Before We Get Started

For our discussion today, we will be using the sermon series discussion guides. If you would like to follow along you can access this discussion guide on the website at mosaicchurchaustin.com and then select “community group resources” in the menu options.

Prayer

Because the primary goal of our time together is to establish relationships and learn how to walk with one another in all that God has called us to be and do, we’d like to begin by praying for one another. So, does anyone have anything you’d like us to pray for or anything to share regarding how you’ve seen God moving in your life that we can celebrate together?

This Week’s Topic

Practicing Spiritual Family

Family isn’t just important; family is essential. After all, Christians call God our “Father.” He calls us his “children.” And those who follow Jesus have always called each other “sister” and “brother.” Since family language is an inescapable part of our relational reality, both naturally and “spiritually,” what do we do with this? For starters, what if we practiced it? What if we did our best to get better at belonging, at home and at church? That might make a big difference in the world. Join us at Mosaic Church for a three-week look at how we practice family.

Discussion Questions

Practicing Wonder

Hebrews 2:6-8

But there is a place where someone has testified:

What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    a son of man that you care for him?
You made them a little lower than the angels;
    you crowned them with glory and honor
 and put everything under their feet.

 

Wonder, as defined in the sermon:

Wonder happens when we appreciate each other for who we are, without resenting each other (or ourselves) for who we are not.

 

Henri Nouwen

Dare to love and to be a real friend. The love you give and receive is a reality that will lead you closer and closer to God as well as those whom God has given you to love.

What do you think God finds wonderful about people?

What do you find wonderful about God and people?

What are some ways we can practice wonder in our relationships with God and people?

Practicing Humility

Hebrews 2:8-9

In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death…

 

Humility, as defined in the sermon

Humility is a momentary lowering so that God can do a long-term lifting.

Saint Augustine

Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.

 

How does the gospel hinge upon Christ’s humility?

What are some reasons we find lowering ourselves to be challenging?

How does practicing humility make space for all other Christian virtues?

Practicing Embrace

Hebrews 2:14

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death…

 

Richard Rohr, The Divine Dance

God does not decide to love, therefore, and God’s love can never be determined by the worthiness or unworthiness of the object. But God is Love itself. God cannot not love, because love is the nature of God’s very being.

bell hooks

I dreamed about a culture of belonging. I still dream that dream. I contemplate what our lives would be like if we knew how to cultivate awareness, to live mindfully, peacefully; if we learned habits of being that would bring us closer together, that would help us build beloved community.

 

Is it possible to separate love from belonging?

How has God’s embrace of humanity created space for greater love and belonging in the world?

How can we practice embracing one another in our daily lives?

Practicing Celebration

Hebrews 2:10

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.

 

Shauna Niequist

Celebration when your plan is working? Anyone can do that. But when you realize that the story of your life could be told a thousand different ways, that you could tell it over and over as a tragedy, but you choose to call it an epic, that’s when you start to learn what celebration is. When what you see in front of you is so far outside of what you dreamed, but you have the belief, the boldness, the courage to call it beautiful instead of calling it wrong, that’s celebration.

Tish Harrison Warren

The church has a reputation for being antipleasure. Many characterize Christians in general the way H. L. Mencken wryly described Puritans: people with a “haunting fear that someone, somewhere might be happy.” In reality, the church has led the way in the art of enjoyment and pleasure. New Testament scholar Ben Witherington points out that it was the church, not Starbucks, that created coffee culture. Coffee was first invented by Ethiopian monks—the term cappuccino refers to the shade of brown used for the habits of the Capuchin monks of Italy. Coffee is born of extravagance, an extravagant God who formed an extravagant people, who formed a craft out of the pleasures of roasted beans and frothed milk.

 

Can you share about a party or celebration that was particularly enjoyable or meaningful to you?

What are some examples of celebration from the Bible?

What are some of your ordinary everyday celebratory practices?

What is something you look forward to in eternity, and how can you celebrate that now?

Closing Thought

Carrie Stephens, Jesus, Love, & Tacos

God the Father has never once regretted loving you enough to be willing to give his Son to save you. God the Son has never rued the day he died to save you. God the Spirit has never resented your intense and deep need of him. Not ever—not even once. Not when you messed up. Not when you fell down. Not when you were angry or petty or frustrated or dumb about stuff. He’s always had another second chance waiting for you, even when you didn’t need it. God’s love is big like that—full of grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

You’re one of God’s favorite people, which is why he wants you to give yourself to others. God wants everyone in your life to experience the same joy he experiences in his relationship with you. And while this means you’re special to God, here is the unfathomable truth: everyone is that special to God, and God wants all people to love themselves so they can grasp the value of their love and friendship in this world.

Take a few minutes to practice embracing and celebrating one another. Share something you admire or love about someone else in the group.