May 19: 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.

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Love

Teaching Text: Acts 2: 1-41

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

“‘In the last days, God says,
    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your young men will see visions,
    your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
    and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below,
    blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood
    before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
    on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about him:

“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
    Because he is at my right hand,
    I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest in hope,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
    you will not let your holy one see decay.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

“Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet.”’

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

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Themes

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

• FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT | Meditations on the Ministry of the Holy Spirit

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Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• The Promise

  The Outpouring

  The Counterfeits and Questions

  The Invitation

  • How have you experienced the Holy Spirit in your life? 

  • Do you live with an expectation of the Spirit’s nearness and awareness? 

• The Promise

  • “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 

    – Acts 1 v 4-5

  • Pentecost is a reminder that God keeps His promises.

  • Don’t be so sure that all you’ve tasted is all there is. God may have a day of revelation on the way.
    
    

• The Outpouring

  • The story opens…

    “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” 

    – Acts 2 v 1-4

  • The Holy Spirit makes the presence of God known and people are filled.

  • Two challenges.

    1. If it doesn’t happen like this its not the Holy Spirit 

    2. Or we go the other way and ignore what’s possible - these were a one time thing

  • The Spirit can speak as a gentle whisper 

  • The Spirit may move as an inner conviction or an insight when reading the Bible

  • But The Spirit may also break through your categories.

    • A sound like a violent wind

    • Visuals of tongues of fire 

    • Physical sensation and empowerment.

  • The outpouring is God making His love alive and knowable.

  • The Holy Spirit is not simply to give us a memorable experience but to make the goodness and love and victory of Jesus known.

  • This account ends with people being cut to the heart and trust in Christ as their Savior and Lord

    • Have you seen people experiencing the Spirit, and it leads to them relating to Jesus more? 

• The Counterfeits and Questions

  • Some of us long to be filled with the Spirit, but there is also a place in us that we will not surrender. Our experience of God is shallow because we know we are keeping certain things in our control.

  • In the text:

    • People think they are drunk and grasp for a reasonable explanation 

    • People are afraid and wonder what is happening 

    • There is confusion and distraction - how is this happening and theories shared

    • There are commitments to the world’s power structures

  • Our problem is not a new problem. 

  • Alcohol is the one example here but there are many. Some in the crowd think they are drunk. And it’s not just a random possibility or comparison.

    • Booze can help you escape stress for a time, it can make you feel connection, it can give you temporary courage, it can turn the volume down on your pain.

    • Jesus turned water into wine. The traditional cup of communion is wine, but many of us have appetites that we satiate that are substitutes for the Holy Spirit.

    • “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

      – Ephesians 5 v 18-20

  • Pentecost is a challenge to our appetites that lead us away from God

    • What appetites can you recognize in your life that are substitutes for experiencing the Holy Spirit? 

  • Some of us are just afraid. Or when spiritual longing comes up in us it is always mixed with fear. Fear of losing control. Fear of it not working for us. Fear of failing later. Anxiety

  • There is confusion and bewilderment in this story. People don’t have categories for what they are seeing.

  • “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

    – 2 Timothy 1 v 7

  • Pentecost is a call out of our fear and into the experience of God’s love.

    • Some of us know the confusion and distraction - we go down the rabbit holes of our own questions and never take what God is offering us.

  • Pentecost is a call to be present to what God is doing - now, today

    • Some on Pentecost had deep commitments to the world’s power structures. They wanted to keep things as they were.

    • God has no problem shaking up our allegiances if they are misplaced.

      • Many of us are finding to stay in charge of our lives but let God consult. 

        • Peter has to confront those who wanted Jesus out of the way so their way could go on..

  • Pentecost is a challenge to surrender to God. To let go of having to be the one in control. 

• The Invitation

  • “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” 

    When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 

    Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 

    – ACTS 2 v 36-39

  • When the Spirit moved through the message of Jesus, people were cut to the heart.

  • Cut to the Heart

    • And the call to trust Christ and be filled with the Spirit is open to…

      All who are near. All who are far.

    • “This work of God is wonderfully inclusive, because there is no category of people which is left out: both genders, all ages, all social classes. But it is wonderfully focused, because it happens to all ‘who call on the name of the Lord.”

      – NT Wright

• What is your ask of God regarding the Holy Spirit? 

• Where in your life do you want the Holy Spirit to reach in to?

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May 12: 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.

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Love

Teaching Text: Numbers 6: 22-27

The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

“‘“The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”’

“So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

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Themes

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

• Blessing prayer

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Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• How would the world be different if God answered all your prayers?

• If everyone prayed the way I pray, what would the prayer life of our church life be like? 

• Prayer is our participation with God in making the word right.

• God can do whatever God wants

  • But God shows us over and over that God wants relationship 

  • God invites us to participation and cooperation 

  • God insists on involving us through love 

• But it’s even more than that. God is committed to distributing the resources of Heaven in the world through His sons and daughters in Christ.

• God has said you are My sons and daughters. Here is My Ring.

• It’s all by grace. Distribute the resources of My Kingdom in the world through your prayers and love.

• God’s entire plan has always been participation - Joining/Sharing - Friendship - Love

• A blessing is more than a well wish. It is to use our spiritual authority to confer something to another. It is to partner with God in declaring a present identity or a future good into someone's life.

• To really bless someone is to conspire with God for their good

• To ignore or belittle a blessing is a profound mistake.

• When we pray for one another - we practice blessing one another.

• A blessing confirms our identity - one loved by God

• A blessing invites us into good - may a light shine on how to live out who we are

• A blessing announces the security of our future - reminds us that we cannot be taken out of God’s love 

• When we bless - we are not only offering the Good News of Christ to others. 

  • We are offering our lives as well. 

  • We say I will join in in giving you what God intends in your life.

• “Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, 8 so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.“

  – 1 Thessalonians 2 v 7-8

• Who needs you to pray and enact blessings in their life? 

• What moments in the lives of those around you require you to represent and disperse the blessing and resources of God?

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May 5: 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.

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Love

Teaching Text: John 10: 1-10 and 27-30

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

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Themes

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

• Hearing God

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Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• When God began to set the world right after the fall, God initiated a conversation ...

  • Abraham heard a calling - an invitation 

  • Moses drew near to something he has seen everyday for years before

  • Samuel was sleeping as a child when he began to sense God's voice

  • Mary, Paul, Augustine, Martin Luther, Thersea of Avila, Brother Lawrence, and Jackie Pullinger

• Redemptive History is shaped by God's children hearing His voice and responding in faith and love.

• In a relational world and a relational Kingdom of God, there is little that rivals the importance of communication. It is at the heart of every deep relationship.

• God speaks. God is active in revelation. We can learn to discern the voice of God in our lives. 

• Jesus gives us this incredible promise that His sheep will hear His voice. 

• It comes at a moment where His very identity is being questioned. Jesus locates who He is in the reality that His sheep, His disciples, those He has saved, who apprentice under Him WILL HEAR HIS VOICE.

• HEARING FROM GOD IS ESSENTIAL TO OUR LIFE AS FOLLOWERS OF JESUS

• Hearing from God is your spiritual birthright in the Gospel 

• But as in so many things, what is important is not without challenges.

  • It can take time to discern how God speaks to us

  • It can take some wisdom and consideration as to why that is so very rarely in human history in an audible voice

  • It can be humbling to know we may get it wrong sometimes when discerning God's voice

  • I have four children and communicating with them over the years has taught me that different ways of communicating are needed based on the situation and on who they are. There are shared principles, but ways and settings of talking and listening that are unique to each of them.

  • God has children beyond number, but we can be confident that we can learn to hear God's voice, especially if we ask to and commit to seek God's voice.

• Experiencing God study in college

  • 4 of the primary ways - SCRIPTURE, GOD'S WHISPER IN THE SPIRIT, COMMUNITY, CIRCUMSTANCES
    

• Which of the 4 ways of hearing God have you found most prevalent in your life?

• Which of hearing God do you want to grow in? 

• How can you learn/practice that?

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April 28: 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.

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Love

Teaching Text: Song of Songs 2: 14-15

My dove in the clefts of the rock,
    in the hiding places on the mountainside,
show me your face,
    let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
    and your face is lovely.
Catch for us the foxes,
    the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,
    our vineyards that are in bloom.

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Themes

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

• Little foxes that ruin your prayer life

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Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• On the scale of discipline to delight where would you plot your prayer life right now? 

Discipline –----------------------------------------------------– Delight 

Song of Solomon 2: 14-15 – My dove in the clefts of the rock,
    in the hiding places on the mountainside,
show me your face,
    let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
    and your face is lovely.

Catch for us the foxes,
    the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,
    our vineyards that are in bloom.

• Prayer is about relationship with God. 

  • When Jesus teaches we should pray for His kingdom to come, He is not just trying to keep us busy, and out of trouble. 

  • He invites us to cultivate and share His heart for putting the world right. 

• It is intended to cultivate a communion between us and God. 

  • There are ways we can approach prayer that harm the relationship it was intended to cultivate

• In our text, we see that the lover acknowleges the threat of disruptors of intimacy. 

  • They are called little foxes. 

• Disruptors of intimacy can take on many shapes … little things that you don't think have meaning, or big, looming, glaring, violent things. 

• Foxes chew at the vines and break off the ability for the life-giving nutrients to make their way to the branches. 

• There are little foxes, intimacy disruptors, that are right now at work in breaking down your vital connection to the Jesus. 

• Before prayer changes our circumstances, its intent is to change us. 

  • “Whether prayer changes our situation or not, one thing is certain: Prayer will change us!”

    – Billy graham 

  • It changes us because it has us encountering the living God. 

• Then it does change our world…

  • “It would be of course a low voltage spiritual life in which prayer was chiefly undertaken as a discipline, rather than as a way of co-labouring with God to accomplish good things and advancing his Kingdom purposes.”

    – Willard

• The goal is to restore relational connection and, through that, affect all of life. 

  • “The goal of prayer is to live all of my life and speak all of my words in the joyful awareness of the presence of God. Prayer becomes real when we grasp the reality and goodness of God's constant presence with 'the real me. ' Jesus lived his everyday life in conscious awareness of his Father.”

    – Ortberg

1. Exchanging a relational offering for a bowl of soup

2. A Misrepresentation of the character and nature of God 

3. Superficial Formality

4. Lack of Honesty

5. Paralyzing Guilt and Shame

6. Spiritual Laziness

7. Neglecting Prompts from the Holy Spirit

8. Sensationalism

9. Unrepented sin

• Which of these affect you prayer life? 

• Who can you partner with to work on this? 

• What action can you take to combat each of them?

Confess it

Share it 

Schedule it

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April 14: 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.

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Love

Teaching Text: Luke 11: 1-13

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

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Themes

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

• Praying the Psalms

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Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

Did you recite the Lord’s Prayer growing up? 

• If yes, what did you think when you did that? 

C.S. Lewis lost the love of his life, his wife Joy, to cancer after only being married for 4 years. Afterwards he wrote A Grief Observed - at first published under a pseudonym.

Here is the brutally honest way Lewis described some of his prayers in that time…

“When you are happy, so happy you have no sense of needing Him, so happy that you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption, if you remember yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be — or so it feels— welcomed with open arms. But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence.”

– C.S. Lewis

Prayer doesn’t work, or doesn’t always work like pulling a lever and getting what we want from God. The wild part is sometimes it does, but because we don't always know when we develop all these THEOLOGIES OF UNBELIEF to protect ourselves and to protect God.

Either we can’t bear being disappointed, or we don’t think God would bother, or we just want to leave it to a sense of mystery of whatever life reveals.

But Jesus wants to tell us to keep going with prayer. Even if we don’t like how it goes at first, especially if we don't like how it goes at first.

• What about the practice of prayer makes you want to give up or not even try? 

The invitation and the instruction is to just keep knocking even when it looks like we aren't getting what we need.

And in the shameless audacity of the continuing knock - you will find yourself provided for. 

Tim Keller said God answers our prayers exactly as we would if we had all the information.

• But of course we don't have all the information. Or the same degree of Love or Power. We often don’t know the prayers of our neighbors, or the way all the longings of our heart relate to the wider world.

• We are often aren’t aware of resistance to our prayers. 

So we have to trust God. And it's building that loving friendship and trust and confidence in conversation with God that we realize our whole lives are held. And even what we lose is held by God.

So Jesus teaches us:

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 

He said to them, “When you pray, say: 

“ ‘Father, 

hallowed be your name, 

your kingdom come. 

– Luke 11: 1-2

The Kaddish was one of three important prayers in the first century Jewish worship liturgy and it began like this…

“Magnified and hallowed be His great Name

In this world which He created according to His Will.

And may He establish His Kingdom during your life.”

Look at the two of them side by side… (this is also in Pete Greig’s book)

“Magnified and hallowed be

His great Name

in this world which He created

according to His Will.

And may He establish His Kingdom

during your life.

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your Name,

Your Kingdom come,

Your Will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

The utter crucial difference is the personalization of Jesus’ prayer…

• Call Him Abba. OUR ABBA. 

• Call Him Abba and then speak to Him like you would to a good Father….

You can call the God of the Universe, Abba - Father - Friend. 

"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 Greig

There are some important things to say about this prayer, but the most important thing is to pray it.

• Get it in your mouth and mind and heart.

• The one who asks receives.

• The one who seeks finds.

• To the one who knocks the doors is open.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?  Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” 

– Luke 11: 9-13

PERSIST

• What does it mean to persist in prayer? 

• What stops you from persisting in prayer?

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April 7: 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.

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Love

Teaching Text: Psalm 147: 1-11

Praise the Lord.

How good it is to sing praises to our God,
    how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the exiles of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars
    and calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
    his understanding has no limit.
The Lord sustains the humble
    but casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the Lord with grateful praise;
    make music to our God on the harp.

He covers the sky with clouds;
    he supplies the earth with rain
    and makes grass grow on the hills.
He provides food for the cattle
    and for the young ravens when they call.

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
the Lord delights in those who fear him,
    who put their hope in his unfailing love.

---

Themes

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

• Praying the Psalms

---

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

What has the easter reality of the resurrection of Jesus changed for you personally? 

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

What should we do? What was the resurrection for? 

“A restored relationship with Jesus” 

We should talk with Jesus. We should listen for what Jesus has to say to us.

• We should participate relationally in His Life, Death and Resurrection

I can talk with Jesus.

Our hope for the Resurrection of Jesus is not simply about verifying a past event. It is about experiencing the ongoing reality of a conversation with Christ, a friendship with Christ.

“The resurrection is not just something that happened to Jesus two thousand years ago and will happen to each of us sometime in the future, after we die, when our own bodies will be raised to new life. It is that, but it is much more. The resurrection is something that buoys up every moment of life and every aspect of reality. God is always making new life and undergirding it with a goodness, graciousness, mercy, and love that, in the end, heals all wounds, forgives all sins, and brings deadness of all kinds to new life.”

– Ronald Rolheiser

Our life becomes a prayer, becomes a sensing of God's presence, becomes worship, becomes talking and listening to God.

• Mary Magdalene who was first human to tell of Jesus resurrection. How did she begin? She talked with Jesus. She heard Him say her name, and her eyes were opened.

• Peter was an erratic mess, in shambles, buried in shame. And in talking and listening to Jesus after the resurrection, his life was reasssmbeld stronger than before.

• Thomas was full of doubt. He wouldnt believe his friends’ account of Jesus being alive. He has to see Him for himself too talk with Him.

• A couple on the road to Emmaus - they were leaving dejected and confused. They talked with a man as they left town. And then they finally recognized Him in the breaking of bread.

As they recounted their time with Him they said, as we were talking....

• Did our hearts not burn?

• Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

• What should we do?

But the reality is many of us find prayer challenging.

• We struggle to get started 

• We struggle to keep it going 

• We struggle to make it a regular part of our day 

• Many of us feel we don't pray very well

• We wish we prayed more 

Caleb says:

“And the least part of the challenge from my experience is that many of us have a primary way we have thought about prayer that is basically EYES CLOSED SPIRITUAL IMPROV”

Have you experienced prayer this way?

How would you describe your experience of prayer?

Is your idea of prayer helpful for or hindering to your prayer experience? 

And if that is intimidating, then hear this:

• You are not alone

• That’s not the only way to pray

“The great and sprawling university that Hebrews and Christians have attended to learn to answer God, to learn to pray, has been the Psalms. More people have learned to pray by matriculating in the Psalms than in any other way. The Psalms were the prayer book of Israel; they were the prayer book of Jesus; they are the prayer book of the church. At no time in the Hebrew and Christian centuries (with the possible exception of our own) have the Psalms not been at the very center of all concern and practice in prayer.”

– Eugene Peterson

In Jesus’s most trying moments, He prays a pre-written prayer that He is familiar with. He was praying the psalms.

“My God my God why have you forsaken me”

“Into thy hands I commit my spirit”

– Psalm 22 and Psalm 36.

We learn to pray by praying other prayers. 

The Psalms is an amazing place to learn to pray. 

Our vision as a church this year is to expand our prayer life.

For every person in TGC to talk and listen to God every day.

“The Psalms model ways of talking to God that are honest, yet not obvious – at least, they are not obvious to modern Christians. They may guide our first steps toward deeper involvement with God because the Psalms give us a new possibility for prayer; they invite full disclosure. They enable us to bring into our conversation with God feelings and thoughts that most of us think we need to get rid of before God will be interested in hearing from us. The point of the shocking psalms is not to sanctify what is shameful (for example, the desire for sweet revenge) or to make us feel better about parts of ourselves that stand in need of change. Rather, the Psalms teach us that profound change happens always in the presence of God. Over and over they attest to the reality that when we open our minds and hearts fully to God who made them, then we open ourselves, whether we know it or not to the possibility of being transformed beyond our imagining.”

– Ellen F. Davis: Getting Involved with God  

Easter tells us God’ve love will not fail.

Unfailing love is a pretty good foundation for prayer  - God is not disappointed in you. 

For conversation - for talking and listening

God is always previous - you don’t have to start it all

God is in conversation - you don;t have to sustain it all

Praying the Psalm is a way to being when you can’t work out how to begin

“I need a language that is large enough to maintain continuities, supple enough to maintain nuances across a lifetime that brackets child and adult experiences, and courageous enough to explore all the countries of sin and salvation, mercy and grace, creation and covenant, anxiety and trust, unbelief and faith that compromise the continental human condition. The Psalms are this large, supple, and courageous language.”

– Eugene Peterson

Praying the Psalms this week:

• Like Mary, you may hear your name called 

• Like Peter, you may sense a lifting of your shame 

• Like Thomas, you have have your doubts confronted 

• Like those leaving town going to Emmaus, you may find your heart burning.

The Psalms lift our spirit before they lift our circumstances. 

---

March 24: 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  18: 28-48

Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him;they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”

The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”

He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

“Lord, I want to see,” he replied.

Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.

---

Themes

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

• Triumphal Entry

---

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

Lent: Historically, the season of Lent in the church year is a time of preparation, repentance, and renewal. We remember and mark Jesus’ time of fasting and temptation in the wilderness. We ask God to help remove our sin and anything that has entangled us or is keeping us from experiencing our union with Jesus.

5 moments as Jesus comes into this final week and what they show us: 

• About what it takes to save the world

• What it costs to forgive 

• How we can be brought into God’s family and Kingdom forever 

• How that Kingdom might come on earth as it is in heaven 

• Why this MARCH OF LOVE was worth it

The Triumphal Entry

• Luke has been telling us that Jesus had set His face towards Jerusalem. Even though He had been there many times, this was different. He had tried to tell His disciples, but they didn’t seem to be able to hear. 

• He was coming to Jerusalem to give his life away. To die.

• Jesus is deeply aware this is THE MARCH OF LOVE

• “Imagine the imperial procession’s arrival in the city. A visual panoply of imperial power; cavalry on horses, foot soldiers, leather armor, helmets, weapons, banners, golden eagles mounted on poles, sun glinting on metal and gold. Sounds: the marching of feet, the creaking of leather, the clinking of bridles, the beating of drums. The swirling of dust. The eyes of the silent onlookers, some curious, some awed, some resentful.” 

  – The Last Week

• NT WRIGHT summarizes this…

“That was the way the pilgrims came, with Jesus going on ahead as he had planned all along. This was to be the climax of his story, of his public career, of his vocation. He knew well enough what lay ahead and had set his face to go and meet it head-on. He couldn’t stop announcing the kingdom, but that announcement could only come true if he now embodied in himself the things he’d been talking about. The living God was at work to heal and save, and the forces of evil and death were massed to oppose him, like Pharaoh and the armies of Egypt trying to prevent the Israelites from leaving. But this was to be the moment of God’s new Exodus, God’s great Passover, and nothing could stop Jesus going ahead to celebrate it.”

The Borrowed Donkey

• There a centuries-old prophecy from Zechariah…

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

    righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

• Jesus is not riding a warhorse or accompanied by soldiers

• It’s an unexpected Kingdom. A donkey is the carrier of the king. 

  • In what ways is the kingdom of God unlike what you’d expect as strength in our culture? 

Weeping over the city

• “As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it”

 – Luke 19: 41

• Even further back than the prophecy about the donkey, God revealed Himself to Moses in a way that Israel has repeated ever since…

• “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” 

– Exodus 34: 6-7

• GOD HAS SHOWN THAT HE IS COMPASSIONATE, GRACIOUS, MERCIFUL, LOVING, FORGIVING

• God will not compromise His holiness. But He will not let go of His love.

  • He doesn’t say I will throw our justice so I can forgive 

  • He doesn’t say I love so much that it means people living as their own God is fine and does no damage.

• This is the Gospel.

• “For the essence of sin is we substitute ourselves for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for us. ”

– John Stott

• The tears of Jesus show that God hates what our separation has done to us. 

• “Oh, that you would know even now what makes for peace” 

  • That you wouldn’t cling to your stubbornness 

  • That you would come out of your blindness

  • You have no idea what pain you are bringing on yourself 

  • You are missing the moment of God visiting you 

• His heart breaks for His people. But then also for people who aren’t His people yet…

  • What does it mean to you that God weeps over the separation you experience because of sin?

Cleansing the Temple

• “When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” 

 – Luke 19

• A HOUSE OF PRAYER (FOR ALL NATIONS)

• A place of communion for all types of people, for anyone who would join 

• For us.

• JESUS did something to get Himself arrested. But it wasn’t a random act of anger. IT WAS MAKING SPACE FOR ALL OF US.

A Meal with Friends

• Sometimes, you will hear the crowds who shouted Hosanna, just a few days later in the week, were shouting crucify Him.

• That very well may have been true. There may have been some of the same crowds from this moment of walking into Jerusalem who were there when Pilate offered to release Jesus.

• But we know with more clarity where His disciples, His friends were in these scenes

• In the height of emotion, at the height of a long climb when they could fairly see the city. They shouted, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord"

• Then days later they would betray Him, argue over their own status, fall asleep in His hour of agony, run away, and deny Him multiple times…

• The Gospel is that Jesus laid down His life for friends, knowing all of that.

• On the Cross, He speaks mercy over the ones who are killing Him. Forgive them; they dont know what they are doing. At the heart of the Gospel is a man dying for His enemies.

• DO YOU SEE THE SAVIOR’S MARCH OF LOVE?

  • He has come to the city, though He knows what it holds

  • He is inviting us to join in

  • He is weeping when we do not

  • He is making space for us

  • And when we fail or scream “crucify Him”, or deny Him by the fire 

---

March 17: 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: Ephesians 4: 11-16

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

---

Themes

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

• Spiritual Parenting

---

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• Who has been a parental figure in your life for whom you are very grateful? 

• What did they do that impacted you?

Lent: Historically, the season of Lent in the church year is a time of preparation, repentance, and renewal. We remember and mark Jesus’ time of fasting and temptation in the wilderness. We ask God to help remove our sin and anything that has entangled us or is keeping us from experiencing our union with Jesus.

We have looked at the ecosystem of our various relationships during lent. Jesus says that people will recognize us as those who are becoming like Him - by noticing the way we love. 

Today, we are looking at spiritual parenting. 

Spiritual parenting: This journey of helping one another from infancy to maturity.

I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. 

– 1 CORINTHIANS 4 v 14-17

Paul as a spiritual father cares about their future! 

• Who has been involved in your life that really cared about your future? Send them a text of gratitude. 

There are many tutors… with their own agenda and their own ministry. 

A  father or a mother is different

There is a powerful combination of invitations in what is described here in Spiritual Parenting.

• Imitate me  

• See the integrity between my words and actions

If God’s world is a relational world and the Kingdom of God moves along relational lines then YOUR INFLUENCE IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL GIFTS YOU CAN GIVE

Can you recognize when someone is exerting their influence for their own benefit instead of for the benefit of those being influenced? 

What a privilege:

• That someone would know God’s love from your life

• That someone would know the good news of Jesus from you. That they can know forgiveness and union with God

• That someone could be rooted in their true identity as deeply loved by God because of you

• That someone could see an aspect of how to follow Jesus from your life

• That you walk with someone in how to endure grief without giving in to bitterness

• How to experience free from crippling addiction

• How to navigate treacherous career waters with grace and trust in the Holy Spirit  

• Someone learns how to pray from praying with you

“It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations....

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.” 

– C.S. LEWIS

YOUR INFLUENCE IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL GIFTS YOU CAN GIVE

The gifts of the spirit:

• They are ways God helps us to love one another.

Apostles: Often carry a burden and spiritual responsibility to take new ground. To establish new works. To build the church where it hasn’t been. To expand the community of Jesus  into new places. 

• This could be thought of like spiritual entrepreneurship. They often are strong at carrying and creating a certain type of culture.

• My friend Jon Tyson who helped start the first Trinity Grace’s in Manhattan is one of the most apostolically gifted people I have ever been around.

Prophets:  A prophet is gifted with hearing and longing to hear God. They keep asking

What is God saying? What has God said?

• They want to speak the words of God to the people of God.

• A prophet helps a community continually align itself around the world of God.

• Where have we drifted from the heart of God?

Evangelists:  someone gifted with communicating the good news of Jesus.

• Someone who might say I love the new ground we have taken, I love that we are listening for the Lord, but are we welcoming in the outsider?

• Is our church aware of those around us who need to experience the love of God?

• Do we have the courage to be honest about the hope with have in Christ?

Pastors:  these are shepherds of the soul. They are gifted with caring for people

• Are people being loved well or forgotten?

• A community may be growing and doing new things and sharing faith but are people falling through the cracks, getting trampled by busyness

• Are we healthy in our souls?

Teachers: They help take the mysteries of God and give us access points

• They help teach us how to read, hear, understand and hear God’s word 

• They may take something that feels inaccessible or confusing and break us off nourishing morsel 

• Our city last year mourned the loss of Tim Keller who was certainly an evangelist, but one of the greatest teachers of the Scriptures of his generation.

As we look at these things, we can start to see the brilliance of God. 

• Not only should we ask “Which can i identify with (there may be more than one)?”

• We should also celebrate the diversity and difference that others represent! 

GOD HAS GIVEN THEM ALL TO THE CHURCH - and in concert they help us move from infancy to maturity.

We are “given to one another” and can appreciate and show gratitude for one another. 

There’s a picture of spiritual parenting in this passage. 

• the word equip here is a rich word with many uses in the ancient world.

• if you’ve been at TGC for a while you will have heard these uses before.

EQUIP

1. To reset a broken bone 

2. To pack a ship with the supplies it will need for a journey 

3. To restore something that has been damaged to its original condition

4. To train a soldier to fight 

We need healing 

• When we parent well - we help offer healing for wounds the world gives us

We need to be made ready for what is ahead 

• When we parent well - we help supply someone with what they will need for their journey 

We need reminders of our identity 

• When we parent well we help remind each other of who God says we are - apart from any sin or failure 

We need help (skills and tools) for the struggle of life 

• When we parent well we help prepare each other for the fight of keep faith, hope, and love 

When we parent well we remind people who they are in God:

WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST | The Identity of a Christian

John 1:12 I am God's child.

John 15:15 As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:1 I have been justified.

1 Corinthians 6:17 I am united with the Lord, and I am one with Him in spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 I have been bought with a price and I belong to God.

1 Corinthians 12:27 I am a member of Christ's body.

Ephesians 1:3-8 I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child.

Colossians 1:13-14 I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins.

Colossians 2:9-10 I am complete in Christ.

Hebrews 4:14-16 I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:1-2 I am free from condemnation.

Romans 8:28 I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances. Romans 8:31-39 I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God.

 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 I have been established, anointed and sealed by God.

Colossians 3:1-4 I am hidden with Christ in God.

Philippians 1:6 I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me.

Philippians 3:20 I am a citizen of heaven.

2 Timothy 1:7 I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.

1 John 5:18 I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me.

John 15:5 I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of His life.

John 15:16 I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit.

1 Corinthians 3:16 I am God's temple.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 I am a minister of reconciliation for God.

Ephesians 2:6 I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm.

Ephesians 2:10 I am God's workmanship.

Ephesians 3:12 I may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. 

AND FROM THIS IDENTITY YOU HAVE A LOT TO OFFER. No matter your age or life stage.

---

March 10: 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 15: 11-17

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

---

Themes

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

• Friendship

---

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• Think of a childhood friendship. What aspects of that friendship did you particularly enjoy? 

• Who do you most unlikely friend? Why does this friendship surprise you?

Lent: Historically, the season of Lent in the church year is a time of preparation, repentance, and renewal. We remember and mark Jesus’ time of fasting and temptation in the wilderness. We ask God to help remove our sin and anything that has entangled us or is keeping us from experiencing our union with Jesus.

In our text today, Jesus is talking about friendship in one of the most crucial hours in the history of the world.

• God is a relational being - the Trinity 

• The world is a relational world 

• The Kingdom of God moves along relational lines 

• So friendship is one of the most powerful forces in this world 

If we can see an enemy become a friend, it is one of life's great miracles

• It happens to be at the heart of the Gospel. 

What is a friend?

How can we make friends?

How can we keep friends?

• What makes a good friend?  

• Share with your group something that stood out  that a friend did for you.

What a friend is:

• A friend is someone you share with and who shares with you

• That’s what we hear Jesus saying here. You are my friends and not something else like a servant because I am sharing with you.

Friendship and Selfishness. Two of the great defining realities of human experience. It’s wild how often selfishness feels safer, but over time diminishes us.

“Each of us has contact with hundreds of people who never look beyond our surface appearance. We have dealings with hundreds of people who the moment they set eyes on us begin calculating what use we can be to them, what they can get out of us. We meet hundreds of people who take one look at us, make a snap judgment, and then slot us into a necessary category so that they won’t have to deal with us as persons. They treat us as something less than we are: and if we’re in constant association with them, we become less.

And then someone enters our life who isn’t looking for someone to use, is leisurely enough to find out what’s really going on in us, is secure enough not to exploit our weaknesses or attack our strengths, recognizes our inner life and understands the difficulty of living out our inner convictions, confirms what’s deepest within us. A friend.”

– Eugene Peterson

When you stop sharing, friendship will diminish. This can happen in a well established relationship or a brand new one.

When we look at Jesus life.

• We see Enemies, Multitudes (Neighbors), 120 disciples, 12 apostles, and the 3 close friends.

• The difference in a real way was He shared more as the relationships grew in intimacy.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” 

– ACTS 2 v 42-27

• That word FELLOWSHIP there is a Greek word KOINONIA and it means SHARING.

“It is no small thing to open our hearts and our arms and allow another to enter there, to grant another person the same worth, the same consequence, the same existential gravity that we take for granted in ourselves. The fact is that our natural tendency is to treat people as if they were not “others” at all, but merely aspects of ourselves. We do not experience them as the overwhelming, comprehensive realities we find ourselves to be. Compared with us, they are not quite real. We see them through a haze, the haze of our own all-engulfing self-hood.”

– Mike Mason

How can we make friends?

• Jesus says here to His friends that He made a choice. He chose friendship with these whom He is sharing the meal with

• Friends are discovered and friends are made

• We aren’t joined in Christ by mutual compatibility similar demographics. We are joined by the love and mercy of God revealed to us in Jesus.

• One the most beautiful and needed aspects of church life is we don’t curate who is here. We brought together and we discover friendship. By first sharing the mercy and grace God has given us with each other.

• We don’t begin with the old resume lists for friendships. We, together at the communion table, offer the grace we have received.

• Friendships in Christ are discovered, but they are also MADE, and I think it comes back to sharing.

• When you share time, share honesty, share a love of something, share a sense of humor, share an effort, share suffering even you see bonds strengthen.

• Companionship becomes friendship through intentional sharing. 

C.S. Lewis said it’s hard to find friends if you just want friends. Because friends bond over something shared.

Pursue deep friendship with Christ - Jesus will shape and reshape your heart with grace

• Helps ground your identity 

Go after your loves, passions, and talents. Pursue the things God has made you to love and be good at and care for most

• Your passions may be a clue to your friendships

• We keep showing up to serve together, to create together, to practice together, to enjoy something together

• Pursue God and what God has given you to care about and then…

Pay attention to whom your fellow-travelers are.

• When you see a potential friend

• Take the risk of sharing

• That intentional paying attention and sharing can build and strengthen friendships 

***I HAVE SOME FRIENDS WHO HELP ME WITH THIS***

Friendship has risk

• Someone could move away, or hurt you, or not give as much as your giving to the relationship

• It might cost you time at some achievement or accomplishment 

• It requires investment and some of those are without guarantees

• Some of you have seen a regression in your willingness to pursue friendship in

”To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”
– C.S. Lewis

Sometimes People Use the Word Friend When They Mean Something Else

• Internet acquaintance  

• Someone I am networking with to get what I want 

• People I compete with and compare myself to 

• We won’t be able to be friends with everyone even some of our companions and that’s ok

We have lost the art of loving confrontation, confession, and forgiveness 

• Friendship has to be maintained by resolving differences

If we cant confront, confess or forgive - our friendships will be short lived or shallow

If you get close to someone they are going to hurt you.

How can we keep friends?

• We do have to lay down our lives for one another.

• “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

– JOHN 15 v 11-13

• We keep friends by walking in the way of Jesus - the way of forgiveness and mercy and self-giving love.

• But also we keep friends in Christ because we share in His death to share in His resurrection.

What aspects of your friendships do you feel to pay attention to and change?

Where do you withhold sharing more of yourself? 

Are there any friends that you need to share forgiveness with?

Any friends you want to build and share more of your resources asnd even yourself with? 

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March 3: 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: Revelation 21: 1-5

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City,the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bridebeautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

---

Themes

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

•  The Marriage of God and His People

---

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• What parts of marriage represents to you the relationship between God and the church? 

Lent: Historically, the season of Lent in the church year is a time of preparation, repentance, and renewal. We remember and mark Jesus’ time of fasting and temptation in the wilderness. We ask God to help remove our sin and anything that has entangled us or is keeping us from experiencing our union with Jesus.

Ancient Jewish weddings 

As we look at Ancient Jewish Weddings: (I should say I am indebted to Ray Van Laan, Marty Solomon (from Bema), Frank Viola, and Bethany Allen (from Bridgetown and 24/7 prayer) for all presenting great work and helpful research on this …)

• Arrangement - How the family makes the choice. We sometimes think of this in only negative terms, but quite often this worked well and was a true communal effort. A way today maybe a teenager with raging hormones could use some guidance - this isn’t just about you. But it’s a negative Disney type myth that the wishes of the kids wouldn’t have been take into consideration. 

• Betrothal  - father would bring a cup and give it to the son. The son would hand this cup filled with wine to his potential bride and he would say, “This is the cup of a new covenant that I make with you today. I will drink of this cup again until I drink it with you in my Fathers house.

  • He hands her the cup. He is saying I will do what most be done. I will prepare a place. I will pay whatever price to make us one.

  • If she takes the cup and drinks from it, it was her way of covenantally sealing the arrangement.

• Preparing a place: groom goes back to father’s dwelling and builds a place for he and his bride.

  • Only the father knows the timing, because he has to approve the work

  • A time where father gets to really see the formation of his son.

• Groom Returns - he returns. The timing was not known. There was an expectation of readiness and preparedness during whole engagement. Remember Jesus’ parable of the ‘bridesmaids.’

• Cleansing - She goes for a big ritual spa day - helped by her bridesamaids and community 

• Shofar is sounded - a trumpet blast to begin the festivities 

• Gather under the Chuppah - symbol of their new home and open doors of hospitality 

• Present the Ketubah - take their vows - Ketubah

  • A covenant of what their marriage will me

  • Saw this this fall on a roof top but industry city. Chuppah whipping in the wind.

• Room Set Aside for the consummation where the best man stands gaurd

  • Produces a bloody cloth (scandalizes us, but our cultures norm of using sex to get to know someone would scandalize them)

• The families Exchange the Dowry - bride price from the cup of the betrothal 

• Party for up to a week - remember when they ran out of wine

• One Year - Honeymoon. Severely reduced communal responsibility. Learn to love each other 

This is also the story of God and His people Israel:

We can trace this same picture through the story of Israel.

• The Arangement

  • Is off the page.

  • On the recesses of eternity past God determined to get bride for His Son

• Betrothal - Genesis 12 -15

  • God tells Abram leave your father's home and come to a place I will prepare for you.

  • They ratify this covenant by walking the blood path

  • He becomes Abraham 

• Time in Egypt – Waiting. Where is the Groom to be found? They are oppressed. Crying Out.

• Arrival of the Bridegroom – Passover 

• God tells Moses to Consecrate Israel – prepare them

• A SPECIAL TREASURE TO ME

  • Wedding talk in the Hebrew 

  • Later in Exodus 19 is the SHOFAR - the sound of the Trumpet 

• They gather Under the Chuppah - the cloud at Mt. Sinai. Camped against the mountain.

• God presents the Ketubah - the Ten Commandments.

  • Here is how we thrive.

• Tabernacle is going to serve as the Honeymoon suite and the Law is Gods gifts to them. 

  • It makes it all the more tragic that when Moses is up on Mt. Sinai and the people become unfaithful and we have the Golden Calf incident. 

  • This is like a bride being unfaithful in the middle of the wedding ceremony.

• But God continues to move in covenant love. There are places like Ezekiel 16 that describe God’s heartbreak at this unfaithfulness.

  • But the picture is there over and over.

• The marriage of God and His people.

And then when Jesus arrives and on the eve of his betrayal and death. He says….

 “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” 

– John 14 v 2-4

Look at this detail Matthews account gives us…

“Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” 

 – Matthew 26 v 27-29

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”  This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church”

– Ephesians 5 v 31-32

How do we live as the Bride of Christ?

Why are we talking about this in Lent?

• Lent a time for us to examine our lives in light of Christ.

• We often think of only personal devotion. 

• But what about our relationships?

How are we living in our marriages? How are we living in our singleness? As the Bride of Christ?

As men, as women? Are we faithful to Christ and faithful to one another?

Are we living with what the Apostle Paul calls a sincere and pure devotion?

“When somebody belongs to the Messiah, they continue with their life on earth, but they have a secret life as well, a fresh gift from God, which becomes part of the hidden reality that will be ‘revealed’ at the last day. That is why, in those great scenes in Revelation there is a great, uncountable number of people standing around God’s throne in heaven, singing glad songs and shouting out their praises. This is the heavenly reality which corresponds to the (apparently) weak, feeble praises of the church on earth. And one day this heavenly reality will be revealed, revealed as the true partner of the lamb, now transformed, Cinderella-like, from slave-girl to bride.”

– NT WRIGHT

Enjoy Communion - there is clearly some ALREADY and NOT YET in the reality of God and his people.

Make Ourselves Ready 

• Let Christ wash us with water and with the Word

  • “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless”

    – Ephesians 5:25-27

• Consecrate ourselves

  • Where have we given ourselves to other gods, to other loves?

  • What else has your primary devotion, attention and affection?

Long for His Appearing - think about where we are the story

Bethany Allen - pastor and elder at Bridgetown in Portland about the bride:

• A term distinguished from wife—emphasizes being the center of one’s affection and love

• Intrinsically tethered to a counterpart: the groom and the groom brings these aspects of pursuit, promise, patience

• An anticipatory term connects to something that is about to happen or has just happened

• “At the core of a bride’s greatest and most defining act is waiting. This waiting has the power either to define her or to diminish her.” 

Waiting can either:

• Builds appetite v dulls senses

• Deepens love v. inflates fragility

• Reveals our deepest hope or illuminates our fears

“Singleness points us beyond earthly marriage (and earthly sex). And bears witness to a life beyond this one—to a heavenly life. It exhibits a high invitation to give oneself to God, who enables us to give oneself to others. Singles can offer a divine state of existence from which marrieds have a lot to learn.”

– Abbie Smith

If you are married in this church you have a chance to show us something of the faithfulness and delight of Christ.

• Let your marriage reflect the love of Jesus and His covenant love 

• Work on and protect your talking and listening 

• Make a covenant with your eyes - not to look on another 

• Remember what your marriage represents

---

February 25: 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 10 :25-37

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

---

Themes

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

•  The Good Samaritan

---

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

If your apartment is in the middle, how many of your neighbors do you know?

Lent: Historically, the season of Lent in the church year is a time of preparation, repentance, and renewal. We remember and mark Jesus’ time of fasting and temptation in the wilderness. We ask God to help remove our sin and anything that has entangled us or is keeping us from experiencing our union with Jesus.

Here are lent resources: https://trinitygracechurch.com/lent

Read the text and share what stands out to you about the encounter. 

In this text… A really important question:

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

The temporal state of our current context

Many of us are not thinking about Eternity. We are thinking about:

• How to get through today

• How to get through this week

• Our minds are caught up in a trend we won’t be able to remember this time next year
  
  

“On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’”

Luke is letting us know that this man is not just curious. He isn’t simply wanting to learn. He is testing Jesus. And he does so with a famous question of his time.

”He answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 

”To inherit eternal life, all he must do is to consistently practice unqualified love for God and his neighbor.” – Kenneth Bailey

It’s a huge question,  its the right answer and none of us can execute this perfectly. 

THE priest and the Levite - this should have been good news for our wounded Jewish traveler. 

Yet, both of them avoid this man. 

What do our needy neighbors think of our presence? 

• The man is naked and might be dead. If they are on their way to serve in the temple, they cannot come in contact with a dead body and being naked they cannot tell if this man is Jewish. So they aren’t sure what their obligation is to him 

• Basically they have really good reasons from experience why they cant help. And their reasons are connected to good religious conviction.

How easily do you find very legitimate, reasonable, and logical reasons not to show love to the most difficult/risky people to love?

• And everyone hearing the story knows who the next person was going to be. The parable has a set rabbinic formula.

• The priest, the Levite, the Jewish laymen. Jesus is going to make the hero a Jewish laymen.

• But then he doesn’t. He introduces the hated enemy - the Samaritan.

  There is so much risk and cost in what the Samaritan does. 

What do our needy neighbors think of our presence? 

What does the Samaritan do? 

• He saw him

• He had compassion

• He acted on his compassion and went to him

• He used his own oil and wine

• He went on a the dangers road on foot

• He brought him to safety

• He paid a high cost for his needs to be met

“Go and do likewise”

”Salvation is not some felicitous state to which we can lift ourselves by our own bootstraps after the contemplation of sufficiently good examples. It is an utterly new creation into which we are brought by our death in Jesus' death and our resurrection in his. It comes not out of our own efforts, however well-inspired or successfully pursued, but out of the shipwreck of all human effort whatsoever.”

– Robert Farrar Capon

American evangelicalism has shown us you can have a ornate systems of personal devotion, prayers, Bible readings, conferences, and NOT LOVE your neighbor.

We often measure our spiritual well-being in personal devotional terms but God keeps putting the emphasis on how we love.

• You cannot reach eternal life without the rescuing love of Jesus, and that is all

• Once changed by that love, we learn to love our neighbor who includes our enemy.

• The world is not moved by people who love the other people who like them and are like them.

  • The Kingdom of God looks like loving your enemy. At its heart is a man dying for his enemies 

Jesus is interested in how you love your neighbors, because how we love our neighbor is how we love Him. 

---

February 18: 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 25: 31-41

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

---

Themes

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

• Sheep and goats

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Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• How do we measure fruitfulness in our spirituality?

• What makes people seem more spiritually mature?

Lent: Historically, the season of Lent in the church year is a time of preparation, repentance, and renewal. We remember and mark Jesus’ time of fasting and temptation in the wilderness. We ask God to help remove our sin and anything that has entangled us or is keeping us from experiencing our union with Jesus.

Here are lent resources: https://trinitygracechurch.com/lent

In this text, we see:

• Do not be apathetic about the time

• You will be held accountable for what you have been given

• The measurement is how you treat your neighbor - how you love those in need

Criteria for righteousness:

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?”

– Matthew 25 v 37-39

Shocking Detail #1: The Righteous Don't Know They are Righteous

• This was contrary to what the Pharisees were saying equates to righteousness.

• “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’”
  – Matthew 25 v 37-39

  • What do current religious norms describe as characteristics of righteousness?
    

Shocking Detail #2: The King (The Son of Man) so identifies with these people in need that he says a kindness done to them is a kindness done to them.

• “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
  – Matthew 25 v 40

Shocking Detail #3: The Consequences of Not Caring for Those in Need is Extremely Drastic

• It was the same as denying, ignoring, and withholding help from Jesus

• The eternal fire is not prepared for people, but pride and lack of love makes it there place

• We have to wonder is this passage saying something different than many other parts of the New Testament?

• DEPART FROM ME - there is an echo of a phrase that isnt here but is in the chapter and several other places I NEVER KNEW YOU

• The hinge point is their sacrificial love and their pride or humility

THE DANGER FOR US

HOW TO BE A THEOLOGICALLY ACCURATE CHRISTIAN PHARISEE

• Using the atonement of Jesus to let myself off the hook for living a comfortable American life where I ignore my neighbor

• This is so close to what the Pharisees of Jesus day did with the Law of Moses

• We are covered by God's covenant so we worry about keeping ourselves clean and we despise others

IMPLICATIONS OF THIS STORY - prophetic picture

• Knowing Jesus must lead to loving like Jesus and loving Jesus through our neighbors

“It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.”

– C.S. LEWIS

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses.”

– C.S. LEWIS

Loving our neighbors is a primary way God has asked us to Love him.

“God identifies with our neighbor just so we can do for the neighbor what we cannot do for God, which is to love another with complete and total generosity. Moreover, it is precisely this recognition of how freely and generously we have been loved by God that inspires our free and generous love of neighbor.”

– Frederick Bauerschmidt

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January 28: 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: Genesis 1: 16-31

God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds:the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number;fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

---

Themes

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

• Vocation

---

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• Which of these do you resonate with? 

  Purpose of your vocation:

  • To provide resources for living 

  • To serve a larger personal purpose

  • To serve the world we live in

  • To have fun

  • To bolster personal identity

  • Any others…??

• Epiphany: Moment of great revelation. Particularly, as it relates to the church calendar, it is a realization of what life is like in light of the appearance of Jesus. 

• “The word vocation is a rich one, having to address the wholeness of life, the range of relationships and responsibilities. Work, yes, but also families, and neighbors, and citizenship, locally and globally—all of this and more is seen as vocation, that to which I am called as a human being, living my life before the face of God. It is never the same word as occupation, just as calling is never the same word as career. Sometimes, by grace, the words and the realities they represent do overlap, even significantly; sometimes, in the incompleteness of life in a fallen world, there is not much overlap at all.” – Steven Garber

• God, in creation, brings order out of chaos.

• The order is still abundant (TEEMING) - order doesn’t mean boring or stale, but there is thriving in FULL life 

• “God’s creative act brings forth not carefully regimented sets of creatures, but “swarms” of them…Anyone who has been near a swarm of honeybees, gone scuba diving among schools of fish or seen a wheeling flock of sparrows over a grain field at sunset knows how awesomely unpredictable a swarm can be. Other translations use the word teeming…another word for incalculable and inestimable abundance. The Creator is not seeking a world full of pets, individually domesticated animals bred to be attentive to their human masters. He delights in wildness. Swarming and teeming are part of what make the world good - the overflow and excess of life. All of this actually gives greater glory to God, who has breathed into existence the vast spaces of earth, sky and sea where these creatures can teem, than would a meticulously tended back yard. The Creator loves teeming.”  – ANDY CROUCH

• “28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”  – GENESIS 1

• God invites our participation in abundance and order creation 

• But the function is to join in the WORK of the world - THE VOCATION.

• Being made in the image of God means joining in with…. In making good of the world:

  ADAM and EVE were given good work to do, and this wasn’t just because sin came into the world 

  • Cultivation 

  • Exploration 

  • Bringing Order- naming the animals 

  • Some aspects of ruling or dominion 

• Doing meaningful things was part of creation before the fall

• “Human beings] “cultural mandate” - the call to rule, fill, and transform the earth - was established before the Fall and exists independently of our need for redemption. God clearly had an initial basic plan for the development of the newly created earth, which includes human beings cultural involvement.”  – David Bruce Hegeman

• Tim Mackie from The Bible Project summarizes this as…

  “To oversee creation as God's partners and representatives in the world"

• The categories in Genesis still work: 

  RULE - FILL - WORK - PRESERVE

• We are called to…

  JOIN WITH GOOD IN THE WORLD 

  TO PUSH BACK DARKNESS 

  TO BRING ORDER TO CHAOS

• “All day, every day, there are both the wounds and wonders at the very heart of life, if we have eyes to see. And seeing  - learning to know, to pay attention - is where vocations begin.” – Steven Garber

• Pay attention to God

  Pay attention to your Life

  Pay Attention to Your Community 

  • Pay attention to God - PRAYER

  • Pay attention to your Life - PRAYER, SILENCE, REFLECTION, THOUGHT, LEARNING, DEVELOPMENT - you are made in God’s image. 

  • Pay Attention to Your Community - Choose relationship, choose love

• RELATIONSHIP - REVELATION - RESPONSIBILITY

  • ARE THERE THINGS GOD HAS INVITED YOU TO CARE ABOUT?

  • IS THEIR DARKNESS YOU CAN PUSH BACK?

  • IS THEIR ORDER YOU CAN BRING TO CHAOS?

  • WHAT ARE YOU GIFTED WITH?

  • WHAT ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT?

  • WHAT CAN YOU ENDURE IN THAT PERHAPS HAN OTHERS?

  • WHERE CAN YOU FIGHT EVIL WITH THE WEAPONS OF THE SPIRIT?

    • HOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR LIFE MISSION?

---

January 14: 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 15: 1-5

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

---

Themes

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

• The Mystery of intimacy and fruitfulness

---

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• What are you most excited about for 2024?

• Where can I trust you more this year?

• One relationship I want to work on specifically this year is:

• Epiphany: Moment of great revelation. Particularly, as it relates to the church calendar, it is a realization of what life is like in light of the appearance of Jesus. 

• Genesis 12 Abraham has a significant moment. Mark sayers says of this moment:

  “I like to imagine Abraham, looking every bit the madman, staring out into the frightening void of the dark desert. Feeling a pull, a powerful tow toward a nameless, unseen God. Behind him, all the might of the city, the walls of the grain storehouses. From the towering pyramid shaped temple he can hear the drums, screams, and pagan chanting. In his gut, the doubt, the conflicting emotions, the fear that everything he has believed until now is wrong. The city represented safety, comfort, the known. In front of him, the desert representing death, darkness, mystery, and the unknown. Then the resolution, the determination, the trust, followed by the first step, away from the city, away from Ur. The first step of faith into the unknown, into the arms of God.” – MARK SAYERS

• Into the arms of God. The work of building a nation that will bless the world and bend the story towards redemption begins with conversation, friendship, the beginning of intimacy.

• David Was king over Israel and known for his intimacy with God. 

  We have so many amazing Psalms displaying this.

• The golden age King, whom all others would be compared to, was shaped and sustained by prayer.

• All these stories remind us that life is best lived beginning at Jesus’ feet. 

• Jesus’ example:

  At many points with people clamoring to life him up He slips away to pray.

  Those who saw him teach and work miracles and resist evil and show incredible courage in the face of power ASKED HIM TEACH US TO PRAY.

• Prayer: Talking and Listening to God. Then acting on those conversations. This is way we see over and over through the whole story.

• This happens in community, but we are not told to draft off others so much that we don’t have our own talking and listening to God. We are not called to a merely second hand faith. We must take up this invitation of friendship.

• On the fateful night before he was betrayed. He had to get them to see some things that would be essential in their lives and His Kingdom….

  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 

  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

  John 5 v 1-5

• Remain. Abide. Make a life in Christ’s love. Talk and listen.

  Jesus is the fulfillment of all the promise and he makes it as clear as can be.

• Intimacy leads to Fruitfulness

  Friendship invites Participation

• How would you describe your talking and listening relationship with God?

• The Relationship is the Reward

  What the poet King of Israel knew centuries ago. A man who had a Kingdom…

  He said THE LORD IS MY PORTION. 

  YOU FILL ME WITH JOY IN YOUR PRESENCE

• What ways can I take steps forward in talking and listening to Jesus? 

• Ways to join: 

  • Talk and listen to God every day

  • Wednesday Nights at the Office - 7:30pm

  • Pre-Service Prayer

  • Sunday Ministry Time 

  • Dedicated Prayer Times in Every Small Group

  • Groups taking retreats to pray together 

  • Resources and Teaching to Grow your personal prayer life - SECONDS COURSE

  • A Week of Unbroken Prayer May 13 - May 19 before Pentecost

---

January 7: 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 2: 1-12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magifrom the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

---

Themes

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

• Magi visits Jesus

---

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• What are you most excited about for 2024?

• Where can I trust you more this year?

• One relationship I want to work on specifically this year is:

  Epiphany: Moment of great revelation. Particularly, as it relates to the church calendar, it is a realization of what life is like in light of the appearance of Jesus. 

  The Magi show us worship as:

• An Ongoing Pursuit 

• Honoring with Presence 

• Offering Gifts

• Gold (a gift for a King) Frankincense (priestly worship offering) and Myrrh (an honoring fragrance with a prophetic edge to Jesus burial) 

• What is the impression you had of the Magi growing up?

  These Magi are very unexpected additions to this Jewish story. Israel’s Messiah. And here come these - sorcerer, magicians, soothsayers, star gazers from old Babylon. Persia.

  ​​The Magi

• An Ancient Priesthood of the Medes

• The Supreme Priestly Caste of the Persian Empire - grown up from old Babylon

• Prophet Daniel was given the Title of Chief Magi by  King Darius

• Matthew is letting his Jewish readers know right away that this Jesus’ impact will go beyond anything they could have imagined.

• You and I worship something. Look at what has your affection, devotion, attention, delight, your gifts 

• “Because here's something else that's true. In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing to worship… -is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things-if they are where you tap real meaning in life-then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already-it's been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up-front in daily consciousness. Worship power-you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart-you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on.”

  – DAVID FOSTER WALLACE

• HOW SHOULD WE LIVE IN LIGHT OF THIS JESUS BEING BORN?

  • Seek His Face 

  • Honor God with Your Presence 

  • Offer Your Gifts

• How could you endeavor to seek Gods face this year? 

• What Gifts is God asking you to use in his Kingdom’s advace? 

• This is really important to realize in our current context of immediacy: 

  • Your story has more than you can see - God is the storyteller

  • Your obedience can radiate out to generations

  • Prayer sustains the life of creative minority in God's Kingdom (see Daniel and Elijah)  

• We often measure our current moment only by immediate results

  • This undermines patience, perseverance, and faithfulness

• How you live today, in light of eternity, will impact generations ahead that you cannot imagine right now. 

• The way to connect our now with eternity is to remain connected to God in prayer. 

• What everyday, un-sensational things are you tempted to neglect, but know they have a compounding effect of your history and generations to come? 

• Here are some basic commitments that make a big difference: 

• How can you commit to pray for God’s kingdom in your life, NYC, and the world with us? 

• What smaller group participation could help you grow in community? 

• What Gifts can you bring in worship to God this year?

---

December 10: 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: Isaiah‬ ‭9‬:‭ 1-7

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation
    and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
    as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
    when dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
    you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
    the bar across their shoulders,
    the rod of their oppressor.
Every warrior’s boot used in battle
    and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
    will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
    there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice and righteousness
    from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

---

Themes

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

• Peace

---

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• ADVENT: Arrival

  Often regarding the arrival of a moment or a person. 

  In the church calendar, it refers to the arrival of Jesus. 

  Advent season is the season of waiting for the arrival of our Savior.  

• Advent is a season where we look at the darkness of the world, maybe even the darkness of our present lives or circumstances in the face and say HOPE IS STILL A PRESENT REALITY. 

• Peace: SHALOM - not just the absence of conflict but the presence of well-being and thriving.

  • How would others describe you if they were to say if you are a glass-half-full or half-empty person?

  • Do you think their perceptions are accurate? 

• Isaiah in this text, offers a prophetic poem into the tension of the day…

• And he sets it up by saying, you know the places that have already fallen, our neighbors who the Assyrians have already gobbled up. EVEN THEIR GOD’S STORY IS NOT FINISHED.

• In fact, they will be some of the first places to see God’s intervention and redemption

• “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations by the Way of the Sea beyond the Jordan” – Isaiah 9 v 1

• The prophet is giving them another way to see a story they think they know….

• Isaiah’s words to the people in this desperate time takes them back to moments in the past, it takes them forward to moments in the future and reminds them that what they see surrounding them is not everything….

• Alec Moyer, the revered Isaiah scholar, helps us…

  “As always, the people of God must decide what reading of their experiences they will live by. Are they to look at the darkness, the hopelessness, the dreams shattered and conclude that God has forgotten them? Or are they to recall his past mercies, to remember his present promises, and to make great affirmations of faith? 

  [The prophet] insists that hope is a present reality, part of the constitution of the ‘now’. The darkness is true but it is not the whole truth and certainly not the fundamental truth.”

  – J. Alec Motyer

• And so Isaiah is an advent prophet.

• HOPE - It is part of the constitution of NOW. The darkness is true, but it is not the whole truth and certainly not the fundamental truth.

• We might be in one particular valley or one particular mountain top but the prophet is helping us to see the whole range, the peaks stretching behind us and out in front of us, so we do not give in to the TYRANNY OF OUR PRESENT MOMENT, or THE URGENCY OF OUR PRESENT MOOD.

  • What do you do when experiencing the tyranny of the present mood? 

  • Are you able to see a reality beyond what you feel? 

  • On a scale from 0-10 how much do your current feelings dictate your life? 

• In This text we see 

  • PEACE IS A PERSON

  • THIS PERSON CAN BE KNOWN IN FULLNESS BY NAME

  • SHALOM IS A PASSION FOR GOD

• Isaiah gives them a poem about a baby on the eve of the battle to shake them awake

• What you're longing for cannot be accomplished this way. SOMETHING NEW MUST BE BORN IN THE WORLD

• PEACE is a person. 

  • It is not just an idea or a state of being. A person who has faced death and come back carries peace and offers into all of us in love 

• “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”  – Colossians 1 v 19-20

• LEARN THE NAMES OF GOD - WE CAN KNOW MESSIAH IN THIS FULLNESS

  • Wonderful Counselor - a God who can give us supernatural wisdom in our real life

  • Mighty God  - who is strong enough to keep promises even if they don’t track exactly long the lines of our expectations, moods, or circumstances

  • Everlasting Father - who loves us in the gracious covenant way of family and holds us in tender care

  • Prince of Peace - and who can make true of us what is true of him. Who can bring our lives and the world to Shalom.

• How do you find your practice of unburdening your heart to God? 

• Are you comfortable asking God to be powerful in areas where you are not able to effect change? 

• How convinced are you of the idea that God is always loving and will not change or let you down? 

• Do you believe God can settle areas of conflict where you have not been able to? 

• “Shalom is one of the richest words in the Bible. You can no more define it by looking up its meaning in the dictionary than you can define a person by his or her social security number. It gathers all aspects of wholeness that result from God’s will being completed in us. It is the work of God then that, when complete, releases streams of living water in us and pulsates with eternal life. Every time Jesus healed, forgave or called someone, we have a demonstration of shalom.” – Eugene Peterson

• Which aspect of the character of God and his names do you want him to show you? 

---

December 3: 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 Texts: Isaiah‬ ‭9‬:‭2

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

John‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬-‭5

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

---

Themes

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

• Hope

---

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• ADVENT: Arrival

  • Often regarding the arrival of a moment or a person. 

  • In the church calendar it refers to the arrival of Jesus. 

  • Advent season is the season of waiting for the arrival of our Savior.  

• Hope 

  • Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Hope: To trust in, wait for, look for, or desire something or someone; or to expect something beneficial in the future. 

• It is often said that the most repeated command in scripture is to not fear - a close second would be “remember”

• So much of Jewish scripture, especially the Psalms, is them reminding each other of the things that God has done and of the character of God. Psalm 136 retells the story of the Exodus and has the repeated refrain “His mercy endures forever”

• The feasts of the Jewish calendar were set for the purpose of remembering. 

• The story that we are invited to sit in and give remembrance to every Advent starts in a world where God is or at least appears to be silent.

• Starting our year in darkness, helps us to remember that the darkness comes before the light.  We get to remember not just the bright shiny moments of triumph but also the darkness that preceded those moments. 

• And it’s a helpful rhythm, because ultimately we are a people defined by waiting.  More than victories, more than triumphs, we are a people that waits in those in between spaces. 

• For the people of God, there’s a lot of waiting.

  • And then there’s us, the church, the bride of Christ.  We are waiting for our Bridegroom, for Jesus to return just as He said He would and for His Kingdom to come in its fullness.

• The relationship/intimacy between the bride and bridegroom:

  • “At its core lives hope: the anticipation of coming good based on the character or nature of another”

  • “At the core of a bride’s greatest and most defining act is waiting. This waiting has the power either to define her or to diminish her.” 

• As followers of Christ, we feel this intensely: the reality of a kingdom that has come, but is also coming.  Of a King and Savior who has come and is also coming. And we’re not just waiting for the world to become good and beautiful and kind, but waiting for ourselves to become good and beautiful and kind.

• Excerpt from TIRED by Langston Hughes

  • I am so tired of waiting,

    Aren’t you,

    For the world to become good

    And beautiful and kind?

• Fortunately for us, this hope is not dependent on our faithfulness, but is completely reliant on God’s.

• We can expect GOOD because of God’s ability to fulfill His promises

• In which areas of your life is hope running low right now? 

• But the waiting can become difficult.

• Waiting can either:

  • Builds appetite v. dulls senses

  • Deepens love v. inflates fragility

  • Reveals our deepest hope or illuminates our fears

• “How we wait and what we do with it, where we set our gaze and our hope in it will determine the type of intimacy and goodness we know as we wait.”

• It matters how you wait.

  • How do you respond in seasons where you are required to wait? 

  • What do you do in those seasons?

  • How do you feel in those seasons? 

  • How is your faith affected by waiting? 

• “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” – Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV

• And our advent hope is that on the other side of death is life.  You will feel like you are passing through the valley of the shadow of death, but our good shepherd who walks with us through the valley promises to transform it into a door of hope. He chooses to live inside of us by the Holy Spirit so that we can be formed more and more into his image and likeness until there is an unmistakable family resemblance. 

• Because of Jesus and by the Spirit, we also have become light:

  • “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” – ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• How do we wait with hope?

  • Hope is a discipline 

• Keep telling the story

• Gather

• Remember God’s character and goodness

• Fix your eyes on Him 

• Be honest in prayer 

• Pray for the coming kingdom and the coming King

---

November 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.

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 Texts: John 16:29 - 17:5

Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone.Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

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.

---

Themes

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

• Joy Complete – God wants your joy to be complete and Jesus is showing us the way.

---

Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• One of life's biggest questions - If God exists, what is God like?

• Sometimes is easier to believe God exists than to believe He is kind

• Dominant narrative of our time: Consumeristic, technologically driven individualism. 

  Creation narrative: God miraculously and lovingly creates and sustains

• When we immerse ourselves in the dominant narrative, we forget the creation story 

  • Then, a series of things happen: 

    • 1 - We forgo rootedness of the past – we self-invent 

    • 2 - We forgo hope in a faithful God for our future – self-rely 

    • 3 - Our present is filled with FRIGHTENED MEANNESS. 

• Where in your daily life do you experience this drive towards self invention/defining identity?

  Where do you see the encouragement and temptation towards self relying/self preserving? 

• Brueggeman: 

  “For it is only when the past is brimming with miracle and the future is inundated with fidelity that the present can be recharacterized as a place of neighborliness in which

  • Scarcity can be displaced by generosity

  • Anxiety can be displaced by confidence

  • Greed can be displaced by sharing

  • Brutality can be displaced by compassion and forgiveness.

  “Recovering the biblical text includes the daring persuasive conviction that God’s fidelity outlasts every circumstance.”

• The story you live in, is the story you live out

• How can we better immerse ourselves in the creation narrative? 

• What God is like is the catalyzing question of this whole conversation. 

  • “May they know you” is Jesus’ prayer at the end. 

• This text is less about a to-do list and more about how we can know God deeply. 

• Challenges in the conflicting narratives:

  • The dominant cultural narrative might be more prevalent in our lives than the true creation narrative 

  • We are trying to trust Jesus for that joy, but we reserve the right to define still what makes us happy.

  • We are not able to discern the timing and the perseverance required

• Which of these challenges do you struggle with most?

• Where in your life do you struggle with a lack of peace and joy? 

• Take some time to scan through chapter 14-16 of John 

  • Notice one or two things that Jesus says that reveal something about the Father that He wants the disciples to know. 

  • Share them with the group. 

  • Pray prayers of thanks and praise to God for who He is. 

• God’s Peace comes from a deep conviction that

  • My future is not in my hands

  • My God is kind and trustworthy and wants my true and lasting joy 

  • No obstacles I face here and now will have the last word

  • Jesus completed the work to restore the kingdom and invited us in

  • He leaves us with His very presence, the Spirit by whom we have access to the Father. 

---

November 12: 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 Texts: John 15: 18-16:11

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, but now I am going to him who sent me.None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with griefbecause I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

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Themes

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

• Joy Complete – God wants your joy to be complete and Jesus is showing us the way.

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Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• Jesus has been sitting with His friends on the even of going to the cross, pouring out His heart to them

• He warns them about the incredible resistance they will face. 

• There are systems and powers in the world that are bent against the things of God and the Kingdom of God - THE WORLD 

  • “the world hates you keep in mind that it hated me too”

• There is internal resistance in the disciples’ own lives that will entice them to fall away and will wrangle them in grief - THE FLESH 

  • “I am telling you this so that you will not fall away.”

• They will meet with outright spiritual resistance, accusation, deception, and temptation from a spiritual entity called here the ‘prince of this world.’ - THE DEVIL

• Even though these blend and overlap, try to: 

  • Name one system thats resists the kingdom of God in your life/world

  • Name one weakness of your flesh (internal to you) that resists the kingdom

  • Name one moment you thought there was specific spiritual resistance you encountered

• Whatever else is happening here - Jesus is being honest with His friends about the resistance they are going to face living as disciples.

  • About the pain and difficulty 

  • About the challenges

• Some important questions and facts to consider in light of this are:

  • Why is it hard to follow Jesus?

  • How we can be helped in the midst of this resistance?

  • Why it is worth it.

    • What do you find hard about following Jesus? 

    • Why do you think these things are so difficult? 

    • What helps you most in the hardships of following Jesus? 

    • What motivates you in the tough times? 

• FLESH may have good manners and even do nice things but its fundamental motivation and operation is the SELF.

  • The flesh is also craving, lust, violence, lost tempers, greed

  • It is trying to meet the deep needs of life and our soul without God

• WORLD that is opposed to the KINGDOM OF GOD

• SIGNS of THE KINGDOM : 

  • Salvation/Deliverance

  • Righteousness and Justice

  • Peace

  • Joy

  • God’s Presence 

  • Healing

  • Return from Exile

• SIGNS OF THE WORLD:

  • The self-made person - identity through achievement 

  • Accomplishment and wealth 

  • Victory 

  • Pleasure 

  • Self-sufficiency and power

  • Cost of doing business - degradation, disease, pollution  

  • Looking out for yourself and your group only

• How can we be helped in the midst of this resistance?

• A share in the Life of God through the Holy Spirit.

• Listen 

• “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—He will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.” – John 15 v 26-27

• No Matter how loudly it insists otherwise, the world cannot change that love is better than selfishness in bringing life and life to the full

• No Matter how loudly it insists otherwise, the world cannot change that violence is not the way to peace 

• No Matter how loudly it insists otherwise, the world cannot change greed and getting more and more doesn't satisfy the soul

• No Matter how loudly it insists otherwise, the world cannot change that power doesn’t make you secure 

• No Matter how loudly it insists otherwise, the world cannot change that indigence, lust or workaholism doesn’t bring joy 

• The Spirit will show the difference between sin and true life

• The Spirit will show there are spiritual realities we cannot change

• WHY IT IS WORTH IT? - to deal with this resistance

  • Our present is lived in friendship with Jesus - His spirit testifies with our spirit 

  • We can endure in the way of Jesus - die to the way of the world 

  • Our future is united with Jesus 

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November 5: 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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Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.

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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.

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Love

Teaching Texts: John 15: 9-17

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

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Themes

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

• Joy Complete – God wants your joy to be complete and Jesus is showing the way.

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Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• Read the text slowly and contemplatively, then share what stood out to you. 

  • What surprises you when you read this text?

  • How does this commandment compare to what you were taught is most important for faith? 

• There are 7 staggering things Jesus says to them.

  • YOU ARE LOVED - as the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you 

  • REMAIN IN MY LOVE

  • THIS REVELATION IS MEANT FOR JOY

  • YOU ARE MY FRIENDS - I am telling you what I am up to

  • I CHOSE YOU

  • YOU HAVE FRUIT TO BEAR

  • I WILL HELP YOU

• YOU ARE LOVED - as the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you 

  • “The Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit existing eternally as one divine essence shows us how God can be the love which no greater can be thought: an interpersonal love that comes from God and is directed toward God, fruitfully freed of all selfishness, eternally generative of still more love. The God who is not a “thing”, but an activity. The Father is the loving of the Son, and the Son is the returning of love to the Father, and from this mutuality of love the loving that is the Holy Spirit is breathed out.” – Frederick Bauerschmidt

• REMAIN IN MY LOVE

  • There are ways to live that make you forget God's love 

    • What ways do you live, that makes you forget God’s love? 

  • There are ways to live that keep you remaining in God's love 

    • In what ways can you live to remember gods love?

• THIS REVELATION IS MEANT FOR JOY

  • ‘I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” – John 15 v 11-12

  • How dows it feel that God’s intent with His commandments and direction is meant for our joy? 

• YOU ARE MY FRIENDS - I am telling you what I am up to

  • “You are My friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his Master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”  – John 15 v 14-15

  • We know He isn’t saying if you keep enough of My commands you can be My friends. 

    • He is saying WE ARE FRIENDS and a key way that is expressed in joining this way of LOVE!! - living this JESUS WAY

  • “The gift-like character of God's friendship with us helps us understand why Jesus was so unconcerned about the perils of befriending sinners and outcasts, so unconcerned about the 'contagion' of sin. The love that is God is present so perfectly, so abundantly in the person of Jesus that his goodness cannot be diminished by contact with fallible and failed human beings. Because God's love is not drawn to our goodness but creates our goodness, because it is active and not reactive, the Spirit can transform God's enemies into God's friends.” – Frederick Bauerschmidt

  • How does friendship with God adjust how you can go about your everyday relationships and responsibilities? 

• I CHOSE YOU

  • “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.” – John 15 v 16-17

  • How does being chosen affect your understanding of your identity? 

• YOU HAVE FRUIT TO BEAR

  • Fruit of the Spirit in your ever-forming character  - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control 

  • Fruit in your relationships - forgiveness and mercy and peace and generosity and creativity and love 

  • Fruit in the gospel - salvation, healing life and light, wholeness, freedom , JOY JOY JOY 

  • Is bearing fruit a burden for you or do you experience it naturally? 

• I WILL HELP YOU

  • “whatever you ask in My name the Father will give you. This is My command: Love each other.”  – John 15 v 16-17

  • JESUS’ WHOLE LIFE IS PRAYER…

  • “[JESUS’] whole life is a prayer because it is the expression in time of the eternal conversation of love that is the life of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the stillness of eternity, God the Father speaks the Son as His Word, and as the Son responds in love, the Spirit is breathed forth. Through friendship with Jesus in the Spirit, we have become part of that eternal dialogue of love.

    – Frederick Bauerschmidt

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