Rooted
Life with god | week 1

For the Participant

Course Description: The Rooted series is designed to be a a clear way that you can grow in your life with Jesus as a participant in the life of our church. We’ve clustered key concepts in the series into three groups: Life with God, Life with Others and Life on Mission. We believe that as we live into these three areas in increasing measure, we will become more fully formed disciples of Jesus. We’ll begin by talking about Life with God.
Learning objective: to be envisioned for personal and spiritual transformation through an intimate life with God. Be able to actively reflect on what God is doing and speaking to you at this moment in your life with Him.

Prior to meeting with your mentor or small group, please do the following:
WATCH:
READ:
  • “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1–5, NIV)
  • “Made in God’s image, humans are invested with a nonnegotiable dignity. We are compatriots of God, not just creatures of God. Even more astounding, God chose us to be his friends. That imputed status was never annulled, despite our sinful rebellion and declarations of independence. Creation was God’s plan for friendship. We were not brought into existence simply so that we could worship God. Nor were we created simply for service. Human beings exist because of God’s desire for companionship. We are the fruit of God’s love reaching out toward creatures who share enough similarity that relationship is possible. Humans were created for this intimate communion with their head-over-heels-in-love-Creator God.”—David G. Benner,  Surrender to Love, 23
Click here to submit your reflection questions
WRITE AND REFLECT:
Rooted Content
  • The Bible often speaks of transformation happening indirectly: as we are connected to Jesus, his life flows into us and we produce fruit (John 15). How is this similar or different from what you may have observed or been taught in other churches?
  • When you consider the Biblical idea of being connected to Jesus as the source of transformation, what surfaces in your heart (Warmth? Guilt? Invitation?) Why is this so for you?
  • Describe a time when you have felt intimately connected to Jesus. What was powerful about that experience?
    • Prayerfully read the following 2-3 times slowly, observing how the Holy Spirit is stirring your heart. Notice what stands out to you. Sit in silence afterward for several minutes, allowing God’s presence to saturate your heart and soul. Journal anything you heard, felt, or sensed from God afterwards.
    • “Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new. And yet it is the law of progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability – and that it may take a very long time. And so I think it is with you; your ideas mature gradually - let them grow, let them shape themselves, without undo haste. Don’t try to force them on, as though you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make of you tomorrow. Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be. Give our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.” —Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ
The Bible Project Content
  • Historically speaking, the Bible chronicles the story of the ___________ who believed their story was a central part of what God was doing for all of ________.
  • What are the three primary literary works in the Jewish TaNaK, or as we call it today, the Old Testament?
  • How does the Old Testament end?
  • How did Jesus seems himself fitting into the story of the Jews?
  • What did Jesus' earliest followers, the apostles, write and what did they believe about their writing?
  • From the beginning, all Christians have universally recognized the _______________ and _____________ as Scripture.
TAKE ACTION:
  • Have a conversation with someone about where you are currently at in your connection with Jesus, however that may look. Be specific in what you currently do and how you currently feel. Then, describe for them where you hope to be at the conclusion of this discipleship series. Be specific in what you would like to do and how you would like to feel.

For the coach/mentor

Coaching objective: stir people, through vision and conversation, toward passion for an intimate life with Jesus.

SETTING UP THE SERIES: A DIFFERENT KIND OF LEARNING
  • Welcome. I want to begin by giving you a framework for how our course is designed so that you can get the most out of it. For many of you, how we approach this is going to be a disorienting experience at first…and that’s okay.
  • Most learning in America is passive: you sit in a classroom or a church and someone teaches at you for a length of time then you regurgitate the information in the form of a test or answering some questions.
  • Many studies say, and our experience in the church confirms, that the best learning involves active participation. Just think about moment where you actively participated in your learning…Maybe it was at summer camp and you were given two sticks and some dry leaves and told to make a fire. Or your dad sits you on a bike for the first time and just says “pedal”. Then, only after you’ve personally engaged the learning did your counselor give you tips for building a fire or your dad coach you on steering while pedaling. It’s likely that learning in those situations stuck with you on a much deeper level.
  • To this end we are “flipping the classroom” on you. By this I mean most of the material you’ll learn will be engaged outside of any formal gathering. You’ll watch some videos, read a few things, and answer questions for reflection. When we gather our expectation is that you’ve engaged the material and have some thoughts in your head around how God is moving and shaping you through it. My job, then, is to engage you in dialog and through questioning so as to help move you toward deeper engagement, action or to get you unstuck.
REVIEW AND REMIND: 5 MINUTES
  • Prior to coming today, we’ve asked you to do Life with God: Week One in your Participant Guide and Week One in your Biblical Study Guide, giving you a taste of our Rooted material. This involved watching a couple videos, a little reading, and answering some questions for reflection and understanding.
  • If you’re in the room right now and thinking, “I didn’t actually think I had to do this. I just thought it was a suggestion.”—that’s okay. It wasn’t a suggestion. Again, we’re trying to engage everyone in a different method of learning because we have seen it to be incredibly effective for those who put in the work.
  • As a reminder, our material in Rooted is organized around three key concepts which we believe will lead anyone toward a deeper life and more fully formed life with Jesus. Those three concepts are: Life with God, Life with Others (in community) and Life on Mission. Some of you might immediately connect this with our MHV logo: Up, In, and Out. We believe it’s incredibly important for everyone in our church to be familiar with how we think about formation and discipleship, and to move with us in a unified direction. We believe Rooted will help us do that.
  • In the coming weeks, you’re going to continue with your homework from both the Participant Guide and the Biblical Study Guide. Our primary purpose in coaching is to hear your progress, encourage you, and help you get unstuck and moving forward in any area. If in a group setting, your coach/leader may choose to coach everyone in the group every time; he or she may also coach two or three knowing that the rest of the group will benefit from observing someone else’s process.
PERSONAL STORY: 5 MINUTES
  • What we want to focus on tonight is the first concept, Life with God, which truly forms the foundation of the other two areas. It’s really hard to be connected to people or share Jesus in the world if you’re not connected with and filled up with God. So we start here and we return here regularly in our lives—by cultivating an intimate relationship with God. Any and all good fruit comes from this as our fundamental spiritual practice.
  • As a coach or leader, here is a great moment where we want you to share a personal story from your life. This story should be of a powerful moment where you experienced God’s loving and intimate presence in your life.
    • Maybe an intimate life with God was foreign to you growing up in the church. Start there and share how God has changed that.
    • Maybe there was a moment where God spoke to a deep need in your life—to be loved, to be safe, to be known. Share your struggle and how God met you.
GROUP SHARES PERSONAL STORY: 20 MINUTES
  • If mentoring an individual, ask them to share their story in about 10 minutes. If in a group setting, pair participants in groups of 3-4. For the next 15-20 minutes, I want each of you to share briefly a moment when you experienced an intimate moment with the Lord.
  • If you don’t have a story to share, that’s okay. You might choose to share with the group one thing you desire in life with God at this time.
COACHING: 10-15 MINUTES
  • Bring the group back together, then as the leader, ask for a volunteer for some live coaching. You’re looking for someone who currently has some measure of life with the Lord, but sees a gap in where they are and where they want to be.
  • When asking for a volunteer, be sure to share: “I’m not going to embarrass you. This isn’t going to hurt. I am asking you to be vulnerable in front of a group of people—which can be a little intimidating—but it’s for the benefit of our whole group so we can learn together.”
  • Here are some possible questions for coaching. The goal is to help them come up with an action to take to deepen their intimacy with the Lord.
    • Share with me what your practices are currently in your life with God and what they look like—Church attendance? Bible? Prayer?
    • What feels lacking right now and what would you hope for?
    • Describe for me a moment when you really felt connected to God; he met you in a personal way. What was going on? What did you do?
    • Why was that experience powerful or meaningful for you?
    • Identify and reflect back some traits of their experience: it sounds like when you really connected personally with God you…for example: were alone, you were really honest with God, you had worship music playing, you got into nature…
    • What are some possible ways to foster a similar experience today? One that is…then repeat the key traits you just said. You’re encouraging them to generate new ideas for connecting with God.
    • Which one of those ideas would you like to try out? When?
    • Is there any obstacle that you might have to address first? How would you address that?
    • Review for them the idea and action they came up with: when you really connected with God you…And you came up with some ideas about how to foster a similar experience. The one idea for a practice which you highlighted was…And you’re going to try it out…
    • Thank them for allowing you to coach them!
PAIRS COACHING: 20-30 MINUTES (IF IN GROUP SETTING)
  • What I’d like you to do now is have you split into pairs and practice coaching each other. You’ll each take turns. There are a few specific questions I want you to ask.
  • For the one asking questions: ask a question and allow them to answer; when they’re finished, reflect back what you’re hearing to make sure you understood. Then, ask the next question and repeat the process.
  • For the one being asked questions: be as vulnerable as you can, taking even just one step beyond what you might feel safe or comfortable sharing. After the final question, state what idea or practice you are going to try on and when.
  • Questions to ask each other:
    • When you consider having an intimate life with Jesus, what do you hope for (either more of or maybe something you’re not currently experiencing)?
    • What was a moment when you really felt connected to God?
    • Why was that so meaningful for you?
    • What are some possible ways to foster a similar experience today? Good, what else?
    • Which one of those ideas would you like to try out? When?
WRAPPING UP
  • Thanks so much for coming tonight. I’m excited for the journey each of you are on in your Life with God. There are a lot of good things that happened tonight. I would encourage you to go home and within the next 24 hours write down any key take-aways or things you sensed God speak tonight—especially the practice you committed to try out.
  • Let me pray to close us out for the night…
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