Sunday's services may have seen a rapid re-write of the sermon in the light of national and international news, but I retained the set of 'questions to ponder' about Joseph, so here they are, with apologies for formatting glitches in the upload...

Questions to Ponder

1. The story of Joseph and his siblings may prompt questions about ‘nature and nurture’.
   1. From what we know of his story, what factors do you think shaped the young/adolescent Joseph?
   2. How did his early experiences in Egypt affect him?
   3. Once he came to power, had he matured? If so how?

2. Thinking about your own experience, how did you change as you moved from adolescence into adulthood, or, if appropriate, from young adulthood into middle age, etc.? What stayed the same? What enabled you to flourish?

3. The story of Joseph’s family is full of terrible stories of dishonesty, selfishness, abuse of power, abusive sexual encounters and more. How do you feel about that? How does it compare with the ‘Sunday School’ version of the story? What additional insights might be gained from the taking the story as a whole?
   

4. Redemption and reconciliation are found at the very end of this story. Are there areas of our own lives where these are needed? What will we do about it?
   

5. Thinking about our own church, reluctance  is a greater factor than arrogance or boasting. How to we recognise people’s gifts and encourage them to exercise them, both allowing them to make mistakes and enabling them to flourish and mature?

Yesterday afternoon, whilst others watched tennis, football or F1, whilst others sat in gardens reading, whilst others walked or swam or sunbathed, I sewed. I really enjoyed the time spent playing my part in the team-work of creating this banner.

I am really looking forward to seeing the new 'characters' that are designed/made today and seeing this artwork develop further.

On Sunday, some folk made a start on our shared summer craft project - a banner based on some clip art we use quite a lot that expresses somehtign of how we see oursleves as 'church'.

The great thing is that different people can contribute in different ways... some have donated fabric, some can draw templates, some can choose fabrics, some can cut out, some can iron on interfacing, some can pin the peices in place, some will (eventually) sew it together (we could glue it, but sewing is more permanent). No-one has every skill or resource we need, but lots of people have some of them.  Together, we can make a banner because, together, we are the church.

I reckon it's looking great so far, and whilst, yes, I have done the ironing on of interfacing, and a fair bit of pinning, the bulk of the creativity lies with others.

I'll try to remember to post updates as we progress during the summer, and, in due course, the finished article!

I also offered a second set of options for pondering about the church as 'the Body of Christ', again , feel free to use or ignore, as seems best to you! (Blogspirit uses a slightly odd numbering system!)

One Team - The Body of Christ

Questions to Ponder Privately or to Discuss

There is no correct order, nor any expectation about how many, if any, questions are explored.  Simply see if there is something that prompts thought or discussion and off you go!

1. You are the Body the Christ –
   1. What does the Body of Christ look like?
   2. What gifts and skills are needed?
   3. What gifts and skills are lacking or need to be developed?
   4. How do we identify potential and encourage learning/development?

2. You are equally important
   1. We talk about the ‘Priesthood of All Believers’ and that everyone is of equal worth, but is that how it feels?
   2. How do I value myself, and is this judgement accurate?
   3. How do I value others, and how accurate is that judgement?
   4. How do we learn to value each other equally whilst recognising and affirming difference?
   5. How do we value each other enough to ‘call out’ what is unhelpful or demeaning?

3. What’s the point?
   1. Why does the church exist?!
   2. What does it mean to ‘build one another up for the common good’?
   3. If we agree that we are the Body of Christ, that everyone is equally valued and that our ethos is of inclusion and flourishing, what does that look like in real life?

4. What one encouragement is there
   1. For me, about my own intrinsic worth and unique gifting?
   2. That I should speak aloud to someone else in our church?
   3. That, together, we are moving in the ‘right’ direction if this is what we seek to do and to be?

I know that there are some readers of this stuff who value any resources that I share, so, over this sumer, I'll post the 'to ponder' material from each Sunday, in case anyone finds it useful or helpful.

Last Sunday as we began our series on 'Teams' we looked first at the gifts God hs given us, and the gifts/roles we need in our church.  Here (hopefully) is what I offered as a first set of questions 'to ponder'...

Spiritual Gifts

Look at this list of gifts which are identified in the Bible, and think about, or discuss, any of the questions that follow…

ADMINISTRATION

CHOSEN CELIBACY

DISCERNMENT

ELECTIVE POVERTY

ENCOURAGEMENT

EVANGELISM

FAITH

GENEROSITY

HEALING

HOSPITALITY

INTERPRETATION

KNOWLEDGE

LANGUAGES

LEADERSHIP

MARTYRDOM

MERCY

MIRACLES

MISSIONARY

PASTORAL OVERSIGHT

PROPHECY

SERVICE

TEACHING

TONGUES

WISDOM

WITNESS

• Which of these gifts do I think I have?
• Which gifts do I have that are not on this list?
• Which gifts on this list puzzle or worry me?

• How does this list compare with what is needed in our church?
• How am I using my gifts in our Church?
• How does this list compare with what is needed in the wider world?
• How am I using my gifts in my everyday life?

• Are there gifts or skills I would like to cultivate, and what will I do about that?
• Are there gifts I feel are somehow ‘better’ or ‘lesser’ than others? Why?

• Do I feel ‘inferior’ or ‘superior’ to others and why is this?
• How can I learn to value myself, and others, as we are valued by God?
• To whom should I speak a word of encouragement today?