Rooted: Submission 11 Apr 21

(Message 6) Submission is an ugly word unless, of course, you’re watching pro-wrestling. As we continue in our series in the Book of Colossians, Pastor Troy will help us navigate often-abused scripture passages on submission and how it ought to look in different areas of our lives. #GCRooted

Opening Video: Romantically Challenged (long version)

Three Important Relationships:

Husbands and Wives
Parents and Children
Employers and Employees

Submission:

“The state of being obedient”
“The act of accepting the authority or control of someone else”

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Start reading.

Colossians 3:18-25

18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. 20 Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged. 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. 23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. 25 But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites.

Ephesians 6:3

If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”

Start talking. Find a conversation starter for your group.

In your teenage years, were you submissive to your parents’ authority or did you have a rebellious streak? Has that trend carried into adulthood? What authorities do you find yourself opposing, if any, as an adult?

Start thinking. Ask a question to get your group thinking.

Submission was defined as the act of accepting the authority or control of someone else. Why do most people find that idea distasteful or even abhorrent?
Read Colossians 3:18-19. Who is the leader in your marriage? Why is it important to God that a husband be the leader in a marriage? What advice would you give to a wife who is married to a husband who refuses to lead?
Troy read a story of a husband who saw his wife after a surgery that altered her looks. How did the husband live out v. 19? As a husband, what one thing could you do this week to show your love for your wife and treat her with kindness?
Read Colossians 3:20-21. If your parents are still alive, what does it look like for you to honor and obey them? Are there times when you disobey our parents? What one thing can you do this week to honor your parents?
What’s the promise for those who honor their parents?
Have you ever crushed the spirit of your child? How do we discipline them without crushing their spirits or causing them to be bitter?
When you go to work every day, for whom, or what do you work for? A paycheck? Your boss? What would it look like if you obeyed Colossians 3:23?

Start sharing. Choose a question to create openness.

What obstacle is between you and the act of submission in one or all 3 of the relationships Troy talked about in his message?
Submission takes humility, a surrendering of your pride. How easy is it to set aside your pride and lean into the leadership of another or to serve another? These verses never talk about leaders being someone whom you like who does what you like. How do you serve a leader with whom you disagree? Do you serve that leader? Why or why not?
What would it look like to serve others in your family and workplace? What does submission look like in the key relationships in your life?

Start doing. Commit to a step and live it out this week.

Commit this week to serve others in your family and workplace and to ask God to reveal to you about submission in the relationships in your own life.

Start praying. Be bold and pray with power.

God, first and foremost I pray that you would teach me how to submit to you and your will. I know that my other relationships will follow if I’m living in submission to you. I pray this week that you would help me serve those you have blessed me with in my life and that I would see those you have placed as authorities in my life as a blessing. – Amen

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