Connect Group Study Guide

Connect Group Study Guide

INTRODUCTION THE BIG IDEA If you and I were in a roomful of randomly chosen people playing a word association game and I called out Christian, how do you think everyone would respond? The reality is there would be a variety of responses - positive and not so flattering. Although this word is used often, there s no real agreement on what Christian means. The bible doesn t define the word Christian. Jesus didn t refer to his followers in that way, nor did they develop it for themselves. The word Christian is found three times in the New Testament, but it emerges as a label formed by people who were not followers. It was a manufactured term with a derogatory slant. Later, after the New Testament was written, the term was used more often. By the third century the name Christian started to stick and followers of Jesus began to accept it. Through this study series, we will explore another name for Jesus followers which is better defined in the Bible - meaning it can have greater implications for us today. Jesus is not calling us to be affiliated with the term Christian. Instead, Jesus, through his Word and deeds is calling us to the profound truths and principles that his life, death, and resurrection are teaching us today.

WEEK 1 WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN? Ask ten different people and you ll probably get ten different answers: someone who goes to church every Sunday; someone who was born into a Christian family; someone who believes Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead three days later; someone who celebrates Christmas and Easter; someone who doesn t drink, smoke, or use profanity. Others take a darker view. They d say Christians are judgmental, homophobic moralists who think they re the only ones going to heaven and secretly relish that everyone else is going to hell. If there s so much disagreement about what a Christian is, how are we supposed to know who to trust on the matter? Not much of what we ve talked about so far describes a Christian as defined in the Bible. In fact, the word Christian only appears three times in the Bible. First-century Christians didn t call themselves Christians. It was a derogatory term used by outsiders to describe followers of Jesus. Christians called themselves something far more intimidating: disciples. Disciple is an intimidating word because it s concrete. It means a learner, pupil, apprentice, adherent, or follower. A disciple learns and grows by obeying and imitating his or her master.

1. How would you define Christian? Does the word have positive or negative connotations for you? Why? 2. What s been your experience with church so far? Have most of the people you ve met in churches been disciples or just Christians? How has that shaped your perception of Christians? 3. How have your interactions with Christians shaped your perception of Jesus? 4. Read John 13:34 35. How is Jesus description of what it looks like to be his disciple surprising? 5. Think about someone in your sphere of influence who is difficult to love. What is it about that person that makes them difficult to love? What is one thing you can do this week to show that person love? 6. What s most intimidating about the idea of being a disciple of Jesus? What s most compelling about it? CHALLENGE Can you imagine what your workplace and community would be like if you loved the way Jesus calls us to? Can you imagine what would happen in our nation - our world - if Christians everywhere began living like disciples? If you re a follower of Jesus, try it this week. To the best of your ability, by God s grace, love others. This isn t a means to an end; you re not going to fix people. This is better. This is being a disciple. It has the power to change your heart, your relationships, your community, and the world. PRAY A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34 35 Pray for your group, that you would love as Jesus loves and that together, this is what you would be known for.

WEEK 2 QUITTERS Author Anne Rice (Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession) has a powerful personal story about her relationship with Jesus. She grew up in the church, but left it as a young adult. In her fifties, she rejected her decades-long atheism and returned to church...for ten years. And then she made this announcement on her Facebook page: Today I quit being a Christian. I m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being Christian or to being part of Christianity. It s simply impossible for me to belong to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. Rice s statement stirred controversy, but let s be honest: the idea that Christians can be quarrelsome and hostile isn t exactly surprising. How is it that people like Anne Rice - people devoted to Jesus - sometimes feel driven from Christianity? Why are there Christians arguing on all sides of cultural and political issues? Is this really what Jesus intended for his disciples? 1. What is your reaction to Anne Rice s quitting Christianity? Can you relate to what she wrote about her decision? Does it offend you in any way? Explain.

2. Think about the stories of tragedy and suffering we see in the media each day. Is it difficult to believe that love can make a difference in the face of great hardship? Why or why not? 3. Read 1 John 4:7-11. What does God is love mean? Talk about the connection between loving others and knowing God. How does it challenge your own assumptions about what it means to be a Christian? 4. Have you ever tried to demonstrate love to someone you disagreed with? How did you manage the tension between loving and defending your opinion? What happened? 5. Last week we challenged you to love someone in your sphere of influence who is difficult to love. What did you do? How did the person respond? CHALLENGE Jesus would say we give up our leverage in culture when we focus on anything but love. If we loved like he calls us to love, people wouldn t feel condemned by Christians or coerced to join the faith. In fact, they d feel drawn to the church. What does love look like in the marketplace? In our families? In our marriages? In our friendships? If we don t love well, it doesn t really matter what else we do. So try it. Focus on it. Meditate on it. This week, practice loving the people around you. Remember: we owe it to God to love others. PRAY This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10 Pray for each other, that each one would find courage to commit to the task of loving others even when they fell like quitting.

WEEK 3 INSIDERS OUTSIDERS The juice goes out of Christianity when it becomes too based on faith rather than on living like Jesus or seeing the world as Jesus saw it. - Steve Jobs If you re a follower of Jesus, how should we treat those who decide they don t want to follow? Well, they expect you to act like Jesus. They expect you to care about and value the things that Jesus cared about and valued. They judge your likeness to Jesus largely on the way you react and respond to people outside the faith. And you know what? They re right to do so. Given that truth, what does the Bible say about how followers of Jesus should treat nonbelievers? READ Matthew 18:19-20 Jesus didn t say coerce, threaten, or guilt people into following them. His plan was that his followers would draw others in - through love. For three hundred years, followers of Jesus were great at doing just that.

But then Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. With that shift, Christians began leveraging political power and influence over non-christians instead of simply loving them. That was never Jesus plan. 1. Talk about a time when someone at work, in your family, or at church held you accountable. Did it help you grow or did it damage you? 2. Read 1 Corinthians 5:12. How does Paul s writing challenge your assumptions about what the Bible says regarding judging others? How does it square with Jesus words in Matthew 7:1 2? 3. If you re a follower of Jesus, why could it be difficult to unconditionally love those who don t follow Jesus? 4. The city of Corinth was a bit like an ancient Las Vegas and Paul is pointing out that there are some things that are not appropriate for followers of Jesus. What is most uncomfortable about holding other followers of Jesus accountable for their behavior? How do you know when it s appropriate to do so? CHALLENGE Is there someone who you know who doesn t follow Jesus and who s behaviour you struggle to accept? Discuss how you ve responded in the past and how you might respond in the future. How is Jesus guiding you to love that person the way He would love them? PRAY Pray that this verse might be each other s reality. Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 1 Corinthians 9:19

WEEK 4 GOD OUR PROVIDER Jesus wants us to be influential. In fact, He used two word pictures to teach his followers, in any generation, how they are to influence those around them. His metaphors were a call to his followers to live world-changing lives. Though the first followers had no standing in the culture in which they lived, their influence has trickled down to us today. 1. You are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13a). Salt is a preservative; it prevents food from rotting. Jesus was calling his followers to be the preservative of the entire earth. Though their world was falling down around them, first-century Christians lived out a kind of love and mercy that found worth in those that Roman society thought worthless. 2. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14). Jesus meant for his followers to light up the world, showing the way to God s grace. He called them to live in such a way that the people around them would connect the dots between how Christians live and the God they serve.

1. Who influenced your faith or made a good impression on you by being salt and light in your life. What did you learn from their example? What was it about them you liked? How were they different from other Christians you d met? 2. Do you think it is rare for Christians to be salt and light in the world? Why is it difficult to live as Jesus describes in the Sermon on the Mount? 3. In previous weeks we talked about Jesus command to his followers to love others. How does that command relate to being salt and light in the world? 4. Read Matthew 5:3 12. Is what Jesus describes realistic? In what practical ways could you live as he describes at home or at work? 5. Who is one person for whom you can be salt and light? What is one thing you can do this week to help that person connect the dots between how you live and the God you serve? CHALLENGE If you re a Christian, it s because someone was salt and light in your life. When you look back on your life, those people were town s on a hill, showing you the way to God s grace. Their persistence may have been a little irritating, but their love changed your life. How can you be salt & light this week? What about as a group? PRAY Many of you have chosen at least one person you are seeking to draw closer to Jesus. Pray for each others ones. If you don t have someone, pray that God would show you who you can be salt & light to.

WEEK 5 GRACE AND TRUTH Jesus calls his followers to love the way he loved. But as recorded in the Gospels, there s a tension in the way he loved - it was messy, inconsistent, unfair, and confusing. At times, Jesus was harsh; at times, he was forgiving. At times, he pointed out sin; at times, he seemed to ignore it. Our temptation is to try to resolve the tension created around Jesus love. But if we try, we lose something important, something essential. The challenge for followers of Jesus is to love in the messy, inconsistent, unfair, and confusing way that he did - to hang onto the tension. 1. Have you ever had to share a difficult truth with someone at work, in your family, or at church? Were you graceful in the way you communicated? How did it go? 2. People focused on truth worry that others will get away with something, while those focused on grace worry that they might make others feel bad about themselves. Which better describes you? How does that affect the way you think about God and faith?

3. In your interactions with Christians, have you experienced judgment, avoidance of truth, or a mix of truth and grace? Explain. 4. Read John 4:1 26. What do you find most startling about this story? What about it makes you uncomfortable? What about it is reassuring? READ John 8:1-11 5. Talk about how Jesus navigates the tension between truth and grace in verses 10 and 11. (Jesus straightened up and asked her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? No one, sir, she said. Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now and leave your life of sin. ) Is it significant that Jesus tells the woman he doesn t condemn her before he commands her to leave her life of sin? CHALLENGE If Jesus is the embodiment of grace and truth, and the church is his body, then we have to be comfortable with the mess. The church is at its best when it refuses to let go of both grace and truth. Think about your own commitment and intention to extend to others both truth and grace in full measure. What does that mean for you? What might it require from you? PRAY Read John 1:14 Pray that God will help you as individuals and a group to manage the tension of grace and truth.

WEEK 6 ANGRY BIRDS For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17) Jesus embodied the tension between grace and truth. Churches and Christians should too, but they tend to swing toward one or the other. It s easy to be a church of truth or a church of grace - to be conservative or liberal. But when churches take either of those routes, we can sense that something is wrong, something s missing. READ Luke 15:11-32 1. Imagine you are in the crowd as Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son. Are you angry at the young son? Would you expect Jesus to have told the story of the Father getting anger? Are you angry that the Father shows grace? When you read this story, which son do you relate to more? Why? 2. Do you worry that when the church welcomes sinners it appears to condone sin? How should the church manage that tension?

Read Romans 3:23 24. 3. What insight do these verses provide about the Pharisees and sinners in the crowd listening to Jesus? Wherever Jesus went, he was followed by tax collectors and sinners - all the worst people in his society. The marginalized, messed-up, and hated flocked to Jesus. People who were nothing like him, liked him. Imagine if, today, people like that flocked to the church. They should. If the church acted like Jesus, they would. 4. The first born in Jesus story was angry by the grace of his father. Do you observe Christians who are angry at God because they believe they deserve better treatment from God than they are getting, who despise God s grace shown to those who don t deserve it? How do we avoid this response? 5. Think of a person who needs your grace. What can you do to soften your heart toward that person and demonstrate God s love? CHALLENGE Examine your heart. Do you realise God cannot love you more than he already does? There is nothing you can do to cause him to love you any more or any less. Do you realise this truth applies those who follow Jesus and for those who are far away from the Father? Sin should break our hearts because it break people. Repentance should stir our hearts. Are you doing everything you can to make it easy for others to turn to God? PRAY Pray for God to break your heart for those who are far away from Him. Pray for God to stir your heart and to be filled with joy as you respond to God s love and share his love with others.

WEEK 7 LOOPHOLES We all try to get around rules, to find and exploit wiggle room. Whether at work, home, or in our spiritual lives, we ve all looked for a loophole. Christians love loopholes. Some Catholics use the confessional to do whatever they want on Saturday night and then trap God in his promise of forgiveness come Sunday morning. For many protestants, their version of the confessional is 1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Some Christians create loopholes by picking and choosing what they believe Jesus said or the apostle Paul wrote. If anything in the Bible gets in the way of what they want, they just ignore it. Loopholes like the confessional, reading Bible passages out of context, or ignoring challenging passages of Scripture allow us to keep the letter of the law while ignoring its spirit. Loophole Christians ask, How close can I get to sin without actually sinning? But Jesus didn t mean for his followers to game the system. He meant for them to trust God and love one another.

1. Are you a stickler for the rules or a rule-breaker? How did that play out in your childhood? 2. Read Matthew 15:1-9 What exactly were these men doing wrong? In this situation, how did Jesus demonstrate his values and his heart and mind? 3. Which parts of the Bible are you most tempted to ignore? Why? 4. We re all guilty in one way or another of looking for religious loopholes. Have you caught yourself using God s words to avoid doing his will? 5. It s human nature to apply rules to other people more than we do to ourselves. How does Jesus command for us to love one another challenge that tendency? 6. Is there someone you re currently judging for the rules he or she breaks? How can you do a better job of loving that person? CHALLENGE Jesus entered a world full of loopholes and did a brilliant, radical thing. He basically said, Forget the commands. I want to talk about the commander. He urged his followers to obey God from their hearts rather than taking advantage of loopholes. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (John 13:34) Make a list together of ways your group can live this kind of love out. PRAY Read Romans 13:8 9 Pray that your group would be a place where love for one another is expressed in practical and radical ways.

WEEK 8 WORKING IT OUT Throughout this series, we ve talked about how Christianity has a branding problem. Part of that problem is terminology. In the first century, Christian was a derogatory term invented by people who disliked followers of Jesus. It doesn t have a concrete definition, which leaves us a lot of leeway to define it for ourselves. We tend to attach particular doctrinal or political beliefs to the word beliefs that are important to us personally. For some people, Christian is synonymous with conservative or maybe judgmental. But Jesus never called his followers Christians. He called them disciples. That s a scarier word because it actually means something. A disciple is a pupil or follower. A disciple learns and grows by obeying and imitating his or her master. And Jesus made it very clear how he wanted his followers to behave: By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:35)

1. Talk about someone who loved you well when you were growing up. How has that person s influence carried over into your adult life? 2. Read Matthew 22:37 39. What is most challenging about loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind? 3. What is most challenging about loving others as yourself? 4. Notice how this text assumes that each person has love for ones self. Is this significant? 5. What part do our beliefs play in the influence we have on other people? Do you think that our behaviour before others is more important than communicating our beliefs? Why or why not? CHALLENGE Can you imagine what would happen in our families and communities - even our nation - if, for a month, we asked what love requires of us and then responded accordingly? Discuss this together. Are there opportunities for you to work on something like this as a group? PRAY Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37 39 Pray for each other that you will show God s unconditional love to others.

184 Surrey Rd Blackburn VIC 3130 Phone/ 03 8878 2500 Fax/ 03 989 44167 email/ info@one.org.au web/ www.one.org.au social/ facebook.com/churchone twitter.com/church_one SERVICE TIMES 9.00am Contemporary (with children s program) 9.00am Jubilee 9.00am Time of reflection 10.45am Classic 6.00pm Contemporary