Sunday Recap - You Are Not Your Own
September 17, 2023 - 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Questions:
1. How has our modern struggle with identity, authority, freedom and belonging led to so much confusion about sex?
2. What is the reality behind Paul’s body positivity in 1 Cor. 6:12-20? Why do our bodies and what we do with them matter?
3. Austin used a quote from The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman: “Freud is asserting that true happiness is sexual satisfaction, and therefore the way to be happy is to engage in behavior that leads one to be sexually satisfied...The acceptance of Freud’s basic insight that sexual desire is constitutive of identity is therefore an anthropological, philosophical, and political watershed. To concede this point means that debate about the limits of sexual expression become almost pointless because any attempt to corral sexual behavior is then rendered an oppressive move designed to make the individual inauthentic.”
Unpack the Trueman quote.
5. How can we as individuals/small group/neighbor love people more fully/freely knowing our identities aren't centered around sex?
September 3, 2023 - Proverbs 14:12, Galatians 5:22-25
Questions:
1. Dave spoke about the pervasive loneliness, anxiety, and depression in our society. How do those realities corollate with living on your own?
2. How can we faithfully live into the tension of living in the uniqueness God has made you with while also denying yourself/walking as Jesus walked?
3. Recognizing that we are not our own, we belong to God and to one another, how can we practice what Dave preached together as a small group? (rule following, self-denial, self-control, service to others, becoming like Jesus)
August 27, 2023 - Matthew 16:21-26
Questions:
1. What do you think of the idea that the key to living happily is thinking of yourself less? (Recall the self-consciousness/neurosis scale)
2. Austin mentioned the “Great De-Churching”; what role does individualism play in that reality?3. Self-care has largely consumed our culture, and the sermon this week raises important thoughts around our collective obsession with self-care and our therapeutic age. What do you think about these ideas? What does true and lasting self-care look like for followers of Jesus? What does unhealthy self-care look like? What does unhealthy self-denial look like?
4. There are three commands in Matthew 16:24: deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus. How do each of those relate to individualism?
5. How can we live out this week’s action step “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ?” What are some other tangible ways we can fight against our rugged individualism as individuals, families, small groups?
August 20, 2023 - Ephesians 5:22-33
Questions:
1. What did you grow up believing about marriage/family? What, if anything, has changed?
2. How does the fact that the Bible begins and ends with marriage speak to the significance and meaning of marriage?
3. What are some of the ways marriage reflects the gospel? What role does covenant play in that reflection?
4. Why do you think society is apathetic to marriage today? Does the Church bear any responsibility for the worlds view of marriage? If so, how can we repent and repair?
5. How can we hold together the profound meaning of marriage and the calling and examples of faithful singleness (John the Baptist, Paul, Jesus)? If there are singles in your group, allow them to vocalize how we can encourage and love them well.
August 13, 2023 - Genesis 12:1-4a
Questions:
1. What comes to mind when you think of the words identity and authority?
2. Austin gave the example of the shift of identity as seen from external sources (the Lion King) to internal (Frozen). What are some factors contributing to the shift of the source of our identity?
3. Now that we live in a time of unmatched freedom to discover and express ourselves, what is making us so exhausted? Do you feel exhausted, and if so, how does the search for authority contribute to your exhaustion?
4. What are some areas of your life God is calling you to leave so that you can join His rebellion to reestablish the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven? “Leave your father’s house…” (Gen:12:1a)
5. Considering the shift in the source of Abraham’s authority, what are some practical steps you can take to shift the source of your identity away from yourself to the identity God has given you? “Go to the land that I will show you…” (Gen. 12:1b)
6. This morning Austin shared the following quote: “You have an identity, not because you have invented one, or because you have a little hard core of selfhood that is unchanged, but because you have a witness of who you are. So what you don’t understand or see, the bits of yourself you can’t pull together in a convincing story, are all held in a single gaze of love. You don’t have to work out and finalize who you are; you don’t have to settle the absolute truth of your history or story. Because in the eyes of the presence that never goes away, all that you have been and are, is still present and real; it is held together in that unifying gaze.” (Rowan Williams)
How can acknowledging/remembering God’s single gaze of love upon us guard us against making the inward turn?
Questions:
1. How has our modern struggle with identity, authority, freedom and belonging led to so much confusion about sex?
2. What is the reality behind Paul’s body positivity in 1 Cor. 6:12-20? Why do our bodies and what we do with them matter?
3. Austin used a quote from The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman: “Freud is asserting that true happiness is sexual satisfaction, and therefore the way to be happy is to engage in behavior that leads one to be sexually satisfied...The acceptance of Freud’s basic insight that sexual desire is constitutive of identity is therefore an anthropological, philosophical, and political watershed. To concede this point means that debate about the limits of sexual expression become almost pointless because any attempt to corral sexual behavior is then rendered an oppressive move designed to make the individual inauthentic.”
Unpack the Trueman quote.
- Do you agree that Freud’s assertion has become widely accepted?
- What do you think about how Trueman described the consequences of limiting sexual expression in a culture that believes sex = happiness?
- Are there ways the church has tried to limit sexual expression in unhealthy ways? If so, what has that looked like and how do those ways contrast the way Paul attempts to limit unhealthy sexual expression in 1 Cor. 6?
5. How can we as individuals/small group/neighbor love people more fully/freely knowing our identities aren't centered around sex?
September 3, 2023 - Proverbs 14:12, Galatians 5:22-25
Questions:
1. Dave spoke about the pervasive loneliness, anxiety, and depression in our society. How do those realities corollate with living on your own?
2. How can we faithfully live into the tension of living in the uniqueness God has made you with while also denying yourself/walking as Jesus walked?
3. Recognizing that we are not our own, we belong to God and to one another, how can we practice what Dave preached together as a small group? (rule following, self-denial, self-control, service to others, becoming like Jesus)
August 27, 2023 - Matthew 16:21-26
Questions:
1. What do you think of the idea that the key to living happily is thinking of yourself less? (Recall the self-consciousness/neurosis scale)
2. Austin mentioned the “Great De-Churching”; what role does individualism play in that reality?3. Self-care has largely consumed our culture, and the sermon this week raises important thoughts around our collective obsession with self-care and our therapeutic age. What do you think about these ideas? What does true and lasting self-care look like for followers of Jesus? What does unhealthy self-care look like? What does unhealthy self-denial look like?
4. There are three commands in Matthew 16:24: deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus. How do each of those relate to individualism?
5. How can we live out this week’s action step “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ?” What are some other tangible ways we can fight against our rugged individualism as individuals, families, small groups?
August 20, 2023 - Ephesians 5:22-33
Questions:
1. What did you grow up believing about marriage/family? What, if anything, has changed?
2. How does the fact that the Bible begins and ends with marriage speak to the significance and meaning of marriage?
3. What are some of the ways marriage reflects the gospel? What role does covenant play in that reflection?
4. Why do you think society is apathetic to marriage today? Does the Church bear any responsibility for the worlds view of marriage? If so, how can we repent and repair?
5. How can we hold together the profound meaning of marriage and the calling and examples of faithful singleness (John the Baptist, Paul, Jesus)? If there are singles in your group, allow them to vocalize how we can encourage and love them well.
August 13, 2023 - Genesis 12:1-4a
Questions:
1. What comes to mind when you think of the words identity and authority?
2. Austin gave the example of the shift of identity as seen from external sources (the Lion King) to internal (Frozen). What are some factors contributing to the shift of the source of our identity?
3. Now that we live in a time of unmatched freedom to discover and express ourselves, what is making us so exhausted? Do you feel exhausted, and if so, how does the search for authority contribute to your exhaustion?
4. What are some areas of your life God is calling you to leave so that you can join His rebellion to reestablish the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven? “Leave your father’s house…” (Gen:12:1a)
5. Considering the shift in the source of Abraham’s authority, what are some practical steps you can take to shift the source of your identity away from yourself to the identity God has given you? “Go to the land that I will show you…” (Gen. 12:1b)
6. This morning Austin shared the following quote: “You have an identity, not because you have invented one, or because you have a little hard core of selfhood that is unchanged, but because you have a witness of who you are. So what you don’t understand or see, the bits of yourself you can’t pull together in a convincing story, are all held in a single gaze of love. You don’t have to work out and finalize who you are; you don’t have to settle the absolute truth of your history or story. Because in the eyes of the presence that never goes away, all that you have been and are, is still present and real; it is held together in that unifying gaze.” (Rowan Williams)
How can acknowledging/remembering God’s single gaze of love upon us guard us against making the inward turn?
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