Over the past few months I have had the privilege of gathering with 13 others to experience the rhythms of Rooted. In essence, Rooted is a ten-week devotional guide that is designed to help believers (and nonbelievers!) incorporate the seven rhythms into their daily lives. None of the rhythms were new or revolutionary; in fact, they are all modeled on the second chapter of Acts, and many of which are probably a part of your relationship with God already. Despite this, and perhaps because we practiced them in community, many of us were struck by the impact that these familiar habits had on our lives. As I share the rhythms with you, consider: “how do these look in my life?”
Right off the bat we were asked to jump into a daily devotional, rich with scripture. The message was clear: daily devotion to the Bible is a vital rhythm in a believer’s life.
By week three we fasted as a group for 24 hours, prayed together for a couple more, and then broke the fast with a potluck. It was incredible to hear comments from people who were nervous about praying for so long saying the time flew by!
On week five we were asked to confess our sins to one another (in gender specific groups) and pray for each other. The rhythm of repentance can be intimidating, but is so powerful when we offer forgiveness and grace in Christ to one another.
In weeks six and seven we focused on serving the community. Our group represented CBC at the Range Youth Mental Health night at the MN Discovery Center.
Sacrificial generosity was the topic around week eight. While we didn’t sell all of our possessions and distribute them to one another as any had need (Acts 2:45), we encouraged one another to be generous with a reminder of the generosity of God, whom we cannot outgive.
One of the most impactful rhythms was sharing our stories with someone who does not yet know Jesus in week nine. We were struck how each conversation that week had us on the edge of our seats–“God, is this the one?”
Finally, we gathered to worship God corporately to take communion together and reflect on all that Jesus has done for us, and how God changed us over the past ten weeks.
Daily devotion, prayer, repentance, service, generosity, sharing our story, and worship. To say it has been a packed couple months would be an understatement, but these have been some of the most spiritually enriching weeks in recent memory for me. Studies like Rooted and the Life Groups that we are preparing for the fall are meant to help create just these kinds of spiritual rhythms in our lives! And best yet, we get to do them together. I wholeheartedly commend them to you and hope that you will join us!
Right off the bat we were asked to jump into a daily devotional, rich with scripture. The message was clear: daily devotion to the Bible is a vital rhythm in a believer’s life.
By week three we fasted as a group for 24 hours, prayed together for a couple more, and then broke the fast with a potluck. It was incredible to hear comments from people who were nervous about praying for so long saying the time flew by!
On week five we were asked to confess our sins to one another (in gender specific groups) and pray for each other. The rhythm of repentance can be intimidating, but is so powerful when we offer forgiveness and grace in Christ to one another.
In weeks six and seven we focused on serving the community. Our group represented CBC at the Range Youth Mental Health night at the MN Discovery Center.
Sacrificial generosity was the topic around week eight. While we didn’t sell all of our possessions and distribute them to one another as any had need (Acts 2:45), we encouraged one another to be generous with a reminder of the generosity of God, whom we cannot outgive.
One of the most impactful rhythms was sharing our stories with someone who does not yet know Jesus in week nine. We were struck how each conversation that week had us on the edge of our seats–“God, is this the one?”
Finally, we gathered to worship God corporately to take communion together and reflect on all that Jesus has done for us, and how God changed us over the past ten weeks.
Daily devotion, prayer, repentance, service, generosity, sharing our story, and worship. To say it has been a packed couple months would be an understatement, but these have been some of the most spiritually enriching weeks in recent memory for me. Studies like Rooted and the Life Groups that we are preparing for the fall are meant to help create just these kinds of spiritual rhythms in our lives! And best yet, we get to do them together. I wholeheartedly commend them to you and hope that you will join us!
Pastor Matt Hagsten
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