You’re Halfway Through Rooted! You made it to Week Five!
This is an exciting milestone in the Rooted journey. Over the past several weeks, your group has been building trust, growing in honesty, learning to hear from God and walking together in community. That foundation matters, because this week invites people to go even deeper.
Week Five is often one of the most significant weeks in Rooted.
The subject of spiritual warfare can feel unfamiliar or uncomfortable, and the Strongholds Experience asks people to speak honestly about patterns of sin, lies, shame, fear and bondage. But this is also a week where people can begin to experience real freedom.
So celebrate how far your group has come, and enter this week with hope.
The focus is not the power of the enemy. The focus is the victory, grace and authority of Jesus Christ.
The goal of your time is to create a safe space where people can bring what has been hidden into the light, confess honestly, be prayed for, hear the truth of Scripture and experience the freedom that is found in Jesus. As James 5:16 reminds us, there is something powerful about confessing our sins to one another and praying for one another within Christian community.
Keep the Conversation Biblical and Balanced
People in your group may approach spiritual warfare very differently. Some may tend to see spiritual warfare behind nearly every struggle. Others may rarely think about the spiritual realm at all. Help your group stay biblical and balanced.
Scripture teaches that we have an enemy and that our struggle is not merely against flesh and blood. At the same time, not every difficult circumstance or sinful choice should be blamed on Satan. We remain responsible for our actions, and we live in a fallen world where our own choices, the choices of others and spiritual opposition can all be involved.
Keep returning to Scripture.
The enemy lies and condemns: You will always be this. You will never be free. The Holy Spirit brings conviction and leads us toward repentance, truth and life.
You do not need to be an expert on every aspect of spiritual warfare. If a question comes up and you do not know the answer, it is okay to say so. Tell the group you will talk with a pastor, return to Scripture and follow up. We are not looking for leaders who have every answer. We are looking for leaders who will continually point people back to the Word of God and the sufficiency of Christ.
Review the Ground Rules Again
By Week Five, you may feel like your group has heard the Rooted Group Ground Rules enough.
Review them anyway.
This week, confidentiality, listening without fixing, allowing people room to speak and treating one another with dignity are especially important. The more vulnerable the conversation becomes, the more clearly those boundaries need to be reinforced. The Rooted Playbook specifically identifies reviewing the Ground Rules as a best practice for this week.
Remind your group that what is shared in the room stays in the room, apart from situations where someone's safety or another serious pastoral concern requires additional help.
For couples and co-ed groups, you will meet together for approximately the first 30 minutes and then divide by gender for the Strongholds portion. Make sure everyone knows where they are going and who is leading before the transition happens.
Prepare the Environment
Strongholds Night can be emotional.
Past wounds, fears, hidden sin and painful experiences may surface. Your role is not to create an emotional moment, but to create a calm and safe environment where people feel able to share honestly.
Limit distractions. Have tissues available. Encourage people to listen without interrupting, immediately giving advice or trying to fix what they hear. Be aware of facial expressions and reactions as well. Shock or strong emotion can unintentionally feel like rejection to someone who has taken a significant risk by sharing.
If you want to offer physical comfort such as a hug, holding a hand or placing a hand on someone's shoulder, ask first.
Safety is part of shepherding.
Explain What Is About to Happen
Do not assume participants know what the Strongholds Experience will look like. Take a moment to explain it clearly.
Let them know that everyone will have an opportunity to share two or three strongholds or persistent patterns of sin that God brought to their attention during the week's readings. They do not need to share everything they marked.
After someone shares, the group is not going to analyze them or begin offering solutions. Instead, someone will pray over them and speak the corresponding freedom Scripture over them. Painting that picture ahead of time helps reduce anxiety and gives people confidence in what is coming.
Leaders Go First
One of the most important things you can do this week is model the experience before asking everyone else to participate. Prepare what you are going to share.
Do not choose something so safe that it avoids meaningful vulnerability, but do not share details that are inappropriate for the group either. Name the stronghold honestly, explain how it has affected you and then point toward the truth of Christ and the freedom you are seeking.
If you have a co-leader, decide beforehand who will share first and who will model the prayer response. Participants need to see the pattern before they are asked to repeat it.
Your willingness to go first communicates something important: It is safe to be honest here.
Fight the Urge to Fix
When someone shares something difficult, compassionate people often want to solve it immediately. Resist that urge.
Your role this evening is not to become the rescuer. Most people already know many of the things they “should” do. What they need in this moment is confession, prayer, truth and the transforming work of God.
If someone in the group begins giving advice, step in kindly: “Thank you for wanting to help. I think the best thing we can do right now is pray and speak God's truth over what was shared.”
When something significant is shared, slow down, thank the person for bringing it into the light, and point them toward truth.
Advice and practical support may have a place later. Protect the purpose of this moment.
Move From Confession to Truth
Confession should never leave someone staring only at their failure. After someone shares, move toward truth.
Read the Scripture connected to the stronghold. Pray it over them. Invite another person in the group to pray as well. Where appropriate, have the person who shared pray the prayer provided in the Rooted material as they reject the lie they have believed and embrace what God says is true.
The movement of the evening should be:
Bring it into the light.
Name the lie.
Turn toward God.
Receive His truth.
Pray in faith.
Remember, freedom may look different for different people. For some, there may be an immediate sense of breakthrough. For others, this evening may mark the beginning of a longer journey of repentance, accountability, healing, counselling or pastoral support. Do not promise a particular emotional experience.
Point people to Jesus.
Make Room for God to Work
Protect enough time for the Strongholds Experience. Do not let the opening discussion consume the entire evening. There are no stories this week, so use that additional time intentionally. Some leaders may feel nervous about this portion of the night and unconsciously delay it. Plan against that.
Transition into the Strongholds Experience with enough time for people to share and receive prayer without rushing the final few people.
Do not allow the first person to receive a long, extended prayer moment while the final person is squeezed into the last minute. Steward the time so everyone is cared for well.
Give God room to work.
Remember Where Freedom Comes From
This week may also open an important gospel conversation. Someone in your group may not yet be a follower of Jesus, or they may realize that they have been trying to overcome sin entirely in their own strength.
This is an opportunity to point clearly to the gospel. We cannot free ourselves from the power of sin simply by trying harder. Jesus paid the penalty for sin, and through His Spirit He also gives us power to walk in new life.
Strongholds Night is ultimately not about better self-discipline. It is about surrendering ourselves to Christ and trusting Him to do what we cannot do on our own.
Use Pastoral Wisdom
Some disclosures may require care beyond what your Rooted group can provide. Someone may share about addiction, abuse, danger to themselves or another person, criminal activity, serious marital difficulty or another significant pastoral concern.
Do not investigate in the room. Do not feel pressure to solve it. Thank the person for trusting the group, pray with them and connect with your Coach or Pastor afterward so appropriate support can be offered.
You are not responsible for fixing people. Your role is to create a safe environment, encourage honest sharing, point people toward Jesus and His truth and pray with them. Trust that the Holy Spirit is the One who brings conviction, healing and freedom.
Follow Up the Next Day
Your shepherding does not necessarily end when the meeting does. Some people will leave Week Five grateful and relieved. Others may wake up the next morning wondering: Why did I tell everyone that? This is kind of “vulnerability hangover.” After being deeply honest, people can suddenly feel exposed or ashamed. A simple message the next day can make a tremendous difference:
“I'm really grateful you trusted us enough to share last night. I'm praying for you again today.”
Your grace, love and pursuit can help shut down the shame that often follows vulnerability. If someone needs additional care, connect them with the appropriate pastor, counselling resource or support ministry.
Finalize Your Serve Experience
Your Serve Experience is coming up in Weeks 6–7, so by the end of this week your group should have a clear plan.
If your group is participating in one of Faith's organized Serve Experiences, make sure you are registered. If your group is doing its own See a Need, Meet a Need project, that still needs to be registered so we know where and how your group is serving….every group needs to register for a Serve Experience.
Before everyone leaves, try and confirm the practical details: what you are doing, the date and time, where everyone should meet, arrival and finish times, any supplies needed and who is responsible for what. The goal is full participation.
Remember, this is not simply another project on the Rooted calendar. The Serve Experience is an opportunity to put discipleship into practice together, to notice a need, respond with compassion and tangibly demonstrate the love of Christ.
Before You Lead
Before your group meets, make sure you have prayed for every person in your group by name, reviewed the Week Five material and Notes on Strongholds, reviewed the Ground Rules, confirmed men's and women's breakout rooms and leaders, prepared what you will personally share, coordinated with your co-leader about who will model prayer, identified the Scriptures you want to return to, gathered your Strongholds material and True Identity bookmarks, protected enough time for everyone to share and receive prayer, and know who to contact if something significant surfaces.
Also make sure your Serve Experience is finalized and registered.
Week Five is a significant shepherding week. Expect that this week may require more prayer, communication and follow-up than a normal week. But do not enter the night afraid of what might come up. Enter prayerfully. Enter prepared. Enter expectant.
You are halfway through Rooted, God has already been at work in your group, and there is still so much ahead.
Week Five is not about magnifying the enemy or forcing vulnerability. It is about creating a safe, biblical and prayerful space where people can bring darkness into the light, hear the truth of God's Word and discover again that Jesus is greater, and there is freedom in Him.
Praying for you as you lead
Pastor Andrew