Blog — Trinity Grace Church

March 30: Groups Guide

About This Guide

The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.

Join a weekly group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.

pdf download

Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.

Pickup a print version at our weekly in-person Sunday gatherings.

more Resources

Explore a curated online collection of recommended practices and resources to pursue presence, formation, and love in your life.

Questions about the series or looking for a way to get involved? Contact us.

Love

Teaching Text: John 17: 1-16

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal lifeto all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you,the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power ofyour name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

Themes

Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:

  • Walking the Way of Jesus | Exploring the Practices of Jesus

  • Engaging in Prayer

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

  • God teaches us to ask for things in specific ways and times through scripture, specifically through the words of jesus. . 

THE SUGGESTION

  • I want to suggest at least one thing that can happen to us in this type of prayer discussion is we mix up God's love and God's power.

  • God's love is available to all of us without reservation in Christ, but the experience of God's power does not flow equally in all of us.


  • Francis Schaeffer - a Christian thinker, and apologist, author, philosopher was was speaking and writing late in his life about the greatest threats to the church and the way of Jesus.

    • He said the church was at great risk of losing their passion, inheritance, calling, zeal, love to kneel down before the two twin idols of personal peace and affluence.

    • Schaeffer was worried in 1982 that the current and next generations of Christians were going to simply be concerned about getting their tickets arranged and stamped for heaven but have very little concern for living a life of love in the way of Jesus.

    • He was worried their main concerns were going to be personal peace and affluence.

    • “Personal peace means just to be left alone, not to be troubled with the troubles of other people, whether across the world or across the city–to live one’s life with minimal possibilities of being personally disturbed. Personal peace means wanting to have my personal life pattern undisturbed in my lifetime, regardless of what the result will be in the lifetimes of my children and grandchildren. Affluence means an overwhelming and ever-increasing prosperity–a life made up of things, things, and more things a success judged by an ever-higher level of material abundance.”

      – Francis Schaeffer


  • Do you feel way more comfortable with withdrawing in prayer than with engaging in prayer for God to move and change things? 


  • Jesus when He is teaching His disciples to pray in Luke 11 kind of tells a wild story. Right after He gives them this model prayer we call the Lord’s prayer.

    • He says sometimes when you pray it will feel like knocking on a door late at night and no one is coming. In fact it will feel like your friend is directly refusing your request. 

    • You will be desperate and the door will be shut. 

    • What do you do? Walk away and say some prayers just don’t get answered?

      • No. Jesus says KEEP KNOCKING.


  • How would you say you are doing in the area of persistence in prayer? 


  • To help think about how to grow in spiritual power I’m going to suggest a little device I call the power equation. And just so you know I’m totally embarrassed by the name of it.

    • It sounds so cheesy, like one of those lame money-making programs you see on a late night infomercial, “With the proven Power Equation system, you’ll get out of debt now and earn thousands by working part time in your own home, all while melting inches off your waist.” 

    • The name also suggests a sort of mathematical precision that doesn’t really apply. But I’m going with it because the concept of the equation actually helps to illustrate how several different elements can combine together to increase our power in the Spirt. 

    • Plus, a little embarrassment is probably good for the soul. So here’s the power equation in all its glory. 

    • Authority + Gifting + Faith + Consecration = Power

      – Jordan Seng

  • Seng is identifying 4 Categories from Scripture and his own experience where we see God developing followers of Jesus as they grow in power in prayer.

    • Authority - We grow in authority as we gain experience in obeying God.

    • Gifting - the New Testament is clear that everyone in Christ is given gifts in the Spirit. They aren’t all the same or too the same degree and they help us see our need for one another in the Christian community. 

    • Faith - in so many of the miracles of Jesus we see the activity of faith. 

      • It often comes down to a confidence in the generosity of God. A confidence in the authority of Jesus.

      • Faith is both a gift and something we can cultivate. 

    • Consecration - Seng says is the way we dedicate ourselves to God through sacrificial acts. 

  • Perpaps Seng’s equation has some things to teach us. 

    • Authority + Gifting + Faith + Consecration = Power

  • Perhaps also  there is still some mystery to it. 

  • There are WILD CARDS. Times when God answers or moves in prayer and none or very little of any of this is present.


  • Jesus taught us to pray that GOD’s KINGDOM would come ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN 

    • That means engaging in prayer in contested spaces.


  • Jesus is regularly confronting the contested nature of this world.

  • JESUS IS ENGAGING IN PRAYER


  • Pray for breakthrough from strongholds. Things that dont seem to be changing, that are beyond mere willpower to transform.

  • Praying for protection against spiritual attack.

    • Jesus seemed to think we would be praying for this all the time, as much as we worship and ask for daily bread.

  • Pray for what otherwise seems impossible. - Giving in prayer what you may not be able to give any other way. 

    • what can I give them in prayer than I cant give them any other way.

  • Pray for healing.

  • Pray for Freedom. Justice. Peace. Salvation.


PARENTS:

  • Ask your kids: 

    • What is one thing Jesus has asked you to obey? 

    • Why is it difficult to pray sometimes?

    • What can you pray for that only God can give?

March 23: Groups Guide

About This Guide

The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.

Join a weekly group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.

pdf download

Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.

Pickup a print version at our weekly in-person Sunday gatherings.

more Resources

Explore a curated online collection of recommended practices and resources to pursue presence, formation, and love in your life.

Questions about the series or looking for a way to get involved? Contact us.

Love

Teaching Text: Mark 1: 29-39

As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Themes

Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:

  • Walking the Way of Jesus | Exploring the Practices of Jesus

  • Withdrawing in Prayer

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

  • What is your first impressions about fasting? 

  • Have you fasted before?

    • What was your experience? 




  •  "If we knew what happened when we prayed we would pray all the time."

  • This highlights these two broad aspects of prayer

    • What we see and experience or think or feel as we pray, what happens that we are aware of.

    • And what happens that we aren't aware of, that is hidden, sometimes draped in mystery, responses or answers to prayer, changes in other places, or over time that we don't see?



  • We want to ask and answer this question: What does prayer do?

  • People ask does prayer work? And what we often mean is WILL I GET WHAT I ASK FOR IN PRAYER?

  • This is the measure of a good negotiation. “Did I get what I want?” 

  • And thats not an unimportant question, but there may be a better one... DOES CONVERSATION WORK?

  • We have seen Jesus fasting, we have seen Jesus resisting temptation, and today we see Jesus Withdrawing in Prayer

  • Jesus made a priority to talk and listen to the Father. 

  • Jesus made a priority to get away and to commune with the Father.

  • Jesus made a priority to let prayer direct his life and ministry. 

  • Right before the passage we read, we see this:

    • “The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him. 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.” 

      – Mark 1: 27-28

    • Jesus is having success. Jesus has been through an exhausting day. Jesus knows the feeling of having to be “on” all the time.

    • And so…

      • “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.”

        – Mark 1: 35

  • Threats to our spiritual life

    • To base our identity on vocational achievement 

      • “Jesus before any miracles had begun his public ministry hearing the Father say “THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.

    • The crippling of our lives by distraction 

      • Withdrawing in prayer is a way to pay attention. To God, to your relationships, to the world 

    • But many of us are becoming wondrously accomplished at things that don’t matter

    • The uncontested inner monologue of shame and lack

      • One of the most crucial things we encounter in prayer is just how much God loves us. 

      • Without that we can often slip back into an inner monologue of shame and deficit, of past mistakes and future worry.

      • Many of us are in a fight with voices of shame.

        • Withdrawing in prayer is a rebellion against shame


  • “The most important discovery you will ever make is the love the Father has for you. Your power in prayer will flow from the certainty that the one who made you likes you, he is not scowling at you, he is on your side.  Unless our mission and our acts of mercy, our intercession, petition, confession, and spiritual warfare begin and end in the knowledge of the Father’s love, we will act and pray out of desperation, determination, and duty instead of revelation, expectation, and joy.”

    – Pete Grieg

  • The exhaustion of prideful self-sufficiency

    • Somewhere along the line some of us picked up a deadly weakness disguising itself as strength 



  • Each of these threats …

    • Basing our identity on our achievement 

    • The pervasiveness of distraction 

    • Our inner monologues of shame 

    • Or pride and self- sufficiency and the exhaustion that comes with it 

  • These are the very things we press back against when we get on our own to pray.

  • We offer these to God. We invite God in. We hear God speak in these areas. We often experience a kind of reset. 


  • So Look at Jesus’ pattern 

    • Very early in the morning (there may be sacrifice in making time to pray)

    • Left the house | Solitary place (there may need to be some intentionality in location) 


  • “God alone knows the selfish motives behind my every act, the vipers’ tangle of lust and ambition, the unhealed wounds that paradoxically drive me to appear whole. Prayer invites me to bring my whole life into God’s presence for cleansing and restoration. Self-exposure is never easy, but when I do it I learn that underneath the layers of grime lies a damaged work of art that God longs to repair.”

    – Philiip Yancey



  • We can guess what He prayed

    • The Lords Prayer 

    • The Psalms

    • From His own heart for Himself - John 17

    • For others - John 17 

  • You can pray this way

    • Remember who you are 

    • Pray through what you want

    • Adjust how you live in response to God’s love

      • Identity 

      • Desires 

      • Rhythms 



  • What would need to happen for you to move your understanding of prayer to move from fixing things to conversation? 



  • Rate yourself 1-10: (1=not vulnerable at all, 10=totalaly vulnerable, I’m toast)

    How vulnerable are you to these threats:

    • Basing our identity on our achievement 

    • The pervasiveness of distraction 

    • Our inner monologues of shame 

    • Or pride and self-sufficiency and the exhaustion that comes with it 

  • What is your vulnerability score out of 40? 


  • How can you adjust your prayer life to mitigate these vulnerabilities? 


  • “Maybe we are becoming wondrously accomplished at things that don’t matter”

    • Ask God to help guard against this. 


PARENTS:

  • Ask your kids: 

    • What do you think is the purpose of prayer? 

    • What happens when we pray?

    • Why is it difficult to pray sometimes?

March 16: Groups Guide

About This Guide

The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.

Join a weekly group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.

pdf download

Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.

Pickup a print version at our weekly in-person Sunday gatherings.

more Resources

Explore a curated online collection of recommended practices and resources to pursue presence, formation, and love in your life.

Questions about the series or looking for a way to get involved? Contact us.

Love

Teaching Text: Matthew 4: 1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Themes

Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:

  • Walking the Way of Jesus | Exploring the Practices of Jesus

  • Resisting Temptation

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

  • What is your favorite movie? 

  • Why is it so valuable to you? 

  • What about it, do you want everyone to experience? 


  • The stories we repeat help us know who we are

  • Certain stories have a disproportionate influence on our lives if we have believed the Gospel and become followers of Jesus.

  • Jesus is tempted, and He resists.


  • We live in a world that philosophically muses whether sin is really a thing? 

  • And it often seems intelligent or sophisticated to suggest that sin is just a construct we’ve made up. 

  • But also if most of us are honest we struggle to keep up even our own standards all of the time, let alone Gods.

  • It’s a deeply human question to ask 

    • How do I keep from doing something I don’t want to do?

    • Why do I break my promises to myself and others about how I’m going to live?

    • How come even if I throw out the rule book or change the lines, I still have a sense of dis-ease?


  • “What I and most other believers understand by the word [SIN]…has got very little to do with yummy transgression. For us, it refers to something much more like the human tendency, the human propensity to f(oul) up. Or let’s add one more word: the human propensity to f(oul) things up, because what we’re talking about here is not just our tendency to lurch and stumble and screw up by accident, our passive role as agents of entropy. 

    It’s our active inclinations to break stuff, ‘stuff’ here including moods, promises, relationships we care about, and our own well being and other people’s, as well as material objects whose high gloss positively seems to invite a big fat scratch. Now, I hope we’re on common ground. In the end, almost everyone recognizes this as one of the truths about themselves. You can get a long way through an adult life without having to acknowledge you own personal propensity; maybe even all the way through, 

    if you’re someone with a very high threshold of obliviousness, or with the kind of disposition that registers sunshine even when a storm is howling all around. But for most of us the point eventually arrives when, at least for an hour or a day or a season, we find we have to take notice of our HPtFtU (as I think I’d better call it)”

    – Francis Stufford

  • Consider the ways that you experience temptation.


  • How Jesus gets out there to be tempted

  • How Jesus resists temptation

  • How can you and I resist temptation?



  • He is led by the Spirit.


  • Facing temptation doesn’t mean we are not loved. 

  • It means we live in a broken world and that its a contested space. 


  • Flesh - internal struggle with selfishness and sin, the pull to be our own god, go our own way, our personal contribution to the brokenness of this world 

  • World - the way culture bends away from God, the stories, messages, powers, and norms that enforce a way of life apart from God. These are can get engrained in systems of injustice and oppression. So we have personal and systemic evil 

  • Devil - but we also have real spiritual entities that are the enemy of the ways of God. We will contending with actual temptation, accusation, and deception (just as we see here)


  • These temptations are all things Jesus needs. 

  • And they are all deeply connected to His vocation and purpose. 

    • Temptation for His body and appetites (being take care of)

    • Temptation around being seen for who He really is - approval, recognition

    • Temptation around what He has come to redeem and receive - status, significance, purpose


  • Jesus is loved and led by the Spirt 

  • Jesus needs the things being offered

  • So what is the issue? They are being offered in a false way, a short cut, not from the Father way.


  • “You will be tempted exactly as Jesus was, because Jesus was being tempted exactly as we are. You will be tempted with consumption, security, and status. You will be tempted to provide for yourself, to protect yourself, and to exalt yourself. At the core of these three is a common impulse – to cast off the Fatherhood of God.”

    – Russell Moore

  • Sin is trying to meet the deep needs of our life out of our own resources without God.

  • This matters because we lose touch with the source of life.

  • And we lose the sense of relational connection to God. THE LOVE.


  • How Jesus resists temptation

    • First Temptation | Stone to bread

      • Jesus answered with scripture

      • Eve: She saw the fruit was good for food, pleasing the eye, and desirable to make one wise.

        • It was a way to get what you need in your own way.

    • Second Temptation | Throw Yourself down (and be caught)

      • Basically go to a very public and prominent place and do an undeniable sign to show people who you really are

      • And this time the devil uses Scripture. So this has to clue us in that not every time we see Scripture used is it being handled rightly or used with God-centered motives. 

        • We need discernment from the Spirit and soaking in God’s word. We can ask “What is the Spirit of what is being said using the Word.

      • Jesus answers with scripture

      • Again, the temptation is ‘get something you need in a short cut way’ with you being in control.

    • Third Temptation | The glory of the world for worship

      • The question is what will have your deepest allegiance, greatest affection, and devotion?

      • Jesus answers with scripture (aggressively) 


  • From Jesus’ example we can see…

    • Temptation will have its limits

    • God will send comfort

  •  How can you and I resist temptation?

    • Trust God to Know and Meet Our Needs

    • Trust God’s Varying Timelines of Satisfaction

    • Know the Story 

    • Replacement Over Only Avoidance 

    • Two Types of Resistance - In the Moment and Ongoing Formation




PARENTS:

  • Ask your kids to identify times they feel tempted 

  • Illustration: taking what I want now, compared to waiting for God’s reward

March 9: Groups Guide

About This Guide

The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.

Join a weekly group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.

pdf download

Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.

Pickup a print version at our weekly in-person Sunday gatherings.

more Resources

Explore a curated online collection of recommended practices and resources to pursue presence, formation, and love in your life.

Questions about the series or looking for a way to get involved? Contact us.

Love

Teaching Text: Matthew 3:16 – 4:2

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

Themes

Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:

  • Friends of God | The Kingdom of God Moving Along Lines of Friendship in the Life of Jesus

  • Exploring the Practices of Jesus | Fasting

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

  • What is your first impressions about fasting? 

  • Have you fasted before? What was your experience? 




  • This world, in some very real ways, is truly broken. Sometimes the pursuit of only comfort does not align with reality. 

  • Sometimes the pursuit of only comfort blinds me and numbs to what is really happening with others, with God, and with myself.

  • There will be times we will meet God and our neighbor in discomfort. 

  • The Gospels tells us Jesus has come to be forgiveness and salvation for all who believe and bring us into the Kingdom of God, and yet Jesus works for 30 years in almost total obscurity and when He starts His public ministry HE STARTS WITH A FAST

  • We see He is led and filled by The Holy Spirit. 

  • And we hear the Voice of the Father’s love and affirmation. 

  • From that place of secure love, the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness where He fasts and prays for 40 days.

 

  • Jesus teaches on fasting in the Sermon on the Mount

    • Look at what he says…

      “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
      – Matthew 6: 16-18

  • When you fast (not if you fast) 

    • Actually there are three things right in a row in the Sermon on the that Jesus says “When you” do this, make sure you do it this way.

      • When you give to those in need

      • When you pray

      • When you fast

  • Practice in secret. Don’t post about it. 

    • And in each one, your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

  • In Mark 9 and Matthew 17 there is a story of a father who brings his son, who is suffering terribly, to the disciples.

  • And then Jesus comes and tells the father to have faith. The father famously and very relatably says “I believe. Help me overcome unbelief.”

  • And at the end of the moment, Jesus’ disciples ask why they couldn’t cast out the demon and Jesus says.

    • This kind only come out by prayer (and fasting).

  • I think it’s safe to say the issue here is faith. Jesus says as much. Not how many hours someone has done a spiritual discipline to earn God’s attention or power.

  • But also right along side that Jesus knows that there is little else in the world that can grow your faith and sense of authority in Christ like the combination of fasting and prayer.

  • Jesus knew the power of fasting and prayer to attune us to the Father, the Father’s Voice, and the Father's Will.

  • We fast to say no to the flesh and yes to the Spirit. 

  • We deliberately say I will be weak in the flesh so my Spirit will be strong in God.

  • We pray with our body – I am hungry for you God.

  • We fast to say no to our bodies, minds, and will that insists we can do things on our own. The New Testament calls this very human operating system THE FLESH.

  • During Lent we are going to be looking at 5 specific practices of Jesus that we can take up as followers of Jesus before we get to Palm Sunday and Holy Week.

    • Fasting in grief and petition (as David does for an ill son) 

    • Fasting in repentance - to turn back to God (as we see in the city Nineveh)

    • Fasting in desperation and for favor (with God and others as in Esther) 

    • Fasting to prepare (Jesus shows us this) 

    • Fasting has a promised reward (Jesus teaches this)

    • Fasting for breakthrough, deliverance, healing (Jesus shows us this) 

  • Communion - we fast to commune with God not simply to communicate our needs 

  • Promises - we fast to step into and be more aware of all that God is offering us by intentionally becoming aware of our need 

  • Reward - our reward is God Himself but we also will see many changes in our lives as we learn to fast and pray.

HOW TO FAST: 

  • Begin by praying and asking God to guide you. (Use Wisdom and Gospel) - God doesn’t love you more because you fast.

  • Choose a time to give up food. One Meal, One Day. Three Days, One Week. Ten Days. 40 days.

  • Start small. 

  • Fast from to Feast On.

    • “God has given us incredible tools, practices, and disciplines to help our whole beings on our journey of maturing into Christlikeness. Fasting is a preparatory tool that helps us pray as we ought to. In fact, fasting is never really mentioned in the Bible outside the context of prayer. In humbling our souls (our reasoning agents), fasting elevates our spirits, through which we commune and communicate with God. There is truly a grace for prayer released when we fast.”

      – Reward Sibanda

  • Use your hunger as a prompt.

WHAT TO EXPECT?

  • Hunger 

  • Irritability 

  • Discomfort

  • Concentration and Ease in Prayer 

  • Sensitivity to God’s Presence 

  • Discernment 

  • Calm 

  • Over Time, Resilience

PARENTS: 

  • How can you help your kids understand fasting? 

  • What is something they can fast from and how can you replace that with a feasting on Jesus practice?

March 2: Groups Guide

About This Guide

The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.

Join a weekly group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.

pdf download

Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.

Pickup a print version at our weekly in-person Sunday gatherings.

more Resources

Explore a curated online collection of recommended practices and resources to pursue presence, formation, and love in your life.

Questions about the series or looking for a way to get involved? Contact us.

Love

Teaching Text: John 11: 1-44

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you,and yet you are going back?”

Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God,who is to come into the world.”

After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

Jesus wept.

Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind manhave kept this man from dying?”

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Themes

Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:

  • Friends of God | The Kingdom of God Moving Along Lines of Friendship in the Life of Jesus

  • Martha and Mary of Bethany - The Miracle of Seeing the Coming of the Kingdom of God

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

  • What do your friends think about identifying as a Christian in this moment? 

  • What about our faith seems absurd? 


  • What do you find you listen to most that shapes your worldview? 

  • What do you do with your grief? 

  • What of value do you offer to God in worship? 

  • Martha and Mary of Bethany, and the 3 times Mary ends up at Jesus’ Feet

  • Luke 10: 38-42

    • So this is the first moment: we find Mary at Jesus feet | Listening.

      • Martha says “Dont you care”

  • The second moment #2 I want to call your attention to is in the much longer and more dramatic account of the sister brother Lazarus dying

    • John 11: 32-35

      • And so here again we find Mary at Jesus’ Feet | Grieving

  • The last moment #3 I want you to notice comes in the very next chapter.

    • John 12: 1-8

    • Its a compelling scene for many reasons but once again we find Mary at Jesus feet | Worshipping

  • So we have seen Mary, this friend of Jesus, at Jesus’ Feet listening, grieving and worshipping.

  • In the first instance, it is not just that Mary is not pitching in with the chores, it’s that by sitting at Jesus’ Feet she is taking the position of a disciple.

    • She broke convention and took the place of a Rabbi's disciple.

  • In the second instance, both Martha and Mary think if Jesus had been there, their brother would not have died.

    • Mary falls down and weeps.

      • But this leads to a miracle 

      • It’s a miracle that locks Jesus in as a target. If it was dangerous before, they are all out coming for him now. 

      • Jesus does the unthinkable miracle, but it doesn’t take all the pain away. It closes the trap on Him almost all the way.

  • In the third instance, the controversy is right there – Martha and Mary are from Bethany. 

    • Bethany literally means House of the Poor.

    • Many believe there was a home there that Mary and Martha and their family may have served in that helped the poor and destitute

    • Mary breaks a jar worth a year’s wages and annoints Jesus’ Fee

    • And it’s Judas who asks how do you have such waste in the house of the poor?

    • Worship of Jesus in this moment looks absurd. Let me tell you it may not look much less absurd now to some.

    • But Mary is saying something. This person Jesus is worth it all. It is no waste to pour out everything.


  • Everyone is worshipping. Whether they admit it or not. Everyone is giving away the most valuable thing they have to something. 

  • These things we worship inadvertently, cannot forgive us, restore us or love us as we are… they demand more. Always more. Never enough. 


  • - Mary says I pour it out to Jesus, and it is not lost.



  • - Mary establishes something in sacrificial praise that will go on forever..

    • I want to tell you, worship has power like that. 

    • I want to tell you that Mary is showing us how to live at Jesus’ Feet

      • Keep returning there whatever life throws at you. Even in the embarrassment, the delays, the grief, the scandal, the second guesses. 

      • Keep coming back to Jesus feet - LISTEN - POUR OUT YOUR HEART - GRIEVE - WORSHIP  (repeat) 



  • The Revelation 

    • Jesus is a eacher with the words of life. Worth abiding with even if the religious establishment around you is confusing and painful. Keep coming back to Jesus’ Feet. Keep finding a way to hear Jesus’ Words 

    • Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life 

      • The world has death, and our wrenching delay, and grief that collapses us 

      • Come back to Jesus who let the trap be set and clamp down 

      • He limited His options for the sake of love all the way to the Cross

    • Jesus is worth it all and has given all.

      • The high priest Caiaphus, after the Lazaurs moment before the anointing moment, is trying to justify his conspiracy against Jesus 

        • Without knowing how prophetic it is, He says…”You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”



  • Come to His Feet to listen 

  • Come to grieve and pour out your heart 

  • Come to worship and offer the best of our lives. 



  • What do you find you listen to most that shapes your worldview? 

  • What do you do with your grief? 

  • What of value do you offer to God in worship?

February 23: Groups Guide

About This Guide

The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.

Join a weekly group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.

pdf download

Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.

Pickup a print version at our weekly in-person Sunday gatherings.

more Resources

Explore a curated online collection of recommended practices and resources to pursue presence, formation, and love in your life.

Questions about the series or looking for a way to get involved? Contact us.

Love

Teaching Text: Luke 5: 17-26

One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Themes

Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:

  • Friends of God | The Kingdom of God Moving Along Lines of Friendship in the Life of Jesus

  • Friends of Friends - The Miracle of Those Who carried Their Friend to Jesus and Put Him Through The Roof

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

  • How are people affected when they meet Jesus?

  • How have I been affected by my walk with Jesus? 

  • How are my friends, colleagues, and neighbors affected because I shoe 

  • His message was the good news of the kingdom. 

    • Mark 1:14-15 – “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’.” 

    • Good news: Wright:  “The good news is the announcement of something that has happened, as a result of which everything will now be different.”

    • Of the Kingdom of God - what we gotta know: from the other encounters we’ve studied…

      • The kingdom is not just an opposing way of doing things. 

      • It's a whole new existence (Nicodemus)

    • It's important to note that scribes and Pharisees were present. The spiritual elite. Those who hold power in society. There Seems to be many of them:

      • “as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.” – Luke 5:17

        • Why did Jesus forgive the man's sins when they asked for healing?

  • He uses our immediate reality to help us understand our eternal condition

    • “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.””

      – Luke 5: 23-24.

  • Forgiving sins was not verifiable. Healing a lame man was. 

  • God is not unsympathetic to my need for tangible evidence that He cares. - He meets us in the daily bread needs we have. 

  • But every healing of this body - every miraculous meal provision and every dead person raised this body, in this life, is only temporary and at best a momentary comfort - pointing to a transcendent need.

  • The point Jesus is trying to make through the healing of his legs was:

    • In my kingdom, you don't have to do anything to earn your forgiveness. 

    • End of the day their response is: 

      • “We have seen extraordinary things today.” 

        – Luke 5:26.

    • The power of faith, with the commitment of friendship

      • Creates the perfect conditions for extraordinary things. Kingdom of God things 

        • It requires patience 

        • It requires consistency 

        • It requires perseverance

        • It leads to hope 


  • We measure the kingdom in years. Not in days. Its like a mustard seed 

    • It seems small and insignificant. Until it's not.

  • The Pharisees had a healthy skepticism, social status and power. THEY witnessed extraordinary things

  • The four friends had an actionable faith. THEY experienced extraordinary things. 


  • Pharasees held power by demanding the law be obeyed for righteousness. 

  • Jesus forgives this man, without him even walking there himself, and takes power from the pharasees and gives it to the man by forgiving his sins. 

    • This is why Jesus’ primary goal was the forgiveness of his sins and not the healing of his legs that would be temporary. 

  • Rev. Dr. Barbara Brown Taylor –

    "Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy. He was brought down by law and order allied with religion - which is always a deadly mix. Beware those who claim to know the will of God and are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform. Beware those who cannot tell God's will from their own."

    • It was shocking that Jesus in forgiving sins, claims divinity

    • It was more shocking that He didnt require this guy to jump through hoops to forgive him. 


  • What about my current circumstances points to a greater reality that Jesus wants to bring into fruition in my life? 

  • Irony of the request:

    • They asked for healing: a temporary reprieve that Jesus is not disinterested in

    • They received forgiveness: the healing of their souls to experience eternal life

  • The irony of the obstacle: 

    • The obstacle wasn't only the roof.

    • The initial obstacle was the religious teachers and leaders of the day who didn't make space for them to be with Jesus. 

  • It's kind of fascinating: When faced with asking the crowds to make way for a sidelined member of society to encounter Jesus… they figured we had a better chance of going through the roof


  • It is crucial to admit that there is a chance that I could be the obstacle. 

  • It's possible that we are the ones who hinder people from experiencing Jesus. 

    • Sometimes, this is because we obscure Jesus (like the religious leaders) 

    • Sometimes, it is because we are not willing to pay the price and take the risk of bringing people to Jesus, like the four friends. 

  • What about my life could be an obstacle to people seeing Jesus? 

  • What lengths am I willing to go to to share Jesus's transforming love with my friends and neighbors? 


  • It's time for the church to stop using the loudhailer of correct theology to drown out our poor example of Christlike love.

  • Let our lives be such that others see and experience Jesus because they know us. They encounter Jesus because they encounter us

  • There is a lot of actions we can and have to take in times and places where we dont see the kingdom.

    • But one thing that will never not be needed is bringing people to Jesus in prayer. We're soon to launch our lent prayer room. 

    • But weekly we invite you to take communion and come forward for prayer. Sometimes its hard to find space on the rugs, but they’re here. 

  • “We have seen extrordinary things today”  -whether you are here for a few months ths, a year or 20 years. My prayer is that through this combination of faith and incarnate love of Jesus, you’ll look back on your time in New York and say we saw some extraordinary things.

February 16: Groups Guide

About This Guide

The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.

Join a weekly group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.

pdf download

Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.

Pickup a print version at our weekly in-person Sunday gatherings.

more Resources

Explore a curated online collection of recommended practices and resources to pursue presence, formation, and love in your life.

Questions about the series or looking for a way to get involved? Contact us.

Love

Teaching Text: Mark 4: 35-41

That day when evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took Him along, just as He was, in the boat. There were also other boats with Him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, don’t You care if we drown?”

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

He said to His disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him!”

Themes

Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:

  • Friends of God | The Kingdom of God Moving Along Lines of Friendship in the Life of Jesus

  • Napping God - The Miracle of Jesus’ Presence and Peace Speaking in the Midst of a Storm

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

  • Read the text a couple of times.

  • What stands out to you about the account of Jesus in the storm?

  • Here, crossing the sea of Galilee. This was their territory, their area of expertise. They know storms could come up quickly on the water.

  • Squalls were part of life on the Sea of Galilee. But one comes up that is more than they can handle.

    • They were fishermen... this was their territor

  • Jesus was asleep.

  • God in this case was napping.

  • But God not acting as they hoped or expected in this situation as understandable as it might have been to think that was not a sign that He didn’t care.

    • It was just a sign that He saw the moment from a different perspective. He knew more than they knew. He wasn’t worried in the same way.

  • And as much as we may have moments where we want God to be freaking out with us, aren’t you ultimately glad that He doesn’t.

  • He rebukes the storm and His disciples - it wasn’t a kind word.

  • And He says to them - “Where is your faith?”

  • It’s a very raw moment. We can empathize with their fear. But Jesus is like “Hey don’t forget what story we are in here.”

    • “Don’t forget who I am.”

  • And the wild thing is, the disciples are more terrified once Jesus has calmed the storm than they were when they thought they were going to drown.

  • What do you think they wanted Jesus to do when they woke him?

  • Why are they more afraid after Jesus calms the storm?

  • You will need resources beyond you momentary interpretation of what’s happening. You will need faith in who God is and the larger story He is telling.

  • Mark is using language that is very similar and parallel to the story of Jonah...

    • Both Jesus and Jonah are out on the sea in a boat.

    • Both Jesus and Jonah's boat are overtaken by a storm - the description of the storm is almost identical

    • Both Jesus and Jonah are asleep in the storm

    • The sailors come to the sleeper and they say “we are perishing” - its the exact same word in the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures and what we find in Mark. - The Sailors say do somethin

    • There is a miraculous intervention by God and the seas is calmed

    • In both stories the sailors are even more terrified than they were before the storm is calmed

  • So we have these almost identical stories except the obvious one major difference – Jonah in the midst of the storm, says to the sailors, "there is only one thing to do, throw me in."

    • If I die, you will live.

  • In Matthew 12, there is this rather cryptic moment where some authorities are demanding Jesus give them a sign, and Jesus says no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah.

  • There is more than one thing to take from this story.

    • One is... YOU WILL GO THROUGH STORMS - YOU WILL NOT BE ABANDONED IN THE STORMS

      • We often don't know how the storm fits into the timeline of our lives

      • We are invited to an ultimate trust of Christ that goes beyond how we can interpret a given moment out of our resources.

      • The storms of life sometimes cause people to say I don't want God anymore. But the reality is even if you don't believe, you still have the storms. You may just be ignoring that there is someone who loves you in the middle of the storm with you.

  • "I don't believe in God, but I miss him" - Julian Barnes

    • Two..CHRIST HAS GONE INTO THE STORM TO BRING US PEACE

      • If God is not acting how you hoped God would act in a storm in your life. Take heart.

      • You are not alone.

Ask your children

  • “Why could Jesus sleep when everyone else was fearful?”

  • “What does it mean that the storm stopped when Jesus spoke to it?”

February 9: Groups Guide

About This Guide

The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.

Join a weekly group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.

pdf download

Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.

Pickup a print version at our weekly in-person Sunday gatherings.

more Resources

Explore a curated online collection of recommended practices and resources to pursue presence, formation, and love in your life.

Questions about the series or looking for a way to get involved? Contact us.

Love

Teaching Text: John 6: 60-69

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Themes

Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:

  • Friends of God | The Kingdom of God Moving Along Lines of Friendship in the Life of Jesus

  • Peter and the Moment of Many Departures

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

  • What has changed about you since having a relationship with Jesus?

  • What was the most difficult thing?  

  • You cannot encounter Jesus and not be faced with a call for personal transformation.

  • H. G. Wells said…  “after two millennia, a historian like myself, who doesn’t even call himself a Christian, finds the picture centering irresistibly around the life and character of this most significant man…. The historian’s test of an individual’s greatness is “What did he leave to grow?” Did he start men to thinking along fresh lines with a vigor that persisted after him? By this test Jesus stands first.”

  • You cannot encounter Jesus and not be faced with a call for personal transformation.

  • You cannot be transformed by Jesus without somehow wanting to see your public world transformed as well.  

  • What happens when you encounter Jesus?

  • More personally:

    • What will happen to me if I encounter Him?  

    • What would God say to you if you could just hear hHm speak right now?

  • Jesus feeds the 5000 with 12 baskets full left over

  • He walks on water and meets the same crowd on the other side of the lake

  • They want more signs from Him… but only because He fed them. 

  • They recall manna in the wilderness as God’s provision and think Jesus is doing the same 

    • I do want to satisfy you but not in the way you think… and not by the means you prefer.

  • Jesus says I’m giving you something better: spiritual bread from heaven. 

  • They ask for this bread

  • He says that He is the living bread. 

  • They are disappointed by this and leave Him behind

  • He asks His closest disciples if they want to leave as well

    • They respond, “where will we go, for you have the words of life”


  • Very often, we want the benefits of the kingdom without wanting the authority of the kingdom or the process of the kingdom. 

  • Thus, it should be evident that discipleship in John is far more than a matter of saying the right words or belonging to a group. It is a matter of obediently following Jesus

    – Gerald L. Borchert,

  • The way of the disciple is the way of Jesus

  • Maybe a good measure at the end of our day is: ”Where did I have to die a little bit to myself today?”

    • All these deaths require trust. 

  • What does trust look like? 

    • Trust that what Jesus is saying is true

    • Trust that He will make good on His promises

    • Trust that ordering your life around the promise of the kingdom is worth it.

  • Trusting in God is a choice to believe in God's promise, character, and ability, even when your feelings, circumstances, or other voices want to lead you to believe otherwise. 

  • Take stock of your anxieties, fears or other stand-out emotions.

    • What circumstance, person or situation brings you anxiety/worry?

    • What fears are active in your mind? 

    • What thoughts dominate your thought life? 


  • Pick one of those situations and ask God to speak to you about it. 

    • What does He want to say to you?

    • What does He require of you in this situation? 

    • What does trusting Him look like regarding: 

      • His promises in the situation, 

      • His ability to redeem it

      • The price you need to pay to trust him?

February 2: Groups Guide

About This Guide

The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.

Join a weekly group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.

pdf download

Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.

Pickup a print version at our weekly in-person Sunday gatherings.

more Resources

Explore a curated online collection of recommended practices and resources to pursue presence, formation, and love in your life.

Questions about the series or looking for a way to get involved? Contact us.

Love

Teaching Text: Luke 19: 1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Themes

Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:

  • Friends of God | The Kingdom of God Moving Along Lines of Friendship in the Life of Jesus

  • Tax Collectors and Sinners - The Miracle of a God Who Eats with the Outsider - Zacchaeus

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

  • When did you obey Jesus/scripture and the result did not look like you thought it would or wanted it to? 

  • How did you feel when you obeyed, and it didn’t work out the way you thought? 


  • Jesus was accused of being a Friend of Sinners

  • He keeps getting in trouble for eating and talking and welcoming and being welcomed by types of people that religious people in the day thought he should have known better than to be friends with

  • Zacchaeus in the text tells us was a chief tax collector. So the bad guys reported to him. They got their share, and he no doubt exponentially got his share.

  • He was a wealthy man. He was a powerful man. He was a hated man.

  • In Luke 19, he is also a desperate man.

    • Yes, he is short and he urgently wants a view of Jesus, but why would a powerful and wealthy man climb a tree.

    • Zacchaeus is willing to compromise his dignity and suffer embarrassment to get even a glimpse of Jesus. 

  • In your own personal expectation: Is experiencing Jesus worth being embarrassed for? 

  • What have you done that may be embarrassing in order to experience Jesus? 

  • What shapes your understanding of the reputation of Jesus?

    • Is it what Christ himself does or those who insist on making themselves better than others?


  • Zacchaeus climbs a tree in broad daylight. He seems to be beyond caring about his reputation compared to the chance to see this Jesus?

  • What had he heard about Jesus?

    • Maybe he had heard that Jesus had a tax collector in his close group of followers. His disciples.

    • Maybe he had heard of the many times Jesus seems to welcome someone who others thought should have been run off, or judged, or not welcomed.


  • Zacchaeus is willing to humble himself to the point of risking his dignity and reputation to really see Jesus.

  • Seeing Jesus for who He really is still often requires this. You will need to humble yourself to get a real look, whatever you have heard. 

  • What happens when we seek Jesus in this manner? 

    • Jesus calls him by name.

    • We get a picture of salvation. 

    • Goodness flows into the world.

  • What do people learn about Jesus by looking at my life?

  • “I have a word for you. I know your whole life story. I know every skeleton in your closet. I know every moment of sin, shame, dishonesty and degraded love that has darkened your past. Right now I know your shallow faith, your feeble prayer life, your inconsistent discipleship. And my word is this: I dare you to trust that I love you just as you are, and not as you should be.”

    – Brennan Manning

  • Zacchaeus gives us A PICTURE OF SALVATION 

    • There is an invitation 

    • There is a glad response 

    • There is a new life 

parents:

  • How can people see who Jesus is by looking at your life?

  • How do I change when I see Jesus’s kindness to me?

January 26: Groups Guide

About This Guide

The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.

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Love

Teaching Text:  John 3: 1-21

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we knowthat you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Themes

Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:

  • Friends of God | The Kingdom of God Moving Along Lines of Friendship in the Life of Jesus

  • Seekers - The Miracle of Rebirth in the Secret Conversation with Nicodemus

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

  • How do people respond to knowing you are a believer in God? 

  •  “If 20 years ago people were worried that belief in God would make them an idiot, today I run a across a mentality that belief in God will make me a bad person.  If 20 years ago people thought I might wish I could believe in God, but I would have to check my brain at the door. Now its something like I might be curious about God, but I could never let myself become like.  And so the conversation has shifted some. I find people leading with moral objections to Christianity as often or more than intellectual ones.”

  • Quite often the unwillingness of our hearts and minds to find life in God is not just an information problem. It’s intended to remain a control problem.

  •  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

    • This famous verse that gives us the Gospel in one sentence and tells us of the great love of God and how far God is willing to go to share His love is found in a conversation between Jesus an influential religious leader of His time.

    • it answers for us some crucial questions. Among them…

      • How one might come to God

      • How you can know God

      • How God shows us His Heart 

  • How One Might Come to God

    • People come to Jesus in all manner of conditions and circumstances and timing in the Gospels and each of these is instructive for us because it shows us ways that we might come to God.

    • And Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night

      • By "at night” I mean…

        • Curious but unsure, intrigued but unconvinced, questioning but reluctant 

        • I’ve seen something things but I don’t know how to explain them

        • In a posture of negotiation - keeping your dignity and offering terms

    • Jesus has been doing miracles - showing the power of God, but Nicodemus puts Him in a category he can understand….

      • “He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 

      • He is ready for Jesus to be a teacher.  Give us the instructions.  We will take what we can use and it may make our lives better.


  • Do you feel shame or reticence to engage with Jesus because of how you come to him?

    • Jesus was ok with Nicodemus coming the way he did. 

    • And later, he is willing to acknowledge his change in perspective publicly. 

    • But Jesus answers in a totally different way. Nicodemus says we’ve seen some good things out of you. Jesus says you can’t see anything unless you find a new way to be alive…

      • “Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’” 

      • Nicodemus comes to negotiate with Jesus and he starts by saying he we can admit you are a great teacher… 


  • I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg -or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

    – C.S. Lewis


  • Nicodemus says we think you can lead some good devotionals. Jesus says you are going to need a whole new life.

  • How you can know God | Be Born Again

    • “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 

      Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 

      – John 3: 4-8

    • The tragedy of the fall of humanity in Genesis 3 is that we all come equipped with starting place of false gods, either ourselves or some other substitute…

      • We are born physically but we need to made alive spiritually

    • “We are not begotten by God, we are only made by Him: in our natural state we are not sons of God, only (so to speak) statues. We have not got Zoe or spiritual life: only Bios or biological life which is presently going to run down and die. Now the whole offer which Christianity makes is this: that we can, if we let God have His way, come to share in the life of Christ. If we do, we shall then be sharing a life which was begotten, not made, which always has existed and always will exist. Christ is the Son of God. If we share in this kind of life we also shall be sons of God. We shall love the Father as He does and the Holy Ghost will arise in us. He came to this world and became a man to spread to other[s] the kind of life He has…Every Christian is to become a little Christ.

      – C.S. Lewis

  • How God Shows Us His Heart | Rescuing Love

    • God loves giving life 

    • God loves removing condemnation 

    • God loves things being seen for what they really are (truth)

    • Very often, we believe that what will bring us closer to God is just a few small behavioral changes. 

      • How often do you believe this? 

      • How true is this thinking? 



Parents:

  • Consider what language you use to describe a relationship with Jesus. 

  • Does it lean towards a moral construct that leads to eternal life? 

  • How can you help your kids know that it’s not about being good, but about accepting an invitation to friendship from Jesus?