Week 4: The Realm of God - Take Home Sheet

TO DO THIS WEEK:
Read Matthew chapters 5-7. Then take one of the parables of the kingdom and rewrite it in your own words, possibly using more modern metaphors.
The Kingdom of God is like….
Pray for God to begin to help you discern how you can help usher in God’s rule on earth.


FURTHER THOUGHTS:

The woman has mixed the flour with the yeast which makes it rise, covers the dough with flour and a cloth, and leaves it to stand in a warm place. Kneading such a great mass of dough is hard work. The poor find it painful. Now they can let their hands drop after work. Here you see how God works and rests, how the kingdom of God is already there in dynamic and rest. Soon its all-embracing power will transform the earth. It is not a matter of elaborating the details of the parable but of making God’s nearness visible; God can be seen in everyday life, beside the bread trough. Jesus wants to open people’s eyes to this. The work of women and men, work for life, is transparent to God’s work and God’s patience. – Dorothee Soelle & Luise Schottroff in Jesus of Nazareth (p. 100)

The kingdom of God calls you to a higher way of living. It’s not just about loving friends and hating enemies. It’s about loving your enemies. This is what the King does, so this is the way of the Kingdom. God is good to all – including evil people. God’s perfection is a compassionate perfection. That’s the kind of love you need to have in God’s kingdom - a compassionate perfection that transcends old divisions of us/them and neighbor/enemy, that loves those who do not yet love you. We will never reach universal reconciliation in the kingdom of God until we move beyond conventional religious morality and believe in and practice this radical, higher plan. – Brian McLaren in The Secret Message of Jesus (p. 127)

The kingdom of God, then, is a revolutionary, counter-cultural movement – proclaiming a ceaseless rebellion against the tyrannical trinity of money, sex, and power. It’s citizens resist the occupation of this invisible Caesar through three categories of spiritual practice. First they practice a liberating generosity toward the poor to dethrone greed and topple the regime of money. Second, the practice a kind of prayer that is a defiant act of resistance against the prideful pursuit of power, pursuing forgiveness and reconciliation, not retaliation and revenge. Finally, they practice fasting to revolt against the dominating impulses of physical gratification – so that the sex drive and other physical appetites will not become our slave drivers. – Brian McLaren in The Secret Message of Jesus (p. 134)

Week 4: Entering into the Realm of God

Week 4: Entering into the Realm of God
FOCUS: WHAT DOES THE KINGDOM OF GOD LOOK LIKE?

Matthew 6: 9-15

‘Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.*
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us to the time of trial,*
but rescue us from the evil one.*
14For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

OPENING MEDITATION: Lectio Divinia

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What is your vision of the Kingdom of God? What do you think Jesus means when he uses this phrase?
2. Is the kingdom something we are waiting for or something we are actively seeking?
3. Do you struggle with the language of “kingdom”? Do you prefer “Realm of God” or another way of describing this concept?
4. What does it mean for you personally to get ready for this kingdom? What does it mean for the Body of Christ that is the church?
5. How would life be different if we lived in the kingdom right now?
6. What does the kingdom have to do with Jesus’ death and resurrection?

EXPLORING THE KINGDOM:
Break into groups of two and read the following verses about the kingdom. Discuss for a minute what you think these verses mean. Be ready to share your discussion with the group.
Group 1: Mark 4: 30-32
Group 2: Mark 1: 14-15
Group 3: Matthew 18: 44-50
Group 4: Matthew 11: 2-6 (see also Isaiah 29:18-21)
Group 5: Luke 18: 18-30
Group 6: John 3:1-8

Week 3: Scripture - Take Home Sheet

Week 3: Scripture
Additional Thoughts/Information/Suggestions

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. – The Book of Common Prayer

Spiritual reading is a meditative approach to the written word. It requires unhurried time and an open heart. If the purpose of our reading is to be addressed by God, we will need to practice attentive listening and a willingness to respond to what we hear. Many kinds of literature can be read in this manner (even newspapers, if we are willing to hear to what God may be saying to us through current events). But the primary focus of spiritual reading for Christians has always been scripture, with good reason. The purpose for which the scriptures were written - presenting hearers with God’s Word – and the purpose of spiritual reading – allowing ourselves to be addressed by God’s Word – are completely consonant. They are suited to each other as a hand and a glove. – Marjorie J. Thompson


More resources for spiritual reading:

Meditations on the Book of Psalms by Barbara Cawthorne Crafton
Short daily devotions on various Psalms

A Guide to Prayer for All God’s People by Reuben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck
Lectionary based resource combining prayer, scripture, and spiritual quotations

Wisdom’s Daughters: Stories of Women Around Jesus by Elizabeth G. Watson
Stories that lend flesh and meaning to the women who were part of the Jesus movement.

In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership by Henri Nouwen
Read anything by Henri Nouwen, but especially read this short gem on being a humble leader.

White China: Finding the Divine in the Everyday by Molly Wolf
An incredible book broken up into smaller devotional readings from a woman who has amazing wisdom about life, divorce, loss, nature, and just about anything else.

Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Tool by Dr. Lauren Artress
If you have never walked a labyrinth read this and re-discover an ancient practice that is incredibly spiritual.

Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris
A classic book struggling with what what we name things and why it matters.

A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren
One of the evangelical emerging church leaders that I greatly admire. Read this book.

Reading the Bible Again for the First Time by Marcus Borg
Struggling with scripture? Read this and learn how scripture is central to our faith and yet can be read in new ways.

Reflecting the Glory: Meditations for Living Christ’s Life in the World by N.T. Wright
Daily meditations that challenge you to live as Christ to a broken world. Not an easy read, but one that will make you think.

Please share books or other resources that have been sources of spiritual nurture for you.

Week 3: Scripture - Class Outline

Week 3: Developing a discipline of scripture
FOCUS: HOW DO WE BECOME GOOD SOIL?

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. 2Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9Let anyone with ears* listen!’
18"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

OPENING MEDITATION: Lectio divina on the above passage.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What do you believe about the authority of scripture?
2. Where do you struggle with the text? Are there particular sticking points for you?
3. What kind of learner are you? How can the word be sown in you? How do you best receive the word?
4. What are some other sources that help you hear God still speaking?

PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Sharing our favorite bible verses.

TO DO THIS WEEK: Explore some of the Bible readings or inspirational passages as found on the take home sheet or from another source. Share any insights or struggles on the ESMHE blog.

CLOSE: LORD’S prayer

Week 2: Take Up Your Cross - Take Home Page

Week 2: Taking Up Our Crosses
Additional thoughts/Suggestions/Ideas

“Taking up the cross is not a merely passive operation. It comes about as the Church attempts, in the power of the Spirit, to be for the world what Jesus was for the world – announcing the kingdom, healing the wounds of the world, challenging the power structures that keep anger and pain in circulation. We need to pray that we will have the courage, as a Church, and as Christian persons, to follow the Servant King wherever he leads. That, after all, is why we come to his table. We have seen in our century what happens when people dream wild dreams of world domination, and use the normal methods of force and power to implement them. We have not yet seen what might happen if those who worship the Servant King, now enthroned as Lord of the world, were to take him seriously enough to take up our cross and follow him. But that, as Mark reminds us, is precisely what the Servant king calls us to do.” – N.T. Wright in Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship p. 51

“The Pax Romana was a peace made possible by the cross: people so feared crucifixion that they would think long and hard before rising up against the emperor. It’s stunning in this light that the church chose the cross as one of its primary symbols. What could choosing such an instrument of torture, domination, fear, intimidation, and death possibly mean? For the early church, it apparently meant that the kingdom of God would triumph not by inflicting violence but by enduring it – not by making others suffer but by willingly enduring suffering for the sake of justice – not by coercing or humiliating others but by enduring their humiliation with gentle dignity. Jesus, they felt, took the empire’s instrument of torture and transformed it into God’s symbol of the repudiation of violence – encoding a creed that love, not violence, is the most powerful force in the universe.” – Brian McLaren in The Secret Message of Jesus p. 152-153

“I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit’s power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made- I’m a disciple of his. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean in his presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and I labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions are few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesititate in the presence of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go until he comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till he stops me. And, when he comes for his own, he will have no problem recognizing me…my banner will be clear!” – Note from a young pastor in Zimbabwe found in his office following his martyrdom as found on page 31-21 in Brennan Manning’s The Signature of Jesus


Nurture for your own walk:

Struggling with doubt - John 20:24-29
Being impatient - Matt 25:1-13, Acts 1:7-8
Being afraid - Isaiah 41:10, Matt 10:26-31
Pride - Matt 19:27-30
Feeling Inadequate - Matt 9:13


Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I give You my hands to do Your work
I give You my feet to go Your way.
I give You my eyes to see as You do.
I give You my tongue to speak Your words.
I give You my mind that You may think in me.
I give You my spirit that You may pray in me.
Above all, I give You my heart that Your love may be my own.
I give You my whole self that You may grow in me,
so that it is You, Lord Jesus, who live and work and pray in me. Amen.

Week 2: Take Up Your Cross - Class Outline

Week 2: Overcoming road blocks in our relationship with Jesus
FOCUS: LEARNING TO TAKE UP OUR CROSSES

Mark 8:34-38

34Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

WEEK IN REVIEW: Did you pray 10 minutes a day this week? What effect, if any, did it have on your life? Will you continue to pray daily?

MEDITATION: Use Lectio Divina to listen to what God has to say to you in the passage above. Discuss your experience with the group.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What does it mean to take up your cross?
2. Do you see this as an important part of your faith journey? Why or why not?
3. What fears do you have around this idea?
4. What does Jesus mean when He says, “let them deny themselves?”
5. Have you ever felt that you had to lose something in order to free yourself up for something else?
6. What would it mean for the church as a whole to take up the cross?

EXPLORING THE COSTS AND JOYS OF DISCIPLESHIP:
What would be the costs and/or results of taking up the cross in the following areas?
Home, Work, Church, World

TO DO THIS WEEK: Continue praying. Pick out your favorite scripture verse and be prepared to share it with the group next week.

CLOSE: The Lord’s Prayer

Mid-Week Check In

Our task this week is to pray at least 10 minutes a day in whatever way appeals to you. That can be for two minutes at a time 5 times a day, or 10 minutes all at once, or however works best for you. You can pray for longer, obviously, but to truly try this at least be deliberate about it 10 minutes a day.

What has this experience been like for you so far this week? What types of prayer have you used? What responses, if any, have you received?