Story Formed

This summer we are discussing what we call our heartbeats as a church. These are the things that we do as a normal part of life.

Our first heartbeat is recognizing that we are story-formed. We are a part of God's bigger story of creation, of His consummation of relationships, and His covenant with us.

We see our lives as part of God's bigger story and one that He has been writing well before we were aware.

Therefore, our desire is to be aware of God's story as told in scripture, to be aware of God's story as it plays out in our lives, and to be aware of the stories of others around us so we can help them see How God is pursuing them.

How well do you know God's story as told in scripture?

Where do you see how God was a part of your story before you even knew it?

How well do you know and listen to the stories of the people you encounter each day? How can you help them be aware of God's role in their lives?

Pay close attention

This week we looked at the passage in Philippians that is often translated, "Do not merely look at your own interests, but also the interests of others". - Philippians 2:3-4

Mike pointed out that a better translation is "Do not pay close attention to yourself, but rather to others".

We were then challenged with the thought that we often only show our best faces without truly opening up with our needs and weaknesses. We then also tend to pay attention to others to the extent that is comfortable or convenient for us.

What areas in your own life do you have questions or struggles?

Who are the people you can pay closer to as we model the life of Christ?

Unity in Adversity Phil 1:28-30

This week we looked at the idea that adversity and challenges within the church community can be a catalyst for disunity and failure or for unity and growth.

What areas in your personal Spiritual walk do you feel elements of adversity? What challenges do you see as they relate to the Soma Church community?

How do you/ or could you contribute to unity in the church community and help rise beyond those challenges?

A Good Citizen

This week we studied Philippians 1:27 and offered the translation that says, "Live as a good citizen (of God's Kingdom) that is worthy of the good news that Jesus is Lord".

What are the rhythms of your own life that provide you with opportunities to represent God's Kingdom as a worthy representative (or citizen)?

Who are the people that you are drawn to?

How do you contribute or take away from the unity of Christians that Paul later calls for in describing "good citizens"?

A Bigger Jesus

This week we read Philippians 1:19-21. We looked at Paul's desire to "exalt" Christ in his body. The Greek word here can mean to enlarge or magnify Christ, making Jesus bigger and us smaller.

How can you make Jesus bigger in your own life?

What types of things do you feel give you meaning/ purpose in life?

Like Paul, do you have a focused desire to make Christ bigger in life and in death?

Prophecy Fulfilled

Who has believed what we have heard?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

Is. 53:2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

Is. 53:3 He was despised and rejected by others;

a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;

and as one from whom others hide their faces

he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Is. 53:4 ¶ Surely he has borne our infirmities

and carried our diseases;

yet we accounted him stricken,

struck down by God, and afflicted.

Is. 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions,

crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the punishment that made us whole,

and by his bruises we are healed.

Is. 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have all turned to our own way,

and the LORD has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

Is. 53:7 ¶ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

Is. 53:8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away.

Who could have imagined his future?

For he was cut off from the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people.

Is. 53:9 They made his grave with the wicked

and his tomb with the rich,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Is. 53:10 ¶ Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain.

When you make his life an offering for sin,

he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;

through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.

Is. 53:11 Out of his anguish he shall see light;

he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.

The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

Is. 53:12 Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;

because he poured out himself to death,

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors.

How do you think Jesus' first followers felt as they read this passage from Isaiah after His death and Resurrection?

What do you think about these verses in light of Easter? Does this strengthen your beliefs, weaken them, or are they neutral?

Enter the King

This week we looked at the idea of Jesus, the Messiah, entering Jerusalem on the day many celebrate as Palm Sunday. Notice the symbolism of the palm branches in Roman times that signified victory and even the donkey that often symbolized royalty.

The whole even echoes the prophecies of Zechariah that say,

" Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!

Lo, your king comes to you;

triumphant and victorious is he,

humble and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Zech. 9:10 He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

and the war horse from Jerusalem;

and the battle bow shall be cut off,

and he shall command peace to the nations;

his dominion shall be from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth."

What do you think were the range of emotions and beliefs surrounding the people during that day?

In thinking of these events, what do you think about this moment (emotionally and intellectually)?

Growing in Grace

Read through Philippians 1:9-11.

In this small section we hear Paul praying for growth in the lives of the Philippian people. Growing in knowledge of God that produces lifestyles that imitate His ways seems to be the core of the thought here.

As the Philippian people grow in these areas, it is assumed that their lives are filled with forgiveness and grace for one another and for the world in which they live.

1. What areas in your life (if any) do you believe are different now than in the past as a result of your growth in knowledge of God? What are areas still in need of growth?

2. As it relates to the universal Church as well as the Soma church community, what could improve in the future as we grow as followers of Christ?

Sharing the Favor of God

This week we looked at Phil 1:7-8 and focused on the idea of sharing in God's grace with one another. This word in Greek (Charistos) indicates favor. Paul's deep affection for the people in Philippi comes from their willingness to share in the good news that Jesus is Lord. He is further encouraged that they were partners in God's favor on earth.

How do you see God's favor (grace) extending to you in your own life?

How do you extend God's favor (grace) to other Christians? i.e. do you walk in forgiveness and extend patience and understanding.

How do you (or can you) extend God's favor (grace) to the people you encounter in the rhythms of your life?

Sharing in the Gospel

This week we discussed Philippians ch 1:3-5.

The point of these verses is to present Paul's purpose for this letter. This purpose is to express his thankfulness for sharing in the good news that Jesus is Lord and no one and nothing else is lord.

The fact that the people in Philippi joined with Paul in the proclaiming that Jesus is Lord took greater significance because in their context, this equalled treason. They were betraying the ideals of the Roman Empire and the requirement to declare Caesar as lord.

So the question for our community groups this week is:

What are the things that you pay tribute to and that inhibit your declaring Jesus as Lord in our world in our day?

Philippians Revealed Beginning this Week

This week our community will begin looking at the letter from the Apostle Paul to the Philippians. It is interesting that this book emphasizes Paul's joy because of the "gospel". This is interesting because it was on the plains near Philippi where Caesar Augustus defeated his enemies, rose to power, and established a new order in the Roman world.

Under Augustus the Pax Romana was the ideology that brought about the "gospel" of Caesar Augustus. Under his rulership, the empire exalted him to the place of divinity and attributed their peace and well being to his gracious goodness to the people.

It is in this world that Paul writes declaring a gospel about a Divine ruler who gives peace and hope to the whole world. Instead of bashing the Roman empire with negativity, Paul proclaims a new positive message about Jesus. This is the context in which Paul proclaims the "gospel" or good news about Jesus.

For Community Groups:

How do you define "gospel"?

What is the gospel that we buy into in our modern world?

Do you think the gospel of Jesus makes a difference in life today? How?

Covenant Commitments

This week we discussed our "covenant commitments" for 2010.

Anyone is welcome to gather with the Soma family. If you are married, single, engaged, happy, lonely, spiritual, worldly, young, old, pretty, ugly, tall, short, christian, not christian, sinner, saint, rich, or poor you are invited to join a community group or gather with us at a Sunday night gathering. Come as you are with your questions, your doubts, your worries, and your joys.

For those who want to live the ways of Jesus and actively join in the mission of the Soma community of living the ways of Jesus everywhere, all the time, we make yearly commitments to one another called "covenant commitments". The following is what this entails:

As a Covenant Member, I commit to embody the values [Directions] of Soma Church and to support the ministry of Soma with my prayers, my gifts, and my willing financial offerings. I commit to seek an understanding of the story of God and man as revealed in the Bible, to maintain my own spiritual journey and Godly living, to respect the teaching and guidance of the leadership, to live in community with others (giving and receiving support, guidance, and love), to serve those in my community and the greater world, and to celebrate with others regularly.

In: Being Community

We believe God has called the Church to be His “body (soma)” in order to make His ways known on earth. Our intentional commitment to unity, humbly bearing with one another with grace and love and in community with one another are the marks of true followers of Jesus. We commit to using our unique gifts and passions to serve one another and to build one another up, thus strengthening the church. We believe that no one walks on this journey alone.

How will you be a part of building community?

Up: What Will You Do?

This month we are discussing our "resolutions" for the year 2010. We were given the challenge to take each of the "Directions" for our community and ask ourselves how we will contribute to these directions this year.

The first direction is "Up".

We affirm the call to “love God with all of our heart, our soul, and our ‘everything’”. We see no separation between the sacred and the secular and want our whole lives to be transformed by our love for God and His ways. We embrace the call to bear His image and to fill the earth with His character. We celebrate the Risen Jesus in our everyday living and believe this is the best life to live.

So how will play out in your life this year?