SOTAOL

Act I "Sacrifice"

Act II "Sorrow"

Act III "Hope"

             The Art of Living in Three Acts" by Eric Crane        

Thaw

• Who can this LifeGroup serve, together?
• What is the value to you and to your relationships of being a student forever?
• What has most stayed with you from Sunday morning?

Read

• John 4:1-42
• Thoughts?
• What elements does John seem to emphasize to you, and why?
• Jesus starts in this story as a tension-causing foreigner and by the end is a welcomed, 2-day guest, hailed as the rescuer of all people. What can we learn from him as he steps into so much division, bias and conflict?

Discuss

• In what ways have you learned over the years to have your mind made up about yourself and others?
• Have you ever discovered you were fundamentally wrong about someone?
• Have you ever discovered your view, opinion or perspective was, however confidently held, not accurate?
• Has anyone ever discovered this about you?
• In what areas, whether in politics, religion, race, sexuality, science, etc., do you sense Christ could not disrupt you?

Leader note: Gently, watch for reactions to the last question that want to change the wording to "would not disrupt" because "God never contradicts his own word," or, "God never changes." These well-intended and not necessarily wrong sentiments can cause the same problems for people of faith now as they did in Jesus' day when he strictly corrected their lack of student-like humility to what God is up to outside of what we can accept. We often think our "ruts" are the right ones. 

Apply

• How can this be a group that helps its members really see, hear and interact with people without being subject to the stubborn deafnesses and blindness our society creates?
• How can this group be sure to move past an interruptive Spirituality and more fully into a disruptive one, despite how uncomfortable that can be?
• Is there any reconciliation, surrender, listening that members in this group need to do right away, with the support of the rest of the group?

SOTAOL

Art by Janet Guertin

Keep the art submissions coming. If we're made in the image of a Creator....then creativity is our nature. It's fear of harsh judgment that keeps that reality far from us.



This week we're diving a little deeper into the nature of life as a student of living. This entails to a large degree our system of belief, and disbelief. The way we see the world and God's role in it, as well as our own. Spend time as group being free to discuss what you believe, what's required of us to be loved, and how little is asked of us to be included on this extraordinary journey of meaning.


Thaw

• What stories or experiences do you come back to when you think of your faith and what it's rooted in?

Read

• John 9:1-38
• Thoughts?
• Consider those in this scene. Religious leaders with proper doctrine and belief, and then people who relied on them to explain things. What is Christ teaching by healing a blind man who had no answers but a new ability to see?

Leader note: If someone answers that the story teaches "seeing Jesus" is all that matters, have them explain why that matters in our day-to-day. The pharisees saw him. Arguably not the way they were supposed to, but far more tangibly than any of us could now. Make sure the blind man isn't simply credited with sight, as those gazing on Jesus was magic. Dig into what this man's seeing, especially in his relative ignorance, can teach us.

Discuss

• Discuss these two statements and find examples for them in your life.

You don’t have to understand everything to believe in something. 

In the midst of the unexplainable, don’t lose sight of what’s undeniable. 

• How can these statements help you to be a more helpful, encouraging, positive person of faith for others?

Leader note: As opposed to a person of faith who is rigid, overconfident, over explanatory and, however accidentally, just like the pharisees Jesus told were blinder than the blind man! 

Apply

• If certainty and adherence to numerous absolutes might not be as required as we were told, what changes might we make to how we see "belief," whether we claim to have much of it or none at all?

Students of the Art of Living, John 1

First, we're creators. Encourage members of your group, and ourself, to create some art for our new series. It can be design work on a computer. It can be a painting. It can be sculpture or even graffiti as long as no one breaks any laws. Or at least no one gets caught. Email the office with your submissions.



Second, drill down on the ideas from the series kick-off and watch how we become more involved in the grace and peace we're ever invited more deeply into.


Thaw

• What most stuck with you from Sunday morning?

Read

• John 1:1-5, 1:14-18
• Thoughts?
• This is a statement of doctrine. But it's also a a pattern laid out for us, as Jesus always put it, to "follow." What does "word becoming flesh" and sharing in the fullness of glory have to do with how we live our lives?

Read

• Ephesians 2:12-22
• Thoughts?
• Huge heavy question alert: Anything that's more than "one" seems to be too many. For Christ, everything is trending toward oneness. How do your personality, style of conversation, career, biases, upbringing, choices, keep separation and division around, versus bringing people together?

Leader note: you may find that an example will help. There are things on TV, grudges that are nurtured, entire business models, that celebrate one dominating the other. In fact, some people can't imagine success without it requiring the failure of others. Try to dig into this ira and see if you can't find structures in your lives that work against the oneness God is calling us to.

Discuss

• How can this group grow more as a place that reminds us that the Good News requires us to continue canceling wars, splits, divisions and the animosity that feeds them?
• Who are the strongest people of peace and love and connection that you know, and how can you learn from them?
• Who are the most divisive, confrontational people you know and how has that seemed to work for and against them?

Happy (re)New Year

The year 2015 is as close to the year 2030 as it is to Y2K. 

That'll make your head spin.

As a group, discuss the ideas shared Sunday, and what they have to do with making sober, mindful resolutions, if there are any to be made. Starting from the flesh's always moving targets, there's much to change and worry about. Starting from the Image of God, there's only a bit of waking up to do.

May Christ awaken and resurrect us.

Thaw

• Christmas recap?
• What are your biggest plans for 2015?
• Did you make resolutions, and how do you think of them in light of Sunday morning?

Leader note: that is, how do the changes you feel you need to make accommodate the insatiable, competitive flesh or the peaceful, awakened spirit?

Read

• Luke 15
• Familiar passage. Anything new jump out at you?
• Why would jesus tell stories to religious leaders about things not being where they were supposed to be, rather than things not behaving well?

Read

• John 4:1-30
• Thoughts?
• Why would a woman celebrate, as she does toward the end of the story, being known?
• What does this have to do with real worshipers being the ones who do their worshiping in Spirit and in Truth.

Leader note: The word translated "truth" in English comes from a Greek word that means "un-conceal" or "uncover."

Apply

• How can this group be a place of reminding each other to live from our center, our Spirit, rather than our flesh?
• What's a specific way you need help being reminded that you are, already, at your core, the image of God (Geneses 1:26-27) and not a project for the world to make smarter, richer, prettier, etc?