Let the Word Dwell Among You in Community

Sep 27, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Shared Stories Reshape How We Hear

A friend’s pregnancy announcement shifts from casual joy to sober solidarity when her history of loss is remembered. Scripture gains depth when we hold it alongside the lived stories of those around us – the griefs, hopes, and questions that color how we receive God’s promises. The Bible’s power multiplies when we read it not as isolated individuals, but as people carrying each other’s narratives into the text. Like a communal lens, our collective experiences reveal dimensions of God’s character that solitary reading might miss. [32:43]

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”
(Colossians 3:16, NIV)

Reflection: What personal story or struggle might someone need to share with you to help you better grasp a Scripture passage you’ve misunderstood or oversimplified? How could inviting their perspective deepen your community’s worship?

Day 2: Anger, Lies, and the Sin of Broken Community

Paul’s list of sins in Colossians 3 isn’t primarily about private failings – it’s a catalog of community toxins. Malice, slander, and filthy language fracture the relationships God designed to display His reconciling work. When we reduce sin to a vertical issue between us and God, we miss how relational brokenness undermines Christ’s prayer for unity. Healthy community isn’t just a nice ideal; it’s the battlefield where God’s healing confronts the world’s fragmentation. [40:58]

“You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”
(Colossians 3:7-8, NIV)

Reflection: Which relational sin from Paul’s list most subtly threatens your church community right now? How might addressing it collectively testify to Christ’s power beyond just improving your group dynamics?

Day 3: Scrolls in Synagogues and Slow-Cooked Scripture

Jesus didn’t privately study Isaiah’s scroll – He unrolled it publicly, letting the ancient words vibrate through a room full of diverse listeners. Like synagogue gatherings, our communal Scripture reading resists efficiency for the richer work of shared discovery. Passages become three-dimensional when discussed across generations, cultures, and temperaments – a countercultural practice in an age of personalized devotionals and algorithm-driven study tools. [47:12]

“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.”
(Luke 4:16-17, NIV)

Reflection: When have you resisted a biblical interpretation that challenged your perspective? How might your church create space for “slow reading” that welcomes tension and diverse insights?

Day 4: Barbarians, Scythians, and the Gift of Unlikely Mirrors

Paul’s vision for the Colossian church required former enemies to become each other’s spiritual mirrors. The barbarian’s raw passion, the Scythian’s foreign rituals, and the slave’s quiet endurance each reflected unique facets of Christ’s image. Our differences aren’t obstacles to overcome but gifts to receive – warped mirrors that collectively reveal more of God’s face than any single tradition could capture alone. [51:17]

“Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”
(Colossians 3:11, NIV)

Reflection: Which person in your church community reflects Christ in a way that initially feels strange or uncomfortable to you? What might their spiritual journey teach you about God’s diverse work?

Day 5: Embodying the Word Between the Lines

Scripture dwells “richly among us” not when we perfect doctrine, but when the Word becomes the air our community breathes – shaping inside jokes, conflict resolutions, and collaborative service. Like a family recipe passed through generations, the Bible’s true flavor emerges when its ingredients are measured, mixed, and tasted together. Our call isn’t to wield the text but to let it simmer in our shared life until outsiders ask: “What makes your community taste so different?” [53:27]

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
(Colossians 3:17, NIV)

Reflection: What mundane aspect of your church’s life together (meals, meetings, outreach) could become a deliberate space for letting Scripture’s wisdom dwell more richly? How might this practice reshape your collective witness?

Sermon Summary

Paul’s words in Colossians 3 place the life of the church ahead of private spiritual scorekeeping. Anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, and lies are not merely personal failures that disrupt somebody’s relationship with God. These sins tear at the relationships through which God has chosen to make himself known in the world.

Scripture places individual moments of healing, freedom, comfort, and joy inside the much bigger story of God’s relationship with humanity. The Bible keeps Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, Exodus, and every personal encounter with God from becoming disconnected little moments that cannot be fully understood. God’s story gives shape to human stories, and human stories gain their proper weight when they are received inside God’s long work of redemption.

The church’s mission cannot survive as a statement on paper if its culture tells a different story. Colossians refuses to make correct doctrine or external conformity the main target, because those things can crush souls or produce hidebound legalists with lips close to God and hearts far away from him. God seeks a people whose shared life makes Christ visible.

The whole Bible shows that healthy community matters to God in itself. Moses’ commandments move quickly from worship of God to the ways people work, speak, desire, and act toward one another. Genesis identifies aloneness as not good, and sin immediately brings relational dysfunction. Jesus stakes his reputation on the love of his people for one another, because a visible community is what he leaves behind to carry his work into the world.

Scripture, then, is meant to dwell among God’s people richly. The synagogue’s public reading, the early church’s conversations, and the Colossians’ call to teach and admonish one another all show that the Bible is not fully received in isolation. A private Bible becomes an imprisoned Bible when it is cut off from the people through whom God exposes blind spots and gives fresh sight.

The church contains funhouse mirrors, glorious and fallen people whose distortions differ from one another. Colossians makes no room for Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free as barriers to shared life in Christ. Scripture remains the shared authority, not a yardstick for whacking knuckles, but the living word through which a divided people becomes better at being a people together.

Key Takeaways

1. Scripture belongs in a shared life Scripture gives personal experience its place within God’s larger history with humanity. The Bible cannot do all its God given work when it is read only through one person’s memories, instincts, and assumptions. Community does not weaken biblical authority, but allows its authority to reach places private reading cannot see. [49:24]
2. Sin tears at the body Paul’s list of anger, slander, malice, and lies reveals that sin is never merely private. These practices damage the people through whom Christ intends to be known in the world. Holiness therefore includes learning how to speak, desire, and act in ways that protect shared life. [40:58]
3. Correctness is not the final goal External conformity and perfectly correct doctrine can become substitutes for abiding near Jesus. The church can become obsessed with being right while remaining unable to love rightly. Christ seeks more than polished religious performance, because he forms a people whose hearts and relationships bear his life. [39:28]
4. Different mirrors reveal needed truth Human beings bear God’s image and distort it at the same time. Christians with different histories, traditions, and wounds can see dimensions of Scripture that others miss. Humble listening across real differences becomes one way God corrects warped vision. [50:49]
5. The word makes better people together The Bible is not a tool for making isolated individuals look more religious. God’s word dwells among his people so that they can embody a different kind of life amid a broken world. A community shaped by that word becomes a small reclaiming of what was lost in the garden.

## [52:55]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[29:26] - Culture Eats Mission for Lunch
[31:23] - The Bible and Life Together
[31:55] - Remembering the Bigger Story
[33:03] - Scripture Gives Context to Experience
[35:20] - Biblical Authority and Its Distortions
[37:20] - God’s Word Is for Community
[40:07] - Sin as Broken Community
[42:07] - Jesus Entrusts His Work to a People
[44:32] - Community Throughout Scripture
[46:15] - Reading the Bible Together
[49:39] - Funhouse Mirrors and Shared Perspective
[52:00] - The Word Dwelling Among Us
[53:27] - Becoming Better People Together

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Colossians 3:8-17
“But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 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. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Observation questions

In Colossians 3:8–11, which attitudes and speech patterns does Paul tell believers to put away, and how could each one damage life in a church community? [40:07]
What qualities does Paul tell God’s chosen people to “put on” in verses 12–14, and what place does love have among those qualities?
In verses 15–17, how often does Paul use shared or community-shaped language—such as “one body,” “one another,” and “among you”—rather than language focused only on private faith? [37:55]
What kinds of differences does Paul name in verse 11, and what does he say is true of Christ in the midst of those differences? [51:08]

Interpretation questions

Why does Paul place commands about anger, slander, lies, forgiveness, teaching, and worship in the same section? What does that suggest about the kind of people Christ is forming? [40:51]
Paul says to let the word of Christ dwell “among” believers richly. How does this differ from treating Scripture mainly as a private tool for personal inspiration or self-improvement? [48:14]
How can a church hold Scripture as its shared authority without using it as a weapon for controlling, shaming, or winning arguments against one another? [52:14]
Why might Christians with different histories, cultures, wounds, and church backgrounds help one another understand and live out Scripture more faithfully? [50:25]

Application questions

Which item from Paul’s list—anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, or lying—most easily harms your relationships? What would putting it away look like in one specific conversation or relationship this week? [40:16]
Think of a recent disagreement, frustration, or misunderstanding in the church, your family, or another close community. How might compassion, humility, patience, or forgiveness have changed the way you responded?
Is there someone whose Christian experience or perspective differs from yours—because of culture, politics, denomination, age, class, or life story? What makes it difficult to listen to them, and what might humble listening make possible? [51:39]
When you read the Bible alone, what blind spots or assumptions might you bring with you? Who are a few trusted believers you could invite into honest conversation about what you are reading? [49:16]
Have you ever experienced Scripture being used more like a “yardstick” for correcting others than a living word that builds up the community? How did that affect you, and what would a healthier use of Scripture look like? [53:21]
What is one practical way this group can help the word of Christ dwell richly among us—through honest discussion, encouragement, correction, shared worship, or care for one another—in the weeks ahead? [52:55]

Sermon Clips

32s

#BibleInCommunity

“The bible is not meant to be this thing that we memorize or a yardstick that we use to whack each other's knuckles. It's meant to be something that's living among us, and it's meant to be doing that in a way that enriches our life together. It's not a tool that we're supposed to use to make us better people. The point of the bible is to make us better at being a people and at making us, a, better people together.”

44s

#BrokenCommunity

“When I think of sin, I usually think of something vertical, something I do to offend God or even earn God's displeasure with me. Sin is sin because it disrupts my personal relationship with God in some way. It separates me from him. But these things that Paul lists here, they're sin too, but they aren't the private personal spiritual failings we think or that I think of when I think of the word sin. The sin here in this passage is broken community. Not the things that separate me from God, the things that separate us from each other.”

48s

#ImageOfGod

“One of the core truths of the Christian faith is that human beings are glorious and fallen at the same time. We all bear God's image, and we all distort it. I like to say that we're funhouse mirrors. The only way we can get a clearer picture of what God really looks like is to compare notes and perspective with people who have different notes and different perspective, with people whose mirrors are warped and bent in ways different from our own. And we see that in this passage. God didn't call the Colossians to be a community of people that all reflect and distort his image in similar ways. He didn't call them to be a community of people that are all seeing the bible through the lens of the same experience.”

35s

#SharedScripture

29s

#BeyondSolaScriptura

“But even among people who declare sola scriptura, and I count myself as one of them, there are a few different ways of applying that principle. Some people really individualize it. The bible's the only authority, so no one can tell me what it means. But this can end up leading to a situation where, in an effort to make the bible our only authority, we end up actually making ourselves the authority.”

30s

#FaithInAction

“It would be easy to say, well, the point of the bible in our community is for us to teach and admonish one another so that we all know how to praise god better, how to act better, and how to believe better. But those aren't actually what this passage is concerned with for us. And a lot of times, believing better and acting better are, at best, side effects in the Christian life. They're not targets or goals in and of themselves.”

40s

#HealthyCommunity

“Why is it sinful in this passage, in today's passage, to lie to each other and slander each other and harbor malice toward each other, not just because it makes it harder for us to fulfill our marching orders, not just because we're being held to some standard, our witness has to do with how well we are seen to love each other, not because it's our external performance in our love for each other that is gonna determine whether the things we tell people about Jesus get believed or not. It's because a healthy community is a goal god has for us in and of itself.”

90s

#LivingTheWord

“Scripture, the word of God, and what it tells us about God's love and goals for the world are the shared authority we use to test our traditions together, to check one another's blind spots, to see the image of God in places we would have missed if we were on our own or if we were only among people with the same habits and tradition and culture as us. We need each other if any of us are going to hear the word faithfully or ever live out what we've heard. When we do this, when we come together across our different experiences and traditions to work through the word together in humility, that is how we move from just hearing the word to actually embodying it. How we go from saying that there's a way for people to live in community in the face of a broken world or just saying there's a reason for people to live in community in the face of a broken world to actually doing it and showing it. The bible is not meant to be this thing that we memorize or a yardstick that we use to whack each other's knuckles. It's meant to be something that's living among us, and it's meant to be doing that in a way that enriches our life together. It's not a tool that we're supposed to use to make us better people. The point of the bible is to make us better at being a people and at making us, a, better people together.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Washington Community Fellowship This sermon · AI assistant

Why does Scripture need to be read in community?

How can diverse perspectives clarify biblical understanding?

What makes broken community a form of sin?