BEGIN WITH PRAYER · 5 MINUTES
Gather together as a Community in a comfortable setting (around a table, on the couch, the floor of a living room, etc.). Have somebody lead a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to lead and guide your time together.
MAKE ANNOUNCEMENTS · 5 MINUTES
Take this time to go over any details pertaining to any gatherings of your groups that may be upcoming. Additionally, invite the participants of your group to take out their phones, open up the Missio Dei App, and navigate to the Events Tab on the App. Highlight a couple of events that are upcoming that you feel are pertinent to your group.
Group reflective reading of scripture · 5-10 MINUTES
Prepare
Slow down in preparation for your reading. Be silent in the presence of Jesus for a minimum of 2 minutes. Ask the Holy Spirit to shift you from control to receptivity, from information to formation, and from observation to obedience. In the silence release control of your reading to the Holy Spirit, and ready your soul to receive whatever it is the Spirit wants to do during your time of reading.
Read
Read the selected passage slowly. Consider reading multiple times and reading out loud. Select a portion, a smaller portion that really stands out or connects to things happening within your life or group. Reread it, pause, breathe, and relax for a few minutes to let these words really sink in.
Reflect
Place yourself in the story imaginatively, perhaps as an observer who is experiencing what is taking place. Consider the following questions as you use your imagination to participate in the story.
What do we imagine we would be experiencing through our body’s 5 senses?
What would we see, hear, touch (if applicable), smell (if applicable) and/or taste (if applicable)?
What do we feel as a result of imaginatively participating? (Anger, Fear, Loneliness, Hurt, Shame, Guilt, Sadness, Gladness) Why might we be feeling these things?
What are we thinking about as a result of imaginatively participating? Why?
What might the Holy Spirit be showing us as we participate in the passage through our thoughts, our emotions, and how we are experiencing it with our bodies through our imagination?
Rest
Breathe, perhaps express some affirmation of God’s love for you and presence with you. Know that He sees you, He knows you, He loves you and He is with you.
Col. 1:1-2, 15-20
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
reflect & DISCUSS · 10-15 MINUTES
Introduction
Every time Paul is inspired to communicate with God’s people, he’s led to introduce each letter by extending God’s peace through God’s grace.
With something so biblically common, believers need a better grasp of the definition and direction of peace.
Peace is multidirectional (upward (or Godward), inward, and outward) harmony.
Our big idea for the morning was that peace is the goal of creation and re-creation.
In vv 15-17, we learn that peace is the goal of creation.
As the Apostle Paul describes Jesus, he affirms that Christ is the image of the invisible God, firstborn over creation, Creator of all things, and before all things. Jesus, the Primary One and Creator, is the one who “holds all things together.”
In vv 18-20, we learn that peace is the goal of re-creation.
Jesus is affirmed as the head and beginning, firstborn, preeminent one, in whom the fullness of God is pleased to dwell. Christ is reconciling all things by making peace through the blood of His cross.
It was argued that peace is lost whenever Jesus is not preeminent.
Sometimes this is experienced and expressed through aggression which leads to peace breaking.
Sometimes this is experienced and expressed through abdication which leads to peace faking.
Are you more prone to aggression and peace breaking or abdication and peace faking?
In what ways have you experienced this?
The good news for us from the text is that Jesus made peace by the blood of His cross.
The exalted Creator was humbled and it is the cross of Jesus where the mercy of God and justice of God are harmonized.
*There is no pressure to use any or all of these prompts, these are meant to serve as guides and resources for your use.
apply • 15-20 minutes
It is because of the blood of Jesus that we can extend God’s peace to one another. In union with Chrsist, believers are called to be peacemakers.
Peace is accomplished by Jesus, applied by faith in Him, and appropriated when believers trust that all things are held together by Jesus.
In what ways are you an anxious presence instead of a peaceful presence?
When did you trust that you were at peace with God through the blood of Jesus’ cross?
CLOSE IN PRAYER · 15 MINUTES
Create a public forum space where people can pray and offer prayer for one another. Fight the urge to talk more about prayer than you do spend time praying. Invite someone to begin this time and someone to end this time together. Remember, silence is not the enemy of a time of prayer.