Before the Session

Gather these Items

• Ingredients for “Soup in a Jar” activity (see below)
• Quart size glass jar with lid for each participant
• Labels for “Soup in a Jar” activity (see below)
• One sandwich size plastic bag for each participant
• Ribbon
• Hole punch

Open (5-7 minutes)

Begin by welcoming everyone back to the group. Be sure to allow everyone some time to catch up with one another. As you begin, invite people to think about the conversations they had for their at home work for the last week. Ask them to talk about their experience with it and to share what worked and what did not work.

Discuss (20-25 min)

Have someone read Romans 12:1-13, and then watch the FaithElement video, Studies for Women: Living Intentional Lives, Holy Interaction. Use the following questions to encourage discussion among the group.

• What different communities are you a part of now (i.e., work, friends, hobbies, sports, church)? In what kind of intentional ways do you participate in these communities?
• Is it easy or difficult to participate in your faith community? Why?
• Nikki spoke about how the church in Rome had tension over their understanding of Jewish law. Do you think that groups of people who believe differently can be a part of the same faith community?
• What practical and intentional things can communities do to work together even when they don’t agree?
• How does a community know when there is too much disagreement for them to continue on together?

Create (15-20 min)

In today’s video, Nikki spoke about a community of faith and how everyone has to participate to make it work well. Now you will make a “Rainbow Bean Soup in a Jar.” It has all kinds of different ingredients, but when they all go into the pot together, you get something really wonderful.

This activity will take some preparation on your part. The ingredients and direction are below to make one “Rainbow Bean Soup in a Jar.” It might be nice if you have each group member bring in one of the ingredients for the entire group.

3/4 cup dried red beans
3/4 cup dried great northern beans
3/4 cup dried split peas
3/4 cup lentils (Brown lentils are fine, but red lentils or yellow split peas make a real rainbow of colors in the jar)
3/4 cup dried black beans

Mix Together and Place In Ziploc Baggie

2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
2 tablespoons beef bouillon granules (sold in soup section)
2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons sweetened lemonade drink mix
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions:

1. Use a quart jar that has a wide mouth, but if you can’t find one, any quart jar will work.
2. Place each type of bean in jar in the order listed above.
3. Top with seasoning bag, gently flattened so it can be seen from all sides.
4. Place lid, decorate jar and attach recipe.
5. Put an expiration date: one year from time of assembly.
6. Print the directions below on a card for each participant to attach to their jar with ribbon.

Directions to Make Rainbow Bean Soup

Remove seasoning packet from the jar and set to the side. Rinse beans and place beans in large microwave-safe dish. Cover with water 1″ to 2″ over top of beans. Cover dish loosely with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 15 minutes, rotating after 7 minutes. Drain and rinse beans very well; place in a large pot. Add 8 cups of water, one 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes, and seasonings from the packet. Cover and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer, covered, 1 1/2 hours or until beans are tender. Stir occasionally.

Share (15-20 minutes)

Encourage the group to spend some time thinking about a time in which they were a part of a community that worked well together – that worked hard to be community. Ask them to think about how they did it and what the result of that was. After they have had some time to reflect, encourage anyone that wants to share to do so.

Pray (3-5 min)

For today’s session, take time to invite everyone to pray, going around in the circle for the community of faith that you share in, be it your small group, or a larger church community.

At Home Work

This week, for the at-home-work, encourage group participants to give their “Rainbow Bean Soup in a Jar” to someone who needs it. On the day that they do that, tell them to journal about the experience — to write down their reflections and feelings from it. On the rest of the nights, encourage them to choose one of the exercises from the previous three weeks to do. They can choose one and practice it all week, or they can alternate and do a different one each night. For your reference, those exercises were the Daily Examen, Breath Prayer, and having Holy Conversations.

Handouts

Journal Prompt S4

Rainbow Soup S4

Full Session with Handouts S4