Large group 1/20/14 - A well-rounded, Christ-centered life

What does it mean to have a well-rounded life?

1.      Christ-centered. Especial care must be taken this week to remember that we are speaking in the context of having a Christ-centered life (Matthew 6:33) and that this conversation is to give us an idea of what areas we might struggle with as we seek to best steward the gifts God has given us, support each other as a community of believers, and go out into the world and spread the gospel.

2.      One worldy definition of balance is moderation. Consider the church in Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22, see especially Revelation 3:16). They were neither hot nor cold, but was God pleased with them? Now consider Philippians 4:7 and Philippians 4:12-13; where does a Christian ultimately find balance and peace? What role does moderation have?

The YMCA rag program defines the four cornerstones of a well-rounded life: spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental (of course, centered on Christ). 

Let’s start by thinking about the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). As we consider balance in Christ, one of the fruits of the Spirit that pops out is self-control. But what manner of self-control is this?  Is it total control of emotions (but remember the other fruits of the spirit, like love!). Is it complete self-abnegation and abstention (Romans 14:1-8)? Will the manifestation of the fruits of the Spirit look the same in everyone (see Romans 14:1-8, 1 Corinthians 12:12-20)?

Spiritual
Prayer. James 5:15. Daniel 6:10. Psalms for many occasions: Psalm 42, Psalm 88, Psalm 121, Psalm 146. Are we often in the attitude of prayer? How does prayer change us and affect us?
In the word. Ephesians 6:15. Psalm 1 (especially Psalm 1:2). What do we spend our time thinking about?  How does that affect our actions?

Emotional
Social. Ephesians 5:17-21. Proverbs 11:13. Proverbs 17:9. Proverbs 26:17. James 5:16. Matthew 5:23-24. What things commonly come up socially that put us ill at heart? How can we encourage each other?
Personal. Psalm 4:4. Proverbs 14:30. Do we seek distraction or replenishment and healing with our free time?

Physical

Healthcare. 3 John 1:2. Good health is a joy and allows us to be free to use our gifts.
 
Mental
Humility. Romans 12:3. How does it affect us when we think of ourselves in ways that are not reflective of whom God made us to be?  When we judge ourselves against others?
Sabbath. Mark 2:27. This is particularly pertinent for us as Techers! How does Sabbath pertain to balance in the Christian life? How do we have a Sabbath given the expectations of Caltech?

Large group 1/13/14 - Running after God

What does it mean to run after God? How do we love the Lord with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind? These are the questions we will be tackling this week in Large Group.

1.      Luke 10:27: He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ This is Jesus’ answer to an expert in the law who asked, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” This command is also found in Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37, and Mark 12:30. What does it mean? (More specific discussion in the following bullet points).

2.      Last night, at the CCF biweekly prayer meeting, we discussed the question, ‘What is CCF; what do we want to be?’ So: what do you want CCF to be? Think about this in the context of Luke 10:27. Our discussion at prayer meeting concluded that we want to be like an inclusive family—a community we go forth from with God at the center, instead of a collection of activities and meetings we squeeze into the rest of our busy lives. Where do you think CCF or other Christian communities you belong to are on this spectrum? Do you like where they are? If not, you can start by praying (right now!).

3.      How do we treat our Christian lives? Proverbs 16:9 and Proverbs 20:24. As we devise our plans for our days and our lives, is spending time with God something we try to fit into our schedule or do we let God do the planning and the direction?

4.      How do we replenish? Do we have a Sabbath and seek the Lord for regeneration, or do we look for distraction? What does it mean that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27)?

5.      How do we use our resources? Where do we spend our time? What do we do or think about most often? Joshua 1:8 “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Do we meditate on the Law of God?  Is it close to our hearts and on our lips always? How often do we pray? What are we most focused on?

6.      Physical strength and well-being.  Are we careful with our bodies? 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. How do we use our bodies; is this area of our life used to glorify God?

7.      Our heart. 1 John 4:20: what are ways we can love our brothers and sisters (think about some of the things we discussed last term).

8.      Our mind. 1 Peter 3:15-16. We are not called to be mindless worshipers! Always be prepared with an answer for why you believe.  What is your reason for believing?

Large group #11 - Faith

This week is Large Group Number 11, the last Large Group before we go on break. We will be talking about faith this week and discussing some of the following questions: What is faith? What is its purpose? Why should we have faith? What does the faithfulness of God have to do with our faith? We will also be looking at the faithfulness of some characters in the bible including the Syrphoenician woman, the centurion, and, in the Christmas spirit, the faith of Mary, Joseph, Simeon, and Anna (also read Hebrews 11 for a long list of those faithful to God).

I have a challenge question based on part of Psalm 4 (When you are on your bed, search your heart and be silent):

Examine your heart for five minutes and ask yourself, ‘What have I put my faith in?’ If you aren’t sure or find any surprises, seek out another believer whom you trust and talk with them.

I look forward to seeing you all at this last Large Group of the term!

Love in Christ,

Peter

P.S. I have included this week’s discussion questions—if anyone wants to start a conversation about them, please reply all to the email thread!

Large group #10 - Prayer

This week we will be discussing the role of prayer in our lives.  How did Jesus teach us to pray? When should we pray? Who are role models in the bible for prayer? What experience do we have with prayer? Why do we pray? Where do we pray?  This is a big topic and we will only have time to scratch the surface

I challenge you all this week to be purposeful about praying and to pray more than usual.  I also challenge you all to come together to pray in a pair or a group at least once this week. Turtle Prayer (at the turtle pond by Millikan Pond at 4PM every day) is a good place to go for this!

I look forward to seeing you there!

Love in Christ,
Peter

P.S. Here is the guided discussion for this week, please feel free to reply-all and start a conversation about it!

Large Group #9 - Church and the larger community

This week we will be talking about church.  We will look at the origins of the early church and compare that to what the church looks like today.  We will think about the church in the context of being a family and think about responsibility within the church.  We will consider the role of the Holy Spirit as our helper and discuss the ultimate role of the church in God’s plan.

Large group #8 - Forgiveness and Reconciliation

This week we will be talking about forgiveness and reconciliation:  Why are we called to forgive and to reconcile?  Do we need to be careful when we reconcile and forgive with people who do not hold themselves a biblical standard? What gives us the power to reconcile and forgive? What is God’s nature regarding sin, forgiveness, and reconciliation?

Large Group #7 - Supporting each other

This week we will be talking about encouragement and have a quick recap about what we learned from studying Micah on Saturday.  I have been greatly encouraged over the past few weeks as I have gotten to know many new faces and seen strong commitment to Christ and to each other at Turtle Prayer, this weekend’s Dig-In, at church, and around campus.  I pray that we will continue to love and serve each other wholeheartedly. I exhort those of us who have found a firm community here at Caltech to reach out to those who have not yet found Christian community.  Consider the wonderful blessing it is to be with fellow believers and how encouraging it is to spend time with each other; share that gift and blessing with your friends because you care about them and love them.

Encouragement and hope come ultimately from God, through His Spirit (consider Ephesians 5:15-21 and Hebrews 13:9) and in the work Jesus accomplished on the cross. Hence we can encourage each other simply by living out scripture in our lives (1 Thessalonians 3:6-10). Encouragement is not a passive process, nor is it simply our words: we encourage through our actions (1 John 3:18) and our involvement in each other’s lives.

We will consider how we can encourage each other by reading Job 2:11-13, Romans 12:15, and Psalm 88.  We encourage by understanding each other well enough that we can encourage according to our brother’s a sister’s needs (Ephesians 4:29).  Therefore we will discuss how we encourage with the freedom that Christ gave us and not in compulsion (Galatians 5:1, Romans 14:13-23, Philemon 14) and see how rebuke relates to encouragement (Galatians 6:1, 1 Timothy 5:1-2, Proverbs 27:5).  We will also identify some pitfalls to avoid as we encourage each other by examining Proverbs 27:14 and Job 42:7-9. Finally, we will also look at some of the specific ways to encourage our leaders and teachers in Galatians 6:6 and Hebrews 13:17.

This week we will also begin to tie together all the topics we have been talking about this term—living life as a Body (1 Corinthians 12), building honesty and openness (James 5:13-16), dealing with conflict (Matthew 5:21-26,Matthew 18:15-20, Ephesians 4:25-28)—and relating these topics to how we encourage each other.

I exhort you all to put into practice what we have been covering in Large Group (so that we may love through actions and not simply through words), to spend time with each other so that we may encourage each other and grow in love together, to check up on your friends to support them (especially in the wake of midterms!), and to invite friends to have community with other believers.