Greater Than Our Circumstances · Group Guide

Discussion Questions

1. 1

   Paul is writing from a jail cell in Rome to a church he has never visited, and the first thing he does is give thanks. Read Colossians 1:3-5 out loud. What is he thankful for, and what would you have expected on that list that isn't there?

2. 2

   Verse 5 traces faith and love back to hope, and hope back to "the word of truth, the gospel." Jay put it plainly: the faithless have been given faith, the loveless have been given love. What changes when those three are gifts rather than things you produce?

3. 3

   Jay said he assumed becoming a Christian meant a steady climb — "more holy and more holy" — and found instead a spiral, where the Spirit keeps showing him more of his own heart. How does that compare with what you were expecting?

4. 4

   In verses 12-14 Jay counted what has already happened to you: qualified, given an inheritance, delivered, transferred, redeemed, forgiven. Which of those is hardest to believe is true of you, and what makes it hard?

5. 5

   Jay set Paul's prayer — that they would be "filled with the knowledge of his will" — against the way we usually pray: the job, the raise, the vacation house in the Keys. What have your own prayers mostly been about this month?

6. 6

   Jay told the room to get their phones out and write it down, because twenty minutes on a Sunday morning will not outweigh the rest of the week. Pick one line from Colossians 1 to put somewhere you will actually see it this week — which line, and where are you putting it?