Watermark (part 2): Newly Alive

TO START

Write encouraging notes (or pass around a card to sign) for whoever was baptized on Sunday. If we don’t have any new baptisms, consider writing a note to someone recently baptized (a few members baptized this past year: Christine Taylor, Gregg Jones, Kate Hudson, Amanda Tuttle, and Josiah Nett).

TO READ

Read Colossians 2:9-15.

  • Who has the power to rescue you? 

  • According to this verse, what happens in baptism?

  • When you were dead, God made you ________ in ________.

    • What does it mean to be alive with Christ?

  • What are the powers and authorities?

  • How does this verse portray Jesus? What’s He like? What’s He done?

TO DISCUSS

Justin started his sermon this week with these words: “No matter who you are or what you’ve done (or haven’t done), God loves you and wants to rescue you from guilt and hopelessness--AND, best of all, he offers that rescue as a gift.”

Last week we talked about our baptisms and the moment when we first accessed God’s grace and received the gift of God’s rescue. This week, let’s talk about life after baptism. (If you have members who haven’t been baptized, consider ways to involve them in this discussion--perhaps encouraging them to ask honest, prying questions as the discussion unfolds).

  • Has your journey with God been a consistent upward climb since your baptism? Describe the shape of your journey with God.

  • Do you ever feel unloved, hopeless, or guilty nowadays? Are you still confident God loves you and wants to rescue from guilt and hopelessness? Why or why not? How does that make you feel? 

  • What do you do when your baptism feels too far in the rearview mirror? How do you come back to life in Christ? What do you do now that you’ve already been baptized to access God’s rescue? What are the ways God provides rescue for His children? Make a list of specific examples.

  • When/how has God rescued you lately (big or little)? Tell the group a rescue story from your walk with God. 

The promise of baptism is the promise of death to our old life and the promise of new life in Christ. What part of your old life have you been so thankful to see die? What part of this new life is your favorite?

In Romans 6:5 we read, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

  • What does it mean to be resurrected like Jesus? (Hint in verse 6)

How might we position ourselves to better receive abundant life in Christ? How might we be getting in God’s way as He tries to rescue us?

TO PRAY

Pray for anyone who might have been baptized this week. So often the days and weeks directly after a person’s baptism are some of the hardest of their walk with Christ. Let’s do all we can to intercede on their behalf and encourage them. 

If no one was baptized on Sunday, be praying for the people who contacted Justin this week and are considering baptism. 


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