Week 4: TAKING OFF THE OLD WAYS, PUTTING ON THE NEW
LOOKING BACK
Family Time (15 mins)
LOOKING UP
Worship (25 minutes) - Group F.A.C.E Time!
Worship is not just musical, but it can also be connecting with God through what we call Facetime! Facetime is what our church calls spending time with God. It’s inspired by Exodus 33:11: “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” For worship, let’s spend time doing Facetime with God together! Have everyone take 5 minutes for each movement and set a timer to keep track of time. Move through each section individually, and at the end, share about it with a few others. You can optionally play some soaking instrumental music.
Scripture Discussion (25-30 mins)
Either get into small groups of 3-4, or stay as a large group. Have a few people read it out loud.
Colossians 3:2-14, NLT
2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
Questions:
Sharing & prayer
Get into small groups of 3-4 if you haven’t already. Have everyone share:
Announcements:
All event details found at epicentre.org/events!
Family Time (15 mins)
- Vision: Invite someone to share your Lifegroup’s vision.
- Connect question: Has there been any way you have felt challenged or encouraged to grow in loving one another so far? If so, what has it been? If not, how do you feel like you’ve been loving one another well so far?
- Announcements (see epicentre.org/events)
- God-story Sharing (5 min): (something you can ask people to sign up to do ahead of time) have one person share the way they've seen God move in their life lately. End in having someone else do a short prayer of thanks & blessing for that person.
LOOKING UP
Worship (25 minutes) - Group F.A.C.E Time!
Worship is not just musical, but it can also be connecting with God through what we call Facetime! Facetime is what our church calls spending time with God. It’s inspired by Exodus 33:11: “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” For worship, let’s spend time doing Facetime with God together! Have everyone take 5 minutes for each movement and set a timer to keep track of time. Move through each section individually, and at the end, share about it with a few others. You can optionally play some soaking instrumental music.
- Free (5 minutes) Tell Jesus what’s on your mind. You can tell him anything you want to talk about because he loves to listen to you.
- Adore (5 minutes) Give Jesus love by telling him thank you for who is is and what he has done.
- Center (5 minutes) Center yourself by reading God’s Word. Read Psalm 111 – the whole thing or just part of it, and use the questions if they’re helpful.
- Engage (5 minutes) Use this psalm to help you thank God for ways he has done things in your own life. What are ways you've seen him provide for you and others in your life? What are ways you have seen him give you wisdom?
- Debrief/Sharing (5 minutes) Get into a small group of 3-4 people. How was that time for you? What did you appreciate about that time? What do you feel like God was highlighting to you?
Scripture Discussion (25-30 mins)
Either get into small groups of 3-4, or stay as a large group. Have a few people read it out loud.
Colossians 3:2-14, NLT
2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
Questions:
- What word or phrase catches your attention from this passage?
- What are some old/ill-fitting clothes that we personally have hard times taking off? (Can also be things not mentioned in this passage.)
- Is there a specific situation in your life that relates to what stands out to you? How might it apply?
Sharing & prayer
Get into small groups of 3-4 if you haven’t already. Have everyone share:
- What is God’s invitation to you from this Scripture?
- Listen for a word of encouragement from God and pray for one another.
Announcements:
- Medical/Dental/Optical Clinic & Outreach (Saturday, May 18th, 9am-3 pm - Acts of Mercy (AOM) is providing a free medical, dental and optical clinic in Glendale for under-resourced individuals in our area. Will you help us join the team to run the clinic? We need all kinds of people, including medical providers and those who can volunteer, pray, and serve.
- Asia Prayer Trip Sharing (May 26, 12-1:30 pm) Lor-shing Hsu & Fiona Tong will share about their recent prayer trip to Taiwan and S. Korea, and give you a glimpse of God's heart for East Asia! Right after service in the Marshall library.
- Connect Lunch (May 26, 12-1:30 pm) Hang out with other Epicentre folks for lunch after service! Come by the Connection Center right after service and find out what restaurants people will go to. It's a great, easy way to make new connections and enjoy a good meal.
- Freedom Day (Saturday, July 27, 9am-4:30 pm) Save the date for this a one-day transformational gathering. Through teachings and times to practice, you will be empowered to remove those things from your life that might be hindering you from having a deep relationship with God. We believe that through Jesus’ death & resurrection, He desires for us to be set free from pain, brokenness and lies through receiving Jesus’s transformational healing in our hearts!
All event details found at epicentre.org/events!