Curriculum Resources Update

Leaders,
Check out the Curriculum Guide which has a few additional resources included. Also scroll through the new Curriculum Evaluation which is posted in its most basic form. We’ll be improving access however we thought you might like to see what your fellow LifeGroup Leaders are saying about the resources their group has used.

We need more evaluations so feel free to email me the following:
1-the title of the DVD, book or study guide
2-a star rating: 1=poor & 5=great
3-your comments--consider timing of the study, how well it promoted discussion, contributed to unity, how well it stuck weeks later, did it help form vocabulary your group could use later, and did your groupmembers grow in their faith

Thanks so much!
Jenny

Stuff Jesus Made Up, week 1

The next six weeks is about the parables, which means it's not about the parables at all- but the pictures and realities they're were intended to convey.

Many sages and rabbis used stories to impart important truths and illuminate the mind when merely fact sharing wouldn't do. Jesus was constantly communicating the good news of the Kingdom of God, and therefore nearly one third of his communication was in parable form.

For six weeks, we will be taking a handful of parables and unlocking a few layers of their meaning for our lives. As you discuss them with your group, be reminded that to turn a story into two dimensional set of bullet points is exactly the opposite of how parables work. Jesus chose this form of communicating because he valued ongoing discovery, multilayered meaning and what certain elements of the parables look like when reapplied in different cultural contexts. Help your group understand that by discussing Christ's parables, it steps into an ancient tradition of letting the Kingdom paint our minds.

Thaw

• What's your favorite story?
• Describe the characters?

Leader note: When people describe the characters from their favorite story, note that they won't often use visually descriptive words. They will describe their person, or their role in the story, but not how they appear. If the story was a book, then the characters may or may not have been illustrated, leaving the reader to make them up. Yet, our minds still create pictures for that character. Help the group describe what the characters actually looked like, and explore why our descriptions sound like biographies, rather than an actual description of the image we have in our minds. The western mind thinks in definitions and lists of information. The mind of the easterner (as in Palestine, not the Outer Banks!) thinks primarily in pictures. From the beginning, we have to understand a slightly different approach to information!

• What was most impactful from the message Sunday?
• How do you see it applying to your life?

Read

• Luke 7:29-35
• Thoughts?
• Jesus had a mold he was expected to fit as a Messiah, just as there were also expectations on John the Baptist who pointed to Jesus as the one who was to come. All of these expectations came from what people expected of God, and what he was going to do. What kinds of expectations do you think people carry about God today?
• Where did people get these expectations?

Leader note: be prepared to wrestle with the fact that what many people are correctly or incorrectly determining they are supposed to be expecting from God, based on what the Scriptures say. Don't be the answer man/woman. There is much misunderstanding of the scriptures and what they actually communicate on all our parts. One major flaw is that if a thing isn't carried out in a few months or years, we assume that means it is "never" coming to be, and thus lose trust in the text. It sounds small, but these are the kinds of ways we carry "failed" expectations with what we quietly demand God should do. Allow the group to discuss issues together, rather than it all falling on you, and don't let any one issue hijack the discussion. You can come back to specific issues later, as this discussion is about expectations on God and how we deal with him not meeting them.

• When God "fails" these expectations, what do people do as a result?
• What's an example of you having an expectation on God that he didn't come through on? How did you respond?

ReRead

• Luke 7:31-32
• What are ways that we feel we do our part to elicit a certain response from God?

Leader note: Saying "in Jesus' name" at the close of a prayer is one way many people do this. Those are the "magic words" that Jesus has to listen to according to many of our unrealized traditions. Other ways we feel like we have God cornered are things like strings of good behavior that we secretly think should be rewarded by God via fortunate circumstances or loving spouses, good kids and repair-free cars. Church attendance should bring us out of depression. Bible reading and prayers should preserve the job or garner the promotion. The group will have more to add, for sure.

• Why did Jesus choose a picture of children trying to force a response from each other?
• What is Jesus teaching people about God and our expectant demands with this parable?

Discuss

• Often when things don't go as expected, we assume both that God hasn't stepped in like he should, and that the reason he didn't step in is because we did something wrong first. In other words, our expectations of God are connected to what we think Gods expectations are of us.
• What Does God expect of us?
• Where did we get this belief?

Read (May want to assign one to each, to move through quickly)

• Romans 3:23
• James 3:2
• Micah 6:8
• Galatians 5:22
• Thoughts?
• Would God ever expect us to do or be something we cannot do or be? Explain.
• Would God ever have an expectation on us, knowing we couldn't fulfill it, and then say that he went ahead and expected it of us anyway? Explain.
• If God did have an expectation on us that we weren't able to meet, and he was a loving Father, what would you expect that He would do about it?

Leader note: You may want to note that the depiction of a father in Col 3:21 and 1 Thess 2:11-12 helps us understand what The Father is like. No dad worth his salt expects his children to do what they can't and then punishes them for failure. How much more our Father in heaven!!!

Application

• What changes in your day, and in your mind, if you believe that God has very intimately reasonable expectations on you?
• John 14:26 reads, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." Christ knows we need help. In fact, the implication is that without God, we cannot even remember what Jesus said. How does this shape our view of God's expectations on us.

Leader note: This life of following Christ is still a huge challenge. Don't let the group begin to believe that the Father just winks at weakness or sin because he knows we're "just sinners". He helps us correct it, not just "feel better" about it. Transformation is often painful. But pain, difficulty and God's love are not mutually exclusive.

• What shifts in your expectations of God's expectations, knowing that He knows what you can and cannot do and invites you forward anyway?
• Much of what we believe about God we learned as children. We then carry a child's view of God (which isn't all bad, most times!) and can't understand why we have trouble believing with an adult mind. What changes do you need to make in how you know and pursue God, if you find inaccurate and unreasonable expectations on him?
• How can this group be helpful to each other in expecting well of God?
• How can this group be helpful is understanding and moving forward on God's expectations of us?

The Hot Seat

As last weekend was about stories of people surrendering to Christ, and this weekend's message theme has to do with getting to know Jonathan and Steve, you may find that a time of story telling is in order. If you haven't done so yet or recently, consider giving people a few minutes to detail how they came to the decisions they've come to regarding faith. Where were they when they first decided for themselves, what were they up against, etc.? Obviously, you'll want to use discernment in doing this, as some people may not feel like they have a story to detail, having never surrendered to Christ (note that this doesn't actually mean they have nothing to share; they may very well be able to say " X moment was when I decided that I didn't want to follow Jesus"...so use wisdom in figuring out whether it's a healthy thing in your group to allow a non-Christian to share why they don't follow...no one should feel judged or excluded.). Allow people some time to discuss what their catalysts were, how that shapes their view of God and their faith and the path that they are on, etc.

Additionally, you may find it a good idea (humbling as it can be if you've been meeting for a while) to go around the room and discuss what people do for a living. So often (most often?), we get so far down the path that it feels strange to not know each other's careers, so we just settle for vague awareness. Don't be too proud to have a refresher conversation about what your LifeGroup friends do all week!

Lastly, you may find it beneficial to have a discussion about what is on the horizon for each of the members of your group. What are the quiet (secret) hopes and dreams of your brothers and sisters that they need to air? What are they wishing God will put together by the end of the year and they haven't really said anything? Giving your group space to voice some of this is a great way to find out the most sincere and relevant ways to pray for each other. Nothing should be seen as too big or too small to throw into the mix as a hope; vocational stuff, family, education, invention, personal goals, health or overall faith. Make sure that you invite your group to share these sorts of things and try and take notes ( or assign someone to note-taker) so that you can come back to these things from time to time and ask for a status report and new ways to pray.

Thanks for leading your group well and for always looking for ways to create an environment that challenges, encourages and seeks to know and be known.

Peace,

Steve

Sunday, July 5th....

I hope you all have a great Independence Day Weekend. Many of you will be enjoying time with your groups. Others will be out of town.

For those that are discussing the messages from Sunday morning, there will be no message based curriculum. That leaves you with many options: You can

1. Think during Sunday morning with regard to how what you're experiencing will becomes discussion when your group comes together (the "general discussion makers" along the right-hand side of the site can help you generate good questions)

2. Consider a night of discussing what God has been up to, as well as a documenting of prayer concerns on a main ink board, notepad etc. End the evening praying for each other....

3. Choose a Nooma short film as a one off discussion.

4. Feast.

5. Discussion with clarity your plans for the remainder of the summer if you haven't done that yet.

6. Outdoor BBQ

7. Toilet paper the homes of rival LifeGroups

8. Mix and match.

As you can see, the choices are boundless. Make a good decision that takes your group forward, and have fun. And may we enjoy as a community of communities an everlasting freedom that supersedes the 4th of July!

Peace,

Steve