Finding Beautiful, Part 2.

Why do we have internal metric for what's good at all? Society dictates some of that. "Social constructs" gradually emerge in any culture, and run so deep it seems inherent.

But what if, beyond all the various definitions of goodness and beauty, there is actually a baseline. A Standard.

What if being made in the image of God gives even the most diehard atheist an internal sensor that can detect when something is beautiful in his or herself, or another?

Use this group time to go as deep as possible into what it means to look at our selves the way our creator does. Find the difference between too much attention to our own worth, and too little attention. See if, as a group, you can grow in faith by understanding the value of our own lives in the eyes of life's Maker.

Thaw

• What are some examples of beauty that you have experienced in the last week?
• What are some examples of the absence of beauty that you have experienced?
• What did you learn in either of the above?

• What most stuck with you from the message on Sunday?
• What do you sense needs to change in the way that you view yourself and others?

Read

• Psalm 139:13-14
• Thoughts?
• Why is praising God the response for acknowledging the significance of self?

Leader note: You may ask the follow up question, "why didn't the psalmist say 'I praise me/I obsess over me...because of how well I have been made...").

• Why does it matter to acknowledge our worth in our journey of faith?
• What are the effects of one that does not see their own worth?
• What are the effects of someone with a distorted view of worth?

Leader note: For the last question, there is an easy slip into entitlement and the outranking of others when "worth" and "beauty" are misunderstood.

Read

• Isaiah 49:13-16
• Thoughts?
• Is this the view of God, and God's attitude toward you, that you feel like you carry with you throughout your day? Why or why not?

Leader note: Try and help people source the actual view of God that they have. Some hold an image of Zeus or the Anglo-Saxon deity in Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel. Dealing with the baggage we carry toward God, and realizing where we got it, can be a liberating step in faith in the actual God of the Universe. With regard to Zion in this text, those who trust God become the people of God; a "new Zion" in a way. It is not necessary to entertain this strictly in a historical sense. This is God's message to us today!

Read

• Luke 15:11-24

Leader note: You may want to warn your group that familiarity with this story can spoil things. Tell them to listen and visualize with new eyes and ears, as Jesus presents this story as helpful in understanding God and His Kingdom, and just what we're worth to him.

• Thoughts?

Apply

• This parable not only tells us what God is like, but what we're worth. How does Jesus help us understand the value of our own existence in this parable?
• How does he help us appreciate the beauty, significance and dignity of all people in this parable?

Leader note:

"Dignity"

early 13c., from O.Fr. dignite "dignity, privilege, honor," from L. dignitatem (nom. dignitas) "worthiness," from dignus "worth (n.), worthy, proper, fitting"

• What would you expect Jesus would say about your worst decisions or behaviors, now that you have gained better understanding of your own beauty in his eyes?
• When is it hardest to remember that you are precious and deeply important?

• What are ways, in the next week, that your life can be adjusted to better fit the beautiful, loved creature that you are?
• What do you suspect will be working against you?
• How can the group help outside of this discussion?