Theological Grounding Resources

As you journey through Called to Transformation, your team and community needs to be grounded in prayer, scripture, and reflection. This grounding will guide you through the process and help you stay centered and focused on discovering the assets you have to transform the world around you. Below you will find Scripture passages, Bible Study Methods, and Prayers that are just a small sampling of what you can do. Be creative, listen to God, to one another, and to where the Holy Spirit is guiding you. In each of the main sections in the sidebars of the webpage, you will find suggested Theological Grounding scriptures and activities. We encourage you to be grounded in God’s word, prayer, and reflection throughout this process.

Contents

Scripture Passages

Feeding of the Five Thousand (Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:10-17 and John 6:5-15)
Serve each other according to the gift each person has received… (1 Peter 4:10)
Spiritual Gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 11)
One Body, Many Parts (1 Corinthians 12:12-27)
Call and Commission (Jeremiah 1:4-5)
Do Justice, Love Kindness, Walk Humbly (Micah 6:8)
Jesus Walks on Water (Matthew 14:22-32)
Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-25)
Jesus in the Synagogue (Luke 4:16-20)
Feed my Sheep (John 21:15-17)

Bible Study Methods

Reflection

Choose one passage to read and have three different translations.
Invite one person to read the first translation.
After they have read it, invite each person to name something new they heard from this passage.
Invite a different person to read the second translation.
After they have read it, invite each person to reflect briefly on what this passage says to them about mission and ministry.
Invite a third person to read the final translation.
After they have read it, invite each person to say what they feel God is saying to them today.

From a Disciples Prayer Book, adapted

Invite the team to listened for a word(s), idea(s), or sentence(s) that stand out for them in the passage.
Read the scripture passage and invite each person to share their responses.
Invite the team to listen for what Jesus is saying to you.
Read the scripture passage and invite each person to share their responses.
Invite the team to answer the question, “What is Jesus calling you to do?”
Read the scripture passage and invite each person to share their responses.

More Bible Study Methods

In Dialogue with Scripture (beginning on page 84)
Gospel Based Discipleship
Disciples Prayer Book
Lectio Divina

Prayers

For the Right Use of God’s Gifts

Almighty God, whose loving hand hath given us all that we possess: Grant us grace that we may honor thee with our substance, and, remembering the account which we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of thy bounty, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 827)

For Guidance

Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings with thy most gracious favor, and further us with thy continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy Name, and finally, by thy mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 832)

For Guidance

O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light riseth up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what thou wouldest have us to do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in thy light we may see light, and in thy straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 832)

A Prayer of Self-Dedication

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to thee, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly thine, utterly dedicated unto thee; and then use us, we pray thee, as thou wilt, and always to thy glory and the welfare of thy people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 832)

A Prayer attributed to St. Francis

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 833)

A Prayer to Become a Blessing (From the book, Body Prayer, by Doug Pagitt, Kathryn Prill, and Colleen Shealer Olson)

The call to Abraham, the patriarch of faith, is the call extended to all humankind: Be a blessing to all the world. God told Abraham: “All the people of the earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3.) When we accept the call of God to be a blessing, we are blessed to be a distributor of the goodness of God. We are loved by God, and in turn we love; we are forgiven, and in turn we forgive; we are made whole, and in turn we make others whole. When we count our blessings it is the beginning of prayer, not the end. (Mark 12:31) We ask that God bless others not simply for their satisfaction and fulfillment, but so they can join in the blessing of others. May we live so that “All the people of the earth will be blessed through us.”

Dismissal

Go into the world and know how much a tired and hurting world needs your strength and gladness, for there are deeds of compassion and courage that will never be done unless you do them; and words of hope and healing that will never be spoken unless you speak them. And now let us go forth into the world in peace, to love and serve the Lord. Amen. (Submitted by Deacon Don Dersnah)