December 2018 Welcome Noticing Others (25 minutes) Say: Welcome to life groups! Opening Prayer Dear God, Thank you for this opportunity for us to gather together today! We ask that your presence would be among us as we read your word, share and discuss. Help us to be open to one another and to you as we learn how to follow you more closely each day. Amen. This month we are talking about Welcome as our theme on Sunday mornings. We are also preparing for our Visioning Sunday, January 13, 2019. In Life Groups, we are going to begin preparing for this visioning process by looking at how God might be calling us to respond as a community to his invitation in the Beatitudes. How does this affect our welcome of others and our welcome of the Christ Child? Video jump in: https://vimeo.com/87323932 Say Something Like: Noticing God (40 minutes) Today we will be looking at the beatitudes, which are the statements we heard in the video from the sermon on the mount. As you read the words of the beatitudes, what beatitude stuck out to you or struck a chord? How did this video make you feel? If you aren t using the video, ask: how are people feeling as they move into the Christmas season? What has stuck out to people? Have you had a quiet moment to reflect on the true meaning of the season? If so, what has that looked like?
Notice God s Word: Read together: Matthew 5:1-12 New International Version 5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. He said: 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. What meaning can the beatitudes have for a society that honours the self-assertive, confident and rich? Blessed are the happy and strong, we believe. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for a good time, who look out for number one. Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew. The Message Version 5 1-2 When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said: 3 You re blessed when you re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. 4 You re blessed when you feel you ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. 5 You re blessed when you re content with just who you are no more, no less. That s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can t be bought. 6 You re blessed when you ve worked up a good appetite for God. He s food and drink in the best meal you ll ever eat. 7 You re blessed when you care. At the moment of being care-full, you find yourselves cared for. 8 You re blessed when you get your inside world your mind and heart put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. 9 You re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God s family. 10 You re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God s kingdom. 11-12 Not only that count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens give a cheer, even! for though they don t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble. The Sermon on the Mount begins with Jesus beatitudes. The community lives under God s gracious blessing: Blessed are you... Jesus uses this form to declare persons blessed whose attitudes and activities diverge markedly from those commonly assumed and even celebrated in the Roman world. In that world, it would be astonishing to claim that the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the ones hungering and thirsting after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the makers of peace, and those persecuted for the sake of righteousness are blessed by God.
The Beatitudes in Matthew 5 describe the way of life of the disciple community those who follow Jesus. Note that in this series of eight beatitudes, the first and last beatitudes carry the promise: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [God]. The use of this phrase at both ends of the beatitudes is meant to imply that everything in between all of the beatitudes describes the character of the faith community that believes in God and trusts God s way. This blessed community is to practice a new way of seeing and acting. The beatitudes offer a vision of a contrast community. A contrast community following the way of Jesus offers in its values, priorities, and behaviors a life- giving alternative to the values, priorities, and behaviors of the world around it whether the world of Jesus day or 21st century North America. Although contrast community is not a biblical concept, the reality which this term envisions fills the Bible from beginning to end: the People of God are meant to be something different from the world for the sake of God s mission to the world. Questions for reflection and discussion 1. Read the beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12 again. Before focusing on Jesus teachings, describe the scene (e.g., who is present, where are they, what are they doing, who is Jesus teaching?). 2. Which of the beatitudes particularly strikes you or catches your attention? What questions are stimulated? 3. How do the attitudes and activities described in the beatitudes compare to how society today views what it means to be blessed? 4. Why do you think it could be said that it takes a community to live the beatitudes? 5. What insights have you gained about the church as a contrast community? 6. How might people react to our church if we embodied the beatitudes, as a contrast community? How might this welcome others? 7. Here is a passage from Philippians 2:1-11. In what ways does Jesus birth, his incarnation, embody this Philippians 2 The Message (MSG) He Took on the Status of a Slave 2 1-4 If you ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don t push your way to the front; don t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. 5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death and the worst kind of death at that a crucifixion. 9-11 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth even those long ago dead and buried will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father. contrast Kingdom? How can we try to live this out in our daily lives and as a church? What would this look like? How would it change our life and our congregation?
Now what? I wonder what it might look for John Knox Church to be a contrast community? Can you think of some examples? What ways do we already do this well? How might we grow in living into this calling more? How might we as a group strengthen each other? Experiment: In many ways, we are making choices every day about how we welcome Jesus and welcome others. What practices could we add into our holiday season to reflect this upside-down kingdom? How would our Christmas be different if we took these passages more seriously? How can we celebrate this contrast or upside-down kingdom at Christmas? Noticing God s Activity in our Life (20 minutes) Noticing God s Activity in our Life (Closing Prayer) Noting how much time is left, please go around the circle and give people the opportunity to share prayer requests. Then have a time of prayer. Begin that prayer with silence, then pray for requests that have been shared. Optional prayer: Loving God, Thank you for your activity in our lives. Thank you for our time together. Thank you for the ways you welcomed us into your arms, emptying yourself to become human and surrendering even to the point of death on the cross. We ask today that you would help us as we seek to follow you and learn how to welcome to you and others in new ways. AMEN. Before you leave: End with next date and time details (who is hosting, who is leading, who is providing a snack?) Thank everyone for being there. See you next month!
Optional Extras for Later For more reading: A practice: A few months ago we looked at the examen. In the examen you take time at the end of the day to prayerfully see where God was active in your life. This month, use the examen practice, but relate it to welcome. At the end of the day ask yourself these two questions: Where did I welcome today (to God, Jesus, my spouse, my friend )? Where did I not welcome or experience welcome today to (with God, Jesus, my spouse, my friend )? End with a prayer thanking God for his activity and presence in your life. Activities for the family: Give your family a real-life example of living out this contrast kingdom in looking for ways to serve someone else instead of yourself. Maybe you take a chore off someone s plate or run an errand something that is an act of putting another ahead of yourself, in contrast to the messages the world sends. It could lead to some beautiful and creative pay it forward moments. If your family were to welcome another for a few hours sometime what could you do together? Dream of ways you can team up and bless others and each other. This might be inviting someone to your home for a meal or playdate, helping at our community meal, helping out for a morning at the local food bank, or visiting some older folks in a home, or just spending unstructured down time with one another if it s been awhile. If the thought of creating welcome time seems nonsensical since everyone is so busy and has important commitments (and believe us, we re there with you) even better! Talk about why you feel that way as a family, and what it might look like to do this experiment together.