Colossians: Reordered Relationships

Written By Mark Avery

Colossians 3:18-4:1

Connect:

  • Share how you have seen God in the Highs and Lows of your week.

Prayer:

Pray that God would lead your discussion time and bring fresh insight, conviction, and hope through your time together.

Review:

In a world constantly telling us we need more—more success, more knowledge, more spirituality, more control—the book of Colossians points us back to one unshakable truth: Jesus is enough. Paul writes to followers of Jesus who were being tempted to add other things to Jesus, but he reminds them that everything they truly need is already found in him. From our identity and transformation to our relationships, purpose, and mission, Jesus is not merely part of life—he is the center of it all. This series will explore how a bigger vision of Jesus changes everything.

This week we looked at how the Gospel of Jesus Christ reconstructs the order of our relationships….

The Grand Tour of the message: Thinking back on what you heard this Sunday…

o What did you learn about God?

o What did you learn about people?

o What did you learn about yourself?

o What do you want to commit to putting into practice?

Reflection:

Personal Experience & Discussion:

  • Discuss: Have you ever injured a finger, arm or leg in a way that you could not use it for a time? It is amazing the impact of just one part of our body being out of alignment with the rest! Have someone in your group who has experienced this describe the impact of that injury on their daily life and routine. What Changed?

  • Reflective Discussion (Remember to look at the context of the verses as you are reading! Look for key terms and help the group unpack and define them):

    • Read Col 3:18-4:1 together

    • Sometimes it just feels easier to adapt to our dysfunctions rather than go through the process of letting GOd re-arrange our relationships!.‍ ‍DISCUSS:

      • First work together to list all the reasons we prefer to just adapt (keeps some form of ‘peace’, don’t want to re-start the tension when it starts to die down, don’t trust the other person(s), etc…)

      • Second, read the following passages and discuss how these inform our reasons to just ignore the problem. (Gen 3:7-13, Prov 14:12, Jer 17:9, Mark 7:20-23, Eh 4:22-24, James 1:22-25).

    • Let’s face it, “submission” is a trigger word. We instantly anticipate opening t door to a flood of evil and exploitation, affirming narcissism and arrogance. That is not what Scripture affirms, and Paul limits that with the phrase, “As is fitting in the Lord.”. DISCUSS: What does that mean, “as is fitting in the Lord” in a husband-wife relationship? Review the following passages and unpack that phrase. (Col 3:18-19, 1 Cor 11:3, Eph 5:21-28, Acts 5:29, 1 Pet er 3:1-7, 1 Cor 13:4-7, Prov 31:10-12, Gal 3:28)

    • The point in the message this week was that both masters and servants are ultimately personally accountable to Christ. DISCUSS: Refer to the following passages to unpack a God-honoring relationships between a master/boss and a servant/employee (Col 4:1, Mark 10:42-45, 1 {eter 5:2-4, James 3:1, Col 3:22-24, Eph 6:5-8, Titus 2:9-10, Rom 12:18, Matt 25:21)

Application:

Throughout the week, we have all kinds of relationships that need attention! What is one relationship that needs re-ordering this week? Make a commitment to do that in a way that honors God and the person within the next 7 days.

Prayer:

Spend some time closing in prayer together thanking God that in Christ, we can ‘spur one another on to love and good deeds’.ss

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Get more resources to go deeper through Commentaries and Bible Study helps HERE

Mark Avery
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Colossians: The Jesus Way