Christ With Us
description
Transcript of Christ With Us
Community Groups
Starter questions◦Where did you live between ages 7 and 12?◦How was your home heated then?◦Who was the center of human warmth in your
family?◦When, if ever, did God become more than a
mere word to you?Scorgie questions – chapter 2
Positional and Official
Justified or declared righteousCovenantal – God’s commitment to us as
well as our commitment to God◦Drafters of the Heidelberg Catechism (16th
century)◦Asked their children to identify their only
comfort or greatest consolation in life and in death.
◦Answer: That I belong—body and soul, in life and in death—not to myself but to my faithful savior, Jesus Christ.
*Have you ever felt like you have not belonged
or that you were not wanted?
*Describe what it means or could mean
to belong to God.
Blessing of God’s presence
Keeping company with God
Enjoying oneness of
purpose and intent
Learning to listen
attentively
Experiencing God’s
sufficiency
Blessing of God’s presence results in…
Enjoyment of full
acceptanceDepth of intimacy
Safety of disclosure
2 Peter 1:4
What did you discover about participation in the divine nature?
Reception of an ethical nature like God’s, which then leads to immortality—Peter Davids
The call is to the practice of the virtues or to participation in the divine nature.
Faithfulness to God in Jesus
Goodness – moral excellence
Knowledge of Christ through
wisdom and discernment
Self-control
Perseverance – endurance in
spiritual battles
Godliness – respect of God and those relationships that
God has sanctioned
Brotherly kindness – familial love
extended to all believers
Love – treat others with patience and
kindness
= Christian Virtue
*What does listening to God entail?• By listening I mean the widest prayerful,
discerning attentiveness to the Source intimated within us, evidenced through others. And discernible through the experiences of life. This kind of listening is not only auditory. It may be visual, kinesthetic, intuitive, or visceral as well, depending on the deepest attentiveness natural to the particular person. –Patricia Loring from Listening Spirituality
*How does listening to
God develop
friendship with God?
*Which of the aspects
of God’s character especially draw you?
Old Testament Friends of God
Abraham◦2 Chronicles 20:7◦Isaiah 41:8◦James 2:23
Moses◦Exodus 33:11◦Face-to-face communication meaning direct,
personal communicationIsrael – Psalm 122:6-9
New Testament Friends
Philos◦Broad sense – acquaintance◦Intimate sense – a personal and deep bonding
of real affectionNegative aspect of friendship
◦Friendship with the world◦James 4:4
Friendship with God
Represents confidence in disciples to know God
Brings a privilege to disciples in service and
intimacy Godward
Believer (Larry Richards)
Not one who holds a certain set of beliefs or theoretical convictions about God
One who has responded to [Jesus by trusting him] and joining the company of others whose lives have found new focus in relationship with Jesus