What if we trained to follow Jesus like we train at the gym? You’ve heard of CrossFit. Now, there’s SpiritFit. The risen Christ is on the loose. God is at work in the world. We followers of Jesus get to train to be part of what God is doing bringing good news, hope and love into a broken world.
In the church, Easter isn’t just one day. It is a 7-week season of celebrating Christ’s resurrection. We’re going to spend those 7-weeks as a church training to further develop our prayer life. The idea is to train for 7-weeks so that we’re ready for a lifetime of practicing prayer as part of our daily lives.
SpiritFit can be done from home, work or even the car on your timeline. Pastor Keseley will provide the resources, you put them to work. There will be options for community, connection and making friends along the way.
Great news! No real exercise required. You can do SpiritFit from a chair. So, don’t let that be an excuse that keeps you from participating.
We start Easter Monday! So, sign up today. Questions? Contact Pastor Keseley, Senior Pastor.
Sign Up Here
Week #1 (4/7-4/12): Show Up
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! The tomb is empty. We are God’s Easter people, ready to train to be disciples of a risen Christ. Welcome to the SpiritFit journey. For the next 7-weeks, through the season of Easter that we celebrate in the church, we are going to be growing our prayer life and building community with one another. Simply signup above!
After you sign up, here’s what you will get to start the journey:
Weekly Teaching Video - Start here! Watch the 2 minute video from Pastor Keseley to get started.
WOD Whiteboard - This is where you will find this week’s “Work of Devotion” (WOD).
Google Doc Community - This is where we will show up with and for one another.
This Week’s Meet Up - Totally optional! If you want to get together in person, here’s your opportunity.
Weekly Teaching Video
We’re connecting breathing - something that we do all the time without thinking about it - to God’s presence with us. In this week’s teaching video, Pastor Keseley talks about connecting breath with God’s presence with us. It build’s on this past Sunday’s Easter sermon. If you missed it, check out the Easter sermon here.
2. WOD Whiteboard
Each week will have a whiteboard with what we’re doing each day. Here’s how to use it:
WOD (Work of Devotion) is the daily prayer practice for the week.
Daily Reps tells you how to do it the WOD.
Scaling gives you options about how to make it easier or more challenging, depending on where you are starting the journey. We’re all on a journey. It doesn’t matter where you start. Scaling just gives you options.
Skill is the lifetime discipleship skill this prayer practice is helping us build.
Spirit Cue is meant to help get us going into the prayer practice.
No Shame. No Streaks. Just Return. - That’s our motto this week! If you miss a day, just pick back up where you left off.
3. Google Doc Community
Signup above to get connected to the community. Most of our work will happen within a Google Doc that will allow us to be together on this SpiritFit journey. When you show up to do your WOD each day, add your name and the date/time to the board by typing it . We show up with each other and for each other! Following Jesus isn’t something we do alone, but together as part of a community. After you are done with your WOD, check out our Community Connection and Prayer Requests area. This is where we get to start forming community with one another.
4. This Week’s Meet Up
This Saturday, April 11 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. in the Abiding Presence Sanctuary
A casual meet up to drink coffee, reflect on how the WOD has been going this week, dig deeper into what prayer is and pray together. If you have a prayer partner, this would be a great time to meet up and introduce yourselves in person. This is totally optional and meant to give people who want some face-to-face connection the opportunity to do so.
Week #2 (4/13-4/19): Center
Teaching Video
Last week, we focused on showing up by becoming more aware of our breath. God’s Spirit is never further away from us than the next breath.
This week, we are going to train to be centered. In a world that often feels chaotic and hectic, we are going to work to be still. When we are still, we are able to center on God. God is God and we are not God. That Big-T truth allows for the weight of the world to be taken off our shoulders.
Our prayer practice this week involves continuing to focus on our breath - God’s Spirit in us - while adding to it a psalm verse used as a mantra to center us.
3. Google Doc Community
Signup above to get access to the Google Doc Community.
2. WOD Whiteboard
Here’s how this week’s WOD works:
Inhale and exhale with each word. This WOD is not meant to be rushed. It is going to take a little time. Reflect what each phrase means as you say it. Ascending and descending isn’t just about stringing the words together to make the full sentence, but what it means in each iteration. For instance, “Be still,” might conjure up a different thought than “Be still and know that I am.” Pay attention to your breath. Find stillness in a world that keeps pushing us to move faster and faster. Center yourself in God’s presence with you.
Be
Be still
Be still and
Be still and know
Be still and know that
Be still and know that I
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know that I
Be still and know that
Be still and know
Be still and
Be still
Be
4. This Week’s Meet Up (Totally Optional!)
This Wednesday, April 15 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in Bailey Hall at Abiding Presence at the “Marking the Seasons” Class
Interested in meeting up this week? Let’s gather at the “Marking the Seasons” class at Abiding Presence Wednesday night. Pastor Keseley and Rabbi Widzer are talking about winter holidays in our faith traditions. It is a great time to be together, keep learning and connect.