Thee. We. Be.
Overview – THEE (we worship). WE (are family) .BE (the change) – This is the heart of the Gospel. And
what we are going to focus on this month. Worship God – Connect w/ Others – Live out your purpose.
Recap of last week – This is a pivot point in history. Individually and collectively we are called for such a
time as this to live into the Kin(g)dom of God. We need to root ourselves in three practices that we
need to do on a consistent repeat cycle -
Worship God
Connect with each other
Live into God’s Justice (standing up in the world that is) & Jubilee (building the world to come)
These are the practices but it is also a reminder that we are God’s representatives. That
is an amazing privilege, awesome responsibility and one of the best things we can do to counter the
image of God that is moving in this moment.
We begin first with our orientation towards God. Worship is where we start. Worship is about all the
practices – singing, prayer, meditation, dance, Bible study – all the practices is that put us into God’s
presence rather than just operating from our understanding or what is happening around us.
1. Worshipping God is the only way to get our mind/heart right [Matt 6:22-23]
2. If we don’t worship God, we will worship something else [Matthew 6:24]
3. None of us is smart enough to figure this out – we need God’s direction [Matthew 6:25-34]
From a communal perspective
4. We cannot hold up the truth of Jesus if we do not know it ourselves.
5. If we as a community are not led by God we really don’t have much unique to add
I hope you are convinced that we need to focus on worshipping and listening to God. The things that
are petitioning us to worship them are around us all the time, so our spiritual practice has to be
consistent and constant to counter those things. The Scripture warns about a kind of faith that is
completely public which has the danger to be about recognition and not about truly hearing from God.
We are making a commitment as a community to make worship a central part of everything we do and
every time we gather. The stakes are too high to skimp on this.
Reflections Questions
1. If you look at your time, your money and your energy – what do you worship? What do you
want to be placing at the center of your life? If there is a disconnect, what do you need to do to
center the right worship and decrease the misplaced worship?
2. Take a moment to reflect. Where are you in your spiritual practice? How much of your thinking
and action is driven by what God says about you and the world? How are you called to shift or
go deeper?
3. How do you hear from God to direct your path? How can you make more time for discernment?
If you struggle with discernment, what do you need to help you grow in this area? [If you have
ideas – please share because we can use that to direct what we are doing at New Roots.}