Worship Tools

Worship Outline

Additional Scriptures 

Genesis 22:1–14, Psalm 13, Matthew 10:40–42 

Preparation  

Have a chime or bell ready for the Spiritual Practice and Reflection.  

Prelude  

Welcome and Call to Worship  

Welcome to sacred community. Today we seek right relationships. As we intentionally come together in unity, we commit ourselves to being instruments of peace and righteousness.

In prayer, song, and sacrament we seek right relationships with God, each other, and all of creation. May we be attuned to the melody of Christ’s peace.  

Hymn of Praise  

“God’s Melody of Peace” CCS 319  

OR “Bless the Lord” sing at least twice CCS 575 

OR “Praise the Lord Together Singing” form four groups and sing this in a round CCS 642 

Prayer of Praise 

Response 

Scripture Reading: Romans 6:12–23  

Spiritual Practice and Reflection: Discerning Our Faithfulness  

Be prepared with a bell or chime to ring between moments of reflection.  

In our lectionary scripture from Romans, readers are asked to contemplate questions about allegiance and loyalty. Specifically, Paul asks followers of Christ to no longer be instruments of sin and wickedness, but to instead be instruments of righteousness and obedience to God.  

In a time of spiritual practice, we will reflect on questions and examine our own lives. Where do our loyalties lie? Are we instruments of love, peace, and justice, or do we participate in ways that perpetuate injustice, disconnection, and separation from God? 

I will ring the chime to signal transitions through this time of practice. To begin, I invite you to spend a few moments in deep breathing, clearing your mind and seeking connection with the divine.  

Pause for a few moments and then ring the chime three times.  

Spend a few moments reflecting on the last week. Draw your attention to a time that you felt union with God, with Christ, with the Holy Spirit. What feelings and circumstances surrounded this moment?  

Pause for a few moments and then ring the chime one time.  

Now, draw your attention to a time that you felt disconnected from God. What emotions did you feel in these moments? What was it about this time that made you feel separated from God?  

Pause for a few moments and then ring the chime one time.  

Reflecting on connection and separation, consider your own priorities. Consider the primary influences that guide your choices in your daily walk. What shifts might you make to be more aligned with God’s vision for creation? With your own sense of calling in discipleship?  

Pause for a few moments and then ring the chime one time.  

In this moment, be mindful of God’s grace. Offer gratitude knowing that in all we experience, God is with us. Receive comfort and peace knowing that each day, we can say yes to God in new ways. May we be blessed as we seek to be instruments of God’s righteousness.  

Prayer for Peace  

Peace Hymn  

“Healer of our Every Ill” CCS 547  

OR “Lord, Make Us Instruments” CCS 364  

OR “We Serve the Prince of Peace” CCS 348  

Light the peace candle 

Statement  

You are invited to pray for inner peace as a vessel to outer transformation.  

Prayer  

Loving Source of Peace and Righteousness,  

We seek your peace today and all days. We repent for times that our loyalty lies with sin, individualism, greed, systems of injustice, and ways of being that separate us from your loving presence. We lament systems in our world that perpetuate poverty, violence, racism, environmental degradation, and all forms of harm to your beloved creation.  

We pray that we would be attuned to your Spirit of peace. We pray that our hearts and souls will seek righteousness, goodness, justice, and peace. May this inner work of prayer lead us to pathways of peace, reconciliation, and healing of the spirit. Sensitize our holy attention to your world. In the name of Christ, the Peaceful One, we pray. Amen.  

Morning Message  

Based on Romans 6:12–23  

OR Dwelling in the Questions  

Lead participants in a time of sharing in small groups or pairs with these questions connected to the time of Spiritual Practice and Reflection earlier in the service. Print or project the questions for all to see.  

• When have you felt closest to God?  

• What sometimes keeps you from feeling close to God?  

• What spiritual practices help you experience deeper meaning and divine presence?  

Disciples’ Generous Response  

Hymn of Grace and Generosity  

“Brothers and Sisters of Mine” CCS 616  

OR “My Gratitude Now Accept, O God/Gracias, Señor” CCS 614/615  

Encourage participants to sing in a language other than their own.  

Scripture Reading: Psalm 13:5–6  

Statement  

In Community of Christ, one of our Enduring Principles is Grace and Generosity.  

“Having received God’s generous grace, we respond generously and graciously receive the generosity of others”.  

This defining phrase of our Enduring Principle is in harmony with the words from the psalmist. There is recognition that all we have is a sacred gift from God. With this knowledge, we are called to give freely and abundantly, just as God has done in our lives.  

Our emphasis on Abolish Poverty, End Suffering—highlighted each time we take Communion—is grounded in an ethic of abundance. It draws our attention to where there is need and inequity, compelling us to respond as vessels of generosity and justice. Knowing that all that exists in this world is a gift from God, we strive to bring the Kingdom of God nearer when we share resources through compassionate, gracious acts.  

Blessing and Receiving of Local and Worldwide Mission Tithes  

Closing Hymn  

“Bwana Awabariki/May God Grant You a Blessing” CCS 660  

Sing several times. Encourage participants to sing in languages other than their own.  

OR “Lord Jesus, of You I Will Sing/Jésus, je voudrais te chanter” CCS 556  

Encourage participants to sing in a language other than their own.  

OR “Christ’s Partners All Are We” CCS 630  

Benediction  

Sending Forth  

May our experience today lead us to deeper commitment as disciples of Jesus Christ.  

As we enter a new week and encounter many competing priorities, may we return to prayer and practice, abiding in the loving and guiding presence of God. With the taste of Communion emblems still on our lips, may we be blessed as we seek to be incarnation in our community and world.  Go with God.  

Postlude 

Sacred Space: Small-Group Worship Outline

Gathering

Welcome

Ordinary Time is the Christian calendar period from Pentecost to Advent. This part of the Christian calendar is without major festivals or holy days. During Ordinary Time we focus on our discipleship as individuals and as a faith community.

Prayer for Peace

Ring a bell or chime three times slowly.

Light the peace candle.

Today’s Prayer for Peace is inspired by hymn 42 in Community of Christ Sings, “As the Wind Song through the Trees.” The words are by Shirley Erena Murray, and the music is by Swee Hong Lim:

Never seen, ever known where this wind has blown
bringing life, bringing power to the world.

Ever-moving and ever-still Spirit, we thank you for the wind!
Gentle wind that cools us.
Whipping wind that urges us faster.
Howling wind that piques our curiosity.
Quiet wind that awakens our sense of direction.

As the wind coaxes us, may we be open and discerning to your guidance. May we bring life—peaceful life—to our neighborhoods. May we step into the wind and with the wind. Open our wings and let your wind carry us to never-seen yet always-known places. May we harness your Spirit of peace and blow it into the stuffy, stale corners of our communities, bringing breezes of peace to those gasping for fresh air.

In the name of Jesus, the breath of peace. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

Discernment through Contemplative Prayer

Enduring Principles are foundational in Community of Christ. Today we are focusing on the Enduring Principle of Responsible Choices.

We find stories in the scriptures of people reflecting on their history and seeing God’s hand in all of it. When we pause to discern God’s presence, we can sense the divine presence in our life. Recognizing God’s presence can help us discern Responsible Choices in our lives. One way to help us discern is through contemplative prayer.

It is a method of meditation used by Christians to sit in silence with God. This prayer helps us experience God’s presence within us. When we get quiet and listen to our heart, we can discern where God is calling us.

Choose a word as a symbol of your intent to open yourself to God’s presence. Sit comfortably, with your eyes closed and repeat your word slowly and silently.

When you become aware of thoughts, physical sensations, or emotions, allow them to pass from your mind. Return gently to your word. We will continue this practice for three minutes.

Ring a chime to start the meditation. After three minutes ring a chime to end the meditation. Read the following:

Now we will sit in silence for three minutes to see what comes up for us in the silence.

Ring a chime to start the meditation. After three minutes, ring a chime to end the silence. Invite the group members to share how they felt with that experience.

Read the following to the group:

Today we are focusing on the Enduring Principle of Sacredness of Creation.

Our bodies are an amazing gift. Sometimes we don’t feel fully connected to our bodies. Our bodies often know things before we allow our mind to think them. When we pray with the movement of our whole body, we can receive a different insight than when in our normal prayer stance.

Read the following to the group:

I will show you the movements with some explanations. Then we will repeat the movements three times silently together.

We start with our hands in a prayer pose (hands pressed together in front of you). This centers us.

We raise our arms high. This opens us to the all-encompassing love of God.

We put our hands on our hearts. This reminds us to listen to the voice within.

We open our hands in front of our bodies. This offers our love to others.

We lift our hands to the sky. This reminds us to open ourselves to all.

We bring our hands down. This helps us gather and bring all to our heart.

We bring our hands back to the prayer pose. This brings us back to stillness and peace.

Repeat the movements three times. Read the following to the group:

Bow to one another and say, “Namaste” (I bow to you).

Sharing Around the Table

Romans 6:12–23 NRSVue

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, so that you obey their desires. ¹³ No longer present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Slaves of Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that, if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that you who were slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted ¹⁸ and that you, having been set free from sin, have become enslaved to righteousness. ¹⁹ I am speaking in human terms because of your limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, leading to even more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.

²⁰ When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ So what fruit did you then gain from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. ²² But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the fruit you have leads to sanctification, and the end is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

—Romans 6:12–23 NRSVue

Today’s scripture continues the themes of sin, repentance, grace, and Jesus Christ; this time in relation to slavery. We no longer are in bondage to sin, like those in physical bondage. Grace gives us hope, courage, and examples of reconciliation.

As we respond to grace, we no longer are under constrictive religious laws, as are the Jews. As we follow the words and examples of Jesus, we go deeper than simply following rules (law) and begin to act with an understanding of the grace-filled love of God that is the essence of Christian purpose and community.

The gift of hope in the resurrection is that God loves all God’s creation, no matter what. Let us be that hope to those around us.

Questions

1. How are you in bondage to sin today?
2. Can following rules too rigidly be a form of sin?
3. How do you understand God’s grace in your life?

Sending

Generosity Statement

Beloved Community of Christ, do not just speak and sing of Zion. Live, love, and share as Zion: those who strive to be visibly one in Christ, among whom there are no poor or oppressed.

—Doctrine and Covenants 165:6a

The offering basket is available if you would like to support ongoing, small-group ministries as part of your generous response.

This offering prayer is adapted from A Disciple’s Generous Response:

Discipling God, as we navigate our world of debt and consumerism, help us to save wisely, spend responsibly, and give generously. In this way may we prepare for the future and create a better tomorrow for our families, friends, the mission of Christ, and the world. Amen.

Invitation to Next Meeting

Closing Hymn

Community of Christ Sings 207, “Creator of Sunrises”

Closing Prayer

---

Optional Additions Depending on Group

• Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
• Thoughts for Children

Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper

Communion Scripture

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

—1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NRSV

Invitation to Communion

All are welcome at Christ’s table. The Lord’s Supper, or Communion, is a sacrament in which we remember the life, death, resurrection, and continuing presence of Jesus Christ. In Community of Christ, we also experience Communion as an opportunity to renew our baptismal covenant and to be formed as disciples who live Christ’s mission. Others may have different or added understandings within their faith traditions. We invite all who participate in the Lord’s Supper to do so in the love and peace of Jesus Christ.

We share in Communion as an expression of blessing, healing, peace, and community. In preparation let’s sing from Community of Christ Sings (select one):

• 515 “In these Moments We Remember”
• 516 “Coming Together for Wine and for Bread”
• 521 “Let Us Break Bread Together”
• 525 “Small Is the Table”
• 528 “Eat this Bread”

Bless and serve bread and wine.

Thoughts for Children

What is something you didn’t know how to do when you were younger and had to learn? (Affirm all answers. Be prepared to offer suggestions: ride a bike, read, etc.)

Just like you’ve learned how to do more things as you’ve gotten older, as we age, we learn more about making Responsible Choices.

Because we always are learning and growing, it is important that we forgive ourselves when we make mistakes. Just like you wouldn’t get mad at yourself for falling off your bike before you knew how to ride it, you shouldn’t stay made at yourself when you make an irresponsible choice. Instead, you should learn from it and make a better choice in the future.

I want you to think of a choice you have made that wasn’t responsible. Now pretend to blow it into a bubble. As the bubble starts to float away, pop it and forgive yourself for the choice.

Sermon Helps

Exploring the Scripture

Last week, we explored the idea of taking part in Jesus’ death and resurrection through baptism. Buried with Christ in the waters of baptism, we die to sin’s power. We rise to new life, “alive to God” through our union with Christ. This week, Paul uses the symbols of slaves and soldiers to move from the theory of justification to the practical application for everyday life.

He begins by speaking about power and control, using the word “dominion.” Imagine sin as a ruler who commands loyalty and service. He begs the Roman faithful to avoid offering their “members” (faculties, abilities, and desires) as weapons to be used to serve sin. They are to offer all they are to God, for Godly purposes, knowing that sin has no control over their lives any longer.

Verse 14 states, “you are not under law, but under grace.” As a Jew, being “under the law” would recall the Jewish law, Torah, and the many interpretations and additions to the original Mosaic law. But many of the Roman church members were Gentiles. Being “under the law” for them would have meant striving to obey multiple civic, social, and religious laws. For both groups, the law stresses human striving for perfection and holiness, an unending task. Humans are not equal to God. God alone offers the gift of grace as the key to righteousness.

Paul expands the idea using the imagery of slaves. Note the contrast is not slavery and freedom, but rather two kinds of slavery. We are never entirely free. We owe allegiance to one Master or the other (See Matthew 6:24). Whose are we? Where do our loyalties and obedience lie? What occupies our minds and controls our spending?

Paul asserts that we were all once slaves to sin, obeying the impulses and passions of broken human nature. The result is spiritual death. By opening our hearts to the teachings of the Spirit, we have “been set free from sin.” The sins that control us are not just reduced but are conquered. We have transferred our obedience to a different Master. We are now “slaves of righteousness.” Righteousness means being in the right relationship with God due to the combined forces of God’s grace and our continued faith.

Paul sums up the result in one word: sanctification. When we were slaves to sin, we were free from the expectations of being in a right relationship with God. But the outcomes led to death—dysfunctional lifestyles, broken relationships, physical death, moral break down, and spiritual death. Now, forgiven and justified by faith, we become slaves to God. The result is sanctification—the process of becoming ever more righteous and holy, as we live sacramental lives based on the covenant we made in baptism. We choose to live sanctified lives, not to earn God’s love and acceptance, but as the natural result of receiving God’s grace and mercy.

How we act reveals whose we are. “The end is eternal life” (v. 22) within the love and grace of God, both in our daily existence and in eternity. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (v. 23)

Central Ideas

1. Christian ideas of Jesus’ death and resurrection have ethical and practical implications.
2. Either sin or God has control and power over our lives. The choice is ours.
3. Being set free from sin results in a right relationship with God based on God’s grace, human faith, and sacramental living.
4. Sanctification is the process of becoming more aligned with God, more holy, and more open to Spirit’s movement.

Questions for the Speaker

1. To whom do you give allegiance? What is the evidence for your answer? How do you deal with the split loyalties in your life?
2. How does sanctification relate to our idea of sacramental living? Which comes first?
3. What present-day imagery would you substitute for the ancient symbols of slavery in this discussion of loyalty, allegiance, and masters?
4. How does this passage affect your understanding of Christ’s mission and the hope of the kingdom?

Lessons

Adult Lesson

Focus Scripture Passage

Romans 6:12–23

Lesson Focus

God extends righteousness, the state of being in right relationship, freely. We cannot earn righteousness by following rules. The security of rule-following is deceptive.

Objectives

The learners will…

• deepen their understanding of the terms righteousness, sanctification, and sin.
• become aware of the context of Paul’s use of slavery as a metaphor.
• understand that following rules does not earn eternal life.
• consider how they can help each other respond with grace as they live in God’s righteousness.

Supplies

• Bible
• Paper and pens or pencils

Notes to Teacher

In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for Romans 6:12–23 in Sermon & Class Helps, Year A: New Testament (with focus on the Letters), pp. 85–86, available through Herald House.

Gather

Greet participants and begin the discussion:

• What comes to mind when you hear the phrase, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23)?
• Is it a familiar phrase?
• In what context have you heard it used?
• Can anyone recite the second part of its sentence?

Engage

Clarification of vocabulary in this passage is essential to understanding Paul’s message.

“Righteousness” has lost much in translation, both from the Hebrew Bible to the New Testament Greek and then to English. One English word cannot give us the full understanding of what Paul intended to convey. In his scriptural context (our Hebrew Bible or Old Testament) the term was firmly rooted in an understanding of that which provides for right relationship between people and God and between people in the community. It included all that maintains wholistic, peaceful relationships, including care for those in need. In this way it is closely tied to justice (J.D. Douglas, N. Hillyer, F.F. Bruce, D. Guthrie, A.R. Millard, J.I. Packer, and D.J. Wiseman, eds., New Bible Dictionary, 2nd ed. 1986, pp. 1030–1031).

Righteousness comes through God’s grace and is accepted by faith. Paul explains in Romans 4:3 and 4:13:

For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3).

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith (Romans 4:13).

“Sanctification,” as used by Paul, is God’s action in setting one apart to be part of the body of Christ.

Paul refers to “sin” 10 times in these 12 verses—always in the singular. He is not referring to a vice list but to a corrupting power.

When Paul uses the term “law” he is referring to the rules of Jewish life contained in Hebrew scripture, but his understanding of the function of law would include any set of rules people create, intending adherence to them to achieve righteousness.

Finally, be aware that “members” refers to body parts as in Romans 12:4.

Read together Romans 6:12–23, pausing at “righteousness,” “sanctification,” and “sin” to take in the richness of their meanings.

Slavery

Slavery was a normative feature of Paul’s Greco-Roman society. It was part of the hierarchical structure in which everyone understood their place. A person knew who was “over” them and who was “under” them. Being subject to higher powers was a given both in society and in the metaphysical context of a polytheistic culture. According to Luke Timothy Johnson, one’s freedom depended on what was offered by the one being served. “Freedom of spirit mattered more than freedom of choice” (Luke Timothy Johnson, Reading Romans: A Literary and Theological Commentary, [Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Inc., 2001], p. 108). Further, a person could be a subject to another but “because of virtue and self-control might be regarded as fully human and genuinely free” (Johnson 108–109).

M. Eugene Boring and Fred B. Craddock explain that Paul considered human life to naturally be a condition of slavery. Humans are not autonomous but are creatures which must construct loyalties beyond the self (M. Eugene Boring and Fred B. Craddock, The People’s New Testament Commentary, 1st ed., [Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009], 483).

To the Philippians Paul wrote that even Jesus, in becoming like a human, took on the form of a slave (Philippians 2:6–7).

Post-Enlightenment Westerners see things differently. We see ourselves as independent entities with unlimited choices. We do not readily imagine voluntarily subjecting ourselves to anyone or anything. It is hard for us to acknowledge our bondage to addictions. We are caught up short when we realize how much our possessions own us in their demands for security and maintenance. Overbearing bosses are the villains of our stories. It is hard for us to hear Paul’s argument for becoming “slaves of righteousness” (v. 18).

Can we set that aside for a moment and follow Paul’s thinking? Read Romans 6:12–23.

• Take a few minutes to try to put Paul’s message into your own words. Don’t work toward a line-by-line paraphrase but just the gist in a few sentences.

Close the writing time by reading aloud the following rough paraphrase:

Sin wants to be your boss, but through your baptism in Christ, God’s grace has put you in right relationship with God and with your Christian community. You have been gifted the opportunity to choose a new boss who gives you not only a new way of living, but the power to live it. The old way of rules couldn’t even give you the power to follow the rules. You were on your own. Now you have the power of the Holy Spirit with you to lead you ever more fully into loving relationship with God and humans. Your eternal life in the new way begins now. Which boss do you want—the one who pays you the death you earn or the one who freely gives you life?

Respond

In verses 14–16 Paul posits a speaker interrupting his discourse with a question.

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace?

By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Marion L. Soards suggests that Paul’s point is that contrary to the fear that dependence on grace will lead to sin, it is actually life under law that leads to sin because “sin uses the law to deceive humanity into believing that life is manageable essentially on one’s own–commitment to and observance of the law can be thought to be sufficient for resisting the power of sin” (Marion L. Soards, “Commentary on Romans 6:12–23,” 29 June 2008, www.workingpreacher.org).

• Have you ever kept rules to try to earn yourself some salvation?
• Why is that strategy so enticing?
• If a person believes that their rule-following or good works earns them salvation, what does that say about their understanding of the Divine/Human relationship? Who gets credit for the power?

Send

With the Holy Spirit as the fuel, what tools are available to aid us in responding with grace to each other as we live in right relationships with God and our fellow creatures?

Brainstorm a list together.

Choose a tool that you will offer as a generous gift to another member of Christ’s body this week.

Bless

Read Doctrine and Covenants 157:16–17:

In the many places where you are called to labor, the forces of darkness and destruction are active indeed, and seem to hold sway. Your hearts are burdened by the magnitude of the tasks that are yours in bringing the light of my gospel into such darkness.

Nevertheless, I have heard your prayers when you have cried out to me, and I have been with you in the places where you occupy. I am aware of your desires to serve me and my assurance is that as you go forth, your offerings of faith and service are acceptable to me.

In all your efforts, therefore, continue to trust in my grace and respond in love to the leadings of my Spirit. If you will come before me in unity and love I will bless you with a great outpouring of compassion, both for one another and for the world into which you are sent. Amen.

Allow a moment of silence for prayer, offering parts of ourselves as “instruments of righteousness” (v. 13) this week.

Youth Lesson

Focus Scripture Passage

Romans 6:12–23

Lesson Focus

Under New Management

Objectives

The learners will…

• deepen their understanding of the terms used in Romans 6:12–23.
• become aware of the context of Paul’s use of slavery as a metaphor.
• understand that following rules does not earn eternal life.
• consider how they can help each other respond with grace as they live in God’s righteousness.

Supplies

• Bible
• Board or chart paper, markers
• Optional: watch or read How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by Dr. Seuss, Random House, 1957
• Community of Christ Sings (CCS)

Note to teacher

In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for Romans 6:12–23 in Sermon & Class Helps, Year B: New Testament (with focus on the Letters), pp. 85–86, available through Herald House.

Gather

What does the phrase “Under new management” mean? Under what context do we most often experience this phrase?

Watch or read How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by Dr. Seuss. Alternatively, share this synopsis of the story:

The Grinch is bitter and grouchy. No one knows why. People speculate his heart was “two sizes too small.” He lives isolated in a cave on Mount Crumpit, just north of Who-ville, a town of cheerful Whos. These Whos—his warmhearted neighbors—annoy him, especially as they prepare for Christmas. He plots to stop Christmas from coming by pretending to be Santa Claus and stealing their decorations, presents, and holiday food. He leaves no trace of Christmas in the town.

As Christmas day dawns, the Grinch listens to hear the Whos crying because there is no Christmas. Instead, he hears them joyfully singing together about Christmas. He hadn’t stopped it from coming. He realizes then that Christmas means more than presents, decorations, and feasting. This causes his heart to grow three sizes. This realization changes the Grinch. He returns all that he stole from the Whos and then he joins in their Christmas feast.

Ask:

• Would you say at the end of the story, the Grinch lived his life under new management?
• Can you think of other examples of this type of “new management”?

Engage

Baptism is a transformative experience. In our baptism, we have new life. Therefore, we should be “dead to sin and alive to God.” In today’s scripture passage, we learn about the implications of our new life in Christ. Paul writes to the church in Rome that it is inappropriate to let sin rule their lives (to be slaves to sin). Instead, they are to let God rule in their lives. Paul says we will serve either sin or God.

Vocabulary: Clarifying terms is essential to understanding Paul’s message in this passage.

“Righteousness” —One English word cannot give the full understanding of what Paul intended to convey. The term provides for right relationship between people and God and between people in the community. It includes wholistic, peaceful relationships, including care for those in need. It is closely tied to justice (J.D. Douglas, N. Hillyer, F.F. Bruce, D. Guthrie, A.R. Millard, J.I. Packer, and D.J. Wiseman, eds., New Bible Dictionary, 2nd ed. 1986, pp. 1030–1031). Righteousness comes through God’s grace and is accepted by faith.

“Sanctification,” —God’s action in setting someone apart to be part of the body of Christ.

“Sin” —Paul refers to “sin” 10 times in these 12 verses. He is not referring to a vice list (list of sins) but to a corrupting power.

“Law” —When Paul uses the term “law” he is referring to the rules of Jewish life contained in Hebrew scripture. His understanding of the function of law would include any set of rules people create, intending adherence to them to achieve righteousness.

“Members” refers to body parts as in Romans 12:4: “For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function.”

Slavery was part of the hierarchical structure. Everyone understood their place and knew who they were “over” and who they were “under” in society. Being subject to higher powers was a reality both in society and in culture. One’s freedom depended on what was offered by the one being served. “Freedom of spirit mattered more than freedom of choice” (Luke Timothy Johnson, Reading Romans: A Literary and Theological Commentary, [Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Inc., 2001], p. 108). Paul considered human life to naturally be a condition of slavery. We see things differently. We see ourselves as independent entities with unlimited choices. We do not readily imagine voluntarily subjecting ourselves to anyone or anything. It is hard for us to acknowledge our bondage to addictions. We are surprised when we realize how much our possessions own us in their demands for security and maintenance. It is hard for us to hear Paul’s argument for becoming “slaves of righteousness” (v. 18).

Read together Romans 6:12–23 or consider together this paraphrase:

Sin wants to be your boss, but through your baptism in Christ, God’s grace has put you in right relationship with God and with your Christian community. You have been gifted the opportunity to choose a new boss who gives you not only a new way of living, but the power to live it. The old way of rules couldn’t even give you the power to follow the rules. You were on your own. Now you have the power of the Holy Spirit with you to lead you ever more fully into loving relationship with God and humans. Your eternal life in the new way begins now. Which boss do you want—the one who pays you the death you earn or the one who freely gives life to you?

Respond

In verses 14–16 Paul imagines a speaker interrupting his teaching with an important question.

Paul says: “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”

The question: “What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace?”

Paul’s answer: “By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

Discuss:

• Have you ever kept rules to try to earn salvation for yourself?
• Why is that strategy so enticing?
• If a person believes that their rule-following or good work earns them salvation, what does that say about their understanding of the Divine-Human relationship? Who gets credit for the power?

Send

With the Holy Spirit, what tools are available to help us in responding with grace to each other as we live in right relationships with God and others?

Brainstorm a list together or give the students one minute to list as many tools as they can think of and compare lists. Choose a tool that you will offer as a generous gift to another member of Christ’s body this week.

Bless

Close by singing together “As the Wind Song through the Trees” CCS 42.

Children’s Lesson

Focus Scripture Passage

Romans 6:12–23

Lesson Focus

Freedom from sin binds us to God

Objectives

The learners will…

• discuss what constitutes cheating in life situations.
• define sin and grace.
• retell a life application of the scripture passage.

Supplies

• Candle and way to light or turn on the candle
• Coloring pages and tools (crayons, colored pencils, markers) for each student (end of lesson)
• Bible (same version, one for each learner, if possible)
• “Avery and the Seven Food Groups” (end of lesson)

Notes to Teacher

In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for Romans 6:12–23 in Sermon & Class Helps, Year A: New Testament (with focus on the Letters), pp. 85–86, available through Herald House.

Gather

Place a candle in the center of the table or in a worship center. Light the candle. As a practice of following Jesus, the peaceful One, invite children to share conditions that need the peace of Christ. Invite someone to offer a prayer for peace.

Engage

Note: Invite students to find the scripture passage for the day.

Spend a few minutes on the book of Romans and look at some difficult concepts and words.

Paul wrote about sin in today’s scripture passage. What are some examples? (bullying, cheating on a test, telling a lie) Sin is separation from God and others. Have you ever felt separated (distant) from God?

What do you know about God’s grace? (a gift from God; God’s forgiveness when we sin; God’s way of saying “Don’t hide. I love you now and always.”)

Respond

Distribute coloring pages so learners can color during the story and discussion.

Say: Let’s see how what Paul is saying to the Romans applies to our story today. It is about an elementary age student, Avery. Let’s see what is going on with Avery. Adapt story according to the age and circumstances of children in your class.

Read the story “Avery and the Seven Food Groups” and then discuss:

• What do you think will happen next?
• What should happen next?

Paul says that when we follow Jesus we are “slaves to goodness.” We live and act like it. We do our best to make good choices and live as Jesus taught. We live in the freedom of God. Paul says it is a gift of God in real life. Sometimes we call it eternal life.

• Did Avery cheat on the test? How do we know? (Avery didn’t know the answer.)
• What are other situations like Avery’s that you have experienced or seen?

Send

Discuss the words on the coloring page: God gives us the free gift of life forever in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• What does “free gift” mean? (We do not have to do anything to earn it.) Grace is a free gift of love that God gives to us.
• What is “life forever in Christ”? (Sometimes we call it eternal life.)

Bless

Invite students to gather in a circle. Say each person’s name and offer a brief statement that reflects the lesson of the day.

Avery and the Seven Food Groups

One day there was a test in a health unit. One of the questions was “List the seven food groups.” Avery knew the answer and happily wrote:

1. Leafy, green, and yellow vegetables
2. Citrus fruit, tomatoes, and raw cabbage
3. Potatoes and other vegetables and fruits
4. Milk, cheese, ice cream
5. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dried peas, beans
6. Bread, flour, cereals, whole-grain or enriched; and…”
7.  

Avery had answers to six food groups, but what was the seventh food group?

Avery finished the rest of the test, then went back to the missing food group. Avery thought so long about it that the class, except Avery and one other student, left for recess. The other student finally took the test to the teacher asking, “Is butter a good answer for the ‘milk’ group?”

That was it! The missing food group! Avery happily wrote “Butter and fortified margarine” and took the completed test to the teacher. The teacher, Ms. Crouse, had noticed that Avery had struggled with a question but answered it quickly when the other student talked to her. She asked Avery about it, “How did you finally complete the test all of a sudden?”

Avery was bursting with happiness to have the food group answer and to have completed the test and said with a big smile, “The seventh food group answer came from the comment of the other student. I studied hard but the answer I knew was slow coming to me.”

Avery went to recess.

After recess, Ms. Crouse told the class, “When you take a test, the answers are supposed to come from your own mind. Using any other way, from another student’s answers, posters and pictures on the walls, things like that would be cheating.” Avery was shocked and tried not to look at Ms. Crouse. Did she call Avery’s parents? That evening at home, Avery stayed away from parents and siblings. Avery also felt sick at dinner so didn’t eat much and asked to leave the table, even before dessert.

• What do you think will happen next?
• Did Avery cheat on the test?
• What should happen next?