June 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.
Love
Teaching Text: Ephesians 5:8-20
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the lightbecomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
Pentecost
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
The phrasing of this passage we read today can run past your ears and you might change it without noticing because it is not exactly what you expect.
When it can easily make it say something different from what it actually says because its close to what you would expect it it say but it then its not.
The passage does not say, “You were living in darkness, now you are living in light.”
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light
– Ephesians 5:8
We think it’s going to say you were living in darkness, but it says you were darkness.
We think it’s going to say you are now living in the light, but it says you are light.
Live as children of light.
This letter that was first directed to a city church in a bustling crossroads, cross cultural, pluralistic city was also passed around to other cities.
It was written to people who were trying to understand and to live the staggering change that Jesus was bringing into people's lives.
Pattern of the letter
Here is who you are. Now here is how you live.
You were once this. You are now this.
The chapter begins:
Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
– Ephesians 5:1–2
You were darkness, You are light.
Your life once made it harder to discern reality, to grasp what is really there.
You weren’t just living in a dark place, you were contributing to it.
You may have had no nefarious intentions and you weren’t setting out to harm, but the self disconnected from God is confusion.
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.
– Ephesians 5:6–7
“‘God’s wrath’, in fact, isn’t just a punishment waiting for people at the end of the present age. It isn’t an arbitrary thing whereby God makes up some rules to stop people enjoying themselves and then threatens to get angry with them if they go ahead anyway. God’s wrath is built in to creation itself. There are certain ways of behaving which are so out of line with the way God made the world, and humans in particular, that they bring their own nemesis.”
– NT Wright
He is saying there are spiritual laws that are just as real and consequential as physical laws.
To live apart from God is like trying to ignore gravity.
It’s like pretending you don’t need water to live.
It’s like having no regard for how you feed yourself.
You may have moments or days where you get away with it, but the trouble is built in.
It carries its own consequence.
Sin is a flight from reality.
Light is visible and makes things visible - live in a way that accords with the truest truth of reality
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)
– Ephesians 5:8–9
There is a way of life that produces anxiety, loneliness, disconnection, frantic search with no light, anxiety, even death.
And there is a way of life that accords with God’s love and light. It’s not a trouble free life, but it does produce certain fruit … (the three mentioned here are … )
Goodness - character growth
Righteousness - actions of justice and shalom
Truth - a lived expression of actual reality
But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
– Ephesians 5:12–14
HOW?
“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. “
– Ephesians 5:15–20
Recognize the gift of every day (and every moment)
Be filled with the Spirit (and not the substitutes and short cuts)
Soak your life in gratitude and worship.
In a world of scarcity overflow.
In a world of fear, live connected to your courage
In a world where selfishness is expected, shock with kindness
In a world of alone, be together
In a world of lies that shroud in darkness, be light.
June 15: First Sunday after Pentecost
June 8: Pentecost
June 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.
Love
Teaching Text: Acts 2: 1-24
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead,freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
Pentecost
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
What is life?
An unchosen gift where we find ourselves experiencing existence and possibility in a relational world.
Unchosen - your life is something you received, not something you began
Existence - your awareness of being alive comes with certain natural and spiritual laws outside of your control.
Possibility - inside of your existence you have many meaningful choices to make
Relational - Human life cannot begin or survive alone. It can barely be sustained alone at any time. Life thrives most in relationship.
World - The physical/natural world is full of immense beauty and danger and so is the world made by human cultures.
A Relational framework:
God - Self - Others - World
Impacts: Identity, Relationships, Physicality, Emotions, Community, Culture, Resources, Work, Power
What if God wants to be known?
What if God wants to heal and restore all that was lost in our disconnection?
What if God wants the renewal of all things?
How?
The gradual and love soaked disclosure of a God who is FATHER, SON, HOLY SPIRIT
Father - YHWH
Working in covenant for repair and renewal
Hints at other members of Trinity
God defines reality
Son - Promised Messiah + Kingdom Bringer
Lamb who takes away the sin of the world
“I have called you friends”
Life, Death, Resurrection
Holy Spirit - makes people alive spiritually by uniting them to Jesus
Our experience of friendship with God
Filling and leading a redeemed life
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly”
– Acts 2: 1-2
This day has been coming for centuries.
The unifying translator - our primary problem is relational brokeness at the places of most importance
Making sense of the impossible
The Spirit who brought order our of chaos in creation does so again
Are these people drunk? What is happening?
The Spirit helps locate them in the story of the ancient promises. This is happening NOW!
The Spirit lifts up Jesus.
The Spirit translates God’s rescue to our hearts.
Cut to the Heart - gets to the very center and nature of reality and our lives
Repent and be baptized - reorient your entire lie around this new reality and be immersed into relationship with God
Be clean and be filled
This is your invitation
Be cut to the heart - the center of things
Come ready to surrender to love
Be clean and be filled
May 25: Wise & Foolish Builders
May 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: Luke 10: 25–37
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
The Parables of Jesus
Good Samaritan
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
We ask some big question in life and we ask some big questions of God:
Among all that’s important, what is the most important?
What matters most to God?
What should matter most to us?
In this story:
This lawyer asks Jesus what must I do to inherit eternal life?
It was actually a pretty common theme of question put to Rabbis - How can I be sure that I will have a share in the age to come?
That’s actually an important question at any time even if we may prefer to keep in out of our minds…
Kenneth Bailey who is an absolute Maestro on the Parables of Jesus - has a book called Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes and it’s a classic
Not every parable has all 4 levels, but many do and this one does.
Compelling Story
Instructive Example
Revelation of the Secrets of the Kingdom of God
Hints at the Nature of Jesus
Entertainment
Ethics
Theology
Christology
Jesus shocks them by making the despised enemy, the hero of this story.
The man is not recognizable - the two ways you could tell who someone was and where they were from was their clothes and their speech.
This guy is unconscious (that’s what half dead means here) and stripped.
These first two men cannot touch him without risking breaking the law
3 Groups served in the temple in Jerusalem…
Priests
Levites
The Delegation is Israel - laymen
Jesus has had a priest and a levite come by, so He is going to make the hero of His story a Jewish laymen.
He shocks them
He makes a despised enemy the hero - a Samaritan
The despised Samaritan makes up for the failures of the priest and the Levite and shows compassion at great personal cost.
He risks his safety, he gives his time, he gives his money.
Ethics - Here’s the shock of the story to the man …
Your neighbor includes your enemy - that is the widest possible reach
A fundamentalist is most worries about their own heart not the heart of the other
God does not see insider and outsider the way we do
He loves the world
Jesus says I can tell you the whole law while you stand on one foot.
It’s love.
Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength
And love your neighbor as yourself
Many of us have seen American expressions of faith that you can have a ornate systems of personal devotion, prayers, Bible readings, conferences, and not love your neighbor
We often measure our spiritual well-being in personal devotional terms, but God keeps putting the emphasis on how we love.
You can do a ton of religious activity and never confront the real Jesus here or never let Him confront you.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
– Matthew 7: 21
“For if the world could have been saved by providing good examples to which we could respond with appropriately good works, it would have been saved an hour and twenty minutes after Moses came down from Mt. Sinai.
Salvation is not some felicitous state to which we can lift ourselves by our own bootstraps after the contemplation of sufficiently good examples. It is an utterly new creation into which we are brought by our death in Jesus' death and our resurrection in his. It comes not out of our own efforts, however well-inspired or successfully pursued, but out of the shipwreck of all human effort whatsoever.”
– Robert Farrar Capon
You cannot reach eternal life (now or forever) without the rescuing love of Jesus, and that is all.
Once changed by that love we learn (with Jesus) to love our neighbor who includes our enemy.
The world is not renewed by people who only love the other people who like them and are like them.
The Kingdom of God looks like loving your enemy. At its heart is a man dying for his enemies
May 18: Good Samaritan
May 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: Luke 15
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
The Parables of Jesus
The Lost Coin, Sheep, and Son
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
In Luke 15, Jesus tells 3 stories of lostness and being found.
We will look at the the why of the stories and what those together tell us about reality
The Why is found in the first verse of Luke 15 …
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable
– Luke 15: 1-3
Question from the pharasees and teachers: “Why do you welcome sinners and eat with them?” (2 big offenses)
And Jesus as a true Middle Eastern rabbi doesn’t simply being a conceptual debate with them. He tells 3 stories:
STORY 1 | THE LOST SHEEP
Jesus is saying, you are shepherds who have lost the sheep
And now you are witnessing the cost of bringing them back and you resist.
There is a tremendous cost to go after this lost sheep and then to find it, place its 70 -100 lbs on your back and make the long arduous trek back.
But the now good shepherd rejoices, and celebrates with his community.
STORY 2 | THE LOST COIN
Luke does a particular work at highlighting a powerful and unique aspect of Jesus’ ministry for His time.
In that He does just tell stories that address the world of men and mens’ cultural expectations, but the world of women as well.
The woman here has been entrusted and is responsibly for the resources for her home.
A coin is lost and she will search diligently and not give up until it is found.
The sheep would not simply return on its own and the coin certainly is not simply going be found on its own.
The coin can show no initiative whatsoever in being found.
But again the search is all too worth it once what has been lost is found and the priority of Heaven is to rejoice over what is lost being found.
Any person turning to God.
Jesus is confronting these leaders with how they were a block to others finding and being found by God.
STORY 3 | THE LOST SONS
“Any Middle Eastern son who requests his inheritance from a healthy father is understood to want his father to die. Such a son is indeed dead to the family.”
– Kenneth Bailey
He humiliated his father and wished him dead and went off his part of the family’s money and came to ruin.
But the younger son comes to the end of himself in his own humiliation and he’s reduced to feeding pigs and longing to eat the pods the pigs ate.
Finally the Pharisees may have begun to think Jesus took sin as seriously as they did.
And in this way he invites them in for the shock of the rest of the story.
The son begins to return home with a prepared speech of how he would simply be a hired worker in his fathers home, no longer a son.
There was a formal ceremony where a pot would be broken in front of a son like this to say to the whole community, he is cut off.
This is the expectation he should have returned home to.
Instead we see this absurdity …
RAN - experienced disgrace himself and interrupted the speech
ROBE - heir to the kingdom, identifying him as a member of the family.
RING - authority to speak and act as an heir to the Kingdom.
SANDALS - freedom to move uninhibited about the father’s land and business.
PARTY - celebration of the best kind.
It is then we see the lostness of the older brother. There are more parallels than we can go into right now.
But he comes in from the field and humiliates his father by refusing to go into the banquet that his father has thrown.
And in the speech he does share we learn that he has been close in proximity but far in heart from his father.
He has been lost by keeping all the rules, perhaps even worse than his brother who broke them all.
Jesus boldly confronts these leaders who are convinced they are diligently seeking God but have lost touch with God’s heart.
God’s heart is to go after the lost and there are many ways to get lost.
We can wander off accidentally
We can be lost and not know it and not have an ounce of ability to return
We can with God was dead and go utterly do our own thing
We can follow all the rules and have a heart hard as stone
Heaven celebrates what is lost being found.
Be careful when you become certain in your exclusions
if God hates everyone you hate, its a pretty sure sign you’ve tried to make God in your own image.
There is a cost to be born in restoration
The burden and the long walk back
The difficult and diligent search
The bearing the cost to welcome in
The offer of grace at personal expense
Lets Celebrate today - celebrating the heart of God in restoration.
Lets remember the tremendous cost God has paid for our restoration
Lets be those who love grace - not those so comfortable in our own place (or insecure in our own place ) that we despise grace.
