Opening Ourselves to Grace: Leader s Discussion Guide John Wesley sealed his letters with this signet (above, right). The words believe, love, and obey describe the essence of discipleship in the Wesleyan tradition.
Opening Ourselves to Grace Leader s Discussion Guide Introduction Welcome! This DVD, Opening Ourselves to Grace, is designed to help you learn about grace and the practices that help us nurture our relationship with and watch over one another in love. As a leader in your congregation, you play an important role in helping people understand the power of grace and enter into practices through which it will help them grow in love of God and neighbor. As we participate together in the means of grace we are better able to live out our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ. The DVD includes a four chapter video presentation on the means of grace. The CD-ROM includes: a Leader s Discussion Guide contains questions and activities for use in a group setting; Opening Ourselves to Grace: The Basics of Christian Discipleship provides valuable supporting information and resources for the leader and/or participants; Making Disciples of Jesus Christ: The Role of the Means of Grace in Christian Faith and Life a six week Bible study to help a group better understand and practice the concepts presented in the video. This resource might be used in a variety of settings, including: individual viewing; Bible study group; Sunday school class; small groups and covenant groups; congregational group or committee; training for church leaders; sermon series. To view the presentation you will need a DVD player and a TV and/or other means of projection. You may also play the DVD on a computer equipped with a DVD drive. To view and print the leader material, you will need a computer with a CD drive and Adobe Acrobat Reader software. (If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you may download it free at www.adobe.com and install it on your computer.) Discipleship Resources 2006 2
For Discussion and Reflection Chapter One What were words and phrases you heard in the presentations that help you to define grace? (Example: unmerited, relationship, etc.) List these on newsprint or a chalkboard and continue to add to the list during group discussion time. Why is it sometimes so hard to understand and accept God s grace towards us? John Wesley likened the dimensions of grace to a house. Prevenient grace is the porch. It invites us to move further in. Justifying grace is the door. We must move through that door if we are to come into the house and fully experience new life in Christ. Sanctifying grace is to live, grow, and explore the rooms of God s household. Discuss this image of grace. How is it helpful or not helpful to you? Have you ever had an experience of grace like the one described by Alma Perez where you felt deeply how much you were loved and accepted by God? What did it feel like? Can you share it with someone now? What would help you explain it to others? What is helping you right now to grow in your love of God and neighbor? What next steps might you take to grow even more? Find the word grace in The United Methodist Hymnal s Index of Topics and Categories. Read through some of the hymns listed and find words and phrases that help you better understand the dynamic of grace. Sing some of the hymns to experience this grace through music! Look in The United Methodist Hymnal Table of Contents beginning on page viii. Find the section titled THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT and note how it is organized according to the dynamic of grace. Read some of the hymns in the categories: Prevenient Grace, Justifying Grace, Sanctifying Grace. Look for phrases and stanzas that help you understand the dynamic of grace. Sing some of the hymns in each category. For example: Prevenient Grace: #339 & #342 Justifying Grace: #363 & #369 Sanctifying Grace: #384, #385, #386, #388, & #389 Where do you see signs of God s grace in your own life? How might you help those around you better identify how God is working in their lives? Discipleship Resources 2006 3
Chapter Two The presentation defines the means of grace as those basic practices given to us by God as the ways we live out our relationship with God and those whom God loves. How could you put this definition into your own words? What are some other ways of saying this? How would you describe the difference between works of mercy and works of piety? How are they related to each other? Why is it important to balance these works? Identify some ways you are currently involved in works of mercy and works of piety. The General Rule of Discipleship is: To witness to Jesus Christ in the world, and to follow his teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Where do you see signs of this happening in your life? In the life of your fellow Christians? In your congregation? In your community? Prayer is described as one of the most central means of grace. Who taught you to pray? What types of prayer have been most meaningful to you? What helps you to pray? What steps might you take to deepen your prayer life? Reading and studying scripture is one of the works of piety. What opportunities do you have to study and meditate on scripture? What and/or who helps you to do this? How might you go deeper in this area? What is your experience with fasting? What questions do you have about it? What were Wesley s suggestions for this practice? Have you found other resources helpful in this basic Christian practice? Chapter Three In the video Pat Barrett states In prison ministry, we do not bring Jesus to prisons. He is already there. Our job is to meet him there. Where are the places you are meeting Jesus in the world? To whom and where is your congregation going to meet Jesus? Make a list of these places and ways you are reaching out in service. Make a list of other places where you might serve and meet Christ (such as a homeless shelter, hospital, nursing home, AIDS clinic, etc.). How has being involved in works of mercy shaped you as a Christian? How have you experienced grace through serving others? Discipleship Resources 2006 4
How does knowing that God is with you no matter what you are doing impact your life? Wesley had clear expectations for the people called Methodists. These expectations for growth in faith, hope and love are summarized by him in the General Rules: It is therefore expected of all who continue therein that they should continue to evidence their desire of salvation, First: By doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind... ; Secondly: By... doing good of every possible sort, and, as far as possible, to all.. ; and Thirdly: By attending upon all the ordinances of God: prayer, worship, the Lord s Supper, Scripture, fasting or abstinence. What does this look like in the twenty-first century? What are some ways we live this out in our communities today? Chapter Four Laceye Wagner suggests, To gather together prayerfully, to discern our lives together as Christians is a place of grace. Identify some places and ways that you are involved with other followers in Christian conferencing. The video mentions Covenant Discipleship groups as one example of Christian conferencing. Can you name some other examples? What does it mean to hold one another accountable for discipleship? How can we watch over one another in love? What are some ways we can support one another in growing in love of God and neighbor? How does your congregation celebrate the Lord s Supper? What is meaningful for you? Peter Storey shares a powerful experience of the Lord s Supper in his life. Can you identify a time when sharing in the sacrament was particularly powerful for you? What made it so? What next steps will you take personally to deepen your practice of the means of grace? How can your congregation help all of its members to practice the means of grace? Discipleship Resources 2006 5
John Wesley (b: June 28, 1703; d: March 2, 1791) The founder of the Methodist movement was the fifteenth child of Rev. Samuel and Susannah Wesley. He was educated at Charterhouse in London and Christ Church, Oxford. In 1726 Wesley was elected to a fellowship at Lincoln College, Oxford, and also acted for a time (1727-9) as assistant to his father. At Oxford, Wesley gathered round him a group of devout and scholarly Christians who became known as the Holy Club, Bible Moths, and Methodists. This group included his younger brother Charles and George Whitefield. In 1735 he set out with Charles on a missionary journey to Georgia. But his preaching (especially against slavery) and inexperience alienated the colonists and he soon returned home (1737). His friendship with the Moravian, Peter Böhler, who convinced him that he lacked that faith whereby alone we are saved, and a visit (1738) to the Moravian colony at Herrnhut, had a profound effect on his life. He had the experience of conversion on May 24, 1738 at a meeting in Aldersgate Street. From that point on his mission was to promote as far as I am able vital practical religion and by the grace of God to beget, preserve, and increase the life of God in the souls of men. The rest of his life was spent in evangelistic work. Finding the churches closed to him, Wesley began field-preaching around Bristol April 2, 1739. His text that day was Luke 4:18, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. His success soon led him to organize lay pastors to follow up his evangelism. After 1742 Wesley expanded his work and covered the whole of Britain. The Foundery at Moorfields (London), Bristol, and Newcastle were the main centers of his ministry. His annual travels averaged 8,000 miles on horseback. He wrote thousands of letters and preached innumerable sermons. And despite the hostility of many Church leaders he was nearly always greeted with enthusiasm. In 1744 Wesley held a conference of lay preachers that later became an annual event. From small beginnings in 1760, the Methodist system gradually developed in America. In 1768 a Methodist Chapel was opened in New York. The needs of his new field compelled Wesley to ordain Dr. Thomas Coke as Superintendent (or Bishop). He instructed Coke to ordain Francis Asbury in America as his colleague. Wesley himself still wished the Movement to minister within the Church of England, but an increasingly independent system grew up. At the time of Wesley s death there were 294 preachers and 71,668 members in Great Britain, 19 missionaries and 5,300 members on mission stations, and 198 preachers and 43,265 members in America. Wesley was a man of great courage and persistence, with a vast capacity for leadership and organization. His personality was magnetic. His piety and compassion were contagious. Discipleship Resources 2006 6
Two Great Commandments When asked what was the greatest commandment (Mark 12:30-31, NRSV), Jesus summarized his teachings in two commandments: The first is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. In the Wesleyan tradition, these two great commandments are applied through a General Rule of Discipleship: The General Rule of Discipleship To witness to Jesus Christ in the world, and to follow his teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Discipleship Resources 2006 7