Small Group Notes for 9th November 2025
N.B. Sermon can be heard via our website and YouTube channel and the Paper Service version is on our website.
Read and Reflect: Revelation 21:1-7 & Luke 24:1-9
Questions:
You probably won’t have time to use all these questions! Choose the ones that are most appropriate for your own group.
- What does Remembrance mean to you? Is it personal, cultural, or something else?
- The Bible uses physical acts and symbols (like Passover, memorial stones, and communion) to help people remember God’s actions. Why do you think tangible reminders are important for faith? What are some ways we can create meaningful reminders of God’s work in our own lives?
- This week’s sermon challenged us to be peacemakers, not just rememberers. What does peacemaking look like in everyday life? Share a time when you saw or participated in resolving conflict peacefully – what made it possible?
- Several Bible verses describe God’s concept of peace (e.g. Revelation 21:3–4, Matthew 5:9, Romans 12:18). How is biblical peace (shalom) different from simply the absence of conflict? What steps can we take to pursue this deeper peace in our relationships and communities?
- What does being a peacemaker look like for you:
- in your home?
- at work?
- among your friends?
- within the church?
- in our community?
- What is something practical you can do to promote peace this week?
- Consider Tearfund’s ‘Peacebuilding DNA’ below (more details at bit.ly/PeaceDNA). This is primarily about peacebuilding in communities around the world where there is violent conflict, but much of it is also applicable to our own situations where we experience challenges in relationships with others. How might you apply these concepts to situations in your relationships with others?
Tearfund’s Peacebuilding DNA is formed of five strands:
-
- a focus on relationships
- a readiness to show hospitality
- a willingness to reach out to and welcome those that are different
- a desire to be creative
- a determination to work with and empower [people who have suffered directly]*
* originally written as ‘local people’ for Tearfund’s global context
Spend some time praying…
- for situations where there is conflict (Gaza, Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan, DRC…)
- for those who serve/have served in the military
- for civilians caught up in conflict
- for peacemakers and diplomats
- for your own peacemaking efforts and understanding of peace
Further resources
Tearfund’s guide to praying for Gaza and Israel
Tearfund case study about their peacebuilding work in the DRC
Tearfund Learn peacebuilding resources
Prayers from Tearfund’s peacebuilding team
- Pray for healing and lasting peace for divided communities. Pray that God will soften hearts, restore broken relationships and raise up local peacebuilders who build bridges across conflict lines, ethnic tensions or religious divisions. ‘For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.’ (Ephesians 2:14)
- Pray for a transformation in how the world understands security. Pray that leaders at every level will start to see things in a new way and turn away from fear and militarisation and toward security rooted in justice, dignity and care for one another and particularly for the most vulnerable. ‘“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord Almighty.’ (Zechariah 4:6)
- Pray for Tearfund’s peacebuilding work. Ask for God's blessing over Tearfund’s country teams and partners working to reduce tensions, prevent violence and embody Christ’s peace in fragile communities. ‘Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.’ (Galatians 6:9)