This small group discussion guide draws directly from Church of the Springs's sermon “Renewed Life Womens Beach Retreat” so you can keep engaging with the message all week. Read, reflect, and share it with your small group or friends.
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE Sermon: Renewed Life — Clothed in Christ Series: Colossians 3 Time Needed: 60–90 minutes
OPENING PRAYER (2–3 minutes)
Leader, read this prayer aloud or pray in your own words:
Father, thank you for gathering us together. As we reflect on your Word this week, quiet the noise we've carried in — the schedules, the worries, the to-do lists — and help us hear what you were saying to us through Colossians 3. Open our hearts to receive truth, to be honest with one another, and to leave this time changed. Holy Spirit, lead this conversation. In Jesus' name, amen.
ICEBREAKER QUESTION (5–10 minutes)
Invite everyone to answer — keep it light and fun!
Think about your actual closet for a moment. Is there something hanging in there that you've kept for years but never wear anymore — something that belongs to a different season of your life? What is it, and why haven't you gotten rid of it yet?
Leader note: This question sets up the sermon's central image of "putting off" what no longer belongs to us without going deep too soon. Let people laugh and have fun with it.
SCRIPTURE FOCUS (5–10 minutes)
Primary Passages: Colossians 3:1–4, 12–14
Have someone read the first passage aloud, then a different person read the second:
"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." — Colossians 3:1–4
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." — Colossians 3:12–14
Observation Questions:
- What words or phrases stand out to you most in these passages?
- What do you notice about the order of what Paul says — what comes first, and what follows?
- What questions do these verses raise for you?
MAIN DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (30–40 minutes)
Sermon Understanding
1. The sermon focused on one small but powerful word in verse 1: since. Paul doesn't say "if you have been raised with Christ" or "when you finally get it together." He says since — it's already done. In your own words, what difference does it make whether we approach our faith with an "if" posture versus a "since" posture?
2. The sermon described our true identity as being encrypted — hidden and secured in Christ, protected because it is valuable, not hidden because it is shameful. How does that reframe the way you think about identity? What does it mean practically that your deepest self cannot be threatened by someone's opinion of you, your worst day, or your hardest season?
Personal Application
3. Paul gives a list of things that belong to the "old self" — anger, malice, slander, lying — and the sermon pointed out that these don't always look dramatic. Sometimes anger is a cold shoulder. Sometimes lying is the curated, filtered version of ourselves we present to the world. Which of those subtle expressions do you find most convicting in your own life right now?
4. The sermon described Colossians 3:12–14 as a spiritual closet — every morning you choose what to put on. Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience — or bitterness, impatience, and the grudge you've been holding. What does that daily choosing actually look like for you? What makes it hard to reach for the new clothes instead of the old ones?
5. The sermon made the point that you cannot bear with someone you don't know, and you cannot practice the virtues of Colossians 3 from a safe, curated distance — this passage requires proximity. Where in your life are you tempted to keep people at arm's length rather than allowing the kind of closeness where real love gets practiced?
Spiritual Growth
6. The sermon's anchor phrase was: "You have been raised. Now live like it." What would it look like — concretely, in the ordinary moments of your week — to actually live from that truth rather than striving to earn it? What would change?
7. The sermon closed with the image of a tired, impatient woman in a grocery store who made one small reflexive choice to bend down and pick something up — and was told, "You have a kind face." She didn't feel kind. She just made one small choice. Where in your life right now is God inviting you to make one small choice to put on what he has given you — even before you feel it?
PERSONAL REFLECTION (5–10 minutes)
Leader, invite the group into 2–3 minutes of quiet. Read these questions aloud slowly, then give silence. Sharing afterward is optional — invite it gently, but don't require it.
Take a few quiet moments with these questions. These are between you and God — you won't be asked to share unless you want to.
- What is one thing from the "old closet" — an attitude, habit, or pattern — that God may be asking you to put down this week?
- Of the virtues in Colossians 3:12 — compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience — which one does God seem to be specifically growing in you right now? Which feels hardest to put on?
- What is the one thing you most want to carry home from this week's message?
After the silence, gently invite: "Would anyone like to share what came up for them?"
GROUP ACTIVITY (10–15 minutes)
Activity Title: The Closet Exchange
Materials needed: Index cards or small slips of paper, pens
Instructions:
- Give each person two index cards or slips of paper.
- On the first card, ask everyone to write one word or short phrase representing something from the "old closet" — an attitude, habit, or way of seeing themselves — that they sense God inviting them to put off. This does not need to be shared aloud.
- On the second card, ask everyone to write one word or short phrase representing something from the "new closet" — a virtue or truth from Colossians 3 — that they want to intentionally put on this week.
- Invite each person to hold up their second card (the "put on" card) and share their word with the group — just the word, no explanation required unless they want to add one.
- Close by reading Colossians 3:12 aloud together as a group one more time.
Purpose: This activity makes the sermon's central image concrete and personal. Writing the "put off" card privately honors the need for discretion; sharing the "put on" card creates accountability and community encouragement around growth.
CLOSING PRAYER (3–5 minutes)
Leader, invite the group into a time of conversational prayer. Suggest this format:
Let's close in prayer together. I'll start, and if anyone wants to pray a short sentence — thanking God for something from our discussion, or asking him for help with what you're putting on this week — feel free to jump in. I'll close us out.
Sample leader prayer to open:
Father, thank you for the truth of Colossians 3 — that we are chosen, holy, and dearly loved. That our lives are hidden in Christ. That we don't have to earn what you've already given. Help each person in this room to live from that this week. Give us the courage to put off what belongs to the old self and to reach for what you've placed in our new closet — even on the hard days, even before we feel it. Let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen.
TAKE-HOME CHALLENGE
This Week: The Daily Choosing
Each morning this week, before you check your phone or step into the demands of the day, take sixty seconds to do this:
- Read Colossians 3:12 aloud — "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
- Name one virtue from that verse that you are intentionally choosing to put on today.
- Say aloud — even quietly, even just to yourself — "I have been raised. I will live like it today."
That's it. Sixty seconds. Seven days.
Why this matters: The sermon reminded us that putting on Christlike character is not a feeling — it is a daily choice. The discipline of naming it each morning reorients your heart before the day pulls you back to the old closet.
One more step: If you don't yet have a small group or a circle of women walking closely with you in the ordinary weeks, take one step toward that this week. Reach out to one person from this group, from church, or from your life and say, "I want to do this together." The virtues of Colossians 3 were never meant to be practiced alone.
At our next meeting, we'll check in: What did you notice when you started your day this way? What was hardest? What surprised you?