How Seasonal Rhythms Serve Our Disciple-making

Regardless of where you live, the changing seasons can provide you with diverse opportunities for gospel growth and disciple-making. God designed it that way!

In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, we explore how seasonal rhythms can positively impact relationships and discipleship–if you embrace them.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

  • Seasonal rhythms and their significance in discipleship are defined.
  • How there is a natural “breathing in and breathing out” relationally as seasons change.
  • Why your own seasons of life play an important role in your discipleship pace.
  • 6 Discipleship Rhythms that you can engage in regardless of the weather.

Family and friends sharing a meal at a table outdoors as autumn leaves are falling

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Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Coaching with Caesar and Tina in discipleship and missional living.

Discipleship and Missional Resources

Missio Publishing

 

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Transcript
Caesar Kalinowski:

Something that I have noticed that really served us and we began to embrace it, or as we began to embrace it, was, is depending on the season and what the culture around you is involved in recreationally, you will naturally find that there are times of breathing in, I like to call it breathing in, when your community focuses on gospel growth and going deeper into discipleship, and there will be times when you focus on breathing out and establishing new relationships as you look for more people of peace.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So for instance, right now, like I've been saying, the weather here has been primo.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Well, we've been running into and seeing a lot more neighbors and people of peace and it's kind of natural too.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And the things they want to do are pretty fun and oftentimes include more and more people.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So there's a breathing out relationally.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It feels a little bit easier to build relationships when the weather's nice and people are out.

Announcer:

Welcome to the Everyday Disciple Podcast, where you'll learn how to live with greater intentionality and an integrated faith that naturally fits into every area of life.

Announcer:

In other words, discipleship as a lifestyle.

Announcer:

This is the stuff your parents, pastors, and seminary professors probably forgot to tell you.

Announcer:

And now, here's your host, Caesar Kalinowski.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Here we are, back together.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I love it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

How are you doing?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Hope it's well.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Hope life is good there for you.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It seems like we are living outdoors right now.

Caesar Kalinowski:

The weather has been amazing.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's not like I'm out all day, like when I'm writing or recording podcasts, but almost all of the eating and relaxing, it seems.

Caesar Kalinowski:

has been outside.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's a, yeah, it's crazy.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It has been said that when the weather's nice here, like it is pretty much May or June through August or September, it's the nicest place in the world.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And you know what?

Caesar Kalinowski:

It really is because it has been.

Caesar Kalinowski:

like 78 or 80 degrees Fahrenheit here.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Uh, no humidity or bugs like for a while.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And Tina and I enjoyed a great time last week with our friends, the Kerkarudos.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You may know that name.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Gino Kerkarudo has been on the podcast several times over the years and they're...

Caesar Kalinowski:

Church planters out in Philadelphia.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They have the table network there and, uh, some really cool church planting through meals and community engagement and restoration and all that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's really, really cool.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So their whole family, all six of them were here with us for a little over a week.

Caesar Kalinowski:

What a blast.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And again, that weather totally surprised them and they loved it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So they were outside pretty much 24 seven.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So anyway, Hey, a few episodes back.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I mentioned that we were trying to get to 200 reviews on Apple podcasts or iTunes or whatever you call it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We were just a few away at that point and I asked for your help because it changes the algorithms and how Apple sees it and offers it to others and all that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Well, hooray!

Caesar Kalinowski:

Guess what?

Caesar Kalinowski:

We made it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You guys stepped up.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I really appreciate it and I hope you'll keep doing it, but I wanted to just take a moment and say thanks for that and read a few of the reviews that came in.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'll probably read a few more next week.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So let's see here.

Caesar Kalinowski:

First one comes in from Brandon and Michelle.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's their little tag name.

Caesar Kalinowski:

The headline is real life and pressure free discipleship.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They gave us five stars.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Jeepers!

Caesar Kalinowski:

Thank you.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It says, I've been listening to Caesar's podcast for about six months now and it is hands down the single best place to go for encouragement in living out your faith with real time application that doesn't leave you pressured to do more, but actually invites you to get off of the church performance hamster wheel and begin to be who we are as new creations in Christ Jesus.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Wow.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Thank you for that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You really are paying attention because that's all exclamations on my end.

Caesar Kalinowski:

what you just said.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So thank you.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's going to really help folks know what the podcast is about.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's why we love these reviews.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And thanks again for the five stars.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Here's another one came in from a Mike D 74 says, love this podcast.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Also five stars.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Thanks, Mike.

Caesar Kalinowski:

He says, if you're looking for practical steps to living life on mission, this is the place.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Thanks, Caesar.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Thank you, brother.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Thank you.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Another one came in.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It says love it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Also five stars.

Caesar Kalinowski:

There are not a lot of voices out there that talk about disciple making as a way of life.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We're praying for you.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Thank you so much.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So I love that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Hey, if, uh, I can ask you to keep doing that if you've not left a review, especially if you can do it in Apple Podcasts, that's the most listened to thing out there.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's, I mean, that's how most people listen.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I know Spotify though is like, I think right there, even with them now.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But they don't allow you to leave reviews, I don't think.

Caesar Kalinowski:

If they do leave some and then someone write me and tell me, Oh yeah, they do.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Here's how they do it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So anyway, I appreciate those reviews and it's great to hear from you.

Caesar Kalinowski:

If you're a new or regular listener of the podcast and you like what you're hearing and learning about discipleship as a lifestyle, why not kick it up a few notches?

Caesar Kalinowski:

and get really serious by learning more about our Everyday Disciple Makers coaching experience, where you can learn our full framework for discipleship and mission and grow deep in your gospel fluency in everyday life.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You want that, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

I know we all do.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'd love to set up a short zoom call to get to know you better, hear some of your story, and answer any questions you have, tell you about the coaching, and hopefully get you started with Tina and I right away.

Caesar Kalinowski:

There's no obligation.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I just love to meet you, see if it's a good fit.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You can go to everydaydisciple.

Caesar Kalinowski:

com forward slash discovery And set up a convenient time for yourself and bring your spouse to love to meet you both everydaydisciple.

Caesar Kalinowski:

com forward slash discovery.

Caesar Kalinowski:

All right.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So in today's episode, we're going to be talking about seasonal rhythms and not just the weather, but that'll be part of it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But also there are seasonal rhythms to our life and how these seasonal rhythms can positively impact relationships.

Caesar Kalinowski:

and discipleship if you embrace them versus letting them derail you.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So let me define what I mean.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Seasonal rhythms are, hey, it, it was winter and everybody was hiding out inside and it was really cold.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Uh, and I didn't see any of my neighbors hardly outside unless they were shoveling and they were busy.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And then we went to spring and things emerged a little and now it's been summer, at least when I'm recording this podcast and, uh, fall's coming and then we're gonna hit winter again.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's what I mean by seasonal rhythms.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Notice every year we have these seasonal rhythms and they do affect how we interact with each other.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Each other as a family, each other as neighbors.

Caesar Kalinowski:

with our people of peace, all of that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It affects our comings and goings.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Uh, it affects school and work schedules.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Think about it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

A lot of people are off of school in the summer or their jobs change slightly.

Caesar Kalinowski:

All of that stuff affects either how much we're indoors or outdoors, the types of, and.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I guess number of social interactions we have with people, our daily routines, you know, I'm not really telling you anything you don't know.

Caesar Kalinowski:

These seasonal rhythms though can really serve us.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And I'll tell you, they were very different for us when our kids were little and in school, they're all grown now, but when they were home and in school, those seasonal rhythms really made our family life and our rhythms change.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So basically the seasons of life.

Caesar Kalinowski:

that we were in then compared to now also changed, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

And they back then they changed every year or two as the kids grew up.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Kindergarten half a day is very different than they're all now in middle school and high school and they're very very busy and one of them has a car and all that, okay?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now our seasonal rhythms were also very different when we lived in New York City.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah, when we lived in Manhattan.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Uh, the summers, which normally for us is when we would like be out meeting lots of new people and getting to really start to have more fun and get past sort of the formal activities, maybe of community life and disciple making.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But in New York City, you know, I'll say everyone, but it wasn't everybody.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It was mostly everyone left every weekend, left the city.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's very hot.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's gets dirty and dustier than it already is there.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And they just sort of had a cultural rhythm of, if you can afford it, you get away to.

Caesar Kalinowski:

The Hamptons or Long Island or someone's cabin somewhere up north, uh, that they'll let you use or whatever.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And it got to be like a ghost town for about eight weeks or so in the summer.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I swear, that's how it seemed.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay?

Caesar Kalinowski:

So, these seasonal rhythms are going to be different wherever you're at.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Obviously, up in the United States when it's summer, well down in Australia, it's colder.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And so, you know what I mean, they're going to be, they're going to be different, not all line up.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And, uh, sometimes like for us, everybody comes out in the summer, but, uh, my friends that are making disciples in Phoenix, well, everybody hides in the house because it's, well, it was like 112 there last week at midnight.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So they're in the air conditioning.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So, but you, you understand what I'm saying.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's what I mean.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But when I say to these seasonal rhythms though, And the changing of those rhythms, they can actually serve us.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'm going to talk about that a little bit more, okay?

Caesar Kalinowski:

But I want you to kind of put on the hat as you listen to all of this, how the seasons and how, you know, the weather that changes with them influence the dynamics of your relationships.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Probably from spending more time indoors or outdoors, that's some of it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

but also the types of things that you do during those seasons.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They just naturally at times include more people or less people, a little closer to the family cuff.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Makes sense.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now, something that I have noticed that really served us and we began to embrace it, or as we began to embrace it, was, is depending on the season and what the culture around you is involved in recreationally, you will naturally find that there are times of breathing in, I call it breathing in, when your community focuses on gospel growth and going deeper into discipleship.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And there will be times when you focus on breathing out.

Caesar Kalinowski:

and establishing new relationships as you look for more people of peace.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So for instance, right now, like I've been saying, the weather here has been primo.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We've been running into and seeing a lot more neighbors and people of peace, and it's kind of natural too.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And the things they want to do are pretty fun and oftentimes include more and more people.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Or, hey, meet us here, we're all going to be doing this.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Or a whole bunch of us are going over to the park, they're having a concert tonight, so we're going to...

Caesar Kalinowski:

We're going to grill out together and have some stuff and then, uh, listen to the concert.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You want to, you want to join?

Caesar Kalinowski:

So there's a breathing out relationally.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's, it feels.

Caesar Kalinowski:

a little bit easier to build relationships when the weather's nice and people are out.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now, like I said, that can be different depending on where you're living and the things specifically you do will be different, but you get what I'm saying?

Caesar Kalinowski:

There's a natural time for that breathing out to build relationships.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But then, I'm just going to use my context.

Caesar Kalinowski:

When it gets colder and starts to get a little rainier here in the fall, late fall, and that's our winter, well then, people tend to be indoors more, and that's sort of the breathing in.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And what we do is we say, okay, who have we identified are our People of Peace?

Caesar Kalinowski:

In other words, they really hung out with us a lot this summer, and they seem to be going deeper relationally.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Let's now do some breathing in.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's when we would generally do like the Story of God together, or maybe Start DNA groups, these little triads or quads where it's three guys or three girls in a group, and we're going to either do a book study or we've got a gospel DNA, like curriculum that we use that we created.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So you see what I'm saying, though?

Caesar Kalinowski:

There's a breathing in now where we go deeper.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So as the seasons change, instead of bucking that, we just sort of embrace it now when it's nice and people want to be out and it's easy to run into people and things are, there's a lot going on.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Well, then when we're breathing out, we're building relationships.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And then as people want to kind of hunker down a little bit, cause the weather's getting darker, colder, whatever, shorter days, all that we do the breathing in.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And that's where we go deeper with the fewer, the people of peace that have identified themselves.

Caesar Kalinowski:

All right.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And so I hope that's given you some freedom like it did us.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And, uh, yeah.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So here's the thing.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You're going to build very different things into your relationships in different seasons.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I just want to point that out.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Think about, you know, How your relationship is different sitting on a beach talking for hours, Let's say with other parents while the kids splash around or if you're playing games with other families So there's a lot of talking and you get to see there, you know, who who's super competitive and who's fighting about or whatever There's different relational dynamics to that then let's say it's winter and you go on a ski trip or a snowboarding trip or whatever That's different because you're not really talking nearly as much I mean, you might have a meal together, you might hang out afterwards or in between a little.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They're just different.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And so you can start to pay attention to those there again, both are good and both carry a different level of either invitation or challenge.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And I can't go deep into what I mean by that, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Just this moment, I've talked on it in a lot of different episodes, but we, we build in, we bank invitation to our lives, time with people that we ultimately later than seek to spend, if you will, as challenge.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Hey.

Caesar Kalinowski:

This has been really fun.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We'd love to have you guys over just as a family, not with the whole neighborhood.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's a little bit higher challenge, but so all these different dynamics that different seasons and opportunities carry for us, they also allow us to manage and calibrate invitation and challenge.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Alright, so, what are some things that, you know, maybe, I just want to give you some ideas, what are some things maybe that you can do in different seasons, uh, let's say, let me give you one that's in between, the changing of the seasons, uh, at least it was for us, in the, Fall or after school kind of gets back in, uh, the team sports kick back in again for our kids, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

And, uh, as our kids would join sports teams, well, the season there changed, but also the rhythm of our family life changed because now we were driving to a lot more things.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But, there was built in families and parents and people of peace there.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So, you can make your kid's sports team and their parents an increased focus of generosity and hospitality as you intentionally build new relationships.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Maybe that sounds confusing.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You're like, wait a minute.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I thought after the, you know, nice weather, when it starts to change, there's the breathing in.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah, but you see what I'm saying?

Caesar Kalinowski:

There's still opportunities for building relationships and people of peace.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They're just different.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's a matter of intentionality.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Our friends, Jeff and Janie Vanderstelt, when they were raising their kids in the millions of soccer games, they just lived right around the corner from us in Tacoma, there, uh, they started having their Missional Community help them, but they were, you know, taking the, I guess the heavy lifting of this, but they started bringing really great drinks, like a cooler full of great drinks and snacks to their kids soccer practices.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And people loved it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They're like, Oh my gosh, you know, why are you guys doing this?

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's the best stuff.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You guys are so great.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And then they kind of amplified that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Uh and then it became I think it was Taco Tuesdsay, And they started bringing the stuff to make tacos for people.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And then someone else said, Hey, oh, I got one of those white pop up tent thingies.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'm going to bring that next week because, you know, sometimes the kids are playing in the drizzle and the rain and all that and they started doing that and it became really popular.

Caesar Kalinowski:

popular and people were all bringing to help so it wasn't costing them a ton or anything.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And then when that season of soccer ended or football, if you're listening overseas, sorry, uh, then a lot of those parents and kids were like, well, we don't want to stop doing taco Tuesday.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Can we just get together?

Caesar Kalinowski:

And they're like, sure, we'll, we'll keep doing it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now, not everyone did, but those people of peace.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Did yeah, and I remember getting to know a whole bunch of those people over time and Many of them became part of Jeff and Janie's missional community and some of them even got baptized right there in the backyard Right, so those kind of things Were happening.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So there you go Uh, I, I would love to challenge you to discuss as a community ways to increase your organic interactions you have together, both during the breathing ins and the breathing outs.

Caesar Kalinowski:

How can we have more organic, just life on life stuff happening during the summer?

Caesar Kalinowski:

And how can we have more life on life, living like a family stuff happen?

Caesar Kalinowski:

When it's kind of darker and colder or rainier or whatever it is, discuss those things.

Caesar Kalinowski:

How can you increase those interactions?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now, this example I just gave you with Jeff and Janie and the kids, that was not necessarily as organic as it was organized, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

So, that, uh, that takes some thinking through, but it sure is easier as a community.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now, some of you are listening and say, well, I don't have a community like that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It would all be on us.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I promise you.

Caesar Kalinowski:

When you start living this way and treating people like family and being the bringer of the better wine, in this case, uh, juice boxes and orange slices as it were, uh, people kick right in.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They are just so grateful that someone took the initiative and that will help with that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And like I said, then everybody wanted to keep doing that and it grew and grew and then they just kept doing it all year and now they were into the breathing in and breathing out rhythms with more and more of these people.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So I just want to say, hey, think through how seasonal activities such as hiking or picnics or your holiday gatherings can foster stronger bonds in relationships.

Caesar Kalinowski:

See, some of our traditions that tend to follow the seasons, like, you know, 4th of July in the summer and Halloween in the fall and Thanksgiving, then later fall and then Christmas in the winter.

Caesar Kalinowski:

All of those really help to reinforce shared values and beliefs within our community or our family setting or our extended family.

Caesar Kalinowski:

In other words, our oikos.

Caesar Kalinowski:

All of those seasonal rituals Help us anchor identity and value and start to have, like I said, shared values.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And I get to hear more about your story.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Why is that your favorite meal?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Or I've never had a dish like that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Well, my grandma always, where are you from?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Oh my goodness.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So though all those things serve us.

Caesar Kalinowski:

if we embrace it again.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So seasonal change and holidays, we've talked about them are such great opportunities not to hunker down and isolate, but to really, if we'll see it, if we'll just take some time to think through it and look at it this way are amazing opportunities for discipleship and relational building and looking for people of peace and then taking them deeper into their discipleship and identity and all of that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now, one little side note.

Caesar Kalinowski:

is that seasonal weather does affect people's schedules and productivity levels.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Have you noticed that in your own life?

Caesar Kalinowski:

So you need to take that into account as well.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You're not going to be probably hanging out with as many people and as many activities in any given week.

Caesar Kalinowski:

When it's cold and rainy and your kids have a million things on the schedule that you kind of have to carve out to help them with as you maybe did in the summer, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

So, it's okay.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And then also proactivity levels.

Caesar Kalinowski:

When it's darker, the days are shorter.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Uh, sad, seasonal affective disorder.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's a real thing and all that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So, those things also affect our pace.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And that's okay.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's okay.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Trust God for that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Stay intentional.

Caesar Kalinowski:

All right.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Uh, I don't, I don't like it when people just use the season as an excuse.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Like I hear this one all the time.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You've probably heard me say this before.

Caesar Kalinowski:

If you listen to the podcast for a while, these, uh, missional communities or small groups or whatever that take the summer off.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I hate that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Stop doing that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Families.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's what a missional community is.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's a family on mission.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's an extended family on mission and oikos.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Families don't take off for a season.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Can you imagine telling your kids that?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Hey kids, mom and dad are on vacation now, uh, or summer, so good luck.

Caesar Kalinowski:

There's money on the counter and some pizza, frozen pizzas in the freezer.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Good luck.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We'll see you when school starts.

Caesar Kalinowski:

No, you would never do that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So, uh, though I, I do want you to allow seasonal weather and schedules to affect that naturally.

Caesar Kalinowski:

There again, don't beat yourself up with it, but don't use it as an excuse either.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's, that's just selfishness.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So we'll stop that now real quick.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'm not going to get super deep into it, but I want to remind you of the six discipleship rhythms that we talk about all the time here in the podcast.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's key to how we make disciples.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'm going to give you some additional ways to go deeper into this, but let me remind you real quickly of what they are, what I'm talking about.

Caesar Kalinowski:

God has created the whole world with a set of rhythms and the seasons are a part of this, but there's also life rhythms.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That he has given us that we all participate in and everyone we know participates in.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's always been this way throughout all of history.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And I'm going to give you some information on how to go deep into this if you've not just yet.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay, but here's the six rhythms.

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Story formed.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay, that's, that's knowing the story of God, getting to know people's stories, helping them know the story of God.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We've done the story of God on the deck in our, in the summer with People of Peace and people who are just starting to lean in.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But we've also done it.

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Inside our house, very often in the fall and in the winter with those people who have identified, Yep, I'm leaning in.

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I want to know more about Jesus in the Bible.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I don't know that, but getting to know each other's stories and helping people know the story of God is key.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's one of the rhythms.

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We all have a story.

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Listen, we teach that we learn to listen to God, not just tell him what we want in prayer.

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And we learn to listen backwards and forwards.

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And we want to help people in our discipleship learn to listen backward through the Word of God and through the story and then listen forward through prayer and the Holy Spirit and in community.

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There's the rhythm of eating.

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We all eat lots of meals each week, generally.

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at least for us here in America, 21 meals a week.

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So that rhythm is right there.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Just pick a few, pick one, get started.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Uh, the rhythm of bless, we've been blessed to be a blessing.

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So we teach deeply on how to bless people, celebrate that rhythm.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Think about all throughout all the seasons, you're kind of automatically signed up.

Caesar Kalinowski:

and celebrating birthdays and weddings and baby showers and Christmas and Thanksgiving and maybe Halloween and work related things, Fourth of July, Super Bowl, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

That celebrate rhythm's happening throughout all the seasons.

Caesar Kalinowski:

There again, all six of these rhythms, because they're going on like God made them this way, they work in any of the seasons.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They might look different in different seasons, but they work in all of them.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So I'm just giving you these handles.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay, so celebrate.

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And the last one is recreate, which is really two words.

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It's rest and create.

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We live in a rhythm of resting in Christ and his completed work, what he's done for us, what's true of us.

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And then out of that, that beautiful good news, then we can create beauty and value and work.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It really is the idea of Sabbath, but for us, it helped to, uh, helped us really embrace this rhythm by looking at it as rest and create.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And it really, that alone is a God gave us.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And I'll tell you.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Also that part of that rhythm is a seasonal rest, not only a Sabbath rest, but God has made the world with seasons in most climates, most places, and it's okay to rest.

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It's okay.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's okay to say, Hey, we're not mashing the gas pedal right now in community growth.

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We're breathing in.

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See what I'm saying?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Or we're going to take a vacation.

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for a couple weeks and others in the community are going to keep things rolling along relationally or whatever.

Caesar Kalinowski:

There again, don't, don't use it as an excuse, but you need to feel free and feel God's favor to have seasons of rest as well.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And you won't feel like you need to, like, do that sabbatical where you just, you unplug from everything as much if you get into a rhythm of recreate, like a weekly rhythm, maybe a daily rhythm even, of resting in Christ and His completed work, and then out of that you do your work, not to earn, Not to earn God's favor or any of that, because we already have that, but provide and to rest in all of that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now I promised you, I'd give you some ways to go deeper.

Caesar Kalinowski:

If you look at episode 377 of the podcast, it's called special because it was a special training I did live on the internet.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And I took the audio of that and it's called special discipleship rhythms, episode number 377.

Caesar Kalinowski:

If you Google that or just scroll through our website at everydaydisciple.

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com, you'll find it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And in that episode, you're going to learn about moving from additional to intentional and why that's so critical.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And that all, all of this applies to this seasonal change we're talking about today.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Um, how your discipleship rhythms are both organized and organic.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We'll go deep into that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Um, and then I take those six rhythms and I really unpack them.

Caesar Kalinowski:

in all kinds of ways.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And I give lots and lots of examples.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I think you're going to love that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So check that out.

Caesar Kalinowski:

If you want to go deeper in how those discipleship rhythms work in any season and how you can naturally live out of your gospel identity as part of a family of missionary servants into all of life, it doesn't matter what season it might just look different.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So check that out.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's episode number 377 discipleship rhythms.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay, that's a lot to chew on, but I think you're getting the idea here of embracing these seasonal rhythms.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now, as always, before we take off, I want to leave you with the big three takeaways from today's topic.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Nothing else, not going to want to miss these.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And you can get a printable PDF of the big three as a free download by going to everydaydisciple.

Caesar Kalinowski:

com.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Here's the big three for this week.

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Number one, first thing, don't forget this, breathing in and breathing out.

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Depending on the season, and what the culture around you is involved in recreationally, you'll naturally find that there are times of breathing in.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's when your community focuses on gospel growth and going deeper into discipleship.

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And there will be times when you focus on breathing out.

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and establishing new relationships as you look for more People of Peace.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Take advantage of your seasons as a natural rhythm, instead of fighting it, or thinking that something's wrong because relational time and commitment seem to be changing.

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Okay?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Don't miss that last part.

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Number two, God has designed the world perfectly for making disciples of Jesus.

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And that design includes the seasons of the year, like spring, summer, autumn, and winter, but they also include the rhythms of your life and family.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Things like pregnancy, health issues, vacations, moving to a new home, a job change, etc.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They all affect your time and relational capacity.

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That's okay.

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Trust God for where He has you today and know that He loves you in every season.

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And that's regardless of your own perceived Disciple making productivity.

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Okay, he loves you the same.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And number three, those six discipleship rhythms that I mentioned briefly, provide you with a natural way to stay intentionally engaged in discipleship, regardless of the season, or how many people are coming to your events.

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Get to know people's stories in a deep way that shows you areas where they are still living in unbelief of the gospel.

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Have at least one weekly meal where you build relationships with.

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People of Peace or Potential People of Peace and know that it will change and look different in different seasons.

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But keep a predictable pattern.

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Pick a day.

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Maybe it changes seasonally, but pick that regular weekly day as best as you can.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And again, I'm going to remind you to check out episode number 377 titled Special.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Discipleship Rhythms.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That'll help you with all those rhythms and take you a lot deeper.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That was a full training on that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Then one more friendly reminder, if you'd like help in establishing natural discipleship rhythms in your life with family and friends, Let's hop on a discovery call, get to know each other a little better, and I can tell you about our Everyday Disciple Makers coaching experience and see if it's a good fit for you.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay, I'd love to do that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Just go to everydaydisciple.

Caesar Kalinowski:

com forward slash discovery to set up a convenient time.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Again, there's no obligation.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'd love to meet you and hear your story.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Well, time's up.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Hate to say it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I hope you'll join us next week as we talk about is your church full of people of peace?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Do you think that all Christians or everyone in your church, all churchgoers are people of peace and they want to lean into discipleship as a lifestyle?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Hmm, we'll see.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You won't want to miss it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'll talk to you soon.

Announcer:

Thanks for joining us today.

Announcer:

For more information on this show and to get loads of free discipleship resources, visit EverydayDisciple.

Announcer:

com.

Announcer:

And remember, you really can live with the spiritual freedom and relational peace that Jesus promised every day.