TODAY:

DiscipleShift | Part 5 - BECOME LIKE Jesus: The Practices

BIG IDEA:

Formation primarily happens in the seemingly small & ordinary spaces of our lives

SCRIPTURES:

Matthew 4:19, Mark 1:29-31, 2 Corinthians 10:4-6, James 3:4, Psalm 119:9-11, 24, 32-37, 89, 104-105, 133, Romans 12:2, James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-6, 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, Matthew 6:21&24, John 13:24-25, Psalm 139:23-24

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Q: Are you currently & intentionally trying to grow or mature in some area of your life?If so, why & how. If not, why not?

Q: When you try to grow or mature, does your strategy usually include large & ambitious steps, small & ordinary steps, or both?

Q: How do the Scriptures/concepts from this week help you grow as a disciple who loves God, loves people & serves the world (lives on incarnational mission) in everyday life?

Q: Based on these Scriptures, how can you move from unbelief to belief, from just knowing to actually doing in your life?

Connect with God (UP)...

Q: How are the “forming” practices built upon “following” Jesus?

Q: Why would it be problematic for other things to infringe upon, change, add to or take away from how Jesus forms us?

Q: Which one ofthese practices do you think Jesus is inviting you to engage this week to allow Him to form you?

Connect with Others (IN)...

Q: What are some opportunities within the Greenhouse that could help you be formed by Jesus?

Q: Do you typically read John 13:34-35 as an optional suggestion, or as a core command of Jesus?

Connect with the World (OUT)...

Q: How can these practices of formation better prepare us to connect with the world around us?

NOTES & QUOTES

"A disciple is someone who follows Jesus, is transformed by Jesus, and joins Jesus in what He's doing. Disciple = apprentice."

“It’s there, in the quiet, that the inner roar of our world of noise – the distraction, the chaos, and all the lies – fades away, and what shimmers in its place is the peace and the presence of God.” (John Mark Comer, “Practicing the Way”)

“The purpose of (solitude & silence) is not to punish or afflict us. It is to set us free. (It is) one of the ways God brings us into a hush, a stillness so that He may work an inner transformation upon the soul.” (Richard Foster, “Celebration of Discipline”)

“Good feelings will not free us. Ecstatic experiences will not free us. Getting ‘high on Jesus’ will not free us. Without knowledge of the Truth, we will not be free.” (Richard Foster, “Celebration of Discipline”)

“Suffering forces us to face our own weakness...and embrace it. Suffering is an invitation to trust God and allow Him to shape and transform us through it. The fruit of relying on God in suffering is resilience.”

“In fasting, you are literally praying with your w hole body, offering all that you are to God in worship...You are breaking the power of the flesh to control you and opening up to the power of the Spirit in its place. You are learning to be joyful, even when you don’t get what you want. You are practicing suffering and, through it, increasing your capacity for joy in all circumstances...The ‘hangry’ feeling expose areas of our soul most in need of grace.” (John Mark Comer, “Practicing the Way”)

“Fasting reveals to us how much our peace depends upon the pleasure of eating and how we use pleasure of food to assuage the discomforts of our unwise living and attitudes.” (Dallas Willard, “The Spirit of the Disciplines”)

“Simplicity sets us free to receive the provision of God as a gift that is not ours to keep and can be freely shared with others.” (Richard Foster, “Celebration of Discipline”)

ACTION STEPS

1) Pick at least 1 practice to do to be formed by Jesus this week...& do it (have fun!)

2) Ask Jesus to take these practices & grow them into a way of life

3) Ask a friend for accountability & share how it goes