Weekly Practice 11/24/25

After doing this week’s practice, try to share your experience with a friend.

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Scripture

Psalm 139:7-12 MSG

Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?

    to be out of your sight?

If I climb to the sky, you’re there!

    If I go underground, you’re there!

If I flew on morning’s wings

    to the far western horizon,

You’d find me in a minute—

    you’re already there waiting!

Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!

    At night I’m immersed in the light!”

It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;

    night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.

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Practice

Examen Your Story

Remember, examen is a noticing kind of prayer where we pay attention to the places in our day or week—or even further back—where we sense ourselves moving towards or away from God’s love.

This week, spend some time looking back over your life story with God. Ask him to guide your mind and highlight specific times of when and how he was with you, even if you didn’t see it at the time. If you’re not very good at reflecting or remembering, you may be at an advantage here. The idea is not to wrack your brain, but let the Holy Spirit show you whatever he wants to show you. Whatever God reveals to you, offer it back to him with thanks. God has loved you your entire life, whether you could see it or not at various times. Let this fact wash over you. May God fill you with trust in his ever-present love.

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It was this or Mariah Carey

No, Advent does not start until next Sunday, but here is an album to get us started. The first track is called “Thanksgiving,” so technically it’s perfect for this week.

Weekly Practice 11/17/25

Doing this alone: good. Doing this with others: even better!

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Scripture

Philippians 1:3-11 MSG

Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God’s Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.

It’s not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with me all the way from the time I was thrown in jail, put on trial, and came out of it in one piece. All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God. He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!

So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

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Practice

Pray For Each Other

Maybe once a week I carve out some time to pray for each person at Trellis by name. But when I do, I’m pretty overwhelmed by the love that God has for each of us. Sometimes I get something specific that I sense God wants me to share with someone, but most of the time, it’s just a wave of his affection. God loves us, guys, and he wants to love us through each other.

This week, carve out some time to pray for the individuals at Trellis. By name. You may not know everybody that well, but that’s okay. The Holy Spirit within you knows them and knows what they need. Think of this as an opportunity to love each other with God.

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Wide Awake

Here’s the latest newsletter from our friends in Ukraine. Please take a few minutes to actually read it, as it will give you an idea of the day to day work they do, and how we can be praying for them. If you’d like to receive their weekly newsletter, you can sign up here.

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For the Bible nerds 

Here’s a link to the video we watched on Sunday, in case you missed it or want to watch it again.

Weekly Practice 11/11/25

Hey, all. Especially this week, try to process the practice with others.

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Scripture

Proverbs 12:26, 18:24, 27:6, 27:9, 27:17 ESV

One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, 

but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

A man of many companions may come to ruin, 

but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; 

profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

Oil and perfume make the heart glad, 

and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

Iron sharpens iron, 

and one man sharpens another.

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Practice

Spiritual Friendship

Spiritual friendship is an unforced and genuine relationship among a few people who share a commitment to the love of God and the love of others. They are the handful of people with whom we can be vulnerable and fully ourselves. Unfortunately, friendship is hard for many of us, let alone spiritual friendship. It takes time and trust and, frankly, God. Maybe you have these people already. Maybe you don’t. Maybe God has new people he is inviting to befriend.

This week, prayerfully consider these questions:

• Who do I truly share my life with? With whom do I allow myself to be intimate and vulnerable?

• With whom might I cultivate spiritual friendship? Whom might God be inviting me to pursue in friendship?

• How might deeper friendship in my life help me more fully follow Jesus?

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Unrelated, but still good

If you haven’t heard about The Surprising Rebirth of the Belief in God podcast, I highly recommend it. It covers a variety of topics around how the secular world is starting to reconsider Christianity. I’d suggest starting from the beginning.

Weekly Practice 11/3/25

Hey, all. If you’re able, try to do and/or reflect on this week’s practice with someone else, maybe a friend, spouse, or even your kids. Iron sharpens iron, right? 

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Scripture

Philippians 4:8 NIV

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

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Practice

Affirmations

I think our community is especially gifted at affirmations. My recent birthday is the perfect example. I felt incredibly seen and loved by what so many of you said, and I felt seen and loved by God through you. I also know that, when bogged down with my own stuff, it can be hard for me to notice God’s good and beautiful work in others. In Finding Freedom in Constraint, Jared Boyd writes:

“I think we do not have enough of a culture of noticing and naming the good we see in others. We are much more acquainted with work cultures and family cultures where the things we do wrong are pointed out but the places where we are flourishing are less noticed. At the very least successes are less often verbalized than criticism unless a culture of celebration and affirmation is being created intentionally. But we can change this by showing up with a focus on noticing and naming the good in others. It will help others see the good in themselves in ways they may not have seen before. We help them see the truth of themselves.”

This week, during your times of prayer, ask God to help you notice that work that he is doing in others. If you notice anything, try sharing it with the person. Don’t make up an affirmation just to make someone feel good. This practice is as much about you tuning in to God as it is about blessing others. But when you do notice “if anything is excellent or praiseworthy” in another person, be brave. Tell them.

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For your consideration

Aaron mentioned Wide Awake International this last Sunday as a ministry Trellis may support in the near future. Our friends Jed and Kim Johnson started Wide Awake in 2013, working to deinstitutionalize disabled boys and men in Ukraine. Please be praying for them. This isn't just a ministry; it’s their life, and they live it with a Christlikeness that is “excellent and praiseworthy.” You should sign up for their newsletter, too!

Weekly Practice 10/27/25

Hey, all. You know the drill. Try to do/discuss this week’s practice with others.

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Scripture

Here’s a link if you want to read all of Isaiah 49. If you have the time, you should.

Isaiah 49:15-16 ESV

“Can a woman forget her nursing child,

    that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?

Even these may forget,

    yet I will not forget you.

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;

    your walls are continually before me.”

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Practice

“Being Marked”

What an image: God, so lovingly committed to his people, carves our names into his hands. We are tattoo-worthy to our Maker. Inconceivable. When Jesus says to pray in his name, he’s inviting us except his mark. “I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you” (John 14:20). 

Part of the work Jesus tasks us with is to share him with others. If Jesus Christ is your Lord, you have been marked. Like a full sleeve tattoo, this should be hard to cover up. This week, ask God if there are ways you can “show off your ink.” This might be in what you say. It might also be in the decisions you make, in how you work and play, or in how you treat others. You and me, we’re marked. Let’s not be afraid to let others see.

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Regrettable