Week Five

Sitting Down

Focused, intentional time spent with God — like we have been reflecting on this month — is precious. Reflecting on our ‘vertical’ relationship with God enriches our ‘horizontal’ relationships with one another. Engaging with others, being present in the lives of our fellow disciples, in turn enriches our time spent tuning in to God. Vertical and horizontal are of course shorthand terms, and there are in fact so many diagonals as our relationship with God interacts directly with our relationships with others.

A ‘tent of meeting’ (that we referred to back in week 1) is a temporary structure but the lived-experience of the meeting remains. In the same way a specific time of focused reflection with God can be a temporary thing that has an ongoing impact on us for the rest of our life. And when we leave that ‘tent’ our relationship with whom we met continues. We are always of course welcome to come to that quiet place with God and we are also able to turn our gaze outward, ready to shine like stars in our generation...

Seed to Sow: What is Jesus inviting us to look out at this week?

Read 1 Corinthians 8: 1-13

In this reading Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to go above and beyond in their behaviour, to not just think of how it impacts them but the ripple effect of their actions.

As stars glinting in the world how are we going above and beyond to look out for others? The example in the text is to do with food so perhaps we could think of examples that relate to the purchasing and preparing of food too. As a Connect group is there one action that you can all commit to that would benefit others this week?

Read Ephesians 2: 10

Looking out at the work to be done we read this timeless calling to serve, working for goodness and light!

How does this verse make you feel? How does it inspire you? Challenge you? Puzzle you? Enthuse you?

Read Hebrews 10: 24-25

As great constellations of stars — depicting God’s love in action for others to see — we are called to encourage one another star to star!

Let’s stop right now and encourage each other! What can you say to encourage one another right now?