Worship Tools

Worship Outline

Additional Scripture 

Genesis 21:8–21; Psalm 86:1–10, 16–17; Matthew 10:24–39 

Preparation  

The service lends itself to baptism as the lectionary scripture speaks to the reality of the newness of being baptized and having new life in Christ. Adjust the service to focus on the sacrament of baptism if this is applicable to your group.  

Prepare a worship center with cups of dirt, enough for all participants, displayed as well as some flowering plants. Have flower seeds for everyone prominently displayed.  

The cups of soil and seeds will be used during the Focus Moment. Also provide water. Consider locating this planting exercise at stations around the room.  

Prelude  

The Community Welcomes and Shares Joys and Concerns  

Call to Worship: Psalm 86:1–3  

Hymn of Invitation  

“O Holy Dove of God Descending” CCS 44  

OR “Teach Me, God, to Wonder” CCS 176  

OR “Christ Has Called Us to New Visions” CCS 566  

Invocation  

Response  

Focus Moment  

Provide cups of dirt for all participants. They will be given a seed in a few moments to place in the soil. Also provide a way to water the newly planted seeds.  

Discuss the concepts of baptism and how it is symbolic of new life with Christ and growing into more understanding of Christ.  

• What do you think the cups of dirt are for? seeds to grow a plant 

• What else will the seeds need to grow? air, water, sun 

Provide seeds to be planted in their cup of dirt and water for the new planting.  

Suggest just like a flower needs the sun, we also need the Son, Jesus.  

When we are baptized, it’s like a new planting. You rise from the water ready to walk in the newness of life.  

Encourage sharing of people’s baptismal experiences. Invite them to take their planting home and watch for the newness of life.  

Prayer for Peace  

Hymn of Peace  

“For Beauty of Meadows” CCS 142  

OR “Touch the Earth Lightly” CCS 137  

Light the peace candle 

Prayer  

God of mountains, meadows, moments, and mystery,  

We set aside this time to focus on the pursuit of peace,  

a peace that at times seems close, but at other times seems so far away.  

During this time, we are challenged to find newness in life.  

This newness seems unfathomable in a world where issues separate us;  

issues of race, borders, politics, climate abuse, and economic disparity.  

And still other matters of religion, doctrine, and differences in rural and urban communities. Please help us to be mindful of and celebrate our differences.  

Just as we have been provided with an illustration of new life and growth,  

help us to provide rich soil in which our communities can grow.  

Help us to provide water for the thirsty ones.  

Help us provide examples of your Son for a world which seems so dark.  

Help us to be pursuers of peace— 

as we plant seeds of peace;  

as we listen among the dissonance;  

as we cultivate your vineyard.  

Loving God, help us to be aware of the other.  

It is in knowing the other that we listen and build peace together. Amen.  

—Poul Wilson, Used with permission 

Scripture Reading: Romans 6:1b–11  

Ministry of Music or Community Hymn  

“I Want Jesus to Walk with Me” CCS 553  

OR “We Are Pilgrims on a Journey” CCS 550  

OR “Bless Now, O God, the Journey” CCS 559 

Sharing in the Spoken Word  

Based on Romans 6:1b–11  

Disciples’ Generous Response  

Scripture and Song  

Scripture Reading: Doctrine and Covenants 161:3a  

Hymn of Generosity 

“Spirit, Open My Heart” stanza 1 CCS 564 

OR “Into My Heart” Sing once in the language of your choice CCS 573 

Scripture Reading: Doctrine and Covenants 161:3b  

Hymn of Generosity 

“Spirit, Open My Heart” stanza 2 CCS 564 

OR “Into My Heart” Sing once in the language of your choice CCS 573 

Scripture Reading: Doctrine and Covenants 161:3c  

Hymn of Generosity 

“Spirit, Open My Heart” stanza 3 CCS 564 

OR “Into My Heart” Sing once in the language of your choice CCS 573 

Scripture Reading: Doctrine and Covenants 161:3d  

Hymn of Generosity 

“Spirit, Open My Heart” stanza 4 CCS 564 

OR “Into My Heart” Sing once in the language of your choice CCS 573 

Statement  

The focus lectionary scripture from Romans describes baptism and the newness of life that occurs with following Jesus. While the scripture appears to be an individual focus, it is also a call to community. In our offering, we give as individuals, but our giving provides for ministry that builds the community. The Amish community often comes together in times of planting, harvesting, blessings, and tragedy. This expression of giving is often manifest when one family has a particular need and comes together to provide an opportunity for new life amid what would otherwise be chaos.  

Blessing and Receiving of Local and Worldwide Mission Tithes  

Closing Hymn  

“The Summons” CCS 586  

OR “Make Me a Servant” sing twice CCS 597  

Encourage participants to sing in languages other than their own. 

Benediction  

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 290 in Community of Christ Sings, “When the Poor Ones.” The words and music are by Jose Olivar and Miguel Manzano.

When we know that love for simple things is better,

then we know that God still goes the road with us,

then we know that God still goes that road with us.

God of the road, our world is filled with poor ones. The poor in spirit, the poor in health, the poor in love, the poor in food. At times, it feels so lonely and hopeless. How can we help all the poor ones? How can we help when we, ourselves, feel like the poor ones?

Then we remember that you bless the poor in spirit! The poor in health show us how to care for one another. It is the poor in love who show us how to love others. The poor in food share generously, leading the way for us all. This is the work of peace. This is the work of your church. This is the work of your people.

May we cultivate love for the simple things. May we be willing to be comforted and led by the poor ones. And may we keep watch for you on the road with us.

In the name of Jesus, who walks with us on the road to peace. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

Holy Listening

Today we’re focusing on the Enduring Principle of All are Called. We believe all people have unique giftedness, and we are given opportunities in community to share our giftedness. By practicing Holy Listening, we can learn more about the gifts people share in community, how they feel called to serve, and how we can support one another in discipleship and ministry.

Ask the person next to you to join you in conversation. Find a spot in the room to get comfortable and face one another. You will take turns sharing what you see as your giftedness and how you feel called to share that giftedness with others. It can be anything, friendship, music, compassion, reading aloud, laughter, or tidying up.

You each will have three minutes to share. During this time the listener will just listen and nod, but not comment. At the end of this time, the listener may respond with this one sentence. “I noticed that…” Then switch places and repeat.

Before you start this exercise, please repeat this prayer with me: “Help me be wholly present to this human being.”

You may begin your conversation.

Start the timer. After three minutes let the listener say the one-sentence response and then ask the people to switch places.

Start the timer again.

When each person has shared. Ask the group to respond to their experience with this spiritual practice.

Sharing Around the Table

Romans 6:1–11 NRSVue

6 What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may increase? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For whoever has died is freed from sin. ⁸ But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

—Romans 6:1–11 NRSVue

In this passage, Paul discusses sin and grace. For some, sin can be a list of specific don’ts; for others, it can be corporate problems that don’t have a specific instigator but are an issue to be amended as they affect groups or creation. For some, it simply can be an unharmonious relationship with God.

In writing about sin, Paul brings us back to the symbolism of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The key word in this passage is with. As our relationship is reconciled with God, it is done with grace. As we think of the hope found in the resurrection, the hope that gives us courage to forge through another day and to approach life’s challenges with confidence, we are doing that with Christ. In his death and resurrection, the sins of rejection, oppression, and condemnation no longer had control over Christ.

As we focus on the message of God’s love for all, radical hospitality, and inclusion, we follow the actions and teachings of Jesus. We accept rather than reject, we reconcile rather than oppress. As we push away those voices that tell us to marginalize, judge, or condemn, we more fully embrace the voice of the One who calls us into deepening relationship.

Questions

1. What do you see as sin, and how do you work to avoid it or help eradicate it?
2. What voices distract you from your relationship with God?
3. This scripture speaks to being “alive to God in Christ Jesus.” When have you felt most alive in your spiritual journey?

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 494, “Sing Praise for Rain That Washes Earth”

Closing Prayer

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Optional Additions Depending on Group

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

Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper

Communion Scripture

Choose one scripture to read from this selection: 1 Corinthians 11:23–26; Matthew 26:17–30; Mark 14:12–26; Luke 22:7–39.

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

You will need:

• triple-A bookmarks
• coloring supplies

Ask: Have you ever done something your parents asked you not to do? Or have you ever not done something your parents asked you to do? 

Did your parents stay mad at you, or did they forgive you? If we will always be forgiven, why do we still want to make Responsible Choices?

Affirm all answers.

In today’s scripture, we are reminded that though we will be forgiven no matter what we do, it still is important to make Responsible Choices because it is a way we can show our love for God and others. It also is important that we know what to do when we make irresponsible choices.

What are some things you do when you’ve made a choice that has not been very responsible? How do you make the situation better? (Affirm all answers. Make sure things like apologize, fix the problem, etc. are included.)

Thank you all for sharing your wonderful ideas. In the future if I make an irresponsible choice, I will use some of your suggestions to make the situation better. One way I’ll remember what to do when I’ve made an irresponsible choice is to think of the three A’s”

• Admit what you did.
• Apologize.
• Accept the consequences.

Color your triple-A bookmark and take it with you for a reminder that even when we make irresponsible choices, there are always Responsible Choices we can make to improve the situation.

Sermon Helps

Exploring the Scripture

Today we continue exploring justification by faith: a sinner becomes right with God not through works but by faith in Christ. Paul affirmed not only that Jesus died and lived again, but that all baptized Christians take part in Jesus’ death and resurrection! Participation is more transforming than merely watching dramas of a deity dying and rising, as Greco-Roman religions practiced.

Romans 5:20 affirms that “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” Can Christians continue to sin, so God can keep showering us with more grace and forgiveness? No! Such reasoning leads to moral bankruptcy, and Paul immediately rejects it. If we have died to sin, which happens in baptism, then we cannot continue to live in sin.

Ancient writers used various metaphors to explain baptism. The Gospel of John presents baptism as a new birth and resulting growth (John 3:1-15). Colossians explained baptism using the symbol of Jewish circumcision to cut away unwanted acts and desires to begin a new covenant with God (Col. 2:11-15). Some churches focused on the cleansing power of water, like the historic flood in Noah’s time (1 Peter 3:18-22).

In Romans, Paul may have used the Exodus as a pattern. People are slaves to sin like the Hebrews were slaves to Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s power died in the waters of the Red Sea. Sin’s power dies in baptism. But we do not go through the water of baptism alone. We are buried with Christ. “With” makes all the difference. Death itself dies. When we rise from the water, we live again. We have a new identity as part of the living Body of Christ.

Paul repeats the reasoning in more detail in verses 6-11. His statement that Christ died to sin (v. 10) refers not to the physical death on the cross but rather the end of sin’s control over Jesus. The temptation of sin no longer controlled Jesus, nor affected by society’s sin of rejecting and condemning Jesus. In the same way, Christ’s followers are crucified with Christ and die to sin. Paul alternates between what “we know” and what we can infer as a result. Here is what the followers know and accept without question:

1. We are crucified with Christ. Our sinful self (“the body of sin”) dies in the process.
2. We are no longer slaves to sin but free from sin’s power to control us.
3. The risen Christ will never die again. Death has no power over him.
4. He died to sin, but he lives to God in unbroken fellowship

Based on those known beliefs, Paul affirms the following:

1. If we have died with Christ, we will also live with Christ.
2. We are dead to sin’s control over us but alive to God because of our union in Jesus Christ.

Being “alive to God” (v 11) means being open and responsive to the promptings of the Spirit in everyday life. Faith is united to action. We notice where God is acting in the world and take part in those efforts. It means living fully and joyfully here and now in relationship with the Divine. It also implies the promise of being “united with [Christ] in a resurrection life like his” (v. 5).

Central Ideas

1. Baptized Christians take part in Jesus’ death and resurrection. They do not just mimic and play-act a dying and rising myth.
2. Paul stressed that immersion is like being buried with Christ in death. When we arise from the water, we live again,
3. In baptism, we become dead to sin’s control over us, but alive to God, open and responsive to God’s Spirit, in a joyful relationship with the Divine.

Questions for the Speaker

1. What metaphor would you use to explain baptism’s significance? Do you feel you took part in Jesus’ death and resurrection in this sacrament?
2. What does it mean in your world to be “dead to sin?” What kinds of actions, attitudes, and relationships show that sin no longer has control?
3. What characterizes a person who is “alive to God?” Whom have you known that shows this life? When have you displayed it most fully?
4. Paul uses the phrase, “We know…” several times in this passage. Which of the statements that he affirms “we know” can you claim to know and believe? Which ones do you question? What conclusions would you draw from what you do know?

Lessons

Adult Lesson

Focus Scripture Passage

Romans 6:1b–11

Lesson Focus

Baptism is a transformative experience that changes the patterns of our lives as we respond to God’s grace.

Objectives

The learners will…

• reflect on the changes that baptism brings to their lives.
• consider where their choices fit into the cycle of Grace and Generosity.

Supplies

• Bible
• Board or chart paper, markers
• Community of Christ Sings (CCS)

Notes to Teacher

In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for Romans 6:1b–11 in Sermon & Class Helps, Year A: New Testament, (with focus on the Letters), pp. 83–84, available through Herald House.

Gather

Form participants into two groups. As you read Romans 6:1b–11, invite one group to raise their hands when they hear “death” or any word related to it. Invite the other group to raise their hands when they hear “life” or any related word mentioned.

Create a T-chart with headings “Death” and “Life” on a board or chart paper.

• As you listened to the scripture passage, what words did participants classify as related to “death”? to “life”? Add those words to the chart.
• What other words are sometimes associated with “death” and “life” in religious life? Add those words to the chart.

Notice how Paul uses the dichotomy between death and life to describe the transformative power of baptism.

Engage

The opening question of Romans 6 is one that Paul anticipates in response to his chapter 5 discourse on the old life of sin represented by Adam’s trespass and the new life of righteousness initiated by Christ’s act of obedience. “Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all” (Romans 5:18).

“Righteousness” and “justification” are tightly knit concepts in Paul’s writings. “Righteousness” is the state of existing in right relationship, and “justification” is the act of mending a relationship or returning it to a state of righteousness (Anthony J. Chvala-Smith, ed., Exploring Community of Christ Basic Beliefs: A Commentary, Herald Publishing House, 2020, p. 151).

Thus arises the big question: If our relationship with God is set right through the obedience of Jesus, what difference does it make how we act? Why not go wild and give God more opportunities to show how generous God’s grace is?

Paul is astonished at the question. He asks if his readers understand what baptism has done for them. They have died with Christ and have entered their new life in Christ. God has initiated a reconciliation, and Christ’s story is their story. Their new status has transformed their relationships with God through Christ and with each other in Christ’s body, the Church (M. Eugene Boring and Fred B. Craddock, The People’s New Testament Commentary, 1st ed., [Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009], 482). The old ways of alienation have been destroyed. Sin no longer has power over them. Paul’s previous message to the Corinthians is also applicable to the Romans: “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). According to Paul, it is not possible to move from the world of sin and death into the world of grace and life and continue to act in the old ways.

• Have you ever thought of baptism as a death?
• What dies?
• How are we connected to Christ in baptism?
• How did you have, or how do you imagine, a new life in Christ post-baptism?

Grace and Generosity

• God’s grace, especially as revealed in Jesus Christ, is generous and unconditional.
• Having received God’s generous grace, we respond generously and graciously receive the generosity of others.
• We offer all we are and have to God’s purposes as revealed in Jesus Christ.
• We generously share our witness, resources, ministries, and sacraments according to our true capacity.

—Sharing in Community of Christ, 4th Edition, 2018, p. 28

Discuss: How does your understanding of this principle help you respond to someone who asks why our actions matter if God’s grace and love through Christ have restored our relationship with God? Why not give God the chance to show generosity repeatedly?

Respond

Brainstorm together and list on the board or chart paper some of the typical transformative experiences of life. (becoming a parent, leaving home, getting married, retirement)

• Once you made these changes of status could you go back?
• How is baptism like the changes of status listed? How is it different?
• Is it possible to leave your old life in the land of sin and death and move to the land of grace and life without ever turning back? If so, what is required? If not, is Paul’s exhortation helpful?

Send

In the chapter entitled “The Generous Life” in A Way of Life: Understanding Our Christian Faith, (Herald House, 2019, p. 99) Anthony J. Chvala-Smith writes:

God’s reign was and is the gift of a radical new way of life. What makes it radical is that unlike human systems, the center of God’s kingdom is a love so costly that its nature is to give itself away. It was into this costly love of God that we were baptized. Letting this love saturate every corner of our lives is the Holy Spirit’s chief work in our journeys of faith. We truly can say that discipleship is birthed from the extravagant love of God.

Discuss:

• If you thought of yourself as “dead to sin and alive to God” (v. 2–8), how would it change your approach to daily life?
• If we collectively thought of ourselves as “dead to sin and alive to God,” how would it change our life in community?

Bless

Sing or read together “Redeeming Grace” CCS 497.

Offer a prayer, asking for the Spirit’s strength in living the expectations of verse 4 in the coming week.

Youth Lesson

Focus Scripture Passage

Romans 6:1b–11

Lesson Focus

Baptism is transformative.

Objectives

The learners will…

• reflect on their baptism and the changes baptism brings to their lives.
• consider transformative life experiences.
• apply the meaning of being “dead to sin and alive to God.”

Supplies

• Bible
• Board or chart paper and markers
• Paper and pens or pencils
• Community of Christ Sings (CCS)

Note to Teacher

In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for Romans 6:1b–11 in Sermon & Class Helps, Year B: New Testament (with focus on the Letters), pp. 83–84, available through Herald House.

Gather

Invite someone who has been baptized to share details about the experience.

• What was it like?
• Who was it that baptized them?
• When and where did it happen? Was anyone else baptized at the same time?
• How did they feel before, during, and after?

If students have not been baptized, share an invitation for them to consider this step.

Engage

Form participants into two groups. As you read Romans 6:1b–11, invite one group to raise their hands when they hear “death,” or any word related to it. Invite the other group to raise their hands when they hear “life,” or any related word mentioned.

Create a T-chart with headings “Death” and “Life” on chart paper or a board.

Read Romans 6:1b–11. Then ask:

• As you listened to the scripture passage, what words did you classify as related to “death”? to “life”? Add those words to the chart.
• What other words are sometimes associated with “death” and “life” in religious life? Add those words to the chart.

Notice how Paul uses death and life to describe the transformative power of baptism.

In today’s focus scripture, Paul asks: “So do you think that we should continue sinning so that God will give us more and more grace?” (v. 1) Paul is asking a big question: If our relationship with God is set right, what difference does it make how we act? Why not go wild and give God more opportunities to show how generous God’s grace is?

Paul is astonished at the question and answers in verse 2: “No! We died to our old sinful lives. So how can we continue living with sin?” He asks if the people understand what baptism has done for them. They have “died” (were emersed or buried in the water at their baptism) with Christ and have entered their new life in Christ. Their new status—as baptized disciples—has transformed their relationships with God. The old ways are gone. Sin no longer has power over them.

Note: If needed, share the church’s Basic Belief about Sin from Sharing in Community of Christ, 4th Edition, p. 34.

Sin

God created us to be agents of love and goodness. Yet we misuse our agency individually and collectively. We take the gifts of creation and of self and turn them against God’s purposes with tragic results. Sin is the universal condition of separation and alienation from God and one another. We are in need of divine grace that alone reconciles us with God and one another.

Discuss:

• Have you ever thought of baptism as a death?
• What dies?
• How are we connected to Christ in baptism?
• If you’ve been baptized, share something special you remember about the experience.

Respond

Brainstorm together and list on chart paper or a board some of the typical transformative experiences of life. (going to school, learning to read, getting your first pet to care for, being trusted to babysit, learning to drive, graduating from high school or college, leaving home, getting married, becoming a parent, etc.)

• Once you have made these changes of status can you go back?
• How is baptism like the changes of status listed? How is it different?
• Is it possible to leave your old life in the land of sin and death and move to the land of grace and life without ever turning back? If so, what is required? If not, are Paul’s words helpful?

Send

Ask the class to consider these questions and write or share aloud their thoughts:

• If you thought of yourself as “dead to sin and alive to God” (v. 2–8), how would it change your approach to daily life?
• If we collectively thought of ourselves as “dead to sin and alive to God,” how would it change our life in community?

Bless

Sing together “God Forgave My Sin in Jesus’ Name” CCS 627.

Invite someone to offer a prayer.

Children’s Lesson

Focus Scripture Passage

Romans 6:1b–11

Lesson Focus

When we receive God’s grace we change; our hearts, our minds, our behaviors.

Objectives

The learners will…

• find Romans in the Bible and explain ways people start the letters they write.
• define sin, salvation, and grace.
• compare baptism as new life.
• explain a life application of the scripture passage.

Supplies

• Bible
• 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)
• “What to Do about a Bully” (end of lesson)

Notes to Teacher

In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for Romans 6:1b–11 in Sermon & Class Helps, Year A: New Testament (with focus on the Letters), pp. 83–84, available through Herald House.

Young learners may find the lectionary scripture passages from Romans difficult to follow and understand. This lesson emphasizes selected verses from today’s focus scripture passage.

Gather

Greet children as they enter and ask how they are and what kinds of things they’ve been doing with family or friends. Place a candle in the center of the table or in a worship center. 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: Read the lesson scripture verses, from a child-friendly version. The International Children’s Bible (ICB) is a good choice. Invite students to find today’s scripture passage in a Bible.

Say: Romans is a book in the New Testament. Let’s find it. (Help students as they locate Romans.) Paul wrote “The Letter of Paul to the Romans.” The very first word of this letter to the church in Rome is “Paul.” The first sentence reads: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ…”

• How do we start a letter we write? (“Dear…” or “Greetings,” or “Friends”)
• Why do you think Paul started his letter with his name? (The Romans hadn’t met Paul, so he wanted them to know him and why he followed Jesus.)
• What do you think about this way of starting a letter?

Briefly discuss that “sin” or “sinning” is what separates us from God and others. One result is that we separate from God. Community of Christ’s Basic Beliefs for Sin reads in part:

Sin is the universal condition of separation and alienation from God and one another. We are in need of divine grace that alone reconciles us with God and one another. (Sharing in Community of Christ, 4th Edition, p. 34)

The Basic Beliefs statement Salvation reads in part:

Salvation is new life through Jesus Christ. This new life is the loving gift of God’s grace for individuals, communities, and all creation. (Sharing in Community of Christ, 4th Edition, p. 34)

Discuss Grace as a gift from God. It is forgiveness, like when God forgives us, or when we forgive another person. When we are separated from God or others. Grace is God’s way of saying “Don’t hide. I love you now and will always love you.”

In today’s focus scripture, Paul asks: “So do you think that we should continue sinning so that God will give us more and more grace?” (v. 1) Paul is asking a big question: If our relationship with God is set right, what difference does it make how we act? Why not go wild and give God more opportunities to show how generous God’s grace is?

Paul is astonished at the question and answers in verse 2: “No! We died to our old sinful lives. So how can we continue living with sin?” He asks if the people understand what baptism has done for them. They have “died” (were emersed or buried in the water at their baptism) with Christ and have entered their new life in Christ. Their new status—as baptized disciples—has transformed their relationships with God. The old ways are gone. Sin no longer has power over them.

Discuss:

• Have you ever thought of baptism as a death?
• What dies?
• How are we connected to Christ in baptism?
• If you’ve been baptized, share something special you remember about the experience.

Respond

Distribute coloring pages so learners can color during the story and discussion OR provide art supplies and invite children to create images of peace or responsible choices following Jesus.

Say: We have a story this morning about Avery, a student who is about your age. Let’s see how what Paul is saying in his letter to the Romans might be relevant today. Adapt the story to best connect with ages and circumstances of children in your class.

Read “What to Do about a Bully” (end of lesson).

Discuss:

• What should happen next?
• Should Avery be punished again?
• Should Avery continue to bully to say, “I’m sorry” and seek forgiveness every day? Would having so much forgiveness be a good thing for Avery? for the class?
• Discuss the words on the coloring page. Suggest that children take the pages home and hang them on a door or wall.

Send

Paul’s words in today’s scripture passage might have something to say about the school problem with Avery. Ask someone to read the passage below:

So do you think that we should continue sinning so that God will give us more and more grace? No! We died to our old sinful lives. So how can we continue living with sin?

—Romans 6:1–2, ICB

In our lesson focus, Paul encouraged the Romans to remember their new lives as Jesus’s disciples. In this new life, they are no longer tied to a life of sin. When we repent and are sorry for something we have done, we can seek forgiveness. We have changed and we should not go on doing the wrong thing. We can be happy about that because we often make mistakes and need forgiveness.

• What are examples of mistakes we make?
• Think about Avery in our story. What mistakes did Avery make?
• How difficult is it to stop doing the wrong thing sometimes?

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.

What to Do about a Bully

(adapt story to best connect with ages and circumstances of children in your class)

Avery was a bully. It’s not nice to call anyone names, but Avery deserved the name and maybe even liked it. When Avery was on the playground at recess there was always trouble. Kids had their basketball taken away and thrown over the playground fence. Avery pushed down other kids and kicked rocks on them.

One day at morning recess, Avery went too far and hurt one of the boys. A teacher saw what happened and sent Avery to the principal. Mr. Rhodes looked at Avery and shook his head. He called Avery’s parents. Avery had to stay in the principal’s office every recess the rest of the week.

On Friday afternoon Avery apologized to the boy who got hurt and to the entire fourth grade class. Avery said, “I’m sorry and I promise not to do mean things anymore.”

Everyone forgave Avery.

But on Monday, Avery was back to bullying. This time a girl got pushed down, hard, and a basketball ended up on the roof of the school. Everyone was surprised. Avery had apologized and was forgiven but had not stayed sorry. Hadn’t Avery learned anything? Avery hadn’t changed. Avery had been expected to change but didn’t. Why was Avery the same as before?

Discuss:

• What should happen next?
• Should Avery be disciplined again?
• Should Avery continue to bully to say, “I’m sorry” and seek forgiveness every day? What would be a different approach?

In Romans, the Apostle Paul wrote about this. Let’s see what Paul had to say that might help about the school problem:

So do you think that we should continue sinning so that God will give us more and more grace? No! We died to our old sinful lives. So how can we continue living with sin?

—Romans 6:1–2, ICB