This is one of my favorite weeks of Rooted. The idea of God as creator & redeemer (week 2) is fundamental to our perception of him, but learning his voice is fundamental to fully following him. Yes! His voice! So, many Christians live their lives with God at arm’s length. We follow the principles that are obvious in the Bible or we learn from others what he expects. Those are great ways to understand God’s will, but that’s not fullness of relationship he wants to have with us. He does want to speak and we’re wired to hear him!
God’s voice may or may not be audible, but it can be clear. Chances are, few people have ever heard an audible voice. Today, especially with the Holy Spirit, God speaks internally and directly to our Spirit. With practice, we can learn the difference between the voice of our own egos or superegos and the voice of the Spirit inside us.
This might be a weird discussion for some, but that tension is what will help them to grow. Be attentive to church background that have overemphasized or abused the idea of God speaking in audible ways. They can sometime belittle spiritual journeys that haven’t had these “profound” experiences. We’re not in that business. That’s not how God operates. He prioritizes the way we love others over any miraculous experience (1 Corinthians 13).
Others will come from a church background that claims the supernatural power of God does not invade our world anymore. They’ll claim it stopped being useful, so it stopped happening in the beginning of Acts. That is not a Biblical idea or what we understand here at New Community. Be sensitive to that, but don’t let that hard stance shut anyone down. While we don’t see a lot of supernatural things in our lives necessarily, there are plenty of modern stories of God showing up in miraculous ways. It’s okay to be skeptical, but I’d encourage us not to simply write-off any story that may have been God showing up. Nature’s existence itself is the supernatural fingerprint of God.
Here’s the point: God wants to and does speak. We just need to learn what his voice sounds like by getting to know him and decluttering our attention in our distraction-saturated world. If you can point your group and yourself in that direction, that has the power to absolutely change everything! Just that epiphany itself will make Rooted worth it. No pressure.
Groups whose prayer experience is during their normal group time
Many groups will take this week to insert the extended prayer experience into their normal weekly meeting time. Great! Understand that means there is no time for a testimony or longer discussion of the prayer content. You can add some of the discussion into the prayer experience meal & debrief time.
Groups whose prayer experience is outside of their normal group time
You will have the advantage of extra time to really process the material here and as a separate time walk through the prayer experience as a group. Don’t delay planning the prayer experience and certainly don’t avoid it! It is one of the most powerful experiences during rooted.
Week 3 Resources:
Fasting and Prayer Experience
Week 3 Email Template
God’s voice may or may not be audible, but it can be clear. Chances are, few people have ever heard an audible voice. Today, especially with the Holy Spirit, God speaks internally and directly to our Spirit. With practice, we can learn the difference between the voice of our own egos or superegos and the voice of the Spirit inside us.
This might be a weird discussion for some, but that tension is what will help them to grow. Be attentive to church background that have overemphasized or abused the idea of God speaking in audible ways. They can sometime belittle spiritual journeys that haven’t had these “profound” experiences. We’re not in that business. That’s not how God operates. He prioritizes the way we love others over any miraculous experience (1 Corinthians 13).
Others will come from a church background that claims the supernatural power of God does not invade our world anymore. They’ll claim it stopped being useful, so it stopped happening in the beginning of Acts. That is not a Biblical idea or what we understand here at New Community. Be sensitive to that, but don’t let that hard stance shut anyone down. While we don’t see a lot of supernatural things in our lives necessarily, there are plenty of modern stories of God showing up in miraculous ways. It’s okay to be skeptical, but I’d encourage us not to simply write-off any story that may have been God showing up. Nature’s existence itself is the supernatural fingerprint of God.
Here’s the point: God wants to and does speak. We just need to learn what his voice sounds like by getting to know him and decluttering our attention in our distraction-saturated world. If you can point your group and yourself in that direction, that has the power to absolutely change everything! Just that epiphany itself will make Rooted worth it. No pressure.
Groups whose prayer experience is during their normal group time
Many groups will take this week to insert the extended prayer experience into their normal weekly meeting time. Great! Understand that means there is no time for a testimony or longer discussion of the prayer content. You can add some of the discussion into the prayer experience meal & debrief time.
Groups whose prayer experience is outside of their normal group time
You will have the advantage of extra time to really process the material here and as a separate time walk through the prayer experience as a group. Don’t delay planning the prayer experience and certainly don’t avoid it! It is one of the most powerful experiences during rooted.
Week 3 Resources:
Fasting and Prayer Experience
Week 3 Email Template