October 29: 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 Texts: John 15: 1-9

“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. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

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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. 

• “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 15 v 1-6

• The picture is unmistakeable.

  I am your source.

  Your life comes in connection to me

  There is no spiritual life outside of this union

  As my life and power flow in your life, you will produce fruit (the things of God will show up in your life)

  Remember what he just said about the Holy Spirit.

• THE LIFE OF GOD IN THE SOUL OF A PERSON

• You must live by this connection, by this union, by this friendship, by this trust.

  • Without it nothing of God’s Kingdom will come.

  • God is utterly determined to work through relationship

• What do you think and feel when you hear that God wants to prune you?

• What form do you think that pruning usually takes? 

• Gardener and Pruning

  • Often a vine will grow in too many directions, or begin growing inward in places, or at  times produce too many smaller, less vibrant grapes.

  • Don’t be surprised by this pruning, by this ongoing cleanining, nourishing, realigning, cutting away what is dead or dying so new life can

  • But it’s a cut to refocus, to direct from inwardness, to forgo smaller immature clusters so the rich full fruit of the vines potential can be produced.

• He prunes so it will be even more fruitful. This is a work of love.

• It is for the sake of love and flourishing

  • What has God pruned in your life? 

  • How did you respond to that pruning? 

  • What was the result of that pruning?

  • What is this fruit the pruning is supposed to produce?

• The signs of the Kingdom from Israel’s prophets….

  • Salvation/Deliverance

  • Righteousness and Justice

  • Peace

  • Joy

  • God’s Presence 

  • Healing

  • Return from Exile

• Character Fruit -  the best list for this is the fruit of the spirit….

  • “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”  – Galatians 5 v 22-23

• Relationship Fruit - forgiveness, hospitality, peacemaking, justice doing, generosity 

• Spiritual Fruit - salvation, obedience, the fruit of repentance, healing, God’s presence 

• “Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are halfhearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” – C.S. LEWIS - The Weight of Glory

• ABIDE: 

  • How do you grow your friendship with God?

  • Abide everyday - it is the most important opportunity available to you.

  • God loves to be in union with you

  • God longs for the fruit of abundant life to grow in your life

  • Pruning is part of that

  • Abiding is how we nurture that healthy connection

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October 22: 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 Texts: John 14: 15-31

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubledand do not be afraid.

“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

“Come now; let us leave.

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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:

• What kind of peace does the world offer us? 

• What shape does it take? 

  • Peace when you win 

  • Peace when you are on top

  • Peace when you have crushed the other into submission 

  • Peace when your circumstances all take a turn for the better

• What about God’s peace? 

• In first-century Israel, among the Jewish men and women there was a compelling question…

  WHAT WILL THE WORLD BE LIKE? when Messiah arrives. 

  They had expectations:

  • Rome will be pushed back

  • We will step into our promise and our place

  • There will be victory and peace and self-determination 

• Jesus shows up and begins making these Messiah claims, sometimes quite obscurely, but He keeps asking now that Messiah has arrived – WHAT WILL YOU BE LIKE?

• Many are asking what will the world be like when God sends the Messiah (Jesus’ disciples among them - there’s an obsession with this certain groups of American Christianity even now) 

• God is asking what will you be like now that I’ve sent the Messiah?

• We ask what will the world be like when God shows up?

• God asks What will you be like when God shows up?

  BECAUSE YOU WILL MAKE THE WORLD

• God says “I already made the world, what will you make the world?”

• One of the ways you bear the image of God is the ability to make worlds - to make spaces what they are, to make times what they are, to fill up voids with creation, where there is nothing, to make something, where there is something to to take that and make something out of it.

  • Your interior life

  • Your actual habits

  • Your apartment 

  • Your family 

• THERE ARE PLACES YOU HAVE DOMINION IN THE WORLD. WHAT WILL YOU BE LIKE?

• AGAIN THE CONTEXT IS JESUS’ LAST EXTENDED HOURS TALKING WITH HIS FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS WHO WILL CARRY THIS MOVEMENT FORWARD

  The last time he will teach them before going to the Cross. Often called the farewell discourse.

• IF YOU LOVE ME → KEEP MY COMMANDS

• How do you feel hearing these words? 

• How does your heart respond to such a statement? 

• This is pretty hard for us on first blush.

• We do not want to think at first of our love relationships being contingent on keeping commands.

  But we cannot flip it around. We know from the whole story He isn’t saying, IF YOU DON’T KEEP MY COMMANDS I WONT LOVE YOU.

• We have so many examples of Jesus showing love even to those who had no interest in hearing or doing what He said.

• JESUS SAYS IF YOU LOVE ME…

  • It is not simply feeling nice feelings towards me (though our affections matter) 

  • It is not gathering weekly to sing songs (though worship matters), 

  • It is living the life I have shown you and given you.

• JESUS IS SAYING IF YOU LOVE ME, TRUST MY LOVE ENOUGH TO FOLLOW MY WAY OF LIFE

• SO THEN ALSO A SUPER IMPORTANT QUESTION IS - What does Jesus command?

• The best summary is in Matthew 22:

  Love the Lord with all you heart soul mind and strength

  Love your neighbor as yourself

• HOW?

  • Live in conversation with me

  • Live by the Holy Spirit

• THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• Read John 14

  • “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” – John 14 v 25-27

• What does the Spirit do? 

• How can this encourage you today? 

• “All the main themes of the gospel so far are now revealed for what they are: truths about the inner life of the father and son, truths which turn to fire and love and invite us to warm ourselves within their inmost circle.” – NT WRIGHT

• Judas asked a key question: 

  • “Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” – John 14 v 22

• Jesus answers: 

  • “Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”  – John 14 v 23-24

• This stretches back to the first motivations of creation and the last hopes of redemption 

  • THAT GOD WOULD MAKE HIS HOME WITH US

• God’s peace

  • Peace that can hold up when you have just been betrayed, when you are being denied, when you are falsely accused

  • Peace that might be able to pass through death and return 

  • Peace that is beyond human understanding 

  • Peace that is like the shalom of being united to the inner life of God and radiant love that is at the center of the Trinity.

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October 15: 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 Texts: John 14: 1-14

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 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.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority.Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

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Themes

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

• Joy Complete

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Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• God wants your joy to be complete and Jesus is showing us The Way.

• What do you think about Jesus’ conversation with His friends at the end of His life? 

• What do you notice about what Jesus gives His attention to? 

• What surprises you? 

• “You don’t have to let your heart be troubled.”

• For many of us this is the real crucible of belief

• How can I deal with the swirling agonies of my own heart?

• How can I hold on to concrete hope in a world that throws pain in my face everyday?

• How can I know my days are filled with meaning and love?

• How can I speak of one way to life or God in a pluralistic world?

• DO NOT LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED

• I am, in fact, very grateful that we don just see Jesus in one emotional state throughout His life.

  • He gets angry and flips over tables 

  • He cries

  • His spirit is deeply troubled at times (these hours show us this)

  • He keeps a party going long into the night 

  • He has deep joy and gladness

• So what is He saying to His friends (the disciples) here?

  • I don’t think He is saying never feel emotional turmoil in a broken world. 

  • I THINK HE IS SAYING – DON’T LET YOUR HEARTS MAKE TROUBLE THEIR HOME

    • Don’t stay there til you sink 

    • Don’t forget hope 

    • Don’t become defined only by your pain or the pain of the world

• WHY NOT?

• UNION WITH ME…

  • YOUR PLACE IS SECURE

  • THERE IS SO MUCH GOOD FOR YOU TO JOIN IN 

• Remember, Jesus is on the way to the Cross. 

  • In just a few hours he is going to be arrested in the garden where he loved to pray 

  • His friends are going to scatter 

  • He will go through a trumped up trial, a brutal humiliating beating, and torturous death 

• And He chooses to do this with His time. 

• He moves to comfort them.

• You an learn a lot by questions one asks. 

• What questions do you have for God right now? 

• What longings, hopes, hurts, etc. do those questions point to?

• Jesus response: 

  • First, YOUR PLACE IS SECURE…

    “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 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.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” – John 14 v 1-7

• Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 

• The disciples are often trying to help Jesus make more sense …. But Jesus says I AM THE WAY

• I am not giving you a disembodied religious pathway to walk and I’ll meet you at the end of your life in heaven.

  HE IS SAYING THE WAY IS RELATIONSHIP WITH ME

• How is your peace in turmoil? 

• How is your walk/closeness and understanding of Jesus your friend? 

• GOD SAYS I WANT TO LIVE WITH YOU and your worst failures. I am there to say Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing 

  THE KEY TO THE IMPOSSIBLE IS THIS FRIENDSHIP WITH JESUS.

• BUT ALSO YOU ARE GOING TO DO THE JESUS STUFF

  • “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”  – John 14 v 12-14

• You will do what Jesus does

• You will do even greater things

• This will be sustained and supported in prayer - talking friendship 

• Jesus’ invitation to His friends in the midst of turmoil is a place of peace (connected to Him) and a mission of love to be used in the midst of the chaos. Sometimes in spite of your chaos. 

• “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask Me for anything in My Name, and I will do it.” 

• What does it mean to pray in the name of Jesus? 

• What does this mean for us?

• Where do you need Him to meet you with peace? 

• Where can you be a Kingdom influence in your world?

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October 8: 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 Texts: John 13: 18-38

“I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’

“I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”

His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant.One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”

Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

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Themes

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

• Joy Complete

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Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• God wants your joy to be complete and Jesus is showing us The Way.

• In John 13, Jesus is eating in the room with His friends. 

  For 3 years, Jesus has walked with these friends. He called them to join Him out of their lives, to join in the Kingdom of God coming on earth as it is in heaven.

• Now Jesus is saying one of them is going to betray Him.

• Think about what Jesus is facing here.

  • Betrayal from a close friend 

  • He is very troubled in spirit 

  • It was night - He knows what the night holds

  • Failure of His comforters - you will deny me 3 times

• “It was night” is an amazing detail just dropped in there. 

  Recall the dark night of the soul moments of your life. 

  • Recall a moment of were you betrayed? Or,

  • When were you extremely troubled in your spirit? 

• We don’t have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weakness. We have One who has been through what we have been through.

  • That hospital waiting room

  • That night of anxiety 

  • That break-up

  • The stress of ‘will the money come through’ 

  • Feeling alone when you thought you were loved 

  • Not knowing how on earth you will ever feel better

  • Jealous, betrayed, unfulfilled, whatever it is.

• “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned r against me.’ “I am telling you now before it happens so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. – John 13: 18-19

• These moments will happen. 

• When we hear I am who I am - memory bells should be ringing.

• The Exodus accounts of God revealing Himself

• Yahweh, who made the bush burn

  Yahweh, who confronted each of Egypt gods with powerful plagues 

  Yahweh, who parted the Red Sea

  Yahweh, who shook the mountain 

  Yahweh, who knew Moses could only stand to see his shoulder blade

  I AM WHO I AM 

• We need a God powerful enough to shake the mountain and split the sea. 

  But just as much we need a God who can sit with us in pain.

  We need a God of fire and a God of unseen tears

  Jesus shows us we have both!

  • Recall a moment God showed up in a time of need. 

• “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” – John 13: 34-35

  • How does this differ from the hallmark of the Jesus people in our day and context? 

• We are called to undoing the pain and hostility of these conflicted moments in our lives by responding in love. 

• Do you care for the purity of your own heart and life and not the condition of others? 

• Do you care about your own joy but not the other? 

• The path to my joy is the way of love for others. 

  • Whatever you have been through, Jesus has been there and is with you

  • You can follow in His way of love then.

• Jesus’ vision for healing the world is love

  By this, they will know you are My disciples 

  Follow Me in the way of love

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October 1: 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 13: 1-17

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

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Themes

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

• Joy Complete

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Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• God wants your joy to be complete and Jesus is showing us The Way

  • Look at how Jesus understands His identity

  • “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. “ – John 13 v 3-5

• He takes up the job reserved for the lowest servant 

• He moves to the humble place. He takes the job no one wants to do.

• He washes the real-life grime out from between the toes of His friends.

  • What are some irrefutable truths of your identity?

  • How could understanding our identity affect how we respond to those we love? Or those we are called to serve? Or even our enemies? 

• Later in these upcoming hours, He is going to say multiple times I want you to have My Joy. I want your joy to be complete.

• One of the secrets of Joy that God knows and we are invited to learn is that power is for service, the truly happy life is one of service and love …

  • What are the paths to joy that you recognize the world around you offers?

• Jesus is showing us the shocking truth of how God uses power. To serve.

• “He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

  Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

  “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

  Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

  “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

  Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.” – John 13 v 6-11

• Peter shows us a bunch of reasonable responses that all miss the Kingdom of God

  • You are the King, you shouldn’t wash my feet - Peter is seen several times trying to talk Jesus out of taking the low road of humility 

  • I am not worthy of this act - it is easy for us to let our sins and failures swell so we imagine them larger than God’s mercy 

  • OK fine but the rest of of me also needs this - we struggle to receive. We struggle to believe that God can make us clean without us directing the process.

    • thank you for you sentiment, let me show you how to fix me

• We want to control God and how God is seen 

• We want to control our lives and how we are seen 

• We imagine our current mood or feeling is the truest thing about us 

  • What are some reasonable responses you can recognize in your life that also might miss what God intends in His kingdom? 

  • What areas do you desire to control how you are perceived? 

  • What areas do you try to control how God is perceived?

• “When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.  “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” – John 13 v 12-17

• But we aren’t blessed if we understand that concept.

  We are blessed if we do this.

• Our world says power is having the upward mobility to never have to do the inconvenient things, thats the dream 

• God is showing us when you are truly secure and full of love you can serve others.

• To be like Jesus is to grow in the ease and spontaneity with which we do the little, annoying, messy things, the things we always secretly hope someone else will do so we won’t have to waste our time, to demean ourselves.

• It is a pattern we can follow - it shows us the way of Love

• Learn the mysterious God-type Joy of love expressed in service

  • The world’s vision of power is so much more alluring in the surface, but once you get into it, you realize it is empty 

• The apostle Paul shows us the pattern in his letter to the Philippians

  • “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 

    In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

    Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 

    rather, He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 

    And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! 

    Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the Name that is above every name, 

    that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 

    and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” – Philippians 2 v 3-11

• Jesus trusted His identity and future to the Father so He was able to take the nature of a servant

  And God exalted Him 

• Can you trust God that way?

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June 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 Texts: 1 Peter 2: 4-6

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by Godand precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
    a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
    will never be put to shame.”

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Themes

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

• Spirit-empowered

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Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• Think of a conversation that you had that changed your life. 

• Share this with your group. 

• John 3: 1-8

• This is a pivotal conversation for how we understand salvation

  • Being united to God through Jesus 

  • Being forgiven for our sins - anything that would separate us 

  • Being filled with the life of God 

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

• We are to be Little Christs built together into a spiritual house.

• What is this spiritual house like?

  • A house of peace

  • A house of priests 

  • A house of gifts

  • A house of compassion

  • A house of presence

• A house of peace - God has given His life - the living stone - rejected by men and chosen by God to bring us to a place of peace (Ephesians 2 v 12-18)

  • So the question is, are we living that experience of PEACE WITH GOD which is your spiritual inheritance? 

  • Is there a disconnect between your positional  peace, received through Jesus, and the experiential peace in your life? 

• A house of priests

  • You are being built into a spiritual house; to be a holy priesthood

  • What do priests do? 

    • Help people remember and connect with the presence of God.

    • Hears confession - to be those who really listen to those around us

      • Really, listening seems to be something of a lost art in the internet age

      • To be those who can receive and enter into other people’s stories

    • Communicates mercy

      • To say there is forgiveness available

      • To say the heart of Christianity is a man dying for His enemies

    • Intercession

      • To be those who pray fervently for the needs of those around us

      • Who stands in the gap

    • Speaking God’s Word

      • Encouraging and building each other up

      • Remembering that God’s words and promises will not fail

• A house of gifts

  • We are given a picture in the New Testament of a people equipped to love in the way of Jesus by the power and gifting of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12 v 4-13)

• A house of compassion (Romans 12 v 9-18)

  • How do you react when someone gets a win in their life?

  • How do you feel when you see the pain of another?

  • Jesus was moved by compassion - it stirred Him at the center of His being 

• A house of presence

  • There is a beautiful picture in 1 Corinthians 14

  • When people are living as a house of peace, walking in their gifts, moved by compassion.

  • When people are speaking God’s words - as the priesthood of all believers

  • Someone would come in from the outside and say – SURELY GOD IS AMONG YOU

• What parts of a spiritual house do you feel is not as it is intended to be in your life?

• Do you need peace with God?

• Do you long for the distinguishing part of your life to be that God is with you? 

• Do you need to know or begin to live in your Spiritual Gifts?

---

June 11: 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: Genesis 1: 1-5

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Genesis 2: 1-25

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground,but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
    for she was taken out of man.”

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

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Themes

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

• Spirit-empowered Work

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Formation 

Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:

• Describe the best day you have had at work in the last month. 

• What word would you use to describe how you feel about your job?

• “How can anyone remain interested in a religion which seems to have no concern with nine-tenths of his life?” – Dorothy Sayers

• Your work matters

  • It is not at all that God mostly cares about when you pray or read the Scriptures or attend small group or serve in some obviously charitable way. 

  • God cares deeply about what you do with your energy, and creativity, and time. What you make with your hands or dream up with you mind or lead with your heart 

  • It is no small thing that in Jesus the Word become Flesh and dwelt among us and half His life worked as a carpenter or stone mason in relative obscurity.

• Your journey through life going to present you with some really important questions.

• Potentially none bigger than these three:

  • What will you worship?

  • Who will you love?

  • What will you make? Or do with your time?

• “Tell me, what is it you plan to do

  with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver

• In Genesis, God shows up on the scene bringing order out of chaos, then we see God pushing back the darkness by the Spirit

• This is part of your calling as well. 

  • And it’s true if you are working your dream job in a fully resonant sense of vocation 

  • Or you are doing work you despise at the moment - waiting for something else 

  • Or anything in between 

• God invites you, God created you to join in 

  • Bringing order out of chaos and pushing back the darkness 

• The Genesis text say there was work to do:

  • Cultivation 

  • Exploration 

  • Bringing order - naming the animals 

  • Some aspects of ruling or dominion 

• “[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

• “Humans are called to work the earth in order to uncover the rich potentialities “hidden” as it were, beneath the earths surface. On the most basic, agricultural level, mankind cuts into the earth and sows seed, which grows up into plants, which, when carefully tended, yield fruit in the appointed seasons. Dig deeper and the earth will yield still more riches; precious stones and gold; ore which can be melted to make metals; and basic chemical raw materials which can be synthesized into pigments and dies for artwork, fertilizers to increase crop yields, or rocket fuel to explore God’s vast universe. Other parts of the creation can be transformed as well. Wood can be fashioned into flutes for the praise of God or timbers for buildings, stones can be dressed and fitted into walls etc.” – David Bruce Hegeman, Plowing in Hope

• RULE - FILL - WORK - PRESERVE

  • Rule - have dominion, bring order, make peace, organize for thriving, this isn’t about using power to manipulate

    • Recovered dominion is a big part of what Jesus has done for us in the Gospel

  • Fill - Be fruitful. This call is for the us as a people but also to fill the world with songs and homes and meals and enterprises for good and on and on 

  • Work - make, create, innovate, clean, repair, edit, build, teach, dream, write

    • Build a cabinet, repair an eye, make as latte, craft a lesson plan, make a pitch deck

    • Comfort a mother in labor, coach a team, make something beautiful

    • Sweep a floor, sell a house, argue a case, set a menu 

    • We are made to work

  • Preserve - protect, guard, recycle, tend, manage resources with love

• God has accomplished creation.

• Jesus has accomplished our salvation.

• “Now that you dont have to be perfect , you can be good.”  – John Steinbeck, East of Eden 

• Where can you bring order to chaos? 

  • Think small

  • Think medium 

  • Think big 

• Where can you push back darkness?

  • Give vision, give light, give hope

• Glorify God - represent God in true ways (even if incomplete)

  • RULE - FILL - WORK - PRESERVE

• Here are some questions:

  • What is wrong? Confront and stop

  • What is missing? Create and catalyze.

    • Changes what is possible in a place.

  • What is good? Celebrate and cultivate

    • Enjoy. Share. Spend. Watch. Reward.

  • What is confusing? Clarify and compel.

• “It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us. No statement says all that could be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the church’s mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything. This is what we are about: We plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for God’s grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.”  – Oscar Romero, priest in El Salvador

• Pray over our endeavors

  • Work challenges Confusion or Opportunities 

  • Pray for each other

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June 4: 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: Acts 2: 42-47

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 numberdaily those who were being saved.

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Themes

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

• Pentecost

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Formation 

For group discussion:

• Which forces shape your life the most in your present moment? 

• What do you think changes in someone's life when they become a follower of Jesus?
  

For reflection:

• What do you do the day after your life changes?

• Our life often changes in two ways.

  • Breakthroughs and habits

• Significant moments like:

  • We meet God in Salvation

  • We experience a shame freeing experience of love or forgiveness

  • God shows us how seen and known and loved we are

  • You have a new insight into God's character

  • You come to the absolute end of a thought or behavior thats been sapping your life and you cry our for help and God meets you

  • Maybe the Spirit leads you to a new place of surrender of obedience

• And now you have to decide how you are going to live - especially after the adrenaline or emotion or immediate challenge has passed.

• How will you shape your time?

• What will fill up your thinking?

• What will relationships look like?

• How will you do mornings?

• What will the rhythms of you week be?

• What will be non-negotiable a part of your life?

• A way to ask this is what you will be devoted to?

• What changes in me can be put into three categories:

  • Identity: WHO YOU ARE - known, loved, forgiven, adopted in the family of God, filled with the Spirit, qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints

  • Desires: WHAT YOU WANT - God’s Word, God’s presence, Expressions of the Kingdom of God, people to experience God’s love, to use my gifts and talents to reflect God and do good, to lift others up, etc

  • Rhythms: HOW YOU LIVE - how I spend my time, my energy, my attention, my money, how my actual days go, what my habits are

• But it’s not just automatic:

  • ​​What if you have a moment or season of forgetting or losing who you are?

  • What if your desires are primarily shaped by our moment in American culture, advertisements, social media, or just selfishness?

  • What if your life doesn’t match who you say you are or what you want most?

• This passage at the end of Acts 2 is an incredible guide….

  • Their lives changed in a radical moment

• What were they devoted to?

• We are told of 4 things they were devoted to the Rhythm of their life.

  • The Apostle’s Teaching

  • Fellowship 

  • Breaking of Bread

  • Prayer

• Apostles teaching – instead of just being shaped by their wider culture they were forms by God’s Word to the 

• The Fellowship – instead of remaining isolated and going it on their own or using the world’s criteria for evaluation, they joined in this new shared life.

• Breaking of bread – In being devoted to the meal, they were devoted to keeping Jesus and the message of the Gospel at the center of their shared lives.

• Prayer – as you learn to pray, you will learn to enjoy God

  • Start praying in the simplest ways.

    • Begin and end your day 

    • Make spaces where you pray 

    • Practice venting as you go

    • Normalize praying together 

    • Don’t despise small beginnings

    • Prayer changes lives

• “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

• The most incredible things flow out of a life of devotion to the things of the Holy Spirit

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