But what happens when our assumptions are wrong? What happens when we challenge them by looking past all the clutter and packaging we've grown used to?
This series will hopefully create a fresh discussion about the actual Jesus we're invited to follow, regardless if we have been following Him for years, or if we've long ago decided we knew enough, or tried enough, to be ready to move on to something else.
Before you begin, be sure and look through this discussion guide and think/pray over how your group needs to tackle this specifically. You will also want to make special note of the last leader note below, as some of this discussion may discourage some members if they misinterpret the acknowledgement of obstacles as a demand for seminary-level scholarship in all followers.
Thaw
- What's one highlight from Christmas or New Years that you would like to share with the group?
- What's one thing from the message Sunday that stuck with you, and has you thinking?
- What questions did it create for you?
- Why do you have to submit to something greater than yourself to actually change?
- How is this truth a comfort?
- How is this truth dangerous?
Leader note: the preceding questions are rooted in the understanding that whatever people are seeking to change in themselves, can't last for the long haul if they are based on will power or self-determination. For all personal transformation, submission to others and or a paradigm great than the self is required. For health, we need plans and trainers. For finances, we need accountants and structures. We need accountabilities and guidance. In the ultimate sense, for our souls in the near and long terms, we must be careful not surrender ourselves to anything less than Christ, because nothing else can change or save. That doesn't make the other stuff without value....it's just a reminder that the discussion, the doctrine, the disciplines....aren't the point. Jesus is!
Read
- Matt 16:13-17
- Thoughts?
- Why was this important for Jesus?
- Why is it important for Peter, and us?
Leader note: Jesus said he was blessed for correctly interpreting who Jesus was!
Discuss
- Who do people say Jesus is/was today, in our culture?
Leader note: Help people to describe Jesus in every way others do. The depictions will overlap depictions and impressions of Christianity itself. Let it do that. This is how people see Jesus, largely through the lens of his followers. It may be good to write down the words and phrases that are used.
- How did they arrive at these impressions?
- What role do followers play in presenting Christ as He really is?
- What role does doctrine, creed and orthodoxy play?
Leader note: At this point, the discussion guide will delve into the specifics of Jesus as a Jew. You may find however that this turn is too sharp for the momentum you already have going, and that you need to spend more time discussing perceptions of Jesus and how our faith is shaped by him. Feel free to keep that going, ensuring that the discussion doesn't become your group only discussing other peoples' faith. make it land in your own groups lap, as jesus did with Peter; "who do YOU say I am?".
Read
- Romans 1:16
- Thoughts
- Why is it so important for Paul and the earliest followers to point our that the Gospel of Christ was first for Jews, and then for gentiles?
Leader note: make sure and defuse any misunderstandings about this early. Gentiles (non-Jews) weren't and after thought. Genesis 12 makes it clear that the Jews were uniquely selected to put God on display for the whole world, and that the seed of Abraham was to be a blessing for all peoples/nations. Luke 2 contains the Christmas story, but closes with an infant Jesus being referred to in ancient, prophetic terms as the glory of Israel and light to the Gentiles. The Jewish Messiah was to always be that, for both.
Discuss
- Has anyone in the group discovered that Jesus' Jewish-ness is important to understanding faith in him? How so?
- How does an understanding of the different mindsets, Eastern and Western (or Hebrew and Greek) shape our understanding of Jesus words and teachings? The Bible as a whole?
Apply
- How do some of these insights shape how we study and apply the words of Christ?
- Jesus doesn't seem to think the different thinking styles is an insurmountable obstacle. What are ways that we overcome this particular obstacle as a group?
Leader note: Acts 1:6-9 makes it clear that, though the message is to start in Jerusalem, Jesus is confident that all nations on earth need to see the Life of Christ lived in his followers. All people will have challenges related to this, but all are overcome by help of God's Spirit and the power of community, such as is being experienced in your LifeGroup. Look at this Eastern/Western issue as an awesome thing to discover, not a set back that requires an unattainable level of scholarship before we can get at Christ.
Additional study.
- "Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus" by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg
- www.followtherabbi.com
- www.jcstudies.com
Additional texts
- Luke 2
- Galatians 2-5
- John 4
- Acts 1:6-9
- Isaiah 60-62
No comments:
Post a Comment