By Cameron Silsbee
Optional Kids Practice
Invite kids in your group to be with the adults for a few minutes. Once they seem ready to engage, ask them the following prompt.
- What is your favorite story from the Bible?
During this series, help the kids practice their memory verse for the months of January and February.
The January memory verse for preschoolers: “A friend loves you all the time.” Proverbs 17:17, NCV
The January memory verse for elementary school kids: “Be strong, all you who put their hope in the Lord. Never give up.” Psalm 31:24, NIRV
Begin with prayer
Gather together as a Community in a comfortable setting. Take a moment in silence, in the presence of Jesus and each other. Have one person read John 17:17 over the group and then pray to ask the Holy Spirit to lead and guide your time together.
Debrief the most recent teaching
- What stood out to you from the most recent teachings on the Beatitudes?
Read this overview
Over the coming weeks as a church, we’ll be examining the Beatitudes, Jesus’s opening words to arguably the most foundational section of his teachings recorded anywhere in the Gospels. These words express the good news of God’s Kingdom for those who would least expect to hear good news given their situations. However, this good news doesn’t simply begin or end with the Beatitudes. As one scholar puts it, the good news begins with the opening words of the Scriptures, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…” As we take time to explore the Beatitudes on Sundays, we’ll take time during the week in Communities to explore one of the most foundational ways of opening ourselves to God’s good news – reading Scripture.
Take a moment to silently consider this question: Why do you personally read the Bible?
The reasons you thought of could be varied, with differing levels of confidence about the correctness of the answer. Maybe you read because you’ve been told you should as a Christian. Or perhaps you read because it puts you in a better frame of mind for the day. Whatever the answer in your mind, the question is one that has been wrestled with and answered in many different ways throughout church history. Even the Bible itself answers the question in multiple ways. There are a number of things that happen if and when we read the Bible. Knowledge, formation, correction, catharsis. The list could go on.
Whatever the list we could think of, for hundreds of years, what followers of Jesus have reflected on when it comes to the Scriptures is that through the words of God found there, we encounter God through the Spirit. More than just words on a page, they are an avenue through which the Spirit moves, works, and speaks. Perhaps we would be helped by not focusing on the specific things we could be receiving from reading the Bible – things like teaching, correction, or encouragement – but instead focusing on the reality that we encounter the Spirit of the living God who knows truly what we need in any given moment.
Discuss the following prompts
- What are your favorite parts of the Scriptures? What are your least favorite parts?
- What motivates you to read the Scriptures?
- What do you expect would happen if you read your Bible every day for the next year?
Practicing right now:
If your Community has time tonight, take a couple of minutes to reflect on a particular verse or story from the Scripture that has been meaningful and impactful to you. Feel free to reference it or refresh your memory in your Bible or Bible app.
Once everyone has had a chance to think about it, go around the group, having each person share what verse or story came to mind and why it’s meaningful to you.
Practicing this week:
The Practice this week is to simply read the texts each day from the Van City Lectionary. Whether a person approaches Scripture reading with a developed technique or simply sits down and reads it through, God is faithful to meet us through his Spirit in that time. At times, we experience this in profound ways, and at other times, this meeting is imperceptible – based on our own awareness, it seems nothing special is taking place. Times like these are when we are invited to relax into God’s faithfulness to us, and despite not feeling like anything important or meaningful is happening, God is faithful to meet with us and work in us.
If you don’t have a physical copy of the Lectionary, you can find a digital copy here. The Lectionary is a way we can be formed together as a church by God’s Spirit through the Scriptures beyond the Sunday Gathering.
Be prepared to discuss with your Community next week what it was like to read the Lectionary texts.
Close in prayer
End by having someone pray over the group.End by having someone pray over the group.