SESSION 6 (2023)
LEG 1 (Monday, 9/25 - Sunday, 10/8)
READING
Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves
Introduction: Here Be Dragons?
Chapter 1: What was God Doing Before Creation?
Chapter 2: Creation: The Father’s Love Overflows
Deeply Formed Life by Rich Villodas
Chapter 9: Missional Presence in a Distracted and Disengaged World
Chapter 10: Deeply Formed Practices of Missional Presence
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
What is one step you can take today to quiet the noise in order to listen more attentively to the voice of Jesus and slow down in order to live more faithfully to the way of Jesus? (EHS-WB, p26)
Fill in the blanks: What I am beginning to realize about God this week is _______. What I am beginning to realize about myself this week is _______. (EHS-WB, p34)
Reeves writes on p25 that “God the Father is not called Father because he copies earthly fathers”, rather “all human fathers are supposed to reflect him - only where some do that well, others do a better job of reflecting the devil.” Think about your perception of God as Father. How might your relationship with your Heavenly Father be shaped, at least in some extent, to your relationship with your earthly father?
Describe one way your view of who God is changed as a result of what you have read in Delighting in the Trinity?
We are often quick to provide solutions and attempt to fix other people’s problems thinking that is the measure of love - seeing “people as projects to fix instead of relationships to nurture.” (DFL, p183) Yet Rich writes on p172 that, “The quality of our presence is our mission.” Sometimes our physical, emotional, and spiritual presence with another is what is needed more than our words. Reflect on a time when the presence of another was what you most needed in order to feel loved. Reflect on a time when the words of another were unwanted and resulted in you not feeling loved.
Who are the people and where are the spaces that you sense God leading you to be more missionally and intentionally present? What practical step can you take towards that end?
“We are often known for what we are against rather than what we are for.” (DFL, p185) Describe a way (or ways) in which others in your life (friends, family, co-workers, church family) might know you more by what you are against rather than by your love for others. How does this reflect poorly on the love God has for the world?
Mother Teresa once said, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” (DFL, p187) Think of someone you are currently more focused on judging rather than loving. Reflect on why you think this is and what steps the Spirit is calling you to take out of love for them.
“The deeply formed life is one that creates space for others.” (DFL, p196) Not to change them, but as Henri Nouwen writes, “to offer them space where change can take place.” (DFL, p196) Who in your life do you need to create space in order to better love? How might you have been pursuing their change rather than creating space for change to take place? How does this reflect your trust in God vs. yourself?
Much of the mission of Jesus takes place around food. Why is eating together a powerful environment to connect with others, especially missionally?
PRACTICING
New To You
Meet someone “new to you” each Sunday and text the name of who you met and something about them to your Formation Group on Sunday after service.
Letters
Write a handwritten note of gratitude to someone who has played an influential role in your spiritual formation.
Write a handwritten note of encouragement to someone else regarding their spiritual formation.
LEG 2 (Monday, 10/0 - Sunday, 10/22)
READING
Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Chapter 1: Community
Chapter 2: The Day With Others
Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
Chapter 9: Calling a Friend: Congregation and Community
PREPARING
Listen or watch our sermon on Hospitality in our series Distinctives from August 2023.
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
Bonhoeffer writes in his chapter on community that, “Only in Jesus Christ are we one, only through him are we bound together…Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done…Because Christ stands between me and others, I dare not desire direct fellowship with them.” (P24,25,34) His point is that we relate to one another as followers of Jesus in and through our union in Christ.
a. Reflect on a relationship where you were prone to relate more directly to someone, rather than through Christ, and how this negatively impacted your relationship.
b. How might relating to them through Christ have positively impacted your relationship with them?
c. Reflect on a relationship where you were prone to relate more indirectly, through Christ, and how this positively impacted your relationship?
Bonhoeffer writes in his chapter on commuting that, “When a person becomes alienated from a Christian community in which he has been placed and begins to raise complaints about it, he had better examine himself first to see whether the trouble is not due to his wish dream that should be shattered by God; and if this be the case, let him thank God for leading him into this predicament.” Now let’s first acknowledge he is not talking about a truly abusive environment, but one in which we might say, “I just don’t feel connected.”
a. Reflect on a time when you have felt a lack of connection, preferably in a church setting or one with other Christians. How might you have had unfair, idealized expectations of this community that led to your lack of contentment and connection?
b. How might this even be true now, here at Redemption? What barriers might you have created or come across that are preventing this deeper sense of community that you desire? How might a lack of trust - either in God or in others - be a contributing factor?
c. What steps might God be leading you to take in the midst of any discontentment to pursue a greater sense of connection and community?
How has reading Bonhoeffer’s opening two chapters of Life Together changed your perspective of the communal aspect of the Lord’s Supper, where we come to the table together, united in and through Christ, for fellowship?
Tish Harrison Warren writes, “We work out our faith with these other broken men and women around us in the pews.” (p126) While this common brokenness can at times potentially create a barrier to community, it can also contribute to a deeper sense of community. Reflect on how you have experienced this deeper sense of community through fellowship with other “broken men and women around [you] in the pews.” How was this brokenness - either your own or that of others - a blessing that fostered community?
PRACTICING
New To You
Meet someone “new to you” each Sunday and text the name of who you met and something about them to your Formation Group on Sunday after service.
Hospitality
Host someone in your home who is familiar with your home
Prepare by asking the following questions in anticipation of what is to come:
WHO am I going to host?
WHEN am I going to host them?
WHERE in my home will I host them?
WHAT will we eat, drink, and do?
Remind yourself WHY you are hosting them
Reflect by asking the following questions of what took place:
What one thing did you most enjoy about your time together?
What worked well? How will you incorporate next time?
What did not work well? How will you adjust for next time?
What did you prepare? How will you prepare differently for next time?
LEG 3 (Monday, 10/23 - Sunday, 11/5)
READING
Introduction to a Journey by M. Robert Mulholland
Part 4: Companions Along the Way: Corporate and Social Spirituality
Emotionally Healthy Discipleship by Peter Scazzero
Chapter 7: Make Love the Measure of Maturity
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
What is one step you can take today to quiet the noise in order to listen more attentively to the voice of Jesus and slow down in order to live more faithfully to the way of Jesus? (EHS-WB, p26)
Fill in the blanks: What I am beginning to realize about God this week is _______. What I am beginning to realize about myself this week is _______. (EHS-WB, p34)
In your spiritual life right now, do you experience it to be more of a privatized thing or as spiritual pilgrimage you are taking together with others in the body of Christ? How do you respond to the idea that holistic spirituality enables us more and more to be agents of God’s grace for our sisters and brothers in the body of Christ? (I2J, p210)
Reflect on a time in your life where you were more isolated from other Christians, either by choice or by circumstance. This may have been a season where you were not part of a church - or not actively participating in a church. How was this isolation detrimental to your spiritual formation, hampering and limiting your growth?
After reading Mulholland’s section on corporate and social spirituality, how do you now see this corporate dimension of the spiritual ie so essential to the practice of our spiritual disciplines and pursuit of our spiritual growth? What aspect of corporate worship and community do you find most beneficial to your spiritual growth? What aspect do you find least beneficial, and why might that be? How might God be leading you to participate in this, in pursuit of greater wholeness?
How has your growth toward wholeness in Christ nurtured others into their own wholeness in Christ? How has their growth nurtured you? (I2J, p211)
As you read the descriptions of the seven churches in John’s vision in Mulholland’s chapter on social spirituality, which one(s) resonate most with you as a description of churches you are most familiar with? Which resonate most with you, and why? (I2J, p212)
What barriers are you currently experiencing that are preventing you from a deeper sense of community? Are these barriers you have created or circumstantial barriers? How might God be leading you to step over or around these barriers? Or, might these barriers be placed in your life by God to slow the pace of your life (but not restrict you from community)?
Who is someone you find yourself relating to more as an “it” than as a “thou”? Why is that? How could you pursue loving them through listening to story and learning their situation?
One way to practice the presence of people in everyday life is to ask three questions: “Am I fully present or distracted? Am I loving or judging? Am I open or closed to being changed?” What makes judgement easy and curiosity difficult for you? What does curiosity require of you? Intentionally engage in a conversation with someone during this leg, practicing incarnation listening practices Pete describes. HINT: It’s ok to let them know you’re doing this. ANOTHER HINT: It’s ok to do this with someone in your formation group. After all, these should be safe spaces to explore and learn and grow together.
PRACTICING
New To You
Meet someone “new to you” each Sunday and text the name of who you met and something about them to your Formation Group on Sunday after service.
Hospitality
Host someone in your home who is less familiar with your home, possibly even never been in your home.
Prepare by asking the following questions in anticipation of what is to come:
WHO am I going to host?
WHEN am I going to host them?
WHERE in my home will I host them?
WHAT will we eat, drink, and do?
Remind yourself WHY you are hosting them
Reflect by asking the following questions of what took place:
What one thing did you most enjoy about your time together?
What worked well? How will you incorporate next time?
What did not work well? How will you adjust for next time?
What did you prepare? How will you prepare differently for next time?
PUBLISHED: Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at 1:12PM
UPDATED: -