This is part of the worship series,
"Rooted and Established in Love”
Introduction
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4—World Communion Sunday
Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8—All Saints /Reformation Sunday
Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12—Christ the King Sunday
Series Introduction
Washington, DC Christian Reformed Church presented a twelve-part fall worship series titled “Rooted and Established in Love.” Using a tree as a metaphor, the series led the congregation through the journey of God’s creation, the brokenness of humanity, redemption in Christ, and the call to mission.
Reformed Worship chose to publish this series because of its clear connection to faith practices. To help strengthen that connection, we have included a faith practice note for each service. We hope the notes will help inform the message, but they can also be adapted for bulletin notes, to prompt reflection time following the sermon, or for individuals, households, or small groups to discuss together.
Series Outline
| Scripture | Title | Faith Practice | |
| Week 1: | Genesis 2:4–25 | "The Living Tree” |
Formation
|
| Week 2: | Genesis 3 | “The Dying Tree” |
Forgiveness and Grace
|
| Week 3: | Exodus 3 | “The Calling Tree” |
Obedience and Discipleship
|
| Week 4: | Judges 4 | “The Justice Tree” |
Community, Unity and Solidarity
|
| Week 5: | Isaiah 55 | “The Witness Tree” |
Witness/Evangelism
|
| Week 6: | Luke 13:1–9, 18–21 | “The Patient Trees” |
Patience
|
| Week 7: | Luke 23:26–49 | “The Saving Tree” |
Sacrifice and Storytelling
|
| Week 8: | Hebrews 11 | "The Family Tree” |
Spiritual friendship/Mentoring
|
| Week 9: | Psalm 1 | “The Giving Tree” |
Generosity
|
| Week 10: | Galatians 5:16–26 | “The Fruitful Tree” |
Rule of Life
|
| Week 11: | John 15 | “The Abiding Tree” |
Rootedness
|
| Week 12: | Revelation 22:1–6 | “The Healing Tree” | Hope |
Visuals
Two artists from our congregation helped us envision ways to integrate visual components into this series. One taught a painting class during church school and used the tree theme to inspire students’ pieces. We hung the paintings on one wall of the sanctuary.
The other artist created a piece based on photographs of her “family tree.” This piece was also hung in the sanctuary, and the artist shared its story with us on All Saints / “Family Tree” Sunday.
The front of the sanctuary during this series featured greenery. a basket of leaves, and a thematic banner in addition to the usual liturgical furnishings.
Also appropriate would be an adaptation of the ideas for projection described in “Worshiping with the Psalms” that features an image of a tree.
An Invitation: If you make use of this series we would welcome your submission showing how you adapted it for your setting and what resources you developed. We may choose to add those new resources to this series making it even richer for those who make use of it in the future. How to Submit Resources to ReformedWorship.org.
