Dear Leader,
This week’s praxis is set up almost like a group therapy
session.
I had some hesitations about doing this.
I was hesitant to put you in the position of having to be a
group therapist. That might be asking too much of you. I
was also hesitant to assume that my role as a therapist
should inform how I approach this curriculum.
But I decided this week to let some of what I might say
to lead a group come out in the words I chose in the
practicum.
I did this because we are all afraid to acknowledge our
own frailty. While this is our goal, to enter into more real
and “human” interactions with each other, sometimes a
direct conversation about acknowledging our
weaknesses can become stale.
If we’re going to ask people to be vulnerable, we’re going
to need to create a lot of safety. So, in the Praxis, I
outlined what I might say to encourage people to feel
safe to acknowledge some difficult things. If it doesn’t fit
for you, or sounds wooden, I encourage you to use your
own words.
-Connor
10.18.2015 : LifeGroups
montrosechurch.org
Changed for the Good
The Hope of Change
How do we change? When do we finally find the joy we’re looking for? How do we get there? It’s
If we’re honest, we long to grow, to change, to transform. If we aren’t engaged in change, we
experience atrophy. It’s difficult to embrace our humanity because doing so involves admitting
that we are frail. Yet Jesus was not some superman, but a frail human. This is where Jesus, and
we, find our strength and our calling. We are at our best when we humbly acknowledge our
weaknesses and our dependence upon God. The Kingdom of God - our service and love for
others - can only be done in the context of our frail humanity.
FOCAL POINT: Jesus calls us to embrace our humanity and weakness
as a way to live out the Kingdom of God.
Getting Started
Catch up together about how your week has been, possibly also revisit
last week’s meeting.
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Was there a time recently where you didn’t feel you had the strength
to do what was required of you?
Exploring Scripture
Read the following passage together.
2 Corinthians 4:7-12
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What words or phrases stick out to you?
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What do you hear about God’s heart in this passage?
2 Corinthians 4:7-12
10.18.2015 : LifeGroups
montrosechurch.org
Reflection
Take time to reflect together about the passage.
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Paul paints a picture of a Christian being in a sweet spot between
failure and strength: struck down, but not destroyed. Have you ever
felt this way? How would you put this feeling in your own words?
‣
As Christians there can be times when we try to put forth our best
self, and other times we feel more raw, humble, and vulnerable. Where
in your life do you find yourself being raw, humble, and vulnerable?
Who knows this side of you? Who doesn’t know this side of you? Why?
Praxis
Allow space for the word of God to speak to our LifeGroup.
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‣
Let’s allow space for us to connect with this image of a jar of
clay. I’ll guide us through some thoughts, then I’ll invite you to
share some of your experience with the group.
‣
I invite you to close you eyes, and picture a time this week,
even today, when you felt “hard pressed” or “struck down” a time when you felt at the end of yourself. [allow a minute]
Picture how this time affected you, maybe an insecurity or
fear. [allow a minute]
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Feel free to open your eyes. So often we never allow
ourselves to access this fear because it’s hard to admit our
own frailty. But the truth is we are frail humans. It is when
we acknowledge our frailty that God’s truth and life is able
to fill us. If you feel comfor table, would you be willing to
speak the frailty you felt this week?
What is it like to speak your frailty? What is it like to hear this
frailty from each other?
1.
Moving Outward
Challenge each other to live out God’s truth this week.
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10.18.2015 : LifeGroups
What difference might it make to others if you were to live from your
frailty? What would you need this week in order to do so?
montrosechurch.org
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power
is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not
crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck
down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of
Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are
alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may
also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at
work in you.
10.18.2015 : LifeGroups
montrosechurch.org