Week Two

Finding time for stillness this Christmas

SEEDS TO SOW: PUTTING JESUS INTO OUR SCHEDULES *

Optional weekly challenge: Find a quiet spot at home or in a park and be still. Don’t move a muscle for one minute. Peace is encountered in stillness and don’t forget to speak a word of peace each day.

Read Psalm 46

Finding time to be still and know God!

Why do you think stillness and knowledge are linked in verse 10?

Read Philippians 4: 8-9

Finding time for good things this Christmas!

Which word in the list is leaping out at you today? What draws you in? (Depending on the translation the exact wording will be different but in the NRSVA the following six are in verse 8.)

- true
- honourable
- just
- pure
- pleasing
- commendable

How can we get better at noticing these things in our day to day life? If you are in a group, can you share with others tips you have for spotting and celebrating good news?

Read Matthew 6: 25-34

Finding time for today!

The commercial, festive, and culinary pressures around Christmas can make it hard to live in the moment. It can be easy to end up with something to buy, or organise, or prepare every way we turn.

Tomorrow, what can we simplify? To be able to simply spend some time being with Jesus in some quiet? As well as discussing examples from your own life you could think about what could be simplified in wider society to make more room for people to simply ‘be’.

* SEEDS TO SOW: We are experimenting with adding a new Seeds to Sow phrase at the beginning of each section. These are open-ended and optional prompts and are designed for people wanting to develop their own resources in response to the themes. Perhaps if you are using this material as a group you could use these prompts to inspire a time of prayer, or drawing, or creative writing? They are a short and sweet, simply a starting off place for you and your imagination. Tailor and develop as suits your group.