May - Week One
- Delaney Brake
- Apr 24
- 6 min read
Open In Prayer
Begin 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:
In sharing this meal together, we declare that evil and death, suffering and loss, sorrow and tears, will not have the final word. The joy of togetherness, with our God and with one another, and the blessings of food and drink and conversation and laughter are the true evidence of things eternal. Let them be to us now a delight, and a glad foretaste of His eternal kingdom.
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.
As you’re around the table, invite your Community to reflect on the practice. If your Community is larger, you may find it helpful to reflect in smaller groups for the sake of time.
Where did you feel resistance in beginning prayer with silence? Internally or externally?
Where did you most experience delight, or God’s nearness during the practice?
What did you learn through the Prayer Practice that you plan to consistently implement into your daily life?
Learning: Scheduling and Accountability
As we head into summer, which can be a full season with vacations, events, etc, we’re going to take some space today to intentionally recalibrate and plan ahead for the next few months.
A reminder of our Working Theory of Change that is guiding our year of intentional spiritual formation:
There have been two recurring pieces of feedback from different Ethos Communities:
1. We are not leaning into the formational practices consistently.
2. We desire more time to build relationships outside of our set gathering times.
So, today, you’re encouraged as an Ethos Community to recalibrate, adjust, and ensure everyone is on the same page.
The Why Behind Practices
Our culture is distracted, fragmented, and hurried. Many of us are simply too busy and exhausted to have a meaningful life with God.
We need what Dallas Willard called a “curriculum for Christlikeness” – a clear path to being formed by Jesus in the modern era, rather than being counter-formed by a culture that skims near the surface.
The formational practices we are committed to implementing are not out of a spirit of religiosity and the conversation around accountability is not to shame us into doing more for the sake of doing more.
Instead, since we have committed to allowing Jesus to form us through implementing spiritual disciplines outside of our Ethos Community’s gatherings, we want to ensure we are following through on that commitment.
Spiritual Health Reflection
The Apostle Paul said, “Watch your life and doctrine closely,” so that “everyone may see your progress.” This reflection is designed to do just that: to take a snapshot of “your progress” as a follower of Jesus.
No grades.
No score.
No comparing.
Just insight into your spiritual journey.
Take a few moments to engage in this reflection individually through the Practicing the Way (practicingtheway.org).
[Leader Note: Ensure that every person in your Ethos Community was invited to join your Practicing The Way group on the website. If they were, they should've been able to create a profile and will therefore have access to the Spiritual Health Reflection.]
What emotions are rising to the surface as you read through the results of your Spiritual Health Reflection?
What has been your experience thus far with the practices our Ethos Community has been trying out? What are things that you feel are inhibitors to your growth?
May Accountability Partner
As we prepare to continue to lean into these formational practices, we’re going to start touching base with an accountability partner during the weeks in between our gatherings.
Identify a partner within your Ethos Community that shares your same gender.
Your role as accountability partners is to do the following:
Encourage one another as you lean into the practices. You may choose to send a quick daily text to touch base.
Example: during times when I need more accountability, I send a bread emoji back & forth with friends to hold each other accountable to lean into our BREAD scripture practice.
Schedule a time to hang one-on-one in person with your accountability partner during the month of May.
Consider inviting each other into the lives you’re already living instead of having to create extra margin (ie: meal prep together, walk the dog together, run errands together).
Scheduling Summer Hangs
One of our Ethos Communities changed the title of the "Woo Planners" to the "Deacons of Good Times"...and it's honestly such a better title. Deacons, this is your space to step up and shine!
Summer has the ability to be a unique time for you all to grow in relationship with one another outside of your set gatherings.
Take some time now to schedule a few summer hangs - and try your best to stick to these dates!
Need Inspiration? Here's what are other Ethos Communities doing:
Create a Columbus bucket list and conquer it together (ie: specific parks you want to visit, new coffeeshops, etc).
Schedule intentional hangs with just the girls or just the guys!
Create a movie bracket and after voting together, set a time to do an outdoor movie night to watch the winner.
Enjoy a chill night around the fire together.
Rent a cabin for an evening and get away together.
Attend the sporting events of your Community member's kids.
Grab lunch together after church!
The key here is intentionality. Maybe everyone in your Community can't make it to every hang - that's okay! But we want to ensure that we are being intentional about enjoying life together.
Practice: BREAD & Introduction to Emotionally Healthy Spirituality
Your first practice is to feast on the story of Jesus through reading the Scriptures every day. As you conclude in prayer, continue to practice being with God.
Many of us at Ethos use our BREAD journals, but if you are engaging in a different Bible Reading Plan - do that!
If you need to purchase a BREAD journal, they are still available at our Merch table on Sunday mornings. You can also access the digital version here: https://www.ethosoh.com/bread
This summer, we are going to explore emotionally healthy spirituality and how our mental health is a vital aspect of our spiritual formation.
You are invited to set aside 25 minutes to engage in the Ten Symptoms of Emotionally Unhealthy Spirituality journal reflection.
As you read through the following list, put a check mark next to the symptoms that are present within your life today:
1. Using God to run from God
(Example: I keep myself busy in church activities to avoid the pain and tension I’m experiencing in my close relationships.)
2. Ignoring the emotions of anger, sadness, and fear
(Example: I am rarely honest with myself and/or others about the feelings, hurts, and pains beneath the surface of my life.)
3. Dying to the wrong things
(Example: I tend to deny healthy, God-given desires and pleasures of life such as friendships, joy, music, beauty, laughter, and nature. At the same time, I find it difficult to die to my self-protectiveness, defensiveness, lack of vulnerability, and judgmentalism.)
4. Denying the past’s impact on the present
(Example: I rarely consider how my family of origin and significant people/events from my past have shaped my present.)
5. Dividing life into “secular” and “sacred” compartments
(Example: I easily compartmentalize God to “Christian activities” while usually forgetting about him when I am working, shopping, studying, or recreating.)
6. Doing for God instead of being with God
(Example: I tend to evaluate my spirituality based on how much I am doing for God.)
7. Spiritualizing away conflict
(Example: I usually miss out on true peace by smoothing over disagreements, burying tensions, and avoiding conflict, rather than disrupting false peace as Jesus did.)
8. Covering over brokenness, weakness, and failure
(Example: I have a hard time speaking freely about my weaknesses, failures, and mistakes.)
9. Living without limits
(Example: Those close to me would say that I often “try to do it all” or “bite off more than I can chew.”)
10. Judging the spiritual journeys of others
(Example: I often find myself occupied and bothered by the faults of those around me.)
Take a few moments to reflect on why you feel that symptom most applies to your life. How does that symptom manifest in your relationship with Jesus? Use this space to process thoughts and emotions that you are processing.
Some may choose to write in paragraph or bullet point form, others may choose to draw what they are processing…reflect on this exercise in whatever way works best for your brain.
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.