RHYTHM - Passion

If we aren’t in rhythm with others, we can’t be in rhythm with God.

If we aren’t in rhythm with others, we can’t be in rhythm with God. Haven’t you ever wished that this were not true? Isn’t it sometimes easier to love God than to love people? God doesn’t cut us off in traffic--people do. It’s not always easy to get along with other people but our relationships with other people are a very important part of who we are.  Do you have several relationships around you that are broken as a result of people treating each other poorly? Maybe its your fault, maybe it’s the other persons fault – but there is not doubt to you that the relationship has problems, its out of rhythm.  Do you have tension and stress in your life that is caused by relationships with people and you just cant seem to understand why it bothers you so much?  God is passionate about people, all people, and we are wired in such a way that we desperately need to be in relationships with other people.  Loneliness is a feeling that we all would like to avoid.  Loneliness is a result of our relationships with other people being out of rhythm and as a result of that our relationship with God is too.  We know that the source of many of the problems we see, experience, or cause are the issues of power and selfishness.  We put others down to make us look better and others do the same for us.  This week we are called to struggle with how we can have rhythm in our relationships in the midst of a culture that encourages this kind of attitude.  In Matthew 5, Jesus teaches us a radical response to relating to other people; he calls us to humble ourselves and do the hard work of forgiving and seeking forgiveness so that we can be in right relationships with other people.  Wrestle with that this week, remember that rhythm with others is about treating people right, acting fairly toward others and forgiving them when they hurt us. This is a pretty straightforward principle, but it can be really difficult to carry out.
Take some time and think through these questions (if you want to find a friend to discuss them with, that would be even better!)
- What does it mean for you to be in rhythm with other people?

- Is it possible to love God and not love people?

- Read Matthew 5:23-24.  What does this verse say about the connection between being in rhythm with God and being in rhythm with others?

- Our relationships with other people are a reflection of our relationship with God. Use adjectives to describe what your relationships say about your relationship with God.

- Have you ever been out of rhythm with someone close to you? What was the situation like? How did it affect you?

- Have you ever known someone who hurt you or someone close to you but outwardly acted like they were best friends with God? What is the danger in saying you are a Christian if you are unable or unwilling to care about the people 
around you?

- Inevitably, there will be times when you fall out of rhythm with those around you. What can you do to get back in rhythm when that happens?

Spend some time thinking about your relationships. Who are you not in rhythm with right now? Maybe something small has gotten between you and someone else, or maybe it’s something really huge. Take some time right now to sit and think about that person. Think of them the way God thinks of them; try to see them with His eyes.

When you feel ready, pray for them. Be honest. If you still find it difficult to forgive them, ask God for His help. If you know that you wronged them, ask God to forgive you and show you how to make things right. Then, go do it. Have that tough conversation. Write that note. Show that person that they matter to you.

RHYTHM - Discovery

    God loves us no matter what, but can we love ourselves? Last week, we heard that God is good and He causes us to wonder at His goodness. This week, we talked about the fact that the way we view ourselves is significant and impacts many areas of our lives. 

    We have all had moments of insecurity. Since we’ve been talking about rhythm in this series, we could say that we’ve all been out of rhythm with ourselves. Maybe that sounds crazy, but there are many things that can get us out of rhythm with ourselves. Insecurity, anger, guilt, frustration and abandonment all throw us out of the rhythm we were created for. When we feel insecure we feel weak, and in our moments of weakness we are faced with a choice. How are we supposed to respond in those moments? What can get us back in rhythm? When we aren’t okay with who we are, when we are off and something in us isn’t right, then everything else is affected . . . relationships, spiritual life, everything. We are created to be in rhythm--rhythm with God, rhythm with others and rhythm with ourselves. The problem is when we aren’t in rhythm with ourselves, we can’t be in rhythm with God and others.

Check out John 4:3-18; 25-30

    Jesus is letting her know that there is more to life than how she is living now, out of rhythm with God. There is something wrong in her life, in other words she is hiding something, and He knows it. This woman is wearing a mask.  He is literally sitting down next to her and saying, “Life isn’t working for you, is it? Let Me offer you another way of living, the way you were created to live.” He is not simply implying that she repeat some words after Him and everything will be okay when she dies. That’s just a portion of what He is offering her. He is implying she needs rhythm with herself now--something she can only have when she is in rhythm with God, herself and others. Jesus speaks into her deepest needs and lets her know that He has the capacity to heal her. Remember, Jesus was gathering disciples . . . so His invitation is for her to come out of hiding and begin walking with Him. He is saying, “Hiding isn’t working too well, is it?” Jesus unraveled her secret.

    To be in rhythm with yourself is to love yourself. It spills out into every other area of our lives. This is the problem with addiction. Addiction to anything breeds self-hatred. The problem with lying is that it means we don’t like ourselves and we have to make something up. The problem with gossip is that we don’t like ourselves so we have to talk about why everyone else is a failure. All of these behaviors breed self-hatred. When we don’t love ourselves we begin to lie and gossip and cheat, but it just makes the problem worse. We get further and further from who were are supposed to be. And the more we lie, the more we have to lie. The masks just get thicker and more elaborate. Pretty soon, we don’t know who we are, we just know the image we’re trying to project. This is why we aren’t intended to hide.

    We can try to hide from others, just like the woman at the well, but we can’t hide from God. He sees us--all of us. Every horrible thing that you are painfully aware of, every bad thing you’ve said or done, every defect in who you are, He sees, and He doesn’t run away. He doesn’t hide. He comes right where you are and shows you that who you think you are isn’t even close to who He made you to be. The God of the universe who created everything, the biggest, most indescribable Being wants to be in a relationship with you. He created you to be in relationship with Him. He gave you emotions and feelings. He created you to love. We are the only things in creation with this ability. This discovery should cause us to realize who we are and to love ourselves and strive for rhythm with ourselves. When we don’t realize this is who we are, we’ll spend the rest of our lives looking for an identity.

Take some time and think through these questions (if you want to find a friend to discuss them with, that would be even better!)

- What does it mean to be in rhythm with yourself?

- Does it feel odd that God wants us to love ourselves? What do you think is the most difficult thing about loving yourself? 

- Have you ever known someone who really struggled to be in rhythm with themselves? What was that person like?

- Think about the story of the Samaritan woman. Jesus knew that to meet her deepest need He would need to help her see that she was worthy of love. Why did this woman feel unworthy of love?

- What are some things that could make you feel unworthy of love?

- Why does loving yourself matter so much?
How does it affect your relationship with other people? 
How does it affect your relationship with God? 
How does it make you feel?

- How do we do love ourselves? How can you see yourself as God sees you? (Note: Scripture is a great way to remind yourself of who God says you are.) 

- What do you need to discover about yourself today when it comes to being in rhythm with yourself? What is the hardest thing for you to believe about who God says you are? 

RHYTHM - Wonder

     A sense of wonder will keep us in rhythm with God. This is basically the essence of Solomon’s argument, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10 NIV). Wonder is the beginning of rhythm. If we want to live a life in sync with the Creator of the universe, we must begin by recognizing who He really is. We need to pursue a sense of wonder. Who is this God we serve? What is He like? Why should we desire to live in rhythm with Him?

    We need to be challenged to look at God in new ways. So many times we find that we are so familiar with “churchy” descriptions of God that we forget who He really is or maybe we never have really known much about God and we really haven’t cared enough to find out more. When we forget who God is, how awesome and surprising He can be, or when we neglect God altogether, then we are tempted to turn our attention and affection to other things. As a result, our lives fall out of rhythm. We desperately need to discover a God who is bigger than our attempts to define Him. And the reality is that if we feel like we know everything about God, then we really don’t know Him at all because He’s so much bigger than trite, simplistic answers or cliches. God will consistently amaze us all throughout our lives.


Take some time and think through these questions (if you want to find a friend to discuss them with, that would be even better!)

- What are some things that amaze you? What captures your sense of wonder? 

- What are some things that you hear a lot--at home, at church, at school? Has the impact of those words or statements lessened because you’ve heard them so much?

- Are there any things that you’ve heard or know about God that don’t seem to impact you as much as they used to? What are some examples?

- Have you ever had a moment when you felt a sense of wonder and awe about God? Describe it. 

- What would a life in rhythm with God look like? Read the Message version of Romans 12:1-2 - So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

-  What are some signs in your life that you are out of rhythm with God? 

- Read Psalm 19:1-10. David, the author of this psalm, had a sense of wonder about God. Ask students to talk about how God is described in these verses.

-  How does your sense of wonder affect your relationship with God? If you are bored with God, what do you think could restore your sense of wonder about who He is? 

      -  In closing, read Ephesians 3:16-19.

RHYTHM - The Song

      Have you ever noticed how connected everything is? It’s almost as if there were some type of unseen structure to all of life—a rhythm. Many of us are oblivious to it until things are out of sync. We know something is wrong and we might even be able to pinpoint a few things around us that are culprits, but deep down we know there is something more going on. During the first week of the Rhythm series we realized that in the beginning, God established a rhythm. We see this through the story of creation and the harmony that existed between Adam and God, Adam and nature, and Adam and Eve. From the start, everything worked together in perfect harmony like a beautiful song. But then Adam and Eve made a choice that destroyed the song and threw off the rhythm. God didn’t abandon Adam and Eve in response to their sin, he pursued them, he remained in relationship with them. This is a beautiful picture that reminds us of God’s grace and love for us, God continues to seek relationships with us even after things have fallen apart.

Take some time and think through these questions (if you want to find a friend to discuss them with, that would be even better!)

- Since everything in our world was created with a rhythm, what happens if something is offbeat? For instance, what would happen if the sun didn’t come up tomorrow morning? Can you think of other similar examples.

- Have you ever had one of those days (or weeks) when nothing worked? One of those times when nothing was in sync with what you were doing or wanting? What happened?

- Have you ever felt that way in your relationships . . . like maybe something just wasn’t right between you and someone else (a friend, a parent, a teammate)? Describe what was going on. How did you handle it? Did you talk to the person? Did you just ignore the feeling? Did you avoid the person?

- Read Genesis 3:6-7: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves” (NIV). How did Adam and Eve’s choice affect the rhythm God had created?

- Adam and Eve blew it, didn’t they? All they had to do was avoid that one tree. There were other trees, but there was something about that one tree that they just couldn’t resist. But we’re a lot like them, aren’t we? There are times in our lives when something else captures our attention more than God. Maybe you’ve been too consumed with a hobby, sport or boy/girl. Maybe you were too self-centered about something. Maybe it was a relationship with someone else. How did that one thing affect your relationship with God?

- When Adam and Eve sinned, they hid from God. But God didn’t just walk away, He called out to them. All of us have times when we try to hide. There are things going on within each one of us that we don’t want anyone, including God, to see. What are some ways people hide?

- How can hiding affect your relationship with God, yourself or with others?