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
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 37-39What 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
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 28: In the Image of Our Creator | Why We Make Good Things for the Common Good
January 21: Being and Becoming the Light of the World | Considering Our Communal Vocation
January 14: The Mystery of Intimacy and Fruitfulness | Committing to a Year of Prayer
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?
January 7: Epiphany | Vision
December 17: Joy
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 10: Peace
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
December 3: Hope
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 26: Take Heart
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.
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:
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
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.
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: 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.
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.
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
