Rescuing Jesus, week 1

For January, we'll be discussing the actual person of Jesus, versus belief or faith about him. The distinction is tremendous, because the discussion about him is, for many people, rooted in a bland familiarity. "I already know about him". "Oh, Jesus? Yeah...I get all that...".

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

IT'S A WONDERFUL LI E week 4 & 5

***There will be no message-based curriculum the week of the 13th or 20th***

Please reference the general discussion makers on the right-hand column of the resource site (click the title any time you want a link to the site itself) for discussion stirring questions that you can tie to the message, any video or book that you are using.

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Icebreakers & Games

Looking for a last minute Christmas icebreaker or game for your group? Here are a few suggestions from a previous post last Christmas season. Enjoy!

Check out the following:

Christmas Icebreaker Questions such as "What Christmas tradition means most to you?" or "What is your favorite Christmas Carol?"
“Find Someone Who…” Game-- for example, find someone in your group who has seen a live reindeer.
The Wright Family Christmas gift exchange
Christmas Riddle Game with answers
Christmas Scattergories Game Card

IT'S A WONDERFUL LI E week 3

Instead of playing catch up, unless you feel your group needs to, start this week out differently by diving, first thing, right into a simple exercise:

Once you've begun your official group time, tell everyone to close their eyes, and sit silently in the presence of God. Explain that you are going to assume everyone is running around at a fairly insane December pace, and so for a few moments you're all going to let God have his spot back at your center. Give no other instructions (though you may briefly warn them that distractions will come, and they don't have to feel guilty about that...just promise the distraction, mentally, that you'll deal with it later...). Go five minutes of prayerful silence, and then break.

• Ask the group in the room what their dominant distraction was. (It will likely be the awkwardness of the 5 minutes with everyone else in the room, and/or the kids' noises in the other room.)
• Ask which of them felt the time felt was short and for whom it felt long.
• Ask if anyone felt this was a misuse of group time. (Don't be offended by the answer "yes"... many are wired to feel this way.)
• Point out natural adjustments to breathing pace and talk about why that is. (People naturally take deep breaths when asked to sit quietly and pray. It's like we instinctively know that our breathing is connected to our thoughts. Some scholars believe that the name of God, YHWH (Yahweh) is comprised of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet that most closely resemble vowels. As such, God's name is four breathing sounds (yuh, huh, wuh, huh...yuh, huh, wuh, huh...), being uttered thousands of times a day by even the most devout Atheist!)
• Ask how this simple exercise can be repeated once or more a day, and what stands against such a practice.

Read

• Mark 1:29-37
• Thoughts?
• What are some of the reasons people would be looking for Jesus?

Leader note: Of course some just wanted to be near him, but it's a safe assumption that there was more healing and teaching to be done. Note that the healings didn't even start till after sunset. And the whole town showed up. It's safe to assume that, at one point, Jesus went to bed and promised to reconvene in the morning.

• How would you feel if your very sick child needed what, seemingly, only Jesus could offer, and yet He was nowhere to be found?
• How would you feel once you found out he was off"doing nothing" or "praying".
• What would your employer/fellow employees say if you started limiting your availability after-hours and weekends?

Read

• Luke 5:15-16
• Thoughts?

Leader note: There's not much to for the Gospel writers to write about these times. jesus was just "gone". So, though it's just a sentence here and there about Jesus "often" doing it, it seems to comprise much of the limited time Jesus had. It may help your group to acknowledge that the miracles and the teachings have an obvious spot in the writings, but in terms of Jesus "not producing", there's nothing to capture by nature of the inactivity...yet we're told it was a constant practice of His. To be like Jesus is to have parts of your story that are unwritable, because you were resting privately and there is no content.

Discuss

• Why would Jesus, the Son of God, need rhythm in His life?
• Why wouldn't that rhythm be post-poned since His three-year ministry was so limited?

Read

• Exodus 34:21
• Thoughts?

• Most translations use the wording "even during harvest". Why?
• Discuss the modern equivalent of this command for us.

Apply

• Using the bucket picture that Jonathan gave, what are things that deplete you, or "drain your bucket"?
• How does focusing on these things that drain actually you play out in your actual life?

Leader note: This is about helping people illuminate how much of their day is week is dedicated to what is draining them and how they work to plug the holes, verses working hard and then being intentional about stopping, and filling up with good things. The "one day" of Sabbath only carries weight when their is both an intentionality about it, and "six other days" of work that everybody is clear about!

• What fills your bucket up?
• Even if you like them, are these good for you long term.

Leader note: Help the group speak into each others' lives with no worries about being judgmental. If someone says that the bar on Friday nights fills up their bucket, you may have a sense that people want to ask how that seems like a worthy thing to fill their bucket with. Gently step into that and ask for permission to ask follow up questions. In many respects, something like the bar example is actually another drain, as the relationships formed in that world can be shallow (as they're so often based on checking out of responsibility and longterm wisdom), the money can be wasted and the behavior can be unwise. Not always, but often. Filling the bucket doesn't just mean anything that scratches an itch, but intentional soul-shaping rest and joy.

• How can this group help you with a new rhythm?
• What stands against you?
• What stands against the group?
• What stands against this lasting more than a few weeks?
• What practices can you immediately put in place, such as the one at the top of the meeting, to begin?
• Who in the group can lead the effort of accountability for some of the busier members of the group?

Leader note: Make some decisions on how you can live in better rhythm daily and weekly. When people will bust their tales, and when they and their family are unavailable. This may require a couple weeks of discussion, coming back to new ideas from time to time, to get a new rhythm to fully catch on.