Blood Part IV

As we wrap up the series, we take a turn from the mostly historical context and plant the reality of Christ's blood covenant right in our own laps. How does this affect our lives and our relationships today? What's the application- the life change it brings to bear- when we take it from a sermon and bring it home, to work and to school?

Don't let the opportunity for growth pass your group by. As you discuss this seemingly simple idea, keep in mind that you're discussing the most fundamental idea in our faith; that we would be self-sacrificially committed to each other to the fascination of the world. Look for opportunities to draw out how this gets lived in each other members of your group, and lead the discussion to be as relevant to real life as you can.

Again, communion is very appropriate by nature of the topic, as well as where you are trying to go as a group. If you have questions about celebrating communion as a LifeGroup, you may want to reference this.

Thaw

• What's you favorite movie or story about friendship? How did the strength of this friendship get tested in the story?

• What most stuck with you from the message Sunday?
  
• What did it challenge about your thinking with regard to how you relate to others?

Read

• John 13:34-35
  
• Thoughts?
  
• Respond to the idea that Jesus want's love to be how people recognize His followers and His movement.
  
• Is that how people recognize followers of Christ now? Explain your answer.
  
• Why is love a more difficult way of advertising what Jesus is about than anything else religion might emphasize?

Leader note: This is an excerpt of a letter written by an earlier Christian author, Tertullian, to the Roman government in the late second century: "But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. See, they say, how they love one another, for themselves are animated by mutual hatred; how they are ready even to die for one another, for they themselves will sooner put to death. And they are wroth with us, too, because we call each other brethren...One in mind and soul, we do not hesitate to share our earthly goods with one another. All things are common among us but our wives." [Apologeticus pro Christianis, Chapter 39]. Interesting how even those persecuting Christians were noting their peculiar habit of loving each other in deep, family-like commitment.

Discuss

• How is a contractual type of relationship different from a covenantal relationship?
  
• Would you want your friends, spouse and family members to be committed to you, or committed to the role you play as friend, spouse or family member? Explain

Leader note: The idea here is to, as a group, get at the difference between an idea or principle, and an actual person. it's easy to be committed to loving people as a Christian. But it's much, much hard to love actual, difficult, withdrawal making individuals that you work and play with. Suddenly, people go from an idea to a person. Similarly, when we "commit to our marriages", we are committing to an idea, and can fall into contractual relationships. Committing to the other person, the wife or the husband, is much harder- but is the actual exercising of love. When we see others as Christ sees them, we find ourselves in a position not to merely appreciate that they exist and to wish them well- but to do our part to ensure that their souls receive love from ours; with no expectation of return. This is to be our reputation. This is the covenantal love of God. Everything else is just a shallow idea.

Read 

• 1 John 4:7-21
  
• Thoughts?
  
• How does this text shape or reshape your view of faith in Christ?

Apply

• This group is meant to be a lot of things; one major idea is that this group would be a primary place where this covenant love and commitment could be cultivated, ready to be duplicated in all the other arts of life throughout the week. 
  
• Share how your LifeGroup could make you feel more loved.
  
• Share how you feel like you could do a better job loving.
  
• Share how you think, overall, the whole group could grow in love and commitment together.
  

Communion: Spend a few minutes celebrating the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. He fulfilled His promise to us, on His loving merits- rather than on the lack of ours. As you eat the bread and drink the juice, feel free to share the one or two things you have learned in the last few weeks about God, your group and yourself. You might even dare to share that which you have learned about the others in the LifeGroup that has made you feel closer to them. Communion with Christ in union with His people, and that union advertises His way and His love to the world. Enjoy this sacred exchange.

Blood Part III

If ever there were a time to celebrate communion as a LifeGroup.... If you never have, please consider it this week. If you have, you probably already know what an amazing time of worship and uniting it can be, so you'll want to do it again as we discuss Christ and the sacrificial system.

Be prepared ahead of time to, compared to most studies, cover a lot of ground Biblically. You may want to assign multiple passages at a time in order to keep the momentum of discovery going. You may also feel that some of the discussions that are generated merit another set of passages as well (the Passover in Exodus 12 isn't even brought up in the following study, but someone in your group might want to wrestle with it.) The study has an obvious academic flare to it, but as always- remember that as the leader, you're trying to create some space where God can take people a couple more steps down the road and change them. Change you, too! Be sure and draw out the lives of people, and refuse to let your time be no more than a study. What does God want to do with these ancient scriptures with regard to guilt, shame, forgiveness and life fully redeemed in the blood of Christ? Go after that!

Thaw

• Who has a blood story worth telling? Injuries, procedures, accidents...do tell.
  
• Do you think that blood disturbs us in some measure based on cultural influence, or something more on the level of instinct? Explain.
  
• What thoughts most stuck with you from the message Sunday?

Read

• Leviticus 17:10-14
  
• Thoughts?

Leader note: The word atonement in Hebrew is כפר ("kafar"), and means "to cover". it' the same word used in instructing Noah to cover the Ark with pitch to make it water proof.

Read

• Genesis 3:7
  
• Genesis 3:21
  
• Thoughts?
  
• Where do the skins come from? 
  
• What's the picture being painted about Adam and Eve trying to cover themselves, and God's response?
  
• Why does sin always need "covered"?
  

Read

• Leviticus 16:6-10
  
• Leviticus 16:21-22 
• Thoughts?
• Why is it important for people to have their sins visually taken away?
• Why is it necessary for people to have to do this every year? 
  
• Hebrews 10:1-4
• Hebrews 10:11-12

Leader note: It's key to point out that all these sacrifices and rituals were a foreshadowing of what was ultimately needed: something (Someone) final, rather than something required annually. It may also be helpful for your group, especially in light of the predominantly individualistic culture that we live in, to point out that this was communal for Israel. This was about Israel's sins, verses specific Israelite's sin. People didn't have to get a scapegoat per family; God is holding sin in judgement in a cumulative sense, and deals with it in the same way. This doesn't discount the value of individuals confessing and dealing with their own sins. But it does help us understand that there is always a higher value of being shaped in the context of a community. This may be a unique opportunity to invite the group to be more honest, in the context of the LifeGroup, with what's really going on in life so that God can deal with your group the way He prefers: as a group.

Read

• 1 Peter 1:18-19
  
• Thoughts?

Leader note: See if your group members notice what we're redeemed from. The canned answer for most Church goers would be that we're redeemed from "hell", or perhaps even the Devil. But for Peter, theirs an empty life being lived (could there be a greater offense to the creator of life?) outside of the way of Jesus, but Jesus blood draws us out of that. His blood eradicates the way of life that never developed past sin and foreshadowing of Christ in the sacrifices. It wouldn't do anything more than temporarily cover us. Christ's blood doesn't just cover, but fully redeems.

Apply

• What are the ways we try and manage our own guilt?
  
• What's at risk in letting the permanence of Christ's blood redeem, verses the ways we have grown used to coping with a sense of shame and guilt?
• What does it look like to accept the finality of Christ's redemption as a reality?
• How can this group help you take a step right now in being absolutely cleansed from your guilt, and washed in the blood of Christ?

Leader note: You may want to have communion at the end of your time. While you eat and drink the elements, consider reading the lyrics to the Steve Fee song, "Beautiful the Blood". You may also want to close with 2 Corinthians 5:21.

Beautiful the Blood, by Steve Fee

I never knew death could be so sweet

I never knew surrender could feel so free

I never seen such meekness in majesty

That the blood of Jesus was bled for me

And now I sing freedom for all my days

It's only by the power of the cross I'm raised

The King of Glory rescued me

How beautiful the blood flow

How merciful the love show

The King of glory poured out

Victorious are we now

Never knew through these nails would love unfold

And never knew these wounds would heal my soul

I've never seen such beauty and sorrow meet

The blood of Jesus was bled for me

And now I sing freedom for all my days

It's only by the power of the cross I'm raised

The King of Glory rescued me

How beautiful the blood flow

How merciful the love show
The King of glory poured out
Victorious are we now

Now I'll sing freedom for all my days

It's only by the power of the cross I'm raised

The King of Glory rescued me

How beautiful the blood flow
How merciful the love show
The King of glory poured out
Victorious are we now

How beautiful you are

How merciful you are

How glorious you are

Christ the Savior

How beautiful you are

How merciful you are

How glorious you are

Christ the Savior

Blood Part II

This week, we will discuss the Law, given on Mt. Sinai to Israel.

Celebrated as it is through even the scriptures themselves (Psalm 119), there is a flaw with the law. As such, it was never intended to be the way human beings stood in right relationship to their God. It was intended to reveal something of what God wants from people, but it cannot transform the heart and justify its adherents. We've always needed something more.

This week in your discussing the message, work to find the relationship of God's laws to the believers in the promised messiah, Jesus. You may also want to celebrate communion as a group response to the blessing Jesus is, especially to those who have come to understand that the Law is too heavy to carry as a means of being justified before God.

Key texts:

• Exodus 19:1-8
  
• Exodus 20:1-12
  
• Deut 31:16
  
• Jeremiah 31:31-34 (New covenant!)
  
• Luke 22:19-20
  
• Galatians 2:16, 20-21
  

Additional texts that bring light to this important issue:

• Galatians 2:15- 3:1-29
  
• 2 Corinthians 3:6-9
  
• Romans 8:1-27

Luke 22:20 "... after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

Blood

For the next 4 Sundays we will be in a series entitled Blood.

The Bible seems to trickle with it. But more than just a ancient, barbaric culture's desire to utilize the unnerving and creepy- it's a picture of commitment and promise and life itself.

In week one, we will be talking about the context of the covenant that run in the background of Judaism, and so Christianity as well. When Jesus "brings us near" in His blood, this was not some new esoteric idea, despite the fact that many may not have understood it at first. This was, especially to the Jewish mind, a very old promise fulfilled. A promise made to and through Abraham to all people and to the entire creation.

In your discussion about the topic, understand that for some people this level of detail has always been intimidating or, in fact, unnerving. Our faith is easy when we relegate it to God being god, our being bad, and Jesus creating a bridge that provides a happy ending to anyone that believes the story. But when we look closely at the covenant creator that we worship, and jut what He has provided for us, it suddenly breathes new life into our faith and our trust that this whole thing rests on the shoulders of our almighty, loving God. 

Try and remain focused in your talk, not giving into the urge to study everything related to animal sacrifice (though that is pertinent and related to this covenant made to Abe- as Jews kept themselves in constant nostalgia about their own sin and the promise made to them by their great, redeeming and forgiving God!).

Once we understand the covenant and its terms, we fall that much more in love with God and His one and only Son, the Lamb of God.

Thaw

• What's the biggest thing you have ever been promised?
  
• What's the biggest promise you have ever made?
  
• What's the difference between that promise and any contract you have ever entered into?

• What most struck you about the message Sunday?
  

Read

• Genesis 12:1-3
  
• Thoughts?
  
• What do you notice about what God is setting up?
  

Leader note: Note that God, six times in just these three verses, says "I will". It's already based on Him, and He hasn't even gotten to the details yet. Also note that this is not a tribal or cultural or nation-based promise. This is supposed to be for everybody ( a very non-human thing to come across!). The actual hebrew terms translated here are "all the various tribes/families of the soil ("adamah") will be blessed because of you". This is something for all humanity, despite the rigid exclusivity that the Jews, and later the Christians, put on it.

Read 

• Genesis 15:1-12
  
• Thoughts?
  

Leader note: the don't be afraid, I am you shield and reward" statement by God is likely attributed tot he war Abram just got out of in the preceding chapter. he didn't take any spoils, so God saying "don't fear their retaliation, and what I will reward you with will be better that the spoils of war that you just turned down".

• Why would God count Abram's continued faith as righteousness, when he'd done nothing else at this point? Why is God so big on us trusting Him?
• Why do you think God had Abram reference the stars?
  

Leader note: They make the point of the innumerability of Abram's offspring very well. But also, remember, that Abram has been called out of a whole system that worships and depends on the close watching of the night sky to determine blessing. God is now teaching Abram to use it to remember the faithfulness of a REAL God!

• Why do you think God used an already established custom of covenanting with cut animals, verses creating something new to get His point of commitment across?
  

Leader note: God seems to, most times, take existing cultural norms and spin them. Circumcision already existed. Temples already existed. Law contracts with abbreviated summaries already existed (see the Torah and the 10 commandments for His spin on that custom!), eating bread and drinking wine were already sacred acts, baptism already existed, sacred writings already existed, hymns, psalms, prophecies, shepherds, sacrifice, etc, etc...)

• Why doesn't God correct Abram for all his questions? Does this seem like doubt? Do you express your doubts to God, or to people, or do you hide it? Why?
  

Leader note: the  "birds of prey" in verse 11 are "ayit", most likely carrion eating falcons. These falcons are identified with the Egyptian God, Horus, and is likely a wink toward the people of Israel's coming tussle with Pharaoh that would lest 4 centuries. But, the seed Abram would, in some sense, successfully shoo that bird away.

Read

• Gen 15:12-13, 17-18
  
• Thoughts?
  
• What are the implication of God walking thru the blood, Himself, alone and twice?
• Going back to the original chat with Abram in Gen 12, and now this- the whole plan seems to rest on the shoulders of God, Himself. So, then- what's the responsibility of Abram and all that would come after him?
  

Leader note: in the coming chapters, you find Abram lying, sleeping with a servant, Hagar, to "help" God with His promise, getting very little right and being largely clueless. God doesn't seem to be hoping we all have our lives all put together- so what is he desiring for us, and why???

• What's the difference between trusting the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob- and being a religious person?

• Respond as a group to this statement: "God has obligated Himself to what He alone created. He has made Himself the sole guarantor to all creation being set right and redeemed. All our prayers for justice, all our hopes and dreams for being made whole in our own hearts and in all our relationships, all our cries that what is evil and ugly and broken be mended, go to a God that promised He would do all these things. God has bound Himself to fulfilling the purest ache for salvation in us. He has compelled Himself in His covenant to Abram to save the world and to redeem everything in heaven and earth. He must follow through."
  

Apply

• How do covenant relationships differ from contractual ones?
  
• How do we live as covenant people in a world that needs the blessing god promised thousands of years ago? What are some examples of stepping into the covenant in our own lives?

• Do you think this LifeGroup is an example of covenant relationships, or something else? If something else, what can the people of this group do to more fully give themselves to the others, despite some abstract lack of performance on the part of others?
  

Leader note: next week, we will discuss the New Covenant in Christ's blood. Be prepared to take communion with your group, and if you have questions about conducting this ancient, sacred celebration of the body and blood of Christ, contact Steve Daugherty.