Fiesta at the Good Samaritan Inn

Check out Fiesta in February--a story of how Stan and Lisa Mills' LifeGroup took serving a Saturday Supper at the GSI to a new level. Enjoy and be inspired for your group's next serve there.

The Story(ies), Thread 2

Here's some simple questions do get you discussing part two of the series, The Story(ies).

As a leader, you may benefit deeply from N.T. Wright's discussion on the Exodus theme and how it's central to the New Testament, found here. Wright has been very influential to the staff and to the theology at Crosspointe. Grab a pen and paper and carve out an hour to chew on some really deep, really helpful teaching.

Discuss

• How were you most impacted by hearing from Seth, a Jewish Rabbi that believes in Jesus as Messiah?
• What lights went on for you?
• What questions did it create for you?
• How has it further shaped your view of Jesus?

• How does the Exodus have to do with Jesus and His Kingdom mission?
• How has the theme of Exodus, being enslaved and not living life, followed by rebirth and difficulty leading to new life, played itself out in your journey of faith?

Read

• Romans 7:7-8:39

Leader note: Paul uses the language of slavery, bondage, Exodus and freedom. The language and thoughts Paul shares can get pretty thick, so you may do better as a group reading Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of Paul's letter in The Message Translation. The excerpt can be found here. Enjoy the depths of this, and don't be intimidated by mental fog and the necessity to read some sentences 4 or 5 times. It's not necessary to resolve it all- see if you can learn a few things, and take your questions and other clarity gaps forward.

• Thoughts?

Meditate

• Read (and re-read) Psalm 77 quietly for a few minutes. Note what begins in verse 10 when the author of this poem can no longer see God presently working in his life, and doesn't feel very hopeful about the future. Reflect (meditate) on how this is applicable to your life, or the life of someone close to you. Reflect on how it doesn't seem to bother God when you feel empty or weak in faith. Then spend time and think historically about how you have seen God move and let God encourage you starting there.

Discuss

• Share what you experienced in meditating on Psalm 77.
• Share how you sense the group can be a mutual encouragement to follow Jesus out of slavery and disconnectedness, into life and Kingdom.

Video Post. Genesis 1,2...THEN 3

The Story(ies), Thread 1

The Bible is a grand narrative, taking the same themes farther and farther with every page. Once we get to Jesus, and his life, death, burial and resurrection, we find that rather than it being some strange new twist on a convoluted book, it's where the various themes have been playing out.

As we head toward Easter Sunday, we will be exploring these themes and how they braid together to form the overarching narrative. Each week, we will spend time n one particular vein, and watch how it not only plays itself out through scripture, but how it adds to the composition of our faith.

As leaders, this will stretch us. We may find that we don't grasp the themes as well as we would like to. So, to be in a position of discussion leader around concepts that we aren't comfortable with may seem like something we'd naturally want to avoid. However, instead of recoiling, embrace your role as a shepherd. Where you may not have the answers and the ability to teach, you can guide the group toward understanding and benefit from the discovery yourself. You can encourage the group to seek pursue as a team, and as individuals Don't feel the pressure to be a professor. DO feel the pressure of creating an environment where the group, yourself included, can listen to the Holy Spirit and engage their mind to comprehend more of the story than they knew yesterday, as well as the implications of that knowledge on their faith!

For week one:

You may find that the following outline is perfect for your group. You may also find that it's not. This is heavy on reading, probably 15-20 minutes worth. Assuming you deem it appropriate to create some space for the members of your group to read multiple passages like a highlight reel, it will help the group establish a thread. To best grasp the narrative, reading for themselves is most helpful...even if it feels like a lot of work. If it isn't a fit, then walking through the themes in discussion may work as well. That will take more prep work on the part of the leader so that the passages can be discussed with competence. You may also want to email these passages to the members so they can read them ahead of time if they wish to do so.

Communion together, based on the theme of curse and redemption, is recommended.

Thaw

• What has most stuck with you from the message Sunday?
• What did you learn?
• What do you sense the message has to do with your faith in the immediate? Long term?

Extended Reading

• Genesis 3:6-19
• Genesis 12:1-3
• Exodus 2:23-25
• Exodus 3:1-10
• Exodus 12:40-42
• Exodus 20:1-21
• Jeremiah 31:31-33
• Matthew 26:26-28
• John 19:1-17
• John 19:38-42
• John 20:1-16
• Revelation 21:1-5
• Revelation 22:1-6

• Thoughts?

Discuss

• How would you describe this particular theme of Scripture?
• What does it have to do with our lives today?
• God seems to be working in and through the problem of sin. What does this say about the junk we face?
• How does this affect how we pray?
• If God has a pattern of showing up in the midst of ugliness to bring salvation, why do we view our difficulties as God's absence?
• Where are we in the story?

Communion

• Take a few minutes and celebrate the One who surrendered himself to the curse on our behalf. The One who doesn't remove himself from our pain and difficulty (whether we're victims or or agents of of the pain and difficulty) but resides in the midst of it. This is an ancient meal where followers recognize that the undoable has been done for them. The curse has been addressed, and will someday be removed- all outside of our own cunning and willpower and by the very God whom we rebelled against in the first place. Grace.