WEEK 2 - WHO IS GOD?

Week Two Is Where the Group Begins to Settle In

Week two usually feels different from week one. People know where the room is. They recognize a few faces. The uncertainty has come down a little, but the group is still deciding what kind of community this will become.

After leading Rooted a number of times, I have found that week two often sets the DNA of the group. The habits you establish now—following up with people, using the group chat, reviewing the covenant, making room for questions and encouraging the daily readings—will shape the weeks ahead.

Do not assume that everyone completed the daily material. For some people, opening a Bible or following a devotional rhythm several days in a row is entirely new. Encourage them without embarrassing them. The goal is not to reward the people who finished and quietly shame those who did not. The goal is to help everyone take another step.

Keep God at the Centre

The question this week is simple and enormous: Who is God?

It is important that Rooted begins here rather than with us. If we begin with ourselves—our goals, needs, identities and plans—we will eventually make God a supporting character in our story. Scripture gives us a much better starting point: God is the centre, and our lives make sense as we learn to know him as he truly is.

Some of the material may feel familiar to mature Christians. Do not let familiarity make you impatient. I have watched people become deeply moved by truths that others in the room have known for years. A participant may have attended church for a long time and still be realizing for the first time that God is both holy and loving, powerful and near, just and merciful.

Stay curious. Let the wonder of another person renew your own wonder.

Help People Name the God They Have Imagined

Most people do not arrive with a blank understanding of God. They bring ideas formed by family, church experiences, disappointment, culture and personal history.

Some imagine God as harsh, distant and waiting for them to fail. Others picture him as a kindly grandfather who never confronts sin. Some know true facts about God but have never allowed those truths to affect how they trust, pray or live.

A helpful goal this week is to help people identify false beliefs they have carried and compare those beliefs with what God has revealed in Scripture.

Ask questions such as:

“What did you assume God was like growing up?”

“How has that affected the way you relate to him?”

“What did you encounter this week that challenged that picture?”

You do not need to turn the group into a theology class. Keep bringing the discussion from abstract ideas back to relationship and obedience. When someone learns something true about God, ask what that truth changes about tomorrow.

Create a Place Where Questions Are Welcome

Questions will come up. Some will be deeply personal. Others may seem to come from left field.

Do not make people feel foolish for asking. A person may ask about creation, the Trinity, suffering, science or something they heard years ago. Often the question is not merely intellectual; it may be tied to whether they believe Christianity can be trusted.

You also do not need to answer everything in the room.

One of the healthiest sentences a Rooted leader can use is, “That is a good question. I do not want to give you a careless answer. Let me look into it and come back to you.”

Then follow through.

When a question begins taking over the whole evening, thank the person for raising it, acknowledge its importance and make space for others. Not every worthwhile question needs to be fully resolved in that moment.

Pay Attention to the People Who Are Still on the Edge

Week two is an important follow-up week.

Contact anyone who missed week one. Let them know that they have not missed their opportunity to belong. Help them get a book and make the next step easy.

Take attendance—not as administration for its own sake, but because people matter. Attendance helps us notice when someone may need care rather than allowing them to disappear quietly.

Start or continue using the group chat. During the week, share something that stood out from your own reading. Encourage participants who are trying a devotional rhythm for the first time. A simple message can remind them that they are not doing this alone.

Prepare Them for the Prayer Experience

Before the group leaves, explain that week three will include the Prayer Experience and that it will feel different from a normal discussion night.

Do not build anxiety by making it sound mysterious or intense. Give enough information that people know what to expect and can arrive open rather than guarded.

Invite them to consider fasting in preparation, while making room for health needs and other appropriate forms of fasting. The purpose is not to prove spiritual maturity or earn something from God. It is to create space, redirect attention and approach the experience with dependence.

If someone expresses interest in baptism or takes a significant spiritual step this week, celebrate it and connect with a pastor or ministry leader. Rooted often brings people to moments of decision sooner than we expect.

Before You Lead

Before week two, make sure you have taken attendance from week one, contacted anyone who missed, started the group chat, reviewed the covenant, prepared to hear additional stories and looked ahead to the Prayer Experience.

Most importantly, pray that people will not merely learn facts about God, but will begin to know, trust and enjoy him.

The best outcome is not that everyone leaves impressed by the discussion. It is that they leave with a truer picture of God—and a greater desire to draw near to him.