Discipleship Action 5

Section 1

The reading for the Sunday services was the lengthy passage from Matthew 6: 19-34. This passage is very rich in its content and difficult in its application but the application provides an excellent overview of some core aspects of discipleship.

In the message from ‘Café Church’ there was a focus on the meaning and types of faith. There were four definitions provided. These are taken from Marcus Borg’s The Heart of Christianity:

ü  Faith is holding fast to a set of beliefs with which we agree.

§  Which beliefs would be core to this understanding of faith?

ü  Faith is trusting in God – what would trusting in God look like?

§  What would we be trusting God to do or be?

ü  Faith is maintaining fidelity/faithfulness  to God – remaining true to God

§  How do we remain true? How might we be ‘untrue’?

ü  Faith as vision of what ‘really is’ (reality)   – how you see the nature of life

§  How might people have different ‘visions’ of the nature of life?

 

 

 

Perhaps you can make a make a distinction between

1.       Which of these you think is the most accurate?

2.       Which of these is closest to the way you see it?

3.       What difference might it make to your discipleship if you were to broaden your understanding of faith?

Section 2

• Read through the Matthew 6: 19-34. Which types of faith are evident in the passage?  Work through the passage slowly and see if you can identify the four faith types. You might like to do this in pairs or triplets.

Section 1

The reading for the Sunday services was the lengthy passage from Matthew 6: 19-34. This passage is very rich in its content and difficult in its application but the application provides an excellent overview of some core aspects of discipleship.

In the message from ‘Café Church’ there was a focus on the meaning and types of faith. There were four definitions provided. These are taken from Marcus Borg’s The Heart of Christianity:

ü  Faith is holding fast to a set of beliefs with which we agree.

§  Which beliefs would be core to this understanding of faith?

ü  Faith is trusting in God – what would trusting in God look like?

§  What would we be trusting God to do or be?

ü  Faith is maintaining fidelity/faithfulness  to God – remaining true to God

§  How do we remain true? How might we be ‘untrue’?

ü  Faith as vision of what ‘really is’ (reality)   – how you see the nature of life

§  How might people have different ‘visions’ of the nature of life?

 

 

 

Perhaps you can make a make a distinction between

1.       Which of these you think is the most accurate?

2.       Which of these is closest to the way you see it?

3.       What difference might it make to your discipleship if you were to broaden your understanding of faith?

Section 2

• Read through the Matthew 6: 19-34. Which types of faith are evident in the passage?  Work through the passage slowly and see if you can identify the four faith types. You might like to do this in pairs or triplets.

 

Section 1

The reading for the Sunday services was the lengthy passage from Matthew 6: 19-34. This passage is very rich in its content and difficult in its application but the application provides an excellent overview of some core aspects of discipleship.

In the message from ‘Café Church’ there was a focus on the meaning and types of faith. There were four definitions provided. These are taken from Marcus Borg’s The Heart of Christianity:

ü  Faith is holding fast to a set of beliefs with which we agree.

§  Which beliefs would be core to this understanding of faith?

ü  Faith is trusting in God – what would trusting in God look like?

§  What would we be trusting God to do or be?

ü  Faith is maintaining fidelity/faithfulness  to God – remaining true to God

§  How do we remain true? How might we be ‘untrue’?

ü  Faith as vision of what ‘really is’ (reality)   – how you see the nature of life

§  How might people have different ‘visions’ of the nature of life?

 

 

 

Perhaps you can make a make a distinction between

1.       Which of these you think is the most accurate?

2.       Which of these is closest to the way you see it?

3.       What difference might it make to your discipleship if you were to broaden your understanding of faith?

Section 2

• Read through the Matthew 6: 19-34. Which types of faith are evident in the passage?  Work through the passage slowly and see if you can identify the four faith types. You might like to do this in pairs or triplets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discipleship Action 4

Section 1

Given that it is the half way point of the eight week journey it is useful to reflect on the journey so far.  As an exercise in group sharing, try to identify the following:

• What you have learned about discipleship through the group and discussion?
• An example of application in your life
• Something that you would like to know or learn more about?

Take some time for this activity – perhaps 10 minutes.

In your group, choose at least one of the above to share. The rule of the sharing in this case is that the rest of the group are to simply listen to and not comment on what each member has to say. Depending on the group, you might choose to go in a circle, you might choose to leave it open for a period of time. Learn to be comfortable with silence, allow the Holy Spirit to fill it.

This bit is important…

It would also be good to nail down your external action plan for your group.  What community action could you participate in? Could you go somewhere as a group to offer some volunteer time? Does somebody in the group know somebody who is in need of some home help? Could you agree to contribute some items to those who are needy?  Spend some time putting your heads together on this issue – it doesn’t matter if you spend your whole meeting to come to an agreement of practical discipleship-action.

Additionally, if you have not done so, find some time to arrange a social outing for your group. Do not regard this as an optional extra – this is a practical way that we learn to know each other better. It can just be a BBQ.

Commit to finding time for these things.

It would be great to hear from the groups at our Sunday evening services. Could each group arrange for a member to share something about what they have experienced in their groups?  It should not be the leader/shepherd who speaks. Let me know if you would prefer SNL or “Sunday at 6” on the 2^nd and 4^th Sundays.

Part 2 A From last week It is possible that your group did not make it through last week’s lengthy study. If that is the case, you might like to revisit the Romans reading from Chapter 12. Romans 12: 1-21 What does it mean to you to offer your body as a sacrifice? What is the role of your body in worship and discipleship? (We don’t think about this issue nearly enough – its implications are huge). Paul tells us to ‘be transformed by the renewing of our minds’; how might we actually do that? In verses 9-21, which of the commands are most useful/interesting/difficult right now?

Part 2B (if you got through the study)

Matthew 5: 38-48

Section 2B: Robin’s 8.30 Message Robin revisited Matthew 5: 38-48 with a special focus on repairing relationships. He focused on the following scriptural ideals: Not resisting an evil person but to turn the other cheek. o   What are the implications of this for you right now in your life? o   What aspects of 1st century Middle East might make this command even more challenging? Asked for tunic, give the cloak as well. o   Note that the first was an undergarment and the second an outer garment that was used to sleep in o   How might we apply this command to given in excess of what was asked? Love your enemies o   Ancient cultures were violent and militaristic – an enemy was somebody who most likely would kill you. In our time there is now a lot of talk (especially from young people?) about ‘witnessing to Moslems’. Indeed, the increasing visibility of other cultures is worrying many people in and outside church communities. The problem of making enemies is a real one for us – how does a disciple of Jesus deal with this? o   Is it helpful or not to think of people as ‘your enemy’. Given that we are to transform our mind, what is useful about thinking this way? Be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect o   Given that no amount of striving will make us perfect, how are we to follow this command? Ignoring it is not an option, so how to proceed? How might an understanding of grace help us here?

Read the passage and consider your initial reactions to it

Discipleship Action 3

Part 1:

One way of thinking about the Christian small group is to see it as a church within a church. It is a church because its members are the Body of Christ. Part of the process of discipleship then is to understand how we function as the body of Christ (which parts of the body we as individuals are). Prior to this study then, it is useful to reflect on how you as a group (the body of Christ) are functioning. Here are some questions you might like to consider:

• As a body, are you aware of all of the parts and what they do? (are members identified, recognised?)
• Is there a way that all parts of the body are exercised? (is there an opportunity for members to make a contribution in a variety of ways?
• Are the parts of the body working together in unity? St Paul writes in Romans 12 about how foolish it would be to imagine that one part of the body would reject another part yet in our human lives hat is largely how we behave.
• If you are used to be a ‘head’ (for example, a leader of a group) how do you function when you are not leading? Do you feel relieved, unburdened? Perhaps frustrated and/or disengaged? The writer/psychologist M Scott Peck once wrote that leaders in groups looking for community building should ‘think as leaders even when not leading.’ What might that mean?
• As members of the body of Christ, what part of your body do you use the most often? What did you do with your body since last week? (i.e. what were your highs and lows, how were you of service? )

Part 2: Reading Matthew 5: 17-48

The first reading is the gospel reading for Sunday February 13. In his message, Pastor Robin went through each section and connected them to the process of building genuine relationships with people. It is interesting to note that the section is really Jesus’ exploring the full ramifications of ‘the law’. Hence the passage begins with Jesus saying “do not think I have to come to abolish the law; rather I have come to fulfil them.’ A key question, then, for us as disciples is to ask and understand how Jesus ‘fulfils’ these laws that are explored in the reading. These are the laws that Jesus addresses:

1.       Do not commit murder

2.       Do not commit adultery

3.       Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce

4.       Do not break your oath

5.       An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth

6.       Love your neighbour and hate your enemy

How does Jesus fulfil these laws? This concept is very important and at the heart of discipleship. What is the theme of Jesus’ teaching about these laws that runs through them?

 

Some application questions (you could take a few moments to do these in pairs or triplets)

• How well do handle anger? Do you have a vision of how you might handle it better? How might you bring your vision into reality?
• What impulses, feelings or emotions do feel you control quite well? How did you learn to control them?
• What might you do to control your negative emotions better or is the question irrelevant to a disciple?

Part 3: Romans 12: 1-21

Part 1 of this study is connected to the reading from Romans 12 but you might find it useful to extend your reflections through the following questions:

• What does it mean to you to offer your body as a sacrifice? What is the role of your body in worship and discipleship? (We don’t think about this issue nearly enough – its implications are huge).
• Paul tells us to ‘be transformed by the renewing of our minds’ How might we actually do that?
• In verses 9-21, which of the commands are most useful/interesting/difficult right now?

Think about during the week…

Dallas Willard suggests that grace is where God acts in our lives where and when we cannot act…. What does this mean, exactly? How is grace so crucial to the Matthew reading about the fulfilment of the law and  Paul’s teaching on sacrifice and love in Romans 12?

Discipleship Action 2

If you like, you can draw upon some of last week’s activities and see if people have had some new thoughts about some of last issues. You could consider the following:

• Understanding and definitions of discipleship as a lifelong process
• The aspects of discipleship that are attractive and unattractive
• What it means to ‘carry your cross’ daily

Additionally your group needs to consider some practical applications and events:

1.       Some action in the wider community

2.       Some action within the OS community / RLC community

3.       A social engagement

You could also try to develop some commitment and accountability within the group: ‘What am I going to commit to in my own life and share that commitment with the group.

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The following is a ‘study’ resource from the Sunday readings and message.

Discipleship: The Rag-Tag Fishermen

Pastor Matt described the first disciples a ‘rag-tag collection of fisherman’. He wasn’t saying this to be unkind but it served as a reminder that the Christian life begins with a blessing: you are the salt of the earth and you are the light of the earth.  It is always worth thinking about the group of men who Jesus first called. After his call, they followed as disciples of Jesus: always students in and of the life of Jesus.

Sometimes we feel that we are unable to be disciples because we are ‘not good enough’. We are right that we are not ‘good’ but wrong about ‘enough’.  The call to discipleship is a call that is not heard by those who consider themselves good but is heard by those who are lost and know it. So, we too belong to the tradition of ‘rag-tag fishermen’.

Initial Reflection  (Matthew 5: 13-16)

• Can you recall when you first heard the call of Jesus?
• Are the symbols of salt and light meaningful to you? Why/why not?
• Have there been times when you have felt that you have lost your saltiness or that your light has dimmed?
• What are the things that have restored your saltiness or made your light shine brighter?

Other readings to reflect upon:

 

Ephesians 5 : 8-14

The Ephesians reading takes the light symbol further. In this reading Paul draws the images of light and darkness, life and death together.

I Corinthians 2: 1-12)

The reading is from Paul written to members of a church.  As such it needs to be read as members of a worshipping community. Consider:

• Have you ever felt part of a close-knit team? How did that feel?
• How were divisions dealt with?
• What does Paul expect of a worshipping community/church?
• What obstacles does Paul identify as preventing that unity of purpose?
• To what extent are such obstacles a problem for churches today?
• How might a church overcome these divisions or are they just human nature?
• How can we apply the reading to our daily life and to our church life? Are these applications different?

Prayer

Encourage your group to develop an understanding of personal and intercessory prayer. Perhaps encourage them to identify prayers and praise points that are appropriate.

A useful activity is to work through the Lord’s Prayer section by section and add prayers through it.

Journey to Soteria

October 10: Pastor Robin Stelzer

In first world countries leprosy has largely disappeared; modern medicine has allowed us to treat the illness so that the social stigma of the disease no longer exists. Yet, like many bygone issues, the language remains and we are familiar with the idea of being ‘treated like a leper’. To be a leper was and is to be an outcast from the rest of society. Robin used this idea of the leper in his message but also took it further: to be a leper is to be faced with your own sense of ‘inadequacy and doom’. This can only be overcome with God’s intervention as we see in the readings. This then leads to “soteria” or as Robin described it as ‘full health, full safety, well being and rescue from every harm.’

Reflection

• Without unnecessary dwelling, to what extent do you connect with the sense of being a leper; of feeling that an affliction was/is the defining aspect of your identity from which you could/cannot escape?
• Robin mentioned a number of scenarios that were equivalents to leprosy: financial difficulty, career collapse, addiction, depression, broken families and relationships, chronic ill-health were just some of the sufferings he mentioned. How might this comparison be useful in breaking the chains of these particular problems?

Readings: 2 Kings 51-17; Luke 17: 11-21

The Kings reading is lengthy and interesting. Sometimes reading the Old Testament is very difficult, emerging as it does from ancient times and ancient people in a culture entirely different from our own. At other times, though, one is struck by the reality of the encounters between these people and we become aware that their human experience is just like ours. As you read the Old Testament passage, you might like to consider the following and think about which aspects stand out to you as a reader. You could then explain why they stand out.

• The starkness of the ending of verse 1: He was a valiant soldier but he had leprosy.
• The remarkable compassion of the servant girl and her faith
• The hope the Naaman must have had as he set out
• The misunderstanding of the ‘King of Israel’ – note how ironic this passage becomes in light of the King of Israel – as he asks how he can possibly kill and raise the dead
• Elisha’s exasperation – this section is quite funny – as he explains to the king that he, Elisha is the prophet, not the king
• Namaan’s anger and disappointment at the process of healing – it’s not what he expected
• Namaan’s statement of faith: Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.
• Elisha doesn’t accept Namaan’s gift – he doesn’t require it.

The second part of the story is also interesting as Gehazi sees an opportunity for gain and effectively misappropriates God’s gift for personal gain. Elisha recognises Gehazi’s sin and Gehazi, in Old Testament fashion, now pays a much greater price. The long term cost of living for yourself far outweighs the short term gain.

In the Luke reading, we see that Jesus is able to heal 10 lepers and one of them returns to express gratitude. In the text, one of the interesting aspects is (in the NIV) the use of the hyphen to describe the leper “- and he was a Samaritan’.

Robin suggested in his message that this gratitude, this thankfulness is ‘full health’ or Soteria. He spoke again about a community (there will be another message on this topic coming soon!) that is ‘healing, thankful, and generous.’

Reflection

• The implication is that full healing is a healing that includes thankfulness. How might we show thankfulness for healing?
• It might be useful, even important, for your group to share what they understand by healing. What are the hopes that we have about healing? What uncertainties, doubts and misgivings do we have about healing?
• In the Luke reading, the story says that Jesus healed 10 lepers and one returned to thank him. Can we read any significance into that number for the church today?
• What application can we make to each of the words Robin used to describe a community of Soteria: healing, thankful and generous?

Prayer

Once having identified the practical application, commit to it in prayer, taking time to be thankful for what God has done.

Bend Every Energy: Persisting

 

October 24: Pastor Robin Stelzer

Amongst cricketers these days there is a catchphrase: “form is temporary, class is permanent”.  It is used when a batsman suffers a run of low scores and his place in the side is threatened. Elite sports people believe that if they stick at it, if they think through their game, maintain a dedication to practice then the results will come.

Successful people in other fields tend to believe the same thing. By successful, we mean those who are able to face challenges, not be threatened or cowed by them and are determined to see it through. Part of this ‘success’ is the simple habit of ‘persistence’ which was the word Robin chose as the theme for his message from the gospel reading about the widow who pursues justice through the ‘uncaring judge’.

Readings: 2 Peter 1: 2-8, Luke 18: 1-8

In the first reading, Robin emphasised that the ‘character qualities’ listed do not emerge from human effort or self-motivation. These are spiritual qualities that start with faith. This is really crucial. Robin also explained that the English word ‘add’ is really a very simple translation of ‘bend your energies by giving your generous energy to a life of faith’.

Reflect

With this definition of ‘add’ in mind consider the aspects outlined in 2 Peter. Which of these aspects would you regard as strong and which as ‘needs prayer and work’

• faith + goodness;
• goodness + knowledge;
• Knowledge+ self-control
• self-control + perseverance
• Perseverance + godliness
• Godliness + mutual affection
• Mutual affection + love
• = ?

The above list is a challenge to those of us who have a tendency to misunderstand (or perhaps not understand at all) the grace message. The heresy of antinomianism was the view that grace overcomes sin (true) which means that sin doesn’t matter anymore and no effort is required (false). At the root of this false view of grace is a lack of response to it; grace should begin the process of transforming our hearts, our very selves.  The above descriptions suggest that ‘Christian life must not be an initial spasm followed by chronic inertia.’ There needs to be a commitment to on-going progress. This commitment is described by Peter and highlighted by Robin in his message in the following way: bend every energy.

Luke 18: 1-8

The story of the persistent widow is the application of the aspects outlined above. The woman ‘bends all her energies’ towards securing justice. At first, the story seems an unattractive one as a careless reading of it might seem to suggest that God is compared to an uncaring judge. Yet a close reading reveals that Jesus uses a technique of story-telling in which an incomplete comparison is made so that he can get to the resolution. In this story, there are three points:

1.       Even an uncaring judge eventually responded to the widow- how much more then will a loving God respond?

2.       That God is a God of justice – the injustice of the world is reflection of a fallen world of people not of God’s intentions or desires

3.       The faith of the persistent widow but note the ending: “where will he (the Son of Man) find such faith on earth?

This last question that Jesus asks gets us back to the issue of faith and bending all energies in response to Jesus and God’s grace. As we develop our faith, we end up with a life that is filled with and through Christian love.

Application

• As an individual, commit to working on the character developing list in 2 Peter. Commit also to persist
• As a group, begin to identify a concrete application that you could do together that shows a Christian response to the injustice of the world. Make it specific and organise a time as a group to act upon it.

Be as little children

 

October 17:  Pastor Matthew Thomas

When your scribe’s children were very young (they are still young), they would be collected at roughly 4.00pm from day care. My son soon became very skilled at knowing exactly when 4.00pm would occur and he would wait by the gate for me to collect him. He was confident that I would fulfil my role and he was absolutely dependent on me doing so. This mixture of trust and dependence is what Jesus tells us is required to enter the kingdom of God.

Pastor Matt began his message by noting that as a congregation in partnership with the school we have a special connection with children. Indeed, he quoted the African proverb that ‘ít takes a village to raise a child’. This is value laden remark and one that we would do well to consider in depth as we continue to make the claim of being a ‘’community’’.

Reflect (take some time on your own and then carefully share your responses)

• If you were brought up in the church, what are your childhood memories of that experience?
• What do you believe that a church should provide for children?
• What expectations should a church have of our children – what do we want to see from them as they grow?
• What aspects of the ‘village raising a child’ have we lost and why have we lost them? Should we attempt to reclaim them? How might we do that?

Exploring the reading: Mark 10:13-16)

This is a very short reading so it is possible to think through it in detail.

1.       The disciples ‘rebuke’ the children for approaching Jesus. As with many gospel stories, this is not simply an insensitivity on the part of the disciples but a cultural practice. Children and women were excluded from the ‘affairs of men’ and religion was one of those. D.R. Hare suggests that actually one of the reasons that Christianity was so popular and spread so quickly was that it allowed the whole family to participate in religious practice.

2.        Jesus remarks that the ‘Kingdom of God’ belongs to “ones such as these”. What are the qualities that children have that means that the ‘Kingdom of God’ belongs to them?

3.       Jesus goes further in verse 15 saying that ‘anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”

A few weeks ago when we looked at the Nicodemus story in John 3, we spent time on the phrase ‘born again’ and what a challenge that was to people who feel that their best years are behind them or that they cannot learn anything new. Here, with its emphasis on children, a similar idea emerges. In his message, Pastor Matt remarked that “children were totally dependent on the will of others and had no legal or social weight to make claims for particular treatment.” Hence, he said, to enter the kingdom of God is to do so with absolute trust.

Matt also connected this story about children and childhood to discipleship itself. Discipleship offers us the opportunity to grow, to fulfil potential and to see potential of which we were unaware. In this way, as Matt argued, “as we receive the kingdom we receive God’s potential in our lives.”

In the last section of his message, Matt moved to the idea of us being ‘teachable’. As adults, we know that children must be taught in ‘the way’. In his teachings, Jesus clearly expects the disciples to learn and grow;  in the story of the rich young man, Jesus prefaces part of his teaching with the proclamation “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.’ Jesus is referring to the problem of wealth but he might well be referring to the difficulty we have in assuming a position of trust and dependence. These are not qualities associated with western culture and our ideals of what it is to be a sophisticated, mature adult. So here, as with everything, Jesus subverts conventional wisdom both in his time and in ours.

Application

• Think about the concepts of dependence, interdependence and dependence. Which one is the most appealing to you?
• Can you identify an area where your determination to be independent might be a barrier in your relationship with Jesus?
• If you can identify such an area (or areas!) how might you begin to let go of it?
• If willing, you could share this area with your group or somebody in your group and ask them to hold you accountable at your next meeting.

Even more disruptions – The Rich Man and the Beggar

 

Study for September 26: Kerry Groch

Towards the end of her message about the rich man and the beggar (Lazarus) Kerry made a remark that this is one of Jesus’ ‘disruptive parables’. It is an excellent description because of the challenge that it offers to the very middle class affluent Australian church. However, Kerry pointed out that this is not a parable to make us feel bad about wealth itself; rather it is a story that asks us to be part of the mission to ‘not just show mercy to the poor in their need but also to find justice for the society they live in.’

Prayer: Lord we ask that as we read the parable you will enable us to see clearly what is written for us as individuals and for your church. Give us the strength and courage to face the truth in this story and to act upon it.

The Reading: Luke 16: 19-31

As you read the passage try to think about your response to each section of the parable. Take some time over each section.

• The difference in wealth between the rich man and Lazarus
• The death of both men  and the requests of the rich man
• Abraham’s response to the rich man’s requests
• The resolution of the story – ‘if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’

Reflection (multiple choice is hard!)

After reading the passage, consider what you think the passage is mostly about:

a)      The perils of wealth

b)      The need to attend to the poor

c)       The reality of heaven and hell

d)      Jesus’ foreshadowing the response to his own death and resurrection

Exploring the Reading

Given the difficulty of the multiple choice test, it seems only fair to revisit Kerry’s analysis and discussion of the reading. It is easy to feel guilty about this reading and indeed it is, as Kerry commented, “supposed to make us squirm in our seats at the very thought of a human being so badly off that they are happy to get the crumbs from another man’s table.” In the end, Kerry argued that (like any story about riches and wealth ) we are not meant to simply feel that wealth is a bad thing which would be understandable as Jesus does speak against wealth on a number of occasions. Commentator Marcus Borg writes that while ‘it is not clear that Jesus opposed wealth in principle… he clearly saw the desire for wealth as one of the primary distractions and preoccupations in life as a consuming and blinding passion.” This concept of blindness, of not seeing is a central one in Kerry’s message.  She identified that the key part of the story is recognition that the “rich man’s sin is the chasm he dug between himself and Lazarus”. This idea is extended through the use of heaven and hell. Kerry made it clear that the point of the story is not that rich people go to hell while the poor go to heaven.  (Note that Jesus listeners would have understood these terms differently to 21^st century readers). Kerry’s full comments are worth reflecting on: “His sin was not one of simple omission; ignoring the man while he lived lavishly. Instead, the rich man very intentionally dug a ditch between himself and the crippled beggar. And so when the rich man died and went to Hell, the ditch that he dug himself became a  fixed chasm that could not ever be crossed.” In effect, the rich man damns himself.

But as they say in current affairs the story doesn’t end there. In keeping with Kerry’s observation that there is more to this story than a guilt trip, we know that we cannot repent and change on our own. It is God’s love and grace that changes us – we cannot simply strive to do better (though there is value in that too!) This parable sends us back to God’s grace who transforms us with his love that knows no boundaries.

It is from God’s grace and love that we are provided with the transforming ‘fruits of the spirit’: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. All of these aspects emerge when we put Christ at the centre of our lives each day.

Application

• Having worked through the reading and the study, what practical applications can you make in your life?
• Try to develop a specific plan in which you can apply this story and remove the chasms between yourselves and others
• In what ways can you apply mercy and justice to the world circumstance in which you live?
• Commit your plan of action to prayer and ask for transformation of your heart which will in turn provide you with courage and strength

I tell you the truth… being born again – a conversation with Nicodemus.

Message for September 19: Tim Kelly
Study Overview

Very few Christians these days use the phrase ‘born again’ to describe their faith. The phrase is now in the domain of other areas such as the health industry (born again trainer) and is almost always used somewhat self-consciously or even ironically. The reticence to use the phrase is connected to a certain mode of behaviour that many regard as excessively extraverted or excessively pious. It raises the bar of expectation too high. Yet the passage from John in Jesus’ exchange with Nicodemus is a key one in which Jesus uses the phrase ‘I tell you truth’ three time before getting to the famous words of John 3: 16: For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whomsoever believe in Him should not die but have eternal life. It would seem that being ‘born again’ is pretty important.

Reflection

• To what extent the use of born again as a descriptive phrase dependent on making a faith decision on a particular identifiable day?
• What does it mean for those who feel they have grown up in the faith and it has always been a part of them?
• For you personally, how meaningful is the phrase?

Exploring the Readings: John 3: 1-8

• Read the passage and imagine that you are Nicodemus. What are you expecting from Jesus as you go to visit him at night?
• Notice that Nicodemus begins with an observation (“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God…”) and Jesus responds to that observation in an unexpected way. What do you see as the link between Nicodemus’s opening remark and Jesus’ response?
• Why do you think that Jesus uses the phrase ‘I tell you the truth’ three times in the passage leading up to John: 3: 16?

It was suggested in the message that Nicodemus understood that Jesus was not speaking literally when he makes the comment ‘that no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’ Hence Nicodemus’s reaction is to seek more information and to stall for time. Either way, it is clear that this remark has made Nicodemus uncomfortable. There are two key reasons for this discomfort:

1.       Jesus’ remarks are at odds with Nicodemus’s own religion

2.       They are also opposed to the natural logic of humans which is to believe that we ‘see the kingdom of God’ through our own efforts, action and membership

This notion of membership is central to the reading. The John 3: 16 passage (For God so loved the world…) is the culmination of this exchange with Nicodemus. Membership of the kingdom of God is dependent on belief in Jesus as God’s son not on membership to a church or group. There is no inheritance here only relationship with God through Christ. This is such a radical notion that to Nicodemus it is astonishing; as astonishing re-entering his mother’s womb. Nicodemus is an old man and he feels that what Jesus is asking of him is beyond him. He had been a solid member of the ‘Jewish ruling council’ for years yet here Jesus was telling him that he was yet to see the kingdom of God. For more on this notion of membership you could look at John the Baptist’s words in Matthew 3: 7-14

Jesus makes a clear distinction between the old Jewish way and this new life through the metaphor of flesh and spirit.

• What do you understand by Jesus remarks that flesh gives birth to flesh while spirit gives birth to spirit?

Further Reading: Galatians 5: 20-26

In this passage we see a direct connection between Jesus’ remarks about flesh and spirit and Paul’s writings in this section in Galatians.  We are to understand that being born again will have both a visible and internal effect on us.

The STAND series took us through the four pillars of Lutheran Christianity: Christ alone, Grace alone, faith alone and Scripture Alone. From there we asked what does the Christian faith now look like?  In terms of prayer, one of two things happens.

1.       We make a prayer of repentance asking for Jesus to come into our lives. This is the prayer of conversion, of new life, of rebirth. It is a prayer that asks God to remake us from the spirit of Jesus.

2.       We pray continually for the remaking of our nature taking us away from the aspects of the flesh towards the aspects of the spirit. This internal, remaking of our nature should move us towards an engagement with the wider world. Jesus, as always, is the model for this.

Make sure you take time at the end of the session to pray one of these prayers.

Stand 6: Made to Grow

Message from September 5: Robin Stelzer

Every now and again teachers in a school emerge a little surprised at some knowledge that their students lack. Your scribe recalls the time that a class confused Elton John with Bob Dylan (it was a question about that song from the Lion King).  It is easy to be surprised by what people don’t know but when we accept that we are all born with no knowledge and that life is partly about the accumulation of knowledge and the ‘getting of wisdom’ then it makes sense that young people don’t know much. That is, after all, why they are at school.

But learning and growing ought not finish when the final school bell rings and in this message Pastor Robin made the case that we are ‘made to grow’. Using a series of plant references, Robin made the case that growth is natural and good and that lack of growth is therefore unnatural and unhealthy.

Reflection

• Try to think of something you have learned this week (your scribe learned about the Latin derivation of humility and humiliate (humilus – to make small)
• Can you think of a really significant learning/growing experience in your life? For example, for some it is the ability to ‘delay gratification’. For another it might be that email is a poor way to communicate anything of significance.
• Can you identify something that you would like to learn or an aspect of growth you would like to achieve?

Exploring the Reading: Ephesians 4

The letter to the Ephesians is a much studied one. This is because of its usefulness as the guide book for Christian living and for church membership. The Good News Bible offers the following introduction:

In the first part of Ephesians, the writer develops the theme of unity by speaking of the way in which God the Father has chosen his people, how they are forgiven and set free from their sins through Jesus Christ the Son and how God’s great promise is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit.  In the second part, he appeals to the readers to live in such a way that their oneness in Christ may become real in their life together.

As you read the book, the logic of Paul’s writing is impressive. In Chapter 1, Paul sets out the manifesto for growth

⁷I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit^[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

• To what extent do you see the above passage as an exhortation for growth?  How meaningful is it to you?

 

Activity: Read chapter 4 and consider:

• Paul makes a distinction between new (holy and righteous) and old selves (corrupted by deceitful desires). Can you make that distinction in your own life; can you see specific examples of this? You might choose to share some of these with your group or with another person. It is fine not to share.
  • There are some specific aspects that Paul lists as evidence of change and growth. Consider what they are and how much of an issue they are for our culture, community and for you personally?

o   put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour

o   do not let the sun go down while you are still angry

o   steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands

o   do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs

o   Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

o   Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

• You might like to consider the extent to which a Christian community is recognizably free from the negative aspects described. In particular, consider whether Christian communities are different in degree or in kind from ‘secular’ organisations?

To move forward in growth

As you reflect on the issues that emerge from the reading, try to identify three areas where you would like to personally grow and where you would like to see growth in your community. Commit those things to prayer each day until you meet again in your group and report back. Think about how you could practically make a difference as an agent/actor in this community growth.