Sacred Space – Small Group Resources

Ordinary Time, Proper 19

Romans 14:1–12 NRSV

Gathering

Welcome

Ordinary Time is the Christian Calendar period from Pentecost to Advent. This time is without major festivals or holy days. During Ordinary Time we focus on our discipleship as individuals and as a faith community.

Ring a bell or chime three times slowly.

Light the peace candle

Today’s Prayer for Peace is inspired by Community of Christ Sings 330, “Summoned by the God Who Made Us” by Delores Dufner.

Let us bring the gifts that differ, and in splendid, varied ways, sing a new church into being, one in faith and love and praise.

Spirit of summons, we feel your pull. We feel your summons to work for peace. We feel it the way the honeybee feels the tug of the flower we feel it in our bodies. Yet, we ignore it; we pretend it isn’t what deep inside we know it really is. We shrug it off as unrealistic and full of folly. It is too much. It is too naive. It is too hard.

But our community knows our mission—to use our varied gifts in harmony to sing a new church into the world, ever transforming, ever striving to be your peaceful beacon! We feel your pull. We accept your challenge to widen our circles.

In the name of Jesus, who binds us together in community Amen

Holy Listening

Today we are focusing on the Enduring Principle of All Are Called. We believe all people have gifts We are given opportunities in community to share those with one another. By practicing Holy Listening, we can learn more about how people are feeling called to share their giftedness in community and how we can support one another in those calls.

Ask the person next to you to join you in conversation. Find a spot in the room to get comfortable and face one another. You will take turns sharing your stories of how you sense the gifts God has given you and how you feel called to share those gifts. You each will have five minutes to share. During this time the listener will just listen and nod, but not comment. After the five minutes, the listener may respond with this one sentence. “I noticed that…. ”

Then switch places and repeat.

Before you start this exercise, please repeat this prayer with me: “Help me be wholly present to this human being.”

Start the timer. After five minutes remind the listeners to say their one-sentence response and then invite them to switch places.

Start the timer again.

When each person is done sharing, remind the listeners to say their one sentence. In closing, ask the group to share reflections on this spiritual practice.

Romans 14:1–12 NRSV

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.”

So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

Today’s text continues Paul’s teachings on living ethical, Christ-centered lives. Too often in the church, we find ourselves in conflict over issues that are insignificant in the greater scheme of things especially our call to participate in Christ’s mission. Divisions over everything from appropriate dress to the color of the carpet and the right way to pray can create stumbling blocks to the real purposes of the gathered community. The same apparently was true for the church in Rome, where a new faith community representing a wide variety of traditions, ideas, perspectives, moral codes, and the like was forming

Even the opening words of this passage, “welcome those who are weak in the faith,” could be a source of debate. Who, after all, are those weak in the faith? The call to welcome the “weak” is a broad statement that easily could be applied to a wide variety of issues challenging a follower of Jesus. Weak in the faith could include a new convert’s ignorance or a lapse in a seasoned spiritual leader’s behavior.

The foods we eat, the ways we pray and worship, the clothes we wear, how we experience God, and even the ways we refer to God are unique and individual…not necessarily right or wrong. Paul reminds the budding Christian community in Rome to put aside disagreements and differences that lead to judgment and division. Like us, the Romans were reminded to focus on what matters most…“we are the Lord’s” called to live Christ’s mission. As such, we are called to welcome and care for others despite our differences.

Our Enduring Principle of Unity in Diversity does not call us to sameness; rather it invites us to celebrate our differences, experience the richness that comes from a variety of perspectives and life journeys, and grow in our discipleship.

1. When have you found yourself judging someone else, unconsciously or consciously?

2. How has your understanding of God grown through exposure to the culture, traditions, or perspectives of someone else?

Beloved Community of Christ, do not just speak and sing of Zion. Live, love, and share as Zion: those who strive to be visibly one in Christ, among whom there are no poor or oppressed.

Doctrine and Covenants 165:6a

The offering basket is available if you would like to support ongoing, small-group ministries as part of your generous response. This offering prayer is adapted from A Disciple’s Generous Response:

Discipling God, as we navigate our world of debt and consumerism, help us to save wisely, spend responsibly, and give generously. In this way may we prepare for the future and create a better tomorrow for our families, friends, the mission of Christ, and the world. Amen.

Invitation to Next Meeting

Closing Hymn

CCS 242, “When We Are Living”

Closing Prayer

• Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper

• Thoughts for Children

If you do not have an outdoor space, you will need a recording of the sounds from a natural space, such as a rainforest.

Today’s scripture reminds us that all creation can praise God. That means animals, plants, and other natural things have ways to praise God, though they can’t use words like we do.

Today, we are going to try a spiritual practice that will help us hear the praise that creation gives to God.

If you have access to outdoor space:

Lead participants outside Invite them to find a comfortable place to sit and close their eyes. Have them take three deep breaths and quiet their bodies. Ask them to listen quietly to the sounds of nature around them and see if they can hear how creation praises God.

If you are playing a recording of nature sounds:

Invite participants to find a comfortable place to sit and close their eyes. Have them take three deep breaths and quiet their bodies. Ask them to listen quietly to the sounds of nature you play and see if they can hear how creation praises God.

After a period, invite everyone back together. Allow them to share how they heard creation sing praises to God