JCS Upper School Summer Reading Assignment The Cure 2018

Transcription

1 JCS Upper School Summer Reading Assignment The Cure 2018 ISBN:

2 The Cure, a Trueface book by John Lynch, Bruce McNichol, and Bill Thrall read by JCS community members will serve two purposes: 1. Provide a biblical philosophy for building a community of grace together. 2. Strengthen our biblical worldview Instructions: Please answer both questions per chapter using your best handwriting and grammar. One paragraph per answer (7 sentences for high school students, 5 sentences for middle school students). Your responses will be collected the first week of school in your Bible class.

3 Chapter 1- Two Roads It s imperative to determine where we re living right now; the Room of Good Intentions, the Path of Cynical Disillusionment, or the Room of Grace. (You might be thinking you re in none of the above because you haven t made a decision to accept Jesus sacrifice for you and so these places are not part of your experience. I imagine you have watched Christian friends or teachers living in these three spaces though and this reading will help you understand their journey too. As for you, you can answer personally or you can commentate on Christians.) 1. Which of these three places best describe where you are currently in your relationship with the Lord? What do you think led you here? 2. Which of these three places best describe the collective community of Jupiter Christian School at this time? Why?

4 Chapter 2- Two Faces 1. How is shame different than guilt? Why is that an important difference? 2. How does the Room of Grace make it possible for people to no longer be driven or identified by their shame?

5 Chapter 3- Two Gods There are not two Gods, but there are two ways we see Him. Here is a liberating truth from our good God: You are no longer who you were, even on your worst day. (If you have not ever trusted in Jesus sacrifice for you this is not yet true for you, but the offers is always there.) 1. Before this study, what have you believed about you actually being righteous? 2. What difference does it make to your approach to life, whether you are trying to change into who you should be, or maturing into who you already are?

6 Chapter 4- Two Solutions 1. Review the control cycle on pages How do your unhealthy self-thoughts help fuel this control cycle? 2. In what ways could Jupiter Christian School become a community that confesses temptations and sins, bringing them to light and healing instead of trying to control them and put them in submission (or hide them)?

7 Chapter 5- Two Healings 1. What does it feel like to be inflamed by another s sin against you? 2. What is the distinction between forgiving and trusting an offender? How does blurring these two keep us stuck in un-forgiveness?

8 Chapter 6- Two Friends By now you have read this line a few times: What if there was a place so safe that the worst of me could be known and I d discover that I would not be loved less but actually loved more in the telling of it? In the Room of Good Intentions, well-meaning friends are trying to help you get your symptoms fixed. It is often about them not wanting to be embarrassed by your behavior or their desire to make you morally patch their preferences. The sum effect keeps us on guard, hiding and bluffing. We must change the DNA of our school culture. We want to encourage relationships of love and grace. 1. Are many you know without safe, authentic, friendships? Where can they be found? Do you believe you could ever trust God s protection enough to risk trying it at JCS (even in a small group of friends)? 2. What is the difference between attempting to fix issues and resolving them?

9 Chapter 7- Two Destinies The goal of the Room of Grace isn t just healing its releasing Gods children into the dreams and activities He has designed for us and us for. Seniors, think Capstone 1. Where do you believe you are, right now, on your journey of destiny? Is your destiny categorically greater than your potential? 2. How does making the Room of Grace your home impact the way you go about accomplishing your dreams? (Think: Pleasing vs Trust). God created you for a purpose. He loves you. He will have His love flow through you. For this you were made. You are not alone in this. (If you are still on the outside looking in, everyone is welcome here, I encourage you be reconciled to God. Come as you are and find the grace and hope of Jesus. God made Jesus to be sin, even though He had no sin in Him, so that through Him we might receive God s righteousness. None of us here are better than you, none of us earned anything. We all needed all of Him.)