Connect

The Gift Table - Week Six

February 08, 2026 0 0

 

Gifts for the journey —  Mission!

 

Introduction:

As our theme draws to a close and we anticipate Lent we consider the gifts we need for the journey, for the mission ahead of us! And we also take time to reflect that we ourselves are gifts delivered from the gift table — to be salt and light in the world!

 

Seeds to sow:

As a Connect group how can we be salt and light (see Matthew 5: 13-16) bringing zest and illumination to the world?

 

Read Isaiah 58: 1-12

The fast that I choose. It is in our giving that we receive the gifts we need for the journey. It is in feeding others that we are fed, in liberating others that we are freed, in healing others that we are healed.

Q: How does this reading make you feel?

Q: What does this reading make you want to do?

 

Read 1 Corinthians 12

Unity through diversity. Many gifts but one source and given for mutual benefit.

Here is Paul’s classic metaphor of how we are more than the sum of our parts when we work together as part of the same shared body. In our culture when we talk about someone ‘having a gift’ or ‘being gifted’ it generally sets them apart from the crowd. They have a quality, trait or talent that isolates them from the rest. But in 1 Corinthians 12 being gifted means being part of something bigger than yourself — not set apart but set in place.

The richness of Paul’s metaphor is that a body is simultaneously a complete, unified thing, and an incredibly diverse ecosystem of lots of different things. The body of God is not a homogeneous blob! It is a vibrant place where diverse things come together to make something incredible.

Q: What interests you, challenges you or inspires you about Paul’s metaphor of the body?

Q: As a group, what gifts to you have that help you to work together? (This could be as a Connect group or reflecting on a local community you’re a part of).

 

Read 2 Timothy 1: 1-14

Keep fanning the flame! As our theme comes to an end we leave the gift table empowered to go out in the world — so keep fanning the flame!

Q: Imagine that instead of writing to Timothy, Paul is writing to you! How do you feel reading this letter?

Q: How can this reading challenge us to be braver in our mission to share God’s love and God’s compassion with others?