Conversation Starters: Honoring God & Connecting With Each Other
The topic or focus for building relational community almost always comes from something a team member is thinking/feeling/experiencing/learning personally or reading from Scripture or a book at the time. Or, it can be a more general time of sharing. For example:
If you’re in a retreat setting or have an extended period of time, ask people to share how they came to the Lord, and highlights/lowlights/lessons learned throughout their lifetime. It’s a time of “life story” sharing.
Talk about how the word “time” hits you right now, related to where you’re at personally. What might God be saying to you about time?
Psalm 136 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good…” Talk about something you’re especially thankful for, or a way that God is demonstrating His goodness to you.
What’s one relationship you’d like to see change in, and why?
What’s a current topic of conversation between you and God?
How are you encouraged through your role at the ministry? Talk about an aspect of your role that is discouraging or difficult.
In what area of your life have you felt strengthened by the Lord recently? In what area do you need to experience His strength?
In what way have you experienced God breaking chains off of you? Is there an area you’d like to experience more freedom in your life right now?
What did you intend to accomplish in the past few months that you didn’t? What didn’t you think would be accomplished, and it was?
What aspect of God’s character are you grateful for in this season? What aspect of God’s character do you appreciate in the person seated to your left?
What is something new God is forming in you these days, through Scripture, through a current life lesson, etc.?
Describe a recent situation, in the last month or so, where you saw a “miracle” or something that had God’s fingerprints all over it.
Let’s talk about the difference between stewardship and ownership. Are there areas in the ministry that you feel ownership in? How does that evidence itself? How would God want you to steward that area? How would your heart attitude be different? How would it affect the way you function in that area?
When you think of God’s love – your personal experience of it and how that impacts your life and ministry – how would you rank the following four areas in terms of what comes most easily for you, generally, and what is most difficult? (Rank them easiest #1 to hardest #4). Receiving God’s love, Loving others, Loving God, Loving myself. Share your rankings and reasons with each other.
Which Person of the trinity are you relating to most these days? Describe what that’s entailed for you.
Think of the various characteristics of an eagle. What giftedness do you have from God that is exemplified by an eagle?
If you really need to hear from God, what setting do you go to? What does it look like for you? Briefly share a recent time you needed to hear from God, you engaged with Him in that way, and He helped you. (“I sought the Lord, and He heard my cry, and delivered me from all my fears.” Ps. 34:4.)
“The Lord is My Shepherd.” Look at those five words. Which one is the Holy Spirit drawing you to, and why? (You could also share an image of Jesus with sheep, and have people reflect on what they notice in the picture.)
John 4:24 ESV says, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Do you find that you naturally gravitate toward spirit or truth? Which one, and why?
Pick one spiritual word – like “peace” or “hope” or “triumph.” Present the word, then ask people to write down any related words that come to mind. After a minute or so, invite people to share words from their lists and let natural discussion and discovery flow from there.
Do you prefer dogs or cats? What one quality in a dog or cat do you most appreciate that reflects a character quality of God?
How are these 2 words – wonder and wander – playing out in your life these days? The wonder of God vs. wandering away from Him? Hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” – Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart; O take and seal it; Seal it for Thy courts above.
Think of 1-3 words that describe this past year for you. Go all the way back to January. It can be a phrase, or separate words. Briefly share how your year is going.
Bring 4-5 small garden tools and lay them in the middle of the table. Ask participants: Which tool is God using in your life these days, and what is His purpose in using it?
If you were a motor vehicle, which one would you be (car, van, truck, ship, speedboat, plane, helicopter, etc.)? What aspect of this vehicle reflects God’s design within you?
Put a glass filled halfway with water in the middle of the table. Ask participants: Is the glass half full or half empty? And could it be that both are true at the same time? Discuss your personal perspectives and God’s viewpoint as well.
Print 4-6 images on a sheet of paper (perhaps a photo of each of the 4 seasons) and ask each participant which they’re drawn to and why.
Print lyrics to a worship song and listen to the song together. Ask each participant to highlight words, phrases, or aspects of the song that draw their attention in that moment and then share with each other.
Personal Life-Giving Rhythms
God lovingly created all things for His pleasure and glory, including humans. As part of people’s design, God formed us with the ability to be transformed and whole in Jesus, and experience abundant life that continuously molds us into the image of Christ. This transforming fullness of Christ is what Align desires people to know and experience.
God ordained the life-giving rhythm of Sabbath to help lead people into Christ’s fullness. We experience this rhythm in a number of ways – by being still, beholding His glory in nature, being aware of His presence, keeping pace with where He’s leading, resting, being in relational community, renewing our minds, quietly listening to Him, stepping away from the current situation for a time, and more.
Align honors and loves God; we desire what will glorify Him and lead each of us into a deeper relationship with Him. Therefore, we desire for our staff to experience and walk in the life-giving rhythm of Sabbath.
We allow space for each staff member to engage in Sabbath in their daily, weekly, monthly, and annual responsibilities at Align. It will be expressed differently through each staff member depending on their personality, the best ways they connect with God, and their Align responsibilities.
Some examples of this rhythm are:
- Pausing.
- Stopping for a few moments before meeting with an abortion-determined woman to ask God how to proceed
- Pausing to reflect on a situation to see what God would want you to understand about it
- Pausing your activity and taking a few deep breaths
- Incorporating a time of listening for God during prayer times.
- Sharing a personal prayer concern with a co-worker and praying about it in the moment.
- Walking outside for ten minutes during the work day to drink in nature and clear your mind.
- Actively engaging with Scripture.
- Reading and reflecting on a verse or two during the workday
- Adopting a verse for a particular season
- Playing worship music in the background or pausing your tasks to engage with the melody and lyrics.
- Journaling thoughts to connect with God or process with Him.
- Practicing intentional creativity.
- Making a simple art project to remind you of God or help you visualize His truth
- Using creativity to help process toward a solution
- Altering your work environment in ways that impact your senses.
- Adding a water fountain to hear water moving
- Hanging a picture that you can see and be reminded of God
- Allowing silence for a few moments or hours.
- Taking two hours away from the office to discern the next step for an area you have responsibility for.
- Remembering and reflecting in order to increase your awareness of Christ’s presence in your life.
- Expressing gratitude
- Acknowledging the ways you are blessed
- Choosing to trust God’s leadership.
- Deciding to not take offense
- Choosing to have patience with God’s timing
- Creating a prayer album/journal to record prayer requests and praises.
- Changing your regular patterns to make space for connection with Jesus.
- Rising earlier in the day
- Altering what you do over workday breaks
- Living in the moment.
- Acknowledging what “was” and planning for what “might be,” while being fully aware of what “is”
- Remembering you are a whole person – spirit, mind and body – and allowing Jesus to nourish each part of you.
Staff should feel freedom to discern with God ways this life-giving rhythm can be expressed in their life at Align. Staff should speak with their supervisor for affirmation or redirection as needed.