Message Series: Becoming - Marks of a Disciple
Week 3 | Am I Invested in Life Changing Community?
Group Check in:
How is it with your soul?
Prayer Request? Praises?
How has God shown up in your life this week?
Icebreaker:
What have you done for your neighbors this week?
Biblical Teaching:
Overview:
Human beings are built, literally from the ground up, for relationships, for connection, and for community...and that’s reflected in God’s design for Christian discipleship.
Hebrews was written with two main purposes in mind. First, to remind the hearers and readers of the profound difference between how people of faith related to God before Jesus and how people of faith relate to God now, because of Jesus. It’s not just a new covenant, it’s a better covenant. The prior covenant could only offer glimpses of God’s ultimate plan for our redemption and transformation. The new covenant made those possible. Second, it was written to Christians under persecution to encourage them not to give up. We don’t know exactly when or where it happened. We don’t know the nature of the persecution: was property taken? Were believers put in jail? Did they experience torture and martyrdom? All we know is that the author was concerned about the pressure the community was facing.
It is critically important to remember two things: Jesus warned us there would be trouble in the world. He didn’t promise us an easy path without pain. He told us up front there would be challenges to endure. But he DID promise that we would never face those struggles alone.
Verse 25 - The word "provoke" is not always negative. Provoke one another to love and do good deeds. It is our responsibility to provoke and to encourage and to inspire others to love.
Christian discipleship does not exist only in the individual space of our lives. Encouraging others and being encouraged by others are both central to the life of an authentic Jesus follower.
Our relationship with God through Jesus IS personal. Jesus said that God knows the count of the hair on our heads. Jesus told the parables in Luke 15 that God the Father is preoccupied with the ONE who is lost, but each of those parables concludes with the lost ONE rejoining the whole: the coin returns to the purse and pays for a party, the sheep returns to the herd and makes the group whole, the son returns to the family and brings great joy.
We have a tendency to reduce Christian discipleship to a personal relationship with Jesus in our hearts. It’s not less than that, but it is absolutely more than that. Being a disciple is not just a “me” thing... it’s a “we” thing.
We should not imagine the life of faith as a connecting line between us and God. Rather, it’s a triangle: we love God, and we love people who love God.
Discussion Questions:
Are you invested in life-changing community?
Do you provoke, encourage, and support others in your community/neighborhood?
Are you invested in a community where you recieve encouragement and support by others?
Do you openly recieve this help and support or are you relunctant? What keeps you from freely acccepting it?
How can your group "consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds?" Share ways that you have already been doing this as well. (verse 24)
Stay updated on upcoming PTCUMC Adult Group Events/Opportunities at PTCUMC.ORG/GROUPS
Save the Date & Share with your Groups:
Men's Minisitry Serve Opportunity | May 20th
Register at PTCUMC.ORG/ADULTS
Our Men's Ministry is partnering with an organization called Sleep In Heavenly Peace. Together we will be building, assembling, and delivering top-notch bunk beds to children and families in need in our community. No experience required.
9AM-1:30PM. Please arrive 15-20 minutes early. Lunch will be provided.
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