Ruth, Pt. 2: Scripture
Note for Communities with families: The Family Guide for Scripture just came out! You can find it here and practice reading scripture together with your kids this summer.
Take Communion
Leader Note: Begin your gathering by taking communion together, whether as a full meal together or some version of the bread and the cup before or after your meal. If you don’t already have a Communion liturgy, have someone lead through this guided prayer:
Holy Spirit, as we begin our time tonight, would you bring to our minds a moment in which we heard your voice really clearly this last week?
(Leader Note: Pause here for a moment.)
God, we remember that you are kind and that you love to speak to us.
We remember that you are patient and will continue to teach us to hear you.
We remember that you are gracious, gentle, and good.
And, for all of this, we are thankful.
Amen.
Review the Last Practice
Leader Note: As you review the last Practice, it may be helpful to remind everyone that this is a space to simply notice how it went, not to be hyper critical or judgmental of yourself or others.
Before we jump into tonight’s Practice on Scripture, let’s take a few minutes to hear from one another about how the practice of daily Scripture reading went.
What did your time in Scriptures look like this week? Did you take advantage of BREAD in your time of meditation? If so, was it helpful? If so, why?
What was something God spoke to you about through Scripture this week that you found particularly encouraging, or convicting?
How did you practically respond to God’s voice this week? Was there any particular way that you felt led to respond (i.e. obedience, sacrificial love for another, forgiveness, etc.)?
If the practice of Scripture is more irregular than you would like, how do you plan to alter your approach this week in pursuit of greater consistency?
Read This Overview Aloud Together
All of us handle grief and disappointment differently. Some of those differences are by choice, and some are the implicit stories we believe. The book of Ruth offers us a picture of how the stories we believe, the habits we form, and the community we keep deeply influence the way we respond to life’s most difficult moments. In this narrative, Ruth is honored for the way she chooses to respond to suffering, making an intentional choice to cling to her community, even in the face of profound grief.
Ruth is a beautiful example of what redemption and renewal is possible when someone allows their grief to push them toward God and others, rather than away from them. As she chooses to wrap her arms around her mother-in-law, Ruth experiences the God of Israel wrapping his arms around her through the ordinary actions of his chosen people. In this pivotal act of love and faith, Ruth rather unknowingly partners with God to secure the lineage of Jesus, the savior of the world, declaring “Where you go I will go, where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God” (Ruth 1v16).
Tonight, we’ll spend some time Praying Scripture, using this verse as a template for our practice.
Do This Practice Tonight
Let’s break into groups of 2 or 3, and take the next 15-20 minutes to discuss the following prompts:
Share with your group where you are currently carrying grief or disappointment, to the extent that you feel led.
In a moment of silent prayer, ask God what it practically looks like for you to cling to him and others, while at the same time mourning the grief you shared.
Using Ruth 1v16 as a template, give each person in the group an opportunity to pray in their own words a commitment to cling to God amidst your grief journey.
Leader Note: Be sure to close in a prayer of gratitude for how God was present in this practice and how he chose to uniquely meet us in it.
Read The Practice for the Week Ahead
This week, we want to continue this Practice by setting aside intentional time to read the Scriptures and pray this same commitment each day, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and you will be my God.” Take a moment now to identify a time each day you intend to pray this verse over your life, then consider setting a reminder for yourself to do so.
Leader note: Take just a minute or two and give the group a chance to do this.
Keep in mind, the Practice of reading Scripture is aimed more at growing a relationship with God, so let this practice be more than a mantra. Let this prayer be a daily liturgy that reshapes your perspective toward each day. As we see in the life of Ruth, God is using our ordinary choices—our everyday lives—to bring about the renewal of all creation.
The next time we meet, we’ll take time to hear about how this Practice of praying Scripture went for each of us.
End in Prayer
Leader note: Close your time together in prayer, asking God to continue teaching your Community that the renewal of all creation comes through our ordinary lives and the Practice of Scripture.