Trump Card
#1 Listen to “Trump Card”
Consider this Sunday morning’s lesson. You can listen here: http://bit.ly/1gCDfNL
Or watch here [video will be posted by Monday each week]: www.vimeo.com/rrcoc
What stuck out to you as interesting?
Did you encounter any challenging or re-orienting truth?
How’d it make you feel?
#2 In or Of
Consider the oft-repeated message "Christians should be IN the world, not OF the world."
Does that phrase carry any baggage for you? What does it mean?
In your experience, are we Christians good at managing the tension between being citizens of Heaven and ambassadors to Earth? Why or why not?
Let's lean in to each side of our calling as people of God...
First: How can we do a better job of loving the lost (or, as Jesus calls them, "the sick")?
Do you find yourself withdrawing from the world in an unhealthy way? Have you put unnecessary boundaries between yourself and the world? Share.
Think of a way you could intentionally place yourself among the people who need Jesus, either a way you've tried in the past or a way you might make an effort in the future. Be specific. make a list together as a group.
Second: How do we best pursue holiness and obedience to the will of God in the context of living love to the world?
While you strive to be like Jesus, you're no Jesus. How do you keep yourself from succumbing to darkness in your attempts to bring light to dark places?
How might we prepare ourselves before intentionally engaging the lost in a personal, relational way? Think of practical examples, even daily practices or habits.
#3 Judge-y
Read I Corinthians 5:9-13.
According to this passage, upon whom should we cast judgment? Who shouldn't we judge?
Does this passage surprise you at all?
Have you ever seen Christians get this switched? What was the result?
#4 Love is...
Read I Corinthians 13:4-8
What is love like?
Consider the characteristics of love and think of practical ways you can love people living in darkness. It might help to picture specific people.
Possible examples might include:
- Be patient with and kind to your waitress.
- Don't envy the mom of a kid on your kid's soccer team who looks ten years older than you do.
- Forgive your dad.
#5 Do You Feel It?
Frederick Buechner once wrote, “Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It's the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.”
Do you think this is a good definition for compassion? Why or why not?
In what way is our ability to feel compassion dependent upon our knowing people who're different from us? Can you have compassion for someone you don't know or haven't met? Is it easier to feel compassion for a person you've have dinner with?
Why, according to these words from Buechner, is it important for us to feel compassion for the lost? What will our compassion motivate us to DO?