The idea of being a saint does not refer to particular moral or spiritual qualities, but to those in a particular spiritual location. This summer, we focus on who we are as beloved by God, who chooses us - ordinary saints - to bless the world, particularly in the location we find ourselves. Spiritual formation is always worked out, in community, in context. The Christain life begins and ends with grace as we locate ourselves in Christ. So, in a posture of prayer, we journey together through the letter to the Ephesians as we consider how faith takes on both active and passive meanings, marked with a bias toward action.
Week by Week:
June 6: Affirmation of Our Baptisms + Post-Gathering Brunch
June 13: Intro [Ephesians 1]
June 20: Now, by Grace [Ephesians 2.1-10]
June 27: One [Epheisans 2.11-22]
July 4: First Brunch Sunday
July 11: Becoming Heirs [Ephsians 3.1-13]
July 18: Love Made Known [Ephesians 3.14-20]
July 25: Bond of Peace [Ephesians 4.1-16]
August 1: First Brunch Sunday
August 8: New Life [Ephesians 4.17-32]
August 15: “Sleeper, Awake!” [Ephesians 5.1-20]
August 22: One Another [Ephesians 5.21-6.9]
August 29: Grace for Standing & Benediction [Epheisans 6.10-23]
September 5. Labor Day Weekend Brunch
Discussion Prompts:
-As you read the text, what stands out? Turn that into your prayer this week.
-In what ordinary ways does this week’s text and the Spirit prompt you to actively live into your faith?
-What do you notice God doing in you as you remain faithful in the passive sense? Where is grace taking hold of you?
-What has stood in the way of seeing yourself as an ordinary saint? Allow God to hold that for you.
-Would you like to share bits of your story with the Trinity community? Contact Melissa or Britney at contact@indytrinity.org.
Act: Name where the Spirit is moving in our lives and calling us to embodied participation in God’s redeeming activity in the world (i.e. to form/participate in a microchurch). Together, reflect on these experiences and identify how you might be held accountable to re-integrate that reflection back into practice, as we continue to discover the good news and be nurtured in it.
Nurture: Wonder together. Hold space to tell, and listen to, stories. Ask questions with compassionate curiosity. In what ways does the good news need to talk hold in our lives? And how God is moving us to embody the good news in the world? Where is God at work in your heart and life?
Discover: As we foster a haven of belonging, name the good news at work in one another’s life. Exploring this week’s scripture reading or liturgy, name the ways in which you see God re-narrating the world, or sharing your experience of the love of God enfolding you in divine union. Together, discover the kingdom of God breaking forth here and now. What do you need right now to feel empowered to obediently follow God’s prompting and join in the kingdom’s unfolding?
Resources:
Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints
Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman
Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Salvation by Allegiance Alone by Matthew W. Bates
MUSIC ALBUMS:
Work Songs: The Porter’s Gate Worship Project v. 1
Ghosts by Sleeping at Last
Of the Land by Of the Land
Home and Early Work (v.2) by Josh Garrels
(image credit Mehmet Turgut Kikgoz)