SESSION 17 (2024)
LEG 1 (9/23-9/29)
READING
Fasting by Scot McKnight
Chapter 8: Fasting as Body Poverty
Chapter 10: Fasting as Body Hope
Chapter 12: Fasting and Its Benefits
Conclusion
Fasting: Spiritual Freedom Beyond Our Appetites by Lynne Baab (OPTIONAL)
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
Fasting as a response to local, national, or global issues can bind us as a faith community. What issues can of justice or social concern so move you that you could respond with a personal fast? (Ch8, p173)
Fasting is also a response to hope for change. In what ways could fasting in hope of real moral, social, and political change intensify your work in the kingdom that is here and hope for the kingdom to come? (Ch10, p173)
How does the natural desire for a “space for God,” an intimacy with our Creator, prompt the need to face, to engage our body as well as our spirit in the most vital relationship? (Ch12, p174)
PRACTICING: Fasting
In the first leg you will be fasting from a meal in its entirety. Please note that if you have any health related conditions that require you to modify this fast, please feel the freedom to do so. Prepare for your fast by answering the following questions in anticipation of what is to come:
WHAT are you going to fast from? (for this fast, a fast from food is encouraged)
WHEN are you going to fast? (i.e., what meal on what day)
HOW are you going to use this time?
WHO do you need to inform? (at a minimum, let others in your household and formation group know)
LEG 2 (9/30-10/13)
READING
Creation Regained by Al Wolters
Chapter 3: Fall
Chapter 4: Redemption
Chapter 5: Discerning Structure and Direction
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
Identify the most impactful line or idea from Chapter 3 on creation and reflect on why it was so impactful.
We’re often quick to limit sin to those things we do that we are not supposed to do and those things we do not do that we are supposed to do. This greatly minimizes the impact of sin. Wolters writes, “The effects of sin touch all creation; no created thing is in principle untouched by the corrosive effects of the fall.” (p53) He then goes on to list a number of aspects of creation impacted by sin (p53-54). How has this leg’s reading and reflecting expanded your view of sin, giving a fuller, more complete appreciation to its far reaching impact? Has the reading in any way changed your view on things such as systemic injustice and the idea that even our systems are impacted by sin? (CH3)
Wolters writes of the “very great error” that we make when we divide our world in the sacred and secular realms (p64). Reflect on one way that you (either knowingly or unknowingly) do this today and the consequences of this way of thinking. How does this exclude God from an aspect of your life, restricting Christ’s Lordship? (CH3,4)
Identify the most impactful line or idea from Chapter 4 on redemption and reflect on why it was so impactful. (CH4)
Wolters writes that “If Christ is the reconciler of all things, and if we have been entrusted with “the ministry of reconciliation” on his behalf (2 Cor 5:18), then we have a redemptive task wherever our vocation places us in his world.” (CH4, p73) How might you be an agent of reconciliation where God has you currently in life?
How would you describe the kingdom of heaven if asked? (CH4, p73-74)
How has your reading and reflecting through Creation Regained given you hope?
What belief or preconceived notion has Creation Regained challenged and made you re-think, even if it has not changed your view?
PRACTICING: Fasting
In the second leg you will be fasting from food for a day (for example from sun up to sun down, or a 24-hour fast). Please note that if you have any health related conditions that require you to modify this fast, please feel the freedom to do so. Prepare for your fast by answering the following questions in anticipation of what is to come:
WHAT are you going to fast from? (for this fast, a fast from food is encouraged)
WHEN are you going to fast? (i.e., what day)
HOW are you going to use this time?
WHO do you need to inform? (at a minimum, let others in your household and formation group know)
LEG 3 (10/14-11/10)
READING
The Deeply Formed Life by Rich Villodas (red book)
Chapter 3: Racial Reconciliation for a Divided World
Chapter 4: Deeply Formed Practices of Racial Reconciliation
Good and Beautiful and Kind by Rich Villodas (yellow book)
Chapter 9: Love in Public - Justice in the Way of Jesus
The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone
Introduction
Chapter 1: “Nobody Knows de Trouble I see” - The Cross and the Lynching Tree in the Black Experience
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)
When did you first come to the realization that we live in a society marked by racial hostility? (DFL, Ch3)
Rich underscores two racial layers we must attend to (individual and institutional) in order to make progress addressing this issue. Which of these two areas do you have more difficulty understanding, addressing, and empathizing? Why is that? (DFL, Ch3)
Rich writes, “Reconciliation in community will always cost us something, and in Christ the barriers that separate us can come down in his name.” What is God inviting us to sacrifice for the sake of reconciliation? What are you hoping will be the result? (DFL, Ch3)
Spend some time reading Revelation 7:9-10 using our lectio divina method. Which words or phrases stand out to you? This scripture passage is a sneak preview of a future time when people from all nations and ethnicities are gathered. What are some of the obstacles that keep church communities from gathering in this way? Revelation 7 reveals that in the age to come, we will retain our ethnic and national identities. How does that make you feel? Why? (DFL, Ch4)
Rich mentions the role that “meritocracy” plays in keeping people from pursuing justice. Has this idea impacted you and the way you see inequities in our world? (GBK, Ch9)
In this chapter, there are three calls to practicing justice (our dignifying attention, our local focus, a countercultural community). Which of these do you think you should prioritize in this season of your life? (GBK, Ch9)
Injustice is likely closer - both in terms of time and geography - than we realize or want to admit. I want you to spend time reflecting on how you have observed, experienced, and even inflicted and participated in injustice. Describe an instance of injustice that you have personally observed, where others have suffered. Describe an instance of injustice that you have personally experienced, as the one who has suffered. Describe a way in which you have been complicit in inflicting or participating in injustice experienced by others. How does the cross help you see each of these situations differently? How does this draw you to Jesus? How does this lead you to love like Jesus?
What were your thoughts after reading the introduction and opening chapter to The Cross and the Lynching Tree? How was it different from what you expected? What is one way this reading challenged your thinking and belief?
How has fasting during this session differed from the last time we experimented with this practice? Why do you think that is?
PRACTICING: Fasting
In the third leg you will be fasting from something of your choosing for an entire week (such as social media). Prepare for your fast by answering the following questions in anticipation of what is to come:
WHAT are you going to fast from?
WHEN are you going to fast? (i.e., what days)
HOW are you going to use this time?
WHO do you need to inform? (at a minimum, let others in your household and formation group know)
PUBLISHED: Tuesday, September 17th, 2024, at 10:25AM CT
UPDATED: Tuesday, November 12th, 2024, at 3:38PM CT - corrected some formatting, made Leg 2, Question 5 an actual question!