Confessing Our Sin

Simply put, the practice of community is committing to life with others, learning and living the way of Jesus together.  Below you will find step to help you engage with this practice over the next four weeks as well as resources that will help you go deeper in your understanding of community.

Ways to engage with in the Community Practice:

• Join us on Sunday mornings to hears teachings on the grounding practice of Community. If you miss a Sunday, you can find the message on our YouTube channel or most podcast platforms.

• Gather with a group of people to watch a short video (below) that will explain each week’s practice and to discuss the teaching on Community from Sunday morning.

• Step into each week’s practice as much as you are able and feel comfortable to.

• Reflect on your experience of the practice using the reflection questions on back side of this guide and be prepared to share them the next time you gather with this group.

Recommended Reading

Made to Belong by David Kim (Chapters 4-5)

Rule of Life Podcast

Commiunity Practice 03

Week 02 Practice - Confess Your Sins

This week we invite you to find someone who you can confess your sin to. Maybe they’re a trusted friend, a pastor, a mentor, a therapist, or a spiritual director – anyone who you feel safe with and believe would love you no matter what. • Ask them to get together and let them know you want to share how you’re really doing • You can start small by just naming an ongoing struggle in your life. Or, depending on the level of trust and the relationship, you can share a sin that has has it’s hold on you for years. Be discerning in what you share, but we invite you to be courageous in taking this step deeper into community and towards healing.

If you’re the one receiving the confession: • Listen with attention, attunement, and a heart of compassion. When they are done, you can say, “In Christ’s name, you are forgiven.” • Community is the place where we come out of hiding and experience the love of God through each other.

Explore Forming a Discipleship Band

This is a triad of around three people (five people is the absolute max) who meet regularly for prayer and confession.

Your band could be with a subgroup of your weekly table community or small group, or totally different people. While it’s ideal to be together in person, your band can also meet digitally, which makes it possible to join with close friends who may live farther away.

Just like a weekly meal is the optimal way to build the kinship layer of community into your Rule of Life, or your regular routine, a discipleship band is a way to build that more intimate layer of brothers and sisters into your Rule of Life as well.

To form your own band:

1. Go to discipleshipbands.com download the free ebook, and give it a read.

2. Identify and invite a few others to start a band with you. (It may be ideal if your band is a subgroup of your Journey Group simply because it’s less relationships to stay up to date with).

3. Put a date on the calendar and begin meeting regularly following the simple questions in the ebook, also found below:

How is it with your soul?

What are your struggles and successes?

How might the Word and Spirit be speaking in your life?

Do you have any sin that you want to confess?

Are there any secrets or hidden things you would like to share?

Week 02 Reflection Questions

• Where did I feel resistance in confession?

• Which emotions did I expect to experience? Which was I surprised by? 

• In what ways did I encounter God as I confessed my sins