Leader’s First Speech
LOVING AND BEING LOVED IN CHRIST

(Regardless of whether the Institution allows the weekly, formal Prayer and Share grouping, this talk deals with the innate fear of living in Christian community which residents attending the retreat might experience, and the answers, in Christ, to that fear.)

Welcome, brothers/sisters in Christ.  We have come together today to talk about just what that phrase means.  "Brothers/Sisters in Christ."  Christ, of course, is in all Christians.  If you've opened your heart to him and invited him in, he's there.

It is us being in Christ which we sometimes find difficult to understand and accept.  The phrase, "in Christ," refers to the fact that Jesus calls us to be his body.  Who is the Church?

(Encourage Participants to respond with "We are the Church!")

We are the Church!  The Church, scriptures tell us, is the body of Christ.  In Paul's letter to the Colossians, chapter 1, verse 18, we read:  "He (Christ) is the head of his body, the Church, he is the source of the body's life."  It is a concept which Paul uses repeatedly.

In First John 1:7, the author of this letter says, "But if we walk in the light ... just as he is in the light ... then we have fellowship with one another."   It is also important for us to understand this phrase, "have fellowship with one another."

The Greek word from which the phrase is translated is "koinonia” (pronounced Coin-O-nia).  It has been said that God "wills" community.  "He intervenes in human history to heal the brokenness and disruption we have created."

Or said another way: "To say Christ means to say community, coexistence, a new life, peace."  In Christianity there is no "Jesus and me" closed community.  True Christianity, like Jesus, is always inclusive, never exclusive. 

Jesus himself is repeatedly portrayed in community.  Even when he withdrew to pray he was in the habit of taking his own small community with him ... Peter, James and John.  Our relationship with Jesus always takes place in community; it is a triangular relationship ... God, self, and at least one other person.  Even when we are alone and talking to God, the other people with whom we share the world are a part of our relationship with him, for our relationship with him is necessarily tied to our relationship with each other.

We don't gather in community because it is safer ... sometimes it is not.  We don't gather in community because it is more fun ... sometimes it is not.  We gather in community because it is the starting place for the redemptive activity of God.  It is in community that healing occurs, that we find our wholeness.  

In togetherness, a Christian community was formed among many who were strangers to one another.  It was in community that you experienced Christ's love during your Kairos Weekend.  During that Weekend, you heard speaker after speaker attest to the importance in our lives of the small Prayer and Share Groups of which we are a part in the free-world.

The experience you enjoyed during those three days which introduced you to the Kairos ministry would not have been possible had we not been in those small family groups.  It was through the small groups that Christ chose to empower us.  If you found something different about Christianity which you experienced on that weekend, it was the love which is born and nourished in Christ among the fellowship of a small Prayer and Share fellowship.

If the Institution allows the formal, weekly groupings, use the following…
	
We are blessed that the Chaplain allows a time and place for Kairos brothers/sisters to come together in a small Prayer and Share group each week.  We will work together today in a small group, and you’ll then meet each week on ___________ (day) at ________ (time) in the _______________ (location) with your Prayer and Share group.

If the Institution does NOT allow formal weekly grouping, use the following…

While we don’t have the opportunity to formally come together each week in a small Prayer and Share group, the importance of the ongoing disciplined fellowship is important to you and your brothers/sisters in this institution.  We hope today’s instruction will put on your heart just how important it is to be in a continuing Christian fellowship.  While we will work together in a small group today, you will look for the chance to engage in the Prayer and Share fellowship as you meet informally in the prison yard or in your housing unit with other Kairos brothers/sisters.

The purpose of this Instructional Reunion today is to explain the Prayer and Share Group concept and to urge your participation in such a group.  We know that it is very threatening in this environment to trust others.  We also know, however, that the benefits outweigh the risks or we wouldn't be involved in Kairos.  As you have heard before, the purpose of the 3-Day Kairos Weekend is to prepare more men/women to participate in Kairos Prayer and Share Groups, and to build Christian community within this Institution.  

Now, a word about confidentiality and our Prayer and Share fellowship.  Everything that is shared in the spirit of this fellowship should stay with the people with whom it was shared.  What goes on in grouping stays in the group, whether you are a table family group or whether you are just fellowshipping with one other brother/sister.

We are now going to begin hearing six talks.  Other than the first one, none of them will last more than ten minutes.  Each will be followed by discussions in your small groups.  You will then be given an opportunity to share your concerns in that area with another member of your small group.  Throughout the day, please remain in the same small groups in which you have been placed.  You will have ample breaks for visiting as the day progresses.

Our first speaker is ___________________________, who is going to talk to us about the need for, and the blessing of, Spiritual Listening.