A healthy
community:
What Are Its Characteristics?
Communicate that churches reveal the beauty of the gospel when, in response to
God’s grace, believers demonstrate Christ-like characteristics toward others as we
live in community.
In response to God’s grace toward us, we are called to demonstrate compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and, above all, love
toward others in the community of faith.
Believers respond to God’s grace and demonstrate compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love toward one another.
Background
Passage:
focal
Passage:
Memory
Verse:
C OL OSSIAN S 3
C OL OS S IAN S 3 : 1 2 - 1 7
C OL O S S IAN S 3 : 1 2
• Out of their identity in Christ
(chosen, holy, loved), believers are to
put on compassion, kindness, gentleness, humility, and patience (v. 12).
• Believers forgive as Christ has
forgiven us (v. 13).
• Above everything else, believers are
to put on love and let Christ’s peace
control us (vv. 14-15).
• Believers are to do everything in the
name of the Lord Jesus (vv. 16-17).
Therefore, God’s chosen ones,
holy and loved, put on heartfelt
compassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness, and patience.
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PREPARING TO TEACH
Jesus’ passionate priority for His church is unity (see John 17).
United churches reflect the relationship between the Father and
Son, and peace among believers illustrates the reconciliation with
God that Jesus made possible on the cross. Christ’s purpose for His
church can be achieved when believers respond to God’s grace
and allow Him to develop in them Christ-like characteristics that
result in united, vibrant, loving church communities that reveal the
beauty of the gospel.
Read Colossians 3:12-17 in several translations, prayerfully
considering what this passage says to you personally. Then read and
complete Lesson 3 in the Venture Up Travelogue, focusing on what the
Focal Passage says to believers living in community. Emphasize the
individual and corporate facets of this passage during the session.
Ask the Lord to use this study to motivate learners to commit
to demonstrate Christ-like qualities to all people, especially those in
their church community.
TEACHING SUGGESTIONS
A CITY ON A HILL,
OR A CLUB IN THE SUBURBS?
Greet learners as they arrive and invite them to read the quotations
describing churches throughout history on pages 30-32 of the Travelogue. After opening with prayer, invite volunteers to share their
thoughts on how those churches revealed a tantalizing glimpse of the
beauty created by the gospel (Travelogue, p. 29).
Ask: Is that kind of church even possible in our society?
Explain your reasoning. Declare that specific ways of living out
community may take different forms, but God can still turn an average American church into a dynamic community of love—one that exists
for the blessing and benefit of its city and culture (Travelogue, p. 32). The
group will examine characteristics of that kind of dynamic church.
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___________________________________________________________________________
Teaching Option
Invite adults to describe appropriate clothing for different activities (hiking, beach, work, etc.). Ask: Does what we wear matter?
Explain your reasoning. State although we must not base our
worth or the worth of others on clothes, our physical dress often
reveals our intentions. In Colossians 3 Paul commanded believers to
put off inappropriate behaviors and identified what believers must
put on. This spiritual “clothing” is always appropriate, never goes out
of style, and reveals the beauty of Jesus who lives inside us.
__________________________________________________________________
HOW THEN SHALL WE LOVE?
Invite a volunteer to read Colossians 3:12-17. Analyze whether
Paul was addressing individual believers or the church as a whole.
Declare a Christ-like church is comprised of Christ-like Christians.
Assert: We each have a responsibility to develop and display
characteristics that result in a church community that radiates the beauty of Jesus.
GETTING OUR IDENTITY STRAIGHT
State our first responsibility is to get our identity straight by remembering who we are in Christ. Ask: Who are you, according to
Colossians 3:12a? Request adults circle the word chosen and
ponder what it means to them to be God’s chosen people. Invite
responses, using the bullet points on page 33 of the Travelogue to
add to the discussion. Repeat that process with holy and loved.
Lead a discussion with: How can getting our identity
straight empower us to display these virtues in relationships?
How might you relate to people in the church differently if
you recognized this identity was true of them as well? There’s
a lot of talk about discovering our personal identity in Christ.
Why is it just as important for a whole church to discover its
identity in Christ (Travelogue, p. 33)?
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A HEALTHY COMMUNITY WILL BE
A GRACE-FULL COMMUNITY
Guide the class to evaluate how new identities come with new
responsibilities. Request adults identify from Colossians 3:12b the
responsibility of God’s chosen ones.
Explain the Strong’s Concordance definition of put on: the
sense of sinking into a garment; to invest with clothing (literally or figuratively).1 Explore how this definition expands adults’
understanding of what it means to put on these virtues. Use the first
paragraph under this section on page 33 of the Travelogue to add to
the discussion. Evaluate the balance between intentionally putting
on these virtues while at the same time relying on the Spirit’s transformational work so these Christ-like characteristics naturally flow
out of believers.
Teacher Helps
Strong’s Concordance is an index of the entire Bible, cross-referencing every word back to the original Hebrew or Greek. Strong’s
definitions, along with other Bible study tools such as root words,
dictionaries, and concordances can be accessed at www.blueletterbible.org. The ultimate goal of this kind of word study is not to
become smarter (although growing in knowledge is great) but to
cause learners to dig deeper into Scripture so the Word of God takes
root and bears fruit.
____________________________________________________________________________
Guide adults to define/describe each virtue believers are to put
on. Aid the discussion with the following:
Compassion: Deep sympathy for the suffering and needy
Kindness: Compassion in action; working to meet people’s needs
and alleviate their suffering with a friendly, helpful spirit
Humility: free from arrogance and pride…having an accurate estimate
of one’s worth2
Gentleness: Controlled strength; also translated meekness which
is displayed with integrity during suffering or difficulty and accompanied
by faith in God3
Patience: Active endurance of opposition, not a passive resignation…
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steadfastness, long-suffering, and forbearance.4
Analyze how these virtues imply community. (The only way to
live these out is in relationships.)
Explore how memorizing this verse can enhance the development of these characteristics in believers’ lives.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Teaching Option
Organize the class into five teams. Assign each team one virtue.
Request teams read the passages associated with their virtue and
come up with a definition/description of that characteristic:
Compassion: Matthew 9:36; Mark 8:1-3; Luke 10:30-35
Kindness: 2 Samuel 9:1-10; Acts 28:2; Ephesians 2:6-8
Humility: Luke 14:7-11; Romans 12:3; Philippians 2:3-8
Gentleness: 2 Timothy 2:24-25; Titus 3:1-4; 1 Peter 3:15-17
Patience: 1 Timothy 1:12-17; James 1:2-4; 5:7-11
Request each team report what they discovered.
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A HEALTHY COMMUNITY WILL BE
AN ACCEPTING COMMUNITY
Ask how a church characterized with these virtues will respond to
one another’s differences and annoying quirks, according to Colossians 3:13a.
State some translations (NIV, NCV) phrase this to say, Bear
with each other. Evaluate what insight this gives on what it
means to accept one another. Read and discuss this explanation:
To bear with each other means to “put up with” persons who
rub us the wrong way. This does not suggest that we are simply
cordial towards difficult neighbors in a detached way; rather,
Paul calls us to be vulnerable to grace in order to achieve
newfound intimacy where hostility once existed.5
A HEALTHY COMMUNITY WILL BE
A FORGIVING COMMUNITY
Request the class identify from Colossians 3:13b one key way
believers indicate acceptance of others. Use adults’ thoughts and
the bulleted points on pages 35-36 of the Travelogue to explore what
forgiveness is and is not.
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Declare there will always be opportunities to forgive when we
live in community. Paul called believers to take the high road in
relationships, give one another a break, and recognize none of us has
reached perfection. Explore how the very things that hurt us and
could break relationships can be used by God to strengthen relationships and cause the church to radiate the beauty of the gospel so
others come to know Christ.
A HEALTHY COMMUNITY WILL BE A LOVING
COMMUNITY
Read The Message paraphrase of Colossians 3:14: And regardless
of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose
garment. Never be without it.
Evaluate what could happen if believers tried to display the
virtues identified in Colossians 3:12 without really loving others
(become legalistic, proud). Ask: How does genuine love cover so
many mistakes we make in relationships?
A HEALTHY COMMUNITY
WILL MAKE MUCH OF JJESUS
THE PEACE OF JESUS RULING IN OUR MIDST
Declare a healthy church community that is grace-full, accepting,
forgiving, and loving will make much of Jesus. Request adults identify from Colossians 3:15 one way a church will make much of Jesus.
Ask: What was Paul’s rationale for the command to let Christ’s
peace control our personal and corporate lives?
Explain the term control literally means to “act as umpire.”
Guide the class to examine how Jesus’ peace can act as umpire in
individual and corporate relationships. Declare any time there is a
disagreement or difference of opinion, believers must let Jesus make
the call, keeping Christ-centered unity the priority.
THE TRUTH OF JESUS FILLING OUR HEARTS
Request adults consult Colossians 3:16 and identify another way
healthy church communities make much of Jesus. Invite volunteers
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to share what it means to them for churches and individual believers to let God’s word dwell richly in them.
Ask: What will naturally happen when the message about
the Messiah makes itself at home in our lives and church? (The
Bible will govern actions, motivations, and decisions. There will be
positive teaching, necessary and redemptive correction, grateful
worship expressed in singing.)
Explain Paul most likely wasn’t differentiating between styles of
church music so much as he was telling us to sing! Inquire: Some
people think singing during a worship service is simply the
pre-show before the sermon. What do you think Paul would
say about that? How are psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
actually a way of teaching the message of Scripture?
THE NAME OF JESUS FUELING OUR OBEDIENCE
Ask: What often happens when we try in our own strength to
live out the characteristics we’ve examined today? What solution to trying really hard (and usually failing) can we glean
from Colossians 3:17?
Declare when believers center their lives on Jesus, respond to
His grace, submit to His authority, and commit to honor Him in
every relationship, His compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness,
and patience will begin to naturally flow out of us.
Invite adults to dream about what God can do in and through
a church family that exists to honor Jesus in everything, and
love as He loves (Travelogue, p. 38).
CONCLUSION
Request adults identify a common characteristic mentioned in
verses 15, 16, and 17 (gratitude). Analyze why grateful Christians are
more likely to display Christ-like characteristics. Ask: What gratitude
to God has been prompted in your heart by our study today? Invite adults
to join in a closing prayer of thanksgiving for God’s grace.
FOLLOW THROUGH
• Text participants this question: How would doing everything in
the name of Jesus transform what you have to say and do today?
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• Note: There may be discord or division between some group
participants. Meet with a trusted small group member who is
good at keeping confidences and pray earnestly for Christ’s
peace to control every relationship in your group.
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1
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.
cfm?Strongs=G1746&t=HCSB
2
Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003),
792.
3
Ibid., 1098.
4
Ibid., 1252.
5
https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Col/Communitys-Conversion-Virtue
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