Open In Prayer
Begin your gathering by praying together – taking some intentional time to invite the Holy Spirit into your gathering. Lead your Community into the evening with a non-anxious and joyful spirit.
Below is an optional liturgy you could pray:
As we gather around the table, we thank You Father for the joy of being together and the comfort of friends, new and old. As we enjoy these blessings of food and drink and conversation and laughter, we’re reminded that it's these simple things that are the first fruits of that great glad joy that is to come and that will be unending. Amen.
Around The Table & Reflect On Last Gathering’s Practice
This is space during your gathering to share a meal, build relationships, and enjoy one another.
Leader Note: Encourage everyone to begin a session on Aro if they have not already as you prepare to be digitally disconnected and relationally present.
As you’re around the table, invite your Community to reflect on their experience with practicing solitude and engaging in the False Self Reflection.
What were some points of delight and points of difficulty as you practiced solitude?
What did God highlight to you as a result of the False Self Reflection?
David Benner said, “The God who is Divine community, is known only in human community. Deep knowing of perfect love, just like deep knowing of ourselves, demands that we be in relationships of spiritual friendship.” Thoughts on this quote? How have you experienced God’s love through friendship?
Share Your Story
The focus of our February gatherings is to share our faith stories. We received a handout at our last gathering that provided a clear structure that will guide us as we share.
Remember, our Community will rise and fall on the level of transparency and honesty each of us is willing to give. This process won’t work if we try to keep up appearances and squeaky-clean images at the expense of being real. Many times, God seems to do great work when we bear our souls to one another, sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly.
We ask that everyone shares for 10 minutes or less. The goal here is not to share everything that has ever happened to us, but to communicate the key events, how we saw God within them, and the emotions, feelings, and beliefs in conjunction with the details of events.
To help keep us accountable, we may find it necessary for someone to set a timer…not out of a desire to rush anyone, but just to ensure that there’s space in our two February gatherings for everyone’s story to be heard.
For Our Next Gathering: Daily Prayer Rhythm
As we continue in our conversations about prayer during our Sunday gatherings, we’re going to intentionally implement a practice of daily prayer in our lives. For some of us, we may have already established this rhythm…and for others, this may be a new practice.
As an Ethos family, we’re committed to “praying what you’ve got” - which simply entails starting right where you are – in whatever season, with however much faith, for however long, and however you choose. Instead of stretching yourself, start small and attainable. If you don’t pray regularly, then probably don’t start by committing to pray for an hour every day. Maybe commit to begin each day in prayer. Or perhaps commit to praying for someone in particular. Or commit to praying with your spouse or roommate each night. There is no “right” or “better” way to pray.
Take some time to develop a rhythm for your daily prayer time. Try to pray at a similar time and place each day.
If you want to pray for a particular person in your life each day, maybe write their name on a sticky note and put it on your bathroom mirror. If you want to start your day with prayer, perhaps you put your Bible on top of your phone when you go to bed as a reminder. If you want to pray with your roommate or family, have a conversation with them to see if it’s something they are interested in and then make a plan. If you want to take an intentional pause during the middle of your day to pray, block it out in your calendar ahead of time.
For those that have established a daily prayer rhythm, consider reflecting on what would be helpful to remove or add to your routine (ie: giving yourself more margin to just breathe and be still before God…or journaling your prayers…or praying for a specific situation each day).
End in Prayer
Before you conclude, spend some time as a Community praying for one another.
Below is an optional liturgy you could pray:
Lord Jesus, There is no greater prayer than yours — make us one as you are one, in devotion, in living, in love. Amen.