This weekend marks the end of another fantastic semester. Spiritual Experiments held its final meeting yesterday morning. It has been such an encouragement to me to join with 12-15 other people every Tuesday morning at 7:00 am to seek God. We journaled, prayed, worshiped, and fasted. We practiced silence, solitude, slowing, and retreating. Yesterday, we talked about ancient disciplines like pilgrimage, stations of the cross, and the Ignatian Examen. And we took the first steps toward establishing a rhythm or “rule of life” for our spiritual growth.
Besides the group meeting itself, several people formed new bonds and friendships as a result of the group. Small group leaders and zone leaders came to take a break from their own leadership and focus on their own spiritual growth. One of our members, Myriam Roberts, took a giant leap of faith by getting dunked at Baptism By the Bay.
For me, it was a big win to complete another core discipleship group/curriculum. Spiritual Experiments is the Port City for the Seeker Island of the discipleship map, which means it is a group that we believe every NCCer should experience and we will offer it at least once a year. I feel good about getting one under our belt, and now we can tweak it and re-engineer it to make the group a better experience next year.
Please share your personal and group wins for the summer semester using the comment thread below. Let’s give God public credit for the great stuff he is doing in our lives.
I know I’m a week late, but hopefully, I’m not a dollar short. It was amazing to see three people whose lives were impacted in significant ways through Alpha get baptized last week. Praise God for giving these people a personal faith that they wanted to declare out loud! How awesome it is to get to be there to see these changes taking place!
Hyla
July 28th, 2006
Yes, it was so amazing and encouraging to watch them be baptized.
So, many wins. The Thursday night Dance Party at Ebs was a huge win. 20-25 people attended each week. The attendees were from both NCC and the neighborhood…and customers continue to ask about the lessons, so can’t wait until they start up again in the Fall. Go Juman!!!
Juliet M
July 28th, 2006
we had an amazing meeting with the wednesday guys at 205 this week. one of our summer intern volunteers had her last week- we had the 15 people go around in a circle and affirm her- they had amazing things to say and i think she was blessed, and they were blessed by doing it.
we also had 3 people show us their singing skills and praise God with some amazing a cappella versions of some old spiritual hymns… we even had some clappin and foot stompin-
God is good.
*hasler
hasler
July 28th, 2006
I just have to give a shout-out to the NW women’s group (led by Lanre and Lisa). They blow me away every week with their win sheets and it is thrilling to see the way that God is at work in the lives of the women in their group! They experienced some major answers to prayer this week, on a personal and collective level, and they are praising God for it! For just a taste of the awesomeness of their group, check out their summer blog:
http://www.reflectionofhim.blogspot.com/
What I love about this group is the way they care for one another and encourage one another. Lisa and Lanre are living the “be One, Make One, for One” motto, and I am nearly giddy with anticipation to see what God does in this group through their study of Romans this coming fall! You go, girls!
Sarah O.
August 1st, 2006