Sunday’s Prayers of the People

Gracious God,
we give you thanks for this day that you have made.
For the sun that rises and sets,
for the seasons that change in your time,
for all the ways you care for us and for your creation,
we give you thanks.
God, we are so grateful.
In this season of thanks-giving,
we ask that you would form us in gratitude,
help us to be thankful in all times and places,
not only when all our families are gathered around a feast.
And as we give thanks, remind us of those who are in need.
For your people around the world who are hungry,
for bread or for justice,
who thirst for clean water or for love,
who live in fear,
who suffer from violence,
we pray to you, O God.
Rain down your peace, your grace, your comfort, your word
on all the world.
Send help to those who need it,
and open our ears to hear if we are the help you will send.
Open our eyes to see, and open our hands to serve.
We pray all these things in the name of Jesus,
who taught us to pray together, Our Father…

with the Word online Bible Study: who’s this Christ anyway?

Colossians 1.11-20

May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

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What pops out at you in this letter? Is there anything that makes you go “hmm….” or “huh?” or “hey!!!!” Are you reminded of any other stories–whether in the Bible, in literature/movies/music/TV, or in your own life? As you read, do you hear any music in your head?

The word “transferred” (at the end of the first paragraph) is a particular word used mainly to describe what happens when a king conquers another land and “transfers” the conquered population to his own lands…what does it mean that we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God?

This passage describes a very high Christ0logy–an understanding of Christ as divine and powerful, as literally Lord of All Things, visible and invisible, beginning and end, with no loopholes.  What might it mean in our lives personally and in our life together as a church community if we were to constantly remember that Christ is to “have first place in everything” (verse 18)?  As head of the Body (that’s us!), as the firstborn of all creation, as the image of the invisible God, as the one in whom all things hold together, Christ is to be first and foremost in our lives, our conversations, our decisions, our actions, our thoughts…when have we failed at that, and when have we succeeded even for a short time?  How might our priorities, our community life, our family life, or our personal lives be different if we were more conscious of keeping Christ in first place?

If Christ is a ruler or king like this passage describes, what does that tell us about God? What does that tell us about us? What does it tell us about power and what a king is truly like?

What do you hear as the good news in these stories? What do you hear as a challenge? What might these texts have to say to our community today?