For this discussion time, consider trying something a little different.
Obviously the generic discussion makers (found on the lower right hand side of the Group Leader Site itself) can prove handy for taking the discussion forward.. Beyond that, here's an idea to consider:
After a couple of ice breaker questions, have the group read the entire book of Philippians. There are a few ways to do it- choose the way that best suits the personality, maturity and tenure of your particular LifeGroup.
1. Have each member read the whole letter to themselves quietly.
2. Have one person read the whole letter aloud for the group.
3. Have 4 people read it aloud, a chapter each.
You might also consider providing paper and pens, or even one large sheet and a marker, for each person to write down the one word or phrase that they feel like best captures a chapter or the whole book. This is a great way to generate discussion and meditation as each person writes down the thing that resonates with them personally and allows the group to see it.
•After the reading, allow people time to discuss and ask about certain phrases and ideas that seemed to jump out at them.
•Prod the group to compare Paul's thoughts with some of our presuppositions about Christian faith.
•Allow your group to share what they feel confused, conflicted and convicted about.
•See if your group can understand Paul through a lens of a once-anxious persecutor of Christ-followers to a now peace-filled, content follower himself. He actually has less comforts WITH Christ than he did without him. And yet, from prison, discovers the "secret" he (and we!) had been after all along.
Be mindful that this may be the most Bible reading some of your members have ever done. It may also be some of the deeper thinking they have done. Pay close attention, as the leader, to how this goes and how you might incorporate this kind of exercise into your group again in the future.
Thaw
•What about Sunday morning most stuck with you?
•What is/was your initial reaction to the idea that you already have happiness within you?
•How does pursuing fulfillment result in losing it?
•What is different between us and others or previous generations when it comes to true happiness?
•What does one do with this idea in order to benefit from it?
Leader note: help the group understand that by simply becoming more aware, or as has been said in recent weeks, awaking, happiness is realized. But it isn't made or created by going out and finding it "out there". Discuss for as long as your group likes the idea that true contentment is such that Jesus is teaching us is already true in our life, not just an achieved potential.
Read
•The Book of Philippians.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Me Two Three
"Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power."
~Lao-Tzu~
We all know it intuitively; there is a gap between what I am and perceive superficially, and what is really banging around at the depths. People throughout time and all over the world have come to the same conclusion- one must take getting honest and facing his or her real self seriously.
Yet Christians, though invited through Christ to tune into the Source of Life himself, are often no more self-aware, awake and mindful than anyone else.
Take some time in your group context to see if you can, as a group, begin to take steps into a world non-anxious, unthreatened, uncriticizing awareness of what you really are.
You should encourage people to speak honestly about themselves, about how they have perceived the others in the group, and encourage them not to defend or flee from getting insights in your time.
It's tough work. But it's necessary in order to mean, with integrity, every word in the phrase " 'I' have a relationship with Jesus".
Thaw
•What is this group's thanksgiving plan?
•What is something you used to do or think, until you realized it just wasn't true to you?
•What is something you have learned was always true about yourself that, for whatever reason, you wouldn't entertain before? What do you think changed?
•What most stuck with you Fromm Sunday morning?
Read
•Matthew 7:1-3
Thoughts?
•Often, we think of this as the proper procedure for judging: make sure your eye is clear and then pounce. Instead, discuss the principle Jesus is articulating regarding true sight and our impulse to focus outside of ourselves. What are some examples of how you have preferred to deal with others' junk to your own?
•What if you don't see anything in your "own eye"? Does that mean there's nothing there? Explain.
Read
•Ephesians 4:17-25
•Thoughts?
•What would you say the emphasis is on and why?
Leader note: you may want to point out that much of Christianity is thought to be about the confrontation with the foolishness Paul is describing. But here, as in other places, Paul's chief concern is about followers of Jesus actually being different, rather than merely confronting people with ideas that are different. And that true difference is about being awake, wise, seeing, light and numerous other metaphors for actually being aware and sensitive to what I actually am. While others who do not know God ("Gentiles") think they are the sum total of their impulses, we are invited to be deeply, mindfully different.
Read
•Romans 12:1-3
•Thoughts?
•Throughout the rest of this chapter, there isn't any mention of controlling or fixating on the lives of other people. It's about how we ourselves behave and knowing what's actually going on within ourselves. Soberly aware. Why would a person choose to bypass sober self-assessment and go on to try and change people?
Discuss
•What kids of people and circumstances do we normally avoid? Why?
•How might God want to use what we've avoided in order to awaken us to ourselves?
•How does discomfort serve to "crucify" the false parts of our self so that we can be stripped down to what we actually are?
•How does a group assist in someone discovering themselves?
•How can a group hinder someone discovering themselves?
Leader note: the idea is the safety to think differently, to be interested in things others don't understand, and the freedom to even be wrong. Ay environment that has criticism, or the potential for reality to be something someone can't take, creates a divide in a person where they must not acknowledge their true self, since that self is shameful.
•What can this group do as a practice for the members to have the ability to know themselves?
~Lao-Tzu~
We all know it intuitively; there is a gap between what I am and perceive superficially, and what is really banging around at the depths. People throughout time and all over the world have come to the same conclusion- one must take getting honest and facing his or her real self seriously.
Yet Christians, though invited through Christ to tune into the Source of Life himself, are often no more self-aware, awake and mindful than anyone else.
Take some time in your group context to see if you can, as a group, begin to take steps into a world non-anxious, unthreatened, uncriticizing awareness of what you really are.
You should encourage people to speak honestly about themselves, about how they have perceived the others in the group, and encourage them not to defend or flee from getting insights in your time.
It's tough work. But it's necessary in order to mean, with integrity, every word in the phrase " 'I' have a relationship with Jesus".
Thaw
•What is this group's thanksgiving plan?
•What is something you used to do or think, until you realized it just wasn't true to you?
•What is something you have learned was always true about yourself that, for whatever reason, you wouldn't entertain before? What do you think changed?
•What most stuck with you Fromm Sunday morning?
Read
•Matthew 7:1-3
Thoughts?
•Often, we think of this as the proper procedure for judging: make sure your eye is clear and then pounce. Instead, discuss the principle Jesus is articulating regarding true sight and our impulse to focus outside of ourselves. What are some examples of how you have preferred to deal with others' junk to your own?
•What if you don't see anything in your "own eye"? Does that mean there's nothing there? Explain.
Read
•Ephesians 4:17-25
•Thoughts?
•What would you say the emphasis is on and why?
Leader note: you may want to point out that much of Christianity is thought to be about the confrontation with the foolishness Paul is describing. But here, as in other places, Paul's chief concern is about followers of Jesus actually being different, rather than merely confronting people with ideas that are different. And that true difference is about being awake, wise, seeing, light and numerous other metaphors for actually being aware and sensitive to what I actually am. While others who do not know God ("Gentiles") think they are the sum total of their impulses, we are invited to be deeply, mindfully different.
Read
•Romans 12:1-3
•Thoughts?
•Throughout the rest of this chapter, there isn't any mention of controlling or fixating on the lives of other people. It's about how we ourselves behave and knowing what's actually going on within ourselves. Soberly aware. Why would a person choose to bypass sober self-assessment and go on to try and change people?
Discuss
•What kids of people and circumstances do we normally avoid? Why?
•How might God want to use what we've avoided in order to awaken us to ourselves?
•How does discomfort serve to "crucify" the false parts of our self so that we can be stripped down to what we actually are?
•How does a group assist in someone discovering themselves?
•How can a group hinder someone discovering themselves?
Leader note: the idea is the safety to think differently, to be interested in things others don't understand, and the freedom to even be wrong. Ay environment that has criticism, or the potential for reality to be something someone can't take, creates a divide in a person where they must not acknowledge their true self, since that self is shameful.
•What can this group do as a practice for the members to have the ability to know themselves?
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