Large group - Reliance on God, the gifts He has given us, and the Body of Christ

1. A few elementary truths to begin our discussion. We rely on God to give us strength and life (Phillipians 4:13, Psalm 46:1). We depend on Him and Christ’s transforming power rests on us (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

2. With this in mind, it is apparent that sometimes God asks us to do things on our own (with His help) and sometimes He asks us to do things as a group (also with His help).

a. An OT example of being on our own is Elijah, e.g. 1 Kings 18:16-39. Elijah is the last prophet left and pitted against all the servants of Baal (1 Kings 18:22). The final purpose of this exhibition is the glory of God (1 Kings 18:39).

b. An OT example of being asked to work as a group is the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, e.g. Nehemiah 3:12 (most of Nehemiah 3, actually). Here they rebuild in groups, help each other, and defend each other. Again, the ultimate end is the glorification of God (through the restoration of Jerusalem). See also, in more general terms, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.

c. A NT example of being on our ‘own’ is Phillip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch, Acts 8:26-40. Phillip was given direct orders to go out alone into the desert and was equipped by God to share the gospel with the Ethiopian; through God’s mercy the Ethiopian was converted.

d. A NT example of being called to work together (Hebrews 10:24-25, 1 Thessalonians 5:14-22, Luke 10:1, 3 John 1-8). In the Hebrews passage we are asked to consider how we can build each other up. In the 1 Thessalonians passage, the entire community was exhorted to support each other. In the Luke passage the disciples were sent out in pairs. In the 3 John passage we are told to support fellow workers.

3. In what areas of your life are you called to be able to do things ‘on your own’ (with Christ alongside you!) vs. called to rely on others (and Christ!). Some potential topics: caring for others, preparing for events, dealing with money, teaching others, proselytizing (not an exhaustive list). This can be different for everyone! Is this a black and white distinction, or do we sometimes rely more on the gifts God gave us and at other times rely more on our friends, even in the same area of our lives? We are each given different gifts and strengths and weaknesses (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).  What are some of your gifts?  What strengths do you have? What weaknesses? How/in what areas can others help you?

4. Christians should be imitators of Christ. How do we learn to be imitators of Christ? We are given spiritual gifts. How do we learn to use those gifts? See 1 Corinthians 11:1 and Luke 6:40. Who do we directly learn from?  Is it good to learn from more than one person (cf. Proverbs 24:6).

Notes from Family Business Meeting #2 - Council Roles and Nominations

Family Business Meeting #2
Saturday May 3, 2014

Present: Peter, Jenny, John, David, Yuka, Andy, Robb, Jessica, Lisa

Council positions open for running:

President –

From Robb: not very well defined role; attends Council Meeting; often prays at things like Council Meeting; not so much doing but rather being… being a spiritual figurehead of the fellowship; taking spiritual responsibility for the fellowship; ‘if something wants to get to the fellowship has to go through the president’; paying attention to how the fellowship is doing, how things are going, looking to the future; helping wherever help is needed. From Skippy: two takes on the job depending on who has the position. Pastoral, Organizational. Be-er, Do-er. Make sure the other members handle the other emphasis. No right/wrong, depends on who you are. From Robb: I used to feel inadequate when looking at all that Peter had done, but then I realized “I’m not Peter.”

Eliza:佤是What is the most difficult thing that you’ve had to deal with?

Large group - What is true and proper worship?

1.  Romans 12:1-2. In this context, consider Mark 12:29-34. What is the nature of true and proper worship?

2. Where do we offer our sacrifices in worship? In the Old Testament these sacrifices were offered in the tabernacle (a short reminder is in Hebrews 9:1-5, but read through Leviticus for a more exhaustive list of proper Old Testament sacrifices). However, this is not system of worship that we have under the New Covenant (also recall our discussion of mercy and obedience, not sacrifice, e.g. Isaiah 1:11-17). Rather, we haveHebrews 9:11-15 (note especially Hebrews 9:14, “So that we may serve the living God!”). So where is the temple at which we worship now? See 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, “You together are that temple.” See alsoEphesians 2:19-22. (Note that there is also the true tabernacle in heaven—Hebrews 9:11—but can we go there yet? So where is the temple that is relevant to our worship now?). And rest assured that God is consistent! He wants the same worship of us now as He always did (e.g. Isaiah 1:16-17). What then of the Law (see Hebrews 10:1)? How do we worship God?

3. Some errors in worship: Matthew 15:1-11 (Phariseeism, see the opposite in Matthew 6:1-4), Acts 17:22-31 (ignorant worship, see the opposite in John 4:19-26), Colossians 2:20-23 (self-abnegation, see the opposite of this in Romans 14, which we talked about when we discussed freedom in Christ).

4. What are some ways to remain focused on worship and on God?  See Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

5. Christians are priests and we offer sacrifices (1 Peter 2:5 and Hebrews 13:15-16).  What sacrifices do we offer? What are good sacrifices? How are we enabled to make these sacrifices? What incense do we offer up (see Revelation 5:8)? What praise offerings and songs do we make (see Ephesians 5:18-20)? How will others know we are true followers of God (see John13:34-35)?

6. What about what we typically think of as worship (e.g. singing)? See Psalms 33:3, 42:10, 96:1, 100:1-2,Isaiah 42:10, etc. Is this worship also commendable? Of course! See, e.g., 1 Chronicles 16:23-31, Acts 16:25,Ephesians 5:18-20, Colossians 3:16, James 5:13, etc. But, importantly, with what attitude do we sing, worship, and praise? See Hebrews 12:28-29 and recall Romans 12:1-2. What comes first, songs of praise or acts of love? Can the two coincide?

Large group - How should we pray?

1. As you know, Jesus taught us how to pray, Matthew 6:9-13. What are the main parts of how we are to pray? 1. “Hallowed be your name.” 2. “Your kingdom come.” 3. “Your will be done.” 4. “Give us today our daily bread.” 5. “Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.” 6. “Lead us not into temptation.” 7. “Deliver us from the evil one.” What do each of them mean?

2. There are (at least) five related aspects of prayer.

a. Praise and thanksgiving: (related to “Hallowed be your name”), e.g. Psalm 138 or Psalm 145.

b. Consolation and comfort: e.g. Psalm 88.

c. Healing: e.g. Jeremiah 17:14.

d. Preparation, protection, and the Armor of God: e.g. Ephesians 6:10-17.

e. Praying for others: e.g. Colossians 4:12, Ephesians 6:18-20.

Are there other aspects as well?

3. Luke 11:5-13. “Seek.” Read through the parable; what does it mean? Does seeking imply persistence? What or who are we seeking? Read 2 Corinthians 3:12-18. What is the meaning of Luke 11:11-13?

4. Further instructions on prayer, Matthew 6:5-8.

a. “Do not be like the hypocrites.” Why have they received their reward in full? What is their reward?

b. “Do not babble on like the pagans.” What does this mean? Does it mean that long prayers, formulaic prayers, or repetitive prayers are intrinsically bad? Or does it have more to do with an attitude of the heart? Are there pitfalls for long or formulaic prayers? Are they useful?

5. Matthew 6:8. “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Why do we pray then? Well, Jesus tells us to. But, Techers like to understand things (and we are called to chase after God with all our heart, mind, and strength). Maybe the power of words (e.g. Hebrews 11:3, Proverbs 18:21)?  How else does prayer make sense biblically?

6. Is it okay to be angry or sad or happy or serious or scared or exhausted or _____ when we pray? See the diversity of the psalms. However, with what attitude do we come before God (e.g. 2 Chronicles 20:12)? What can we ask for (see Ephesians6:18)? Might the answer be ‘no’ (see Luke 11:11-13)?

7. Are seeking to be more like Jesus (e.g. 1 John 2:3-6) and striving to have an attitude of prayer (e.g. Colossians 4:2) intimately tied? How does one gain an attitude of prayer (asking, practicing, Daniel 6:10)? How does that look practically?

8. Matthew 5:44. Is that hard? Discuss.

9. Prayer and action. Jesus’ life included both prayer time and action (check out the gospels). Read 1 John 3:17. How does this tie into prayer?

Large group - Apologetics

This week we will be discussing Apologetics in Large Group. Apologetics comes from a Greek word that means defense, and is often used to refer to defense of the faith. This week we will primarily be focusing on some basic principles and apologetics toward non-theists (agnostics and atheists); we will probably have at least one other large group about apologetics toward non-Christian theists later in the term. 

Discussion Questions

1.       Why apologetics? Why are they important? Matt 28:19-20 and 1 Peter 3:15.
2.       In what spirit should we take up apologetics? (1 Peter 3:15 is also useful here).
3.       When defending the faith, especially in a discussion with a non-believer, what is the end goal? On what time scale should we expect apologetic work to be successful (if at all)? To what degree is this success, or lack thereof, dependent on the efforts of the apologist?
4.       How do we carry out the command in 1 Peter 3:15 if we are not trained in apologetics? What are some common tactics we can use? How can asking the non-believer questions be useful in apologetics?

Some Questions to think about:

1.       Is the absence of evidence itself evidence of absence? Under what conditions might this be true and under what conditions might this be false?
2.       Does the atheist have to prove his viewpoint or does the burden of proof only fall on the believer?
3.       A common question is “are things good because God commands them or does God command things that are independently good?” Is either of these viewpoints correct? Is there another option?
Feel free to share questions that you have seen or been asked before and discuss them.

Notes from FBM #1

FBM 1 - Notes on what went well and what didn't go well this year as well as suggestions on how we can do things differently (or keep things the same)

• Club Fair/Frosh
• Flyers are good
• The flyers are updated; Robb will print more
• Give out easter eggs with verse+candy
• Buy a bunch for next year…
• Frosh outreach – have a lunch/dinner to meet frosh at the beginning of the year
• Many frosh come first large group, half come to second, and then third and beyond continue to come
• Visit the frosh who come to the first large group and those who check the CCF box on prefrosh interest sheets at their rooms
• A group of 5, 10 people with doughnuts/chocolate visiting the rooms of these frosh
• Writing to prefrosh postcards before the start of term inviting them to come
• 24 hour prayer vigil
• everyone signs up for a 30 min or 1 hour shift praying for the prefrosh, the harvest, the year
• Turtle Prayer
• Hard to find a time that works for everyone
• David likes afternoons, Daniel likes mornings
• Good time of fellowship
• Can be used for finding discipleships
• Two-tiered form:
• Catch-up / fellowship
• Prayer
• Once a week morning, once a week evening, the rest afternoon
• Sync CCF calendar to phone, keep it up to date
• One week of prayer before classes at 7 am – keep, good for frosh
  
  

Large group - Not just sacrifice...

1. Read Hosea 6:4-6. Now read Matthew 12:3-8: what do these words mean, “For I desire mercy not sacrifice…?” Who’s mercy? Who’s sacrifice? See also Matthew 9:10-13.

2. 1 Samuel 15:22-23. “To obey is better than sacrifice.” How is this the same as desiring mercy and not sacrifice? Why is obedience better than sacrifice? Do obedience and sacrifice sometimes go hand-in-hand (see, e.g., Jesus’ example in Luke 22:42)? How can we tell whether we are being asked to sacrifice? Is extra sacrifice, for the sake of sacrifice, more commendable (see also Matthew 10:16 and compare with 1 Peter 3:17).

3. Freedom in Christ; Galatians 5:1. What does it mean to be free in Christ (see Galatians 5:2-6, for example, where Paul chastises those who depend on something other than Christ’s resurrection)?

4. A BIG QUESTION. Romans 14:15, how do we decide whether to refrain from an activity (assuming it’s not blatantly a sin…); see also 1 Corinthians 6:12 and 1 Corinthians 10:23 and context.

5. Compare these two types of ‘freedom:’ freedom in Christ and ‘freedom’ from lawlessness (i.e. ‘doing whatever you want’); see 1 John 3:4. Where does freedom in Christ lead to, where does ‘freedom’ in lawlessness lead to; see Romans 6:15-23? Read 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; in Christ there is freedom and that freedom leads to transformation.

6. Romans 14:1-23 (see also Colossians 3:12-17). Think about this in the context of 1 Corinthians 12 (the Body of Christ).  Discuss Romans 14:1; what are disputable matters? Romans 14:4, how can we judge others when we do not know their heart (what are the two ways that we are allowed to judge biblically: Matthew 7:16-20, Galatians 1:8-9)? Romans 14:8, how should we govern our actions and decide whether what we are doing is in accordance with living like Jesus? What is the meaning of Romans 14:19-21?