman. Why would Jesus want to be with her? He was full of judgment. Simon couldn't see that Jesus desires our hearts. Knowing the Bible and facts about God is great, but that is not a substitute for spending time with Jesus. Simon was so preoccupied with his version of what it meant to be friends with Jesus that he was missing what Jesus was really after — our hearts. When some people in the Early Church started to have a similar posture to Simon about the appropriate ways to worship God, Paul said this to remind them what worship was intended to do.
INSTRUCTIONS: Read 1 Corinthians 8:1–3
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.
Have you ever put a marshmallow in the microwave? It becomes a giant and sometimes explodes! But if you turn off the microwave before it erupts, you will see that the marshmallow shrinks back down.
When I read the apostle Paul's words, "Knowledge puffs up," I think of the marshmallow in the microwave. We become like Simon. Knowledge may make us feel awesome momentarily — but it doesn't last. We can't find our security and value in knowledge. Instead, we should build the rhythms of our lives on love because, like Paul says, "love builds up." So when we create space to spend time with God, we are doing it not so we can gain all kinds of knowledge. We're spending time with God to grow in our love — our affection for God and others. The woman in Luke 7 took a risk and showed us that connecting with Jesus in moments of friendship and closeness can profoundly transform our lives. Her story is an invitation to
Create rhythms to spend time with God.
Create rhythms to spend time with God.
NOW WHAT? What does God want us to do about it?
OBJECT LESSON | Your Rhythm, Your Drum
What exactly is a rhythm with Jesus? It's like a rhythm in any other area of your life! For example, if I eat cereal every morning, that would be a morning rhythm. It's the same with music. A rhythm is what all music is based on — it's the predictable pattern people know and can look forward to. Walking in rhythm with Jesus can have a predictable pattern, like a morning routine or a well-known song.
INSTRUCTIONS: For this object lesson, you'll need a drum, drumstick, and a table. Before your program, set the drum up on the table. When you're teaching, find strategic times to strike the drum.
Because a rhythm is a predictable pattern, it is something you can look forward to, like the regular rhythm of a drum. Just like a song has a beat, a melody, and a rhythm that holds it all together, our spiritual lives are no different. One of the core habits of following Jesus is creating a regular rhythm to spend time with God. As you start to think about what rhythms you can have in your life, here are a few things to keep in mind:
TIME WITH GOD ISN'T A PERFORMANCE:
Jesus doesn't want us to feel like we have to perform when we connect with Him. We can boldly spend time with Jesus without fear of judgment.
TIME WITH GOD IS ABOUT CONNECTION:
Our rhythm with Jesus is about a relationship with him. As you create a rhythm with Jesus, remember the woman in Luke 7. Our time connecting with Jesus is about cultivating our friendships, receiving his grace, and offering our whole hearts.
EVERYONE WILL HAVE DIFFERENT RHYTHMS:
Everyone's life is different, so it will naturally look different for you to carve out space to spend time with God than for the person sitting next to you. Your time with God could look like reading the Bible for a few minutes a day and journaling your thoughts and prayers. It could simply mean downloading a Bible app on your phone to read the daily verse. You could take a walk and experience God in the quiet beauty of nature. Maybe you put on your favorite worship song to sing and pray. God wants to meet us right where we are. We don't have to have it all together to meet with God, because God is always ready and waiting.
STORY | Different Rhythms
INSTRUCTIONS: Recruit three to four volunteers to discuss how they connect with God. Have them highlight how they learned they connected with God in that way and talk about all the other things they tried. Have them also talk about old rhythms that used to work for them to connect with God, but that had to grow and change with them as they grew and changed as people.
RESPONSE | In The Rhythm Prayer Prompts
The thing about creating rhythms is that they need to be done regularly for the habit to form. Here is something we will be doing together to help us spend time with God.
INSTRUCTIONS: If you haven’t already, this is a great time to launch the In The Rhythm Prayer Prompts, the "Spend Time with God" discipleship activity for the spring.
REFLECTION | Set List
We will end our time doing something as a group so that we can all leave here with some plan to spend time with God. Just like bands need to have a plan before going into their show, we can intentionally live into the rhythms of our lives when we have an established setlist.
INSTRUCTIONS: For this reflection, you'll need the printout included in this week's materials. Have students write down a few ways they want to connect with God and then write down the days and times they plan on doing that. Have them transfer their set list to the Grow Habits app. Consider playing some contemplative music as people respond.
I hope you feel a sense of courage to be more like the woman in Luke 7 to connect with Jesus and
Create rhythms to spend time with God.
Create rhythms to spend time with God.