2,4,6,8: "Who. Not what."

For the next several weeks we are going to become better appreciators. An appreciator is simply one who understands the worth of things. Children may not be good at it. And those who don't pay attention may be worse. But awakened, mature people know how to properly ascribe value to people, places and things. It's part of what makes life enjoyable; seeing the value of everything within it.

As a group, you may want to practice the art of appreciation. The people in your group have a story. They are a story. One to be recognized as sacred in its own right. Think of creative ways to appreciate  others, to come to appreciate something or someone outside of your group, and to share the stories of how you do so with us at church@crosspointe.org.

Thaw

• Taking no more than one minute, share with the group the story behind a piece of jewelry, clothing, a tattoo, etc. that you have on you right now. 
• How much is the value of whatever you shared about affected by how much money it cost?
• On the count of three, name your favorite teach from grade school. (1,2,3). 
• In one minute, describe why this teacher's memory is so valuable. 
• Did the stories about favorite teachers have to do more with specific lessons that were taught, or something more personal? What does this tell us about how we really value people in our lives?

• What stayed with you the most from Sunday morning?

Read
(Have different members read the following passages aloud.)

• Mark 1:16-18
• John 1:43
• Matthew 9:9-13
• Thoughts?
• Why did Jesus think that these men would benefit from following him?
• Why do you think there is no place in the New Testament where Jesus, based upon the time he'd spent with these men, confronts their specific list of sins?

Leader note: This last question gets to the hard-to-accept reality that love, exemplified in humility and self-sacrifice, is contagious. They simply became like he whom they followed, rather than got straightened out because Jesus had earned the right to confront them after all those meals and kindness. All belief systems opportunistically earn the right to call others out into conformity with the the system. Jesus sometimes corrected his friends for specific errors in the moment. But he doesn't bring up the past or the weaknesses or the variance in opinions. Jesus seems to think that Love covers a multitude of sins, given time.

Discuss

• What is Christ teaching us to value by inviting us all, no matter what we are or aren't, to follow him?
• What would Christ be teaching us to value if he would have simply given us another set of rules to follow?
• What's the difference in significance between a rule system we're given to not break, and a life of pursuit of a person? 

Read

• Ephesians 5:1-2
• Thoughts?
• Why do you think Paul said follow as dearly beloved children?

Leader note: It may very well be that Paul wanted to get across the picture of children following their parents around. Specifically, he wanted the image of parents wanting their children to do so. Children aren't invited to be close to their parents, to be loved by them or to find acceptance by them based on what they do. Down within the make-up of the genome - in their blood!- they are children and nothing can change that. What makes the children great people isn't rule following. It's the love given them by their parents and their learning that they have all they need, they must only trust in the wisdom and goodness of the parents. So, to mimic their parents lives and accept the love given them is the best chance they have at growing up to be the like the very best of the parents.

Discuss

• In what ways would we rather follow rules than mimic God in our lives?
• In what ways would religion prefer that we follow rules rather than be mimickers of the Christ?

Apply

• The last point of the message sunday was "The invitation to follow is about who, not what." How can this group better follow Christ and relax itself from trying to follow proper beliefs ABOUT Christ and Christianity?
• How can this group take upon itself the mimicry of Christ? 
• What will be in our way as we allow ourselves to value others, to value Christ, and to be valued by Christ others and Christ?

The Bright Sadness, Week 5

As we have done in weeks previous, create some space for your group members to share what part of the story they most attached themselves to.

It may be an overarching theme.

It may be one specific point.

It may be one sentence.

It may be totally unrelated, a new idea spiraling off.

We don't have a lot of experience wrestling with a story in discussion groups. We typically struggle unless we're given specific talking points. So give them space.

Additionally, this is a great season to allow people to discuss their own story. Some of the interviews we will be doing this season will catalyze some real reflection of our own lives. Allow that to happen, while leading the group to not let any one person monopolize the time.

Use the daily Lent thoughts at thebrightsadness.com. Hopefully many of your members are using this daily reading to help shape their thinking a bit for the day. Many of them will have specific insights about what they learned. Know that this resource will be a great opportunity to speak deeply of what's really going on in people's hearts.

The Bright Sadness, Week 4

As we have done in weeks previous, create some space for your group members to share what part of the story they most attached themselves to. 

It may be an overarching theme. 

It may be one specific point. 

It may be one sentence. 

It may be totally unrelated, a new idea spiraling off. 

We don't have a lot of experience wrestling with a story in discussion groups. We typically struggle unless we're given specific talking points. So give them space.

Additionally, this is a great season to allow people to discuss their own story. Some of the interviews we will be doing this season will catalyze some real reflection of our own lives. Allow that to happen, while leading the group to not let any one person monopolize the time.

Use the daily Lent thoughts at thebrightsadness.com. Hopefully many of your members are using this daily reading to help shape their thinking a bit for the day. Many of them will have specific insights about what they learned. Know that this resource will be a great opportunity to speak deeply of what's really going on in people's hearts.

Important note for leaders

First some thoughts on your group discussion, and then on Lent itself.

Each week we will be telling stories. Each will be different angles on the same idea; we are all living stories, and A Story.

It's hard to remember this when things get dark. To the degree difficulty arrives, so does our unthinking reflex to find comfort. The stories we hear during Lent are meant to remind us that to discover redemption and resurrection, we have to embrace the darkness and the pain and the difficulty. We have to face it. Only then does "light" make any sense.

A few thoughts for your LifeGroup meetings:

• Each week, simply create some space for your group members to share what part of the story they most attached themselves to. It may be an overarching theme. It may be one specific point. It may be one sentence. It may be totally unrelated, a new idea spiraling off. We don't have a lot of experience wrestling with a story in discussion groups. We typically struggle unless we're given specific talking points. So give them space. 

• Additionally, this is a great season to allow people to discuss their own story. Some of the interviews we will be doing this season will catalyze some real reflection of our own lives. Allow that to happen, while leading the group to not let any one person monopolize the time. 

• Use the daily Lent thoughts at thebrightsadness.com. Hopefully many of your members are using this daily reading to help shape their thinking a bit for the day. Many of them will have specific insights about what they learned. Know that this resource will be a great opportunity to speak deeply of what's really going on in people's hearts.

I understand some of us may be feeling like, "Why are we doing Lent?" or "What is it?" or even "I thought Lent was the other Guys' thing..."

Lent is a 12-or-so century old tradition of preparation. Similar to Advent, it's the season before the holiday that prepares not only the hearts of individual believers, but the collective body. There's a ton of information online about what Lent is and where it comes from, but for now, suffice it to say that we all have a different take on it. For some people this feels new and novel. For others it feels warmly nostalgic. And to a few others it feels reminiscent of the faith they left long ago. Either way, be encouraged that Lent gives all followers a chance to anchor ourselves in the things Christ invites us all into for one brief, intensified season: repentance, reflection, awareness, generosity, hope and the very sober acceptance that we are not the disconnected, invincible robots our culture seems bent on convincing us we are. If you're wondering, yes came from Catholicism. But that fact never automatically disqualifies it for Protestants. Additionally, yes, when misunderstood Lent becomes nothing more than another burden only the most pious seem able to carry. But then again, Christmas and Easter and even Church on Sunday can be misunderstood in the same way. This season of Lent we are embracing the gift the season can be for us, not merely the tradition of it. Ultimately, if anyone isn't comfortable with it, it should be understood that it's elective. Just encourage them to, in the weeks before Easter, try and be remain mindful of repentance, reflection, awareness, generosity, hope and sobriety about what we really are!

We are dust, and to dust we shall return. But the story doesn't stop there! The celebration of Christ's resurrection, as the cap on the season, holds that much more beauty and significance when it's preceded by awareness of our real human condition.

I hope that each week you and your group members will feel the weight of our weakness and mortality so  your celebration on Easter provides that much more lightness and freedom.

Thanks for leading yourselves and those in your group through the valley, not around it. Christ meets us there.