Belmont Chapel Home Group Notes – Autumn Term 2018
Following means living
Notes for w/b 21st January 2018
These notes are linked to the talk which will be given on Sunday 21st, at the start of the week. It’s part of our “Follow Me” series, which aims to unpack the meaning of following Jesus, from Luke’s Gospel. There have already been two talks in the series, “Called to Follow” and “Following means learning”. The first talk outlined, the definition of discipleship which we’re using for the series, illustrated in this diagram:
The PowerPoint for the talk is online at
Recap
At the outset, ask people what they can remember of Sunday’s talk (if they were there – if not, fill them in!). See also how much they can remember about the preceding two weeks. It may be painful, but it’s useful – this is a closely-connected series and it’s important for people to follow the whole argument through, week by week. Use the diagram above if it’s helpful.
It’s unlikely that this week’s talk will be on the Belmont website by the time your group meets.
The main points of the talk will be available online from Saturday 20th onwards at …
The PowerPoint should be at …
Read
Look again at Sunday’s passage, Luke 9:18-25. Sunday’s talk spelled out three ways in which a follower of Jesus lives a different kind of life to others – it means:
- Living an accountable life (18-20) – recognizing the supreme authority of Jesus
- Living an uncomfortable life (21-22) – we’re representatives of someone who went against the flow and was feared and hated by the world; we should expect nothing different (1 John 3:13)
- Living an expendable life (vv 22-25) – we have to be willing to give our lives away for Jesus’ sake, not to hang on to them desperately
So let’s spend the study time tonight thinking about what those things might mean in practice in our lives today…
Living an accountable life (18-20) – recognizing the supreme authority of Jesus
- Why do you think it was so important for Jesus to ask the question about his identity right then, at this precise point? What would have happened if:
-He’d just taken it for granted that they knew who he was?
-He had waited until the hostility against him had started?
-He had never told them, but had been content just to leave them wondering about him?
And so today:
When is it absolutely vital for Jesus’ followers to be quite clear in their minds that he is the Messiah, chosen, anointed and sent by God, and bearing all of God’s authority?
- Were the disciples ever in danger of forgetting Jesus’ authority? Can you think of some examples of times when they did? When are we most likely to forget it, and what might we do as a result? Do you think that Christians today feel as accountable to Jesus as previous generations did?
- Are some of us more likely to forget it than others, and if so why? Which of the disciples are you personally most like – Peter, Thomas, James, Judas…?
Living an uncomfortable life (21-22) – following someone who was feared and hated
- The title “Son of Man” didn’t just mean “human male”. For Jews it conjured up memories of Daniel’s vision in Daniel 10:4-9. Look at that story, and decide: what would Jewish people have expected the “Son of Man” to be like, and how was Jesus different from what they might have expected?
And so today:
Jesus talks here about three things he must endure: ongoing suffering; rejection by those who should acclaim him; and finally death. How might we go through these things, as his followers, in our lives in society today?
- There’s a fourth prediction in the list – a slightly more positive one! What is it? How does that help us deal with living the “uncomfortable life” in today’s world? (Leaders: If this is a bit cryptic, I’m thinking of two possible answers here: first, that because Jesus has risen again, all of his power is available to sustain us through the challenges of following him – see how John’s vision of the Son of Man in Revelation 1:12-18 echoes and fulfils Daniel’s; and also, second, that as we have died with him to our old sinful nature, we’re also risen to walk in newness of life in Christ (Romans 6:4, Colossians 2:12), and the new nature God has given us helps us to be “more than conquerors”.)
- But aren’t Christians supposed to be liked by other people (see Acts 2:47)? How does that fit in?
- What expectations do modern Western Christians have of life? What do we look forward to? What do we most want for our children? Are we becoming too materialistic, and if so how do we stop it? Is there anything in our normal pattern of life that might conflict with following Jesus faithfully?
Living an expendable life (vv 22-25) – we have to be willing to give our lives away
- Taking the cross up daily suggests that we won’t have one great moment of surrendering everything… but an ongoing experience of denying ourselves again and again, suffering the pity and hostility of onlookers over and over, day after day. In what ways did that happen for the first disciples after Jesus had died?
And so today:
We aren’t up against the hostility of the Roman Empire, or even the enmity and persecution which believers are facing in other parts of the world. We’re having an easy time. How does Jesus’ command apply to our lives – that we should deny ourselves, pick up the cross daily, and follow him?
- How might we try to “save our lives” and “gain the whole world”? Not many of us are as ambitious as a Bill Gates or a Richard Branson. So does this warning apply to us at all? If so, how?
- How might you “lose your life for Jesus” (v 24) in our society today? Is this talking about:
a.Being willing to lose your life if persecution ever came to Exeter…
b.Giving up things you enjoy too much and might otherwise shape your life around…
c.Losing reputation with some people, turning down money and position for the sake of Christ, dedicating hours of the week to serving him instead of doing as we please…
d.… or have you any different ideas?
Finally – think about 2018.
We’re spending a year trying to do this:
“This coming year, we want to get back to the roots of what "being a disciple" really means, and dig out some key principles we can embed more firmly in our lives. We want to explore what it means to follow Jesus individually, but also what it means to be his followers together, and discover how in our circumstances we can enrich and nourish one another's lives more, encourage and develop one another's experience, and extend that out into the wider circle which we're in contact with - those with whom we have a good relationship, but who aren't fully committed to following Jesus yet. We want to see how we can best develop the relationships we have with thos people - friends, colleagues, acquaintances, users of Belmont activities - so that we can maximise the ways in which the love of Christ, and the challenge of following him, become ever more apparent and attractive to them through our lives. In that way, the church will grow, the values of God's kingdom will become ever more apparent through our lifestyle, and together we will grow more confidently into the love of Christ.”
Reflect on the principles we’ve been thinking about tonight. If we applied them to our daily living in a more consistent way, how might they help us fulfil this vision? What might Belmont look like in January 2019 that would be a step forward from January 2018?