TAKE ANOTHER LOOK

Recommended Reading: ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ (by Rick Warren).
Start with Days 1-7 What on earth am I here for?

WEEK 1: TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT GOD

Introduction
Give out hymn books – in 2s and 3s each choose favourite hymn and say why you like it. Find a line that speaks about loving God.

In main group read and comment on these lines.

Worship 
Sing one of the hymns,
or use one of the suggestions on the resource sheet (at the end of this document)
or use your own ideas.

Word
Read Luke 15:11-32 (The Prodigal son). 

Comment:
	Notice what this passage teaches us about God’s love – and about how we can respond to his love.
	1) See how Love lets go.  The son asked for his share of his father’s property, and his father gave it to him.  (The younger son was entitled to one third; while his father was alive he could sell it, but the new owner could not use it until the father died.)   The father could have refused, knowing his son’s likely future; but he does not.  We could blame him for being too soft; yet in all our loving relationships there come times when love has to let go, to give the beloved freedom and choice and responsibility.  Too many relationships founder because the parent figure wants to keep control.  However, the main point of the story is to show us the love of God, and this part reflects the fact that God does indeed let go of his children; if we want to go our own way, he lets us.  He would rather us be free and responsible than be puppets.
	If we love God, we will want to use the freedom God gives us responsibly, in a way that gives him pleasure. We will not simply go our own way.
	If we love God, we will also seek not to tie him down, but to celebrate his freedom to run the universe in his way not ours!
	2) See how Love waits.  The attitude of the father while his son was away is indicated by the fact that when he saw him a long way off he ran to meet him – a very undignified thing for a Middle Eastern father to do.  He did this despite the fact that his son had wasted the property he had worked so hard for.  So often when we are hurt by those we love we react by turning against them, and by rejecting their initial attempts to return. God does not act like that!
	What was the father waiting for?  Obviously, his son’s return.  His son needed to repent and to confess: to ‘come to his senses’ (v 17) and admit his fault (v 18).  To repent is to turn around, to change one’s mind. However, such repentance needs to be communicated for the relationship to be restored – there is a need to confess face to face.  (See 1 John 1:9.)   It is difficult for relationships to be restored if the guilty party returns and acts as if there was nothing wrong. So God also waits for people to return to him  –though he will do all he can to encourage them, as the good shepherd actively seeking lost sheep!
	If we love God, we will not keep him waiting – as soon as we realize we’ve strayed, we take steps to restore our relationship.
	In our love for God we do not need to wait for God to repent! But we often have to wait for him to act, and often we are hurt by his apparent inactivity, because we do not understand what he is doing. Love waits.
	3) See how Love welcomes back.  The father’s welcome was overwhelming. He did not wait for the son to say his piece – he was just so glad to see him.  ‘Love keeps no record of wrongs’ (1 Corinthians 13:5).  Such is the love of God for all who return home to him – whatever they have done. 
	The elder son had a different attitude. He would not forgive, he would not act as if the past did not matter. Justice was on his side; except that he was not the one sinned against.
	If we love God, we will want to cultivate the same attitude towards our fellow human beings that God has. If he welcomes them, so do we. 
	If we love God, we will join his celebrations, and not remain outside in the dark! The heart of Christian worship is celebration – we celebrate God’s love, he celebrates our being there, even if the style of celebration is not quite to our taste!

Time for discussion

Optional discussion questions
1. Why does God love us?
2. Do we love God? If so, why?
3. How does God show his love for us?
4. How can we show our love for him?
5. How does this affect how I live my life?

Prayer
Have a time of open prayer, or use the following:

	O God, who has prepared for those who love you 
	such good things as pass our understanding, 
	pour into our hearts such love towards you 
	that we, loving you above all things, 
	may obtain your promises 
	which exceed all that we can desire, 
	through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 

Coffee (or earlier if preferred)

Recommended Reading: Purpose Driven Life Days 8-14. 

NOTES

TAKE ANOTHER LOOK

WEEK 2: … AT GOD’S WORLD

Introduction

Have recent newspapers available. In small groups look through papers and find 1. a story that makes you glad, and 2. a story that makes you sad.

Share these in main group.

Worship 
Use one of the suggestions on the resource sheet (at the end of this document)
or use your own ideas.
		
Word
Read Luke 10:25-37 (The Good Samaritan).

Comment:
	The lawyer wanted to test Jesus: was he really the great teacher he was cracked up to be? So he asked him a tricky theological question. Jesus, however, turns it back to him – he’s the lawyer, what does he think? The lawyer’s answer is exactly what Jesus would have said, and Jesus commends him. However, that does not satisfy the lawyer. He accepts that it is important to love your neighbour; but there was an argument about who counted as your neighbour. Some said it was only fellow Jews. Others said your neighbours were those near you both in race and in religious observance – fellow Pharisees, for example. The rest could be ignored. What did Jesus think?
	Jesus told a story – answering the question about the neighbour, and illustrating the nature of love. The actions of the priest and the Levite may not have provoked comment. They were important people, or they needed to maintain ritual purity and avoid contact with dead bodies, or they may have been in a hurry – for many reasons they may have been expected to ignore a half dead victim. The crowd would have expected Jesus to introduce as a merciful neighbour someone who was just an ordinary Jew. When he mentioned a Samaritan, there would have been shock, even anger; Samaritans had defiled the temple 20 years or so before, and were hated by every self respecting Jew. Moreover, the Samaritan’s actions were far more generous than the situation required. That was love, and that was the neighbour!
	The point was obvious, and Jesus drove it home – ‘Go and do likewise.’
	We too need to be clear about what it means to love our neighbour. Who is our neighbour? How do we love them? The story shows that our neighbour is the one within our power to love – and that love is a matter of caring, and generously doing what we can to meet their needs. In this modern world there are many within our power to love, near and far. We are also aware of our need to care not just for individuals, but for organisations, communities, our environment – all these affect our neighbour as well as ourselves. God cares for the natural world, for the people he has put in it, for ourselves. He is glad when we care too, sad when we walk by on the other side.

Time for discussion

Optional discussion questions
1. Which of the newspaper stories do we think make God glad?
2. ……….. and sad?
3. What event in your own life or in that of a family member or friend do you think makes God glad?
4. …………. and sad?
5. Is there something we as Christians could do in our community to make God glad?

Prayer
Have a time of open prayer, or use the following:

 	Lord of the loving heart, may mine be loving too,
	Lord of the gentle hands, may mine be gentle too,
	Lord of the willing feet, may mine be willing too,
	So may I grow more like you in all I say and do. 													Amen 

Coffee (or earlier if preferred)

Recommended Reading: Purpose Driven Life Days 29-35

NOTES

TAKE ANOTHER LOOK

WEEK 3: … AT WHAT GOD IS DOING

Introduction

In 2s and 3s share you own story of how you came to faith.

In main group ask if anyone would like to share their story and hear two or three.

Worship 
Use one of the suggestions on the resource sheet (at the end of this document)
or use your own ideas.

Word
Read Luke 5:1-11 and Matthew 28:16-20 (the calling of disciples and the great commission).

Comment:
	When Jesus commandeered Simon Peter’s boat for use as a pulpit, Peter and his unnamed companions (almost certainly including his brother Andrew) became a captive audience and could not help hearing all Jesus’ teaching. As Jesus spoke about what the reign of God would be like, one can imagine the hard bitten fishermen, tired and despondent after a futile night’s fishing, thinking, ‘Fine words, but they won’t help me feed my family.’ Nevertheless, his words must have impressed Peter sufficiently for him only to make a token protest when asked to let the nets down again. The resultant catch did more than astonish Peter. It made him realise that Jesus was no ordinary man; that he who taught about the reign of God exhibited that reign in his actions. Suddenly, he was frightened of Jesus, and uncomfortably aware of his own failure to submit to God’s authority – ‘Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man!’ (How could Jesus go away – he was in Peter’s boat!) But Jesus reassured him, and summoned him to a greater work. The fishermen left their employment for the riskier – or safer? – business of following Jesus.
	The work of ‘catching men’ did not start in earnest until Jesus had left them physically and ascended into heaven. The last words of Matthew’s gospel are ‘the Great Commission’, recorded for us as well as for them; Christ’s followers are to call others to do as they do, in order to receive the benefits they receive. We who have accepted the reign of Christ know that all authority in heaven and on earth is his. Everyone needs to be given the option of entering his kingdom. The amazing plan of God is for us to be involved in this great mission. Christ was sent to do the hard part; now he sends us with the good news of what he has done, to do our part in building the kingdom of God, under his direction and with his resources. Although he is not with us physically, yet he is with us always, and we can rely on him.
	The Bible does not tell us how to make more disciples. It does not give us a programme to follow. The story of the New Testament is of the Holy Spirit at work through the disciples doing what came naturally. Programmes such as ‘Alpha’ and ‘Lost for Words’ can help; but they are useless without Christians being open to God and willing to risk sharing the good things they have received, in love and trusting obedience as the Spirit leads them. God is working out his purpose of salvation; and we have the amazing privilege of being his agents!

Time for discussion

Optional discussion questions
1. Did we enjoy sharing our own stories and hearing other peoples?
2. How often do we tell our own story? Is it a helpful thing to do?
3. Someone said ‘the Christian faith is caught not taught’. Do you agree? Why or why not?
4. How can we go about introducing others to Jesus?

Prayer
Have a time of open prayer, or use the following:

		God be in my head and in my understanding,
		God be in my eyes and in my looking,
		God be in my mouth and in my speaking,
		God be in my heart and in my thinking,
		God be at my end and at my departing. Amen.

Coffee 

Recommended Reading: Purpose Driven Life Days 36-40 

NOTES

TAKE ANOTHER LOOK

WEEK 4: … AT GOD’S FAMILY

Introduction

In 2s and 3s draw your family tree (or a short version!) and tell each other about your family.

In main group draw picture of a church and write names of everyone in group (at least!) on it. 

Worship 
Use one of the suggestions on the resource sheet (at the end of this document)
or use your own ideas.

Word
Read John  13,34,35 and Luke 10:38-42 (The new commandment, and Jesus visits Martha and Mary)

Comment:
	Jesus loved Mary and Martha – but that love had very different expressions on the occasion we have read about. His love for Martha was expressed in a gentle rebuke and a firm refusal to give in to her demands. His love for Mary was expressed by approval and protection. He gave to them, not necessarily what they wanted, but what they needed and gave it with gentleness, firmness and obvious care. I can imagine Mary sticking her tongue out at Martha, and Martha going away in a huff; how we receive Christ’s love is not the measure of how he gives it!
	How Jesus gives love to us is, however, the measure of how we should love one another. When Jesus gave the new commandment in John 13, he was speaking to a small group of disciples, such as may be present here. He is not simply restating the command to love our neighbour; this is a ‘new’ commandment, a commandment specifically to disciples to seek to emulate Christ in our love for other followers. 
	How should we love one another?  David & Teresa Ferguson and  Chris & Holly Thurman identify four ingredients of love in their course, 'Marriage and Family Intimacy':
1) Affectionate Caring.
2) Mutual Giving - seeking to meet the other person's needs.  The authors identify ten top emotional needs: 
acceptance                  affection                  appreciation                  approval                  attention                comfort                  encouragement                  respect                  security                  support.
Each of us may put this list in a different order. The important thing is to learn to recognise what the other person’s needs are, and to seek to meet them. If the giving is mutual, all needs are met.  (Christian love (agape) is giving even if the other does not give in return; we rely on God to arrange for our needs to be met.)
3) Vulnerable communication – not just facts or thoughts, but including feelings and emotional needs.
4) Joint achievement - doing things together.
	These are ingredients of Jesus' love for us. These are the ingredients of Jesus’ love to all his disciples – and would be to those who are not his disciples, if only they would receive them. (‘Joint achievement’ is only possible when both parties want it.) They are also the ingredients of the love we should have for one another. How that love is expressed will depend on the person and the situation – sometimes love needs to rebuke, other times to bear patiently. See also 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

Time for discussion

Optional discussion questions
1. What makes it easy to love one another in the church?
2. What makes it difficult?
3. What do we mean when we talk about loving our fellow Christians?
4. Is it only really possible to love those we like?
5. How can we love in action not only in words?

Prayer	
Have a time of open prayer, or use the following:

In silence each person in the group pray for the person sitting on their left, and then for the person sitting on their right. Then join together in saying 
the Grace.

Coffee

Recommended Reading: Purpose Driven Life Days 15-21

NOTES

TAKE ANOTHER LOOK

WEEK 5: … AT JESUS

Introduction

Spread out pictures of Jesus

Choose the one that appeals most to you.

Show it to the group and tell them why you chose it.

Do you have a picture of Jesus in your mind? 
Describe it to the group.
(divide the group in half for this if it is big)

Worship 
Use one of the suggestions on the resource sheet (at the end of this document)
or use your own ideas.

Word
Read Luke 9:18-25 (take up your cross and follow me)

Comment:
	The first disciples were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. They would have had their own understanding of what that meant, and their own motivations for following him. Maybe they thought he would be the Liberator, and that if they followed him they would be high up in the new kingdom. Maybe they were simply attracted to his personality and teaching. Maybe they believed that he could bring them eternal life with God – when Jesus asked them if they wanted to stop following him, Peter said, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’ (John 6:68,69) Whatever their thoughts, they knew that following Jesus involved a journey – not just a physical journey as they moved from place to place, but a spiritual journey as they took his teachings on board, got to know him better, and learnt how to take part in his work.
	In this Lent Course we have been taking another look at God and his love for us, his love for the world around us, what he is doing in the world, and how he love his family of followers, and we have been thinking about how we can respond by loving God and loving what he loves. We can’t do any of this apart from Jesus. Jesus shows us God’s love, Jesus teaches us to love, Jesus helps us by his Holy Spirit whom he has sent for this purpose. We don’t learn all at once; it takes a lifetime. And when we have learnt one lesson, we can’t rest on our laurels – there’s so much more! Jesus keeps moving, and if we are to follow him we too need to keep moving.
	Following Jesus necessarily involves change. We are being changed, as we become more like him. While the result is good, the process can be painful – so Jesus warns his disciples that they have to ‘deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’
	We ‘deny ourselves’. This does not mean that we wish or pretend we were someone else – we can only follow Jesus as ourselves, with our histories and faults and gifts. What it does mean is that we reject self-centredness, self-seeking and self-direction. We put Jesus at the centre, we seek the things that matter to him, we let his Spirit direct our lives.
	We ‘take up the cross daily’. This does not mean those everyday afflictions we have to bear. A man carrying a cross was on his way to the most shameful, painful death. To take up the cross is to accept that fate. A criminal did it once, and was forced to do it. Jesus asks us each day to be ready to bear whatever shame or pain following him may involve, even picking up the difficult bits of ourselves and our lives, even accepting death itself if that is required. In this country we do not often experience major humiliation or suffering for the sake of the gospel – other believers elsewhere in the world do. But we can have the same attitude.
	We ‘follow him’. Jesus suffered, and we can expect to suffer. But suffering was not the end; the purpose is not death, but new life. Jesus doesn’t want anyone to ‘lose their lives’ but to ‘save them’. Death is the only way to new life. Accepting the unpleasant realities of our lives is the first step towards transformation – a transformation that begins with the beginning of the journey, but does not end until the journey ends. Jesus has been raised from the dead as the first of a new creation, and is now in the glory of the Father’s presence. That is where we are following him to! And that is why we want everyone else to follow him as well. As Diane Patterson says, ‘We are born to follow Jesus.’

Time for discussion

Optional discussion questions
1. What does it mean to say that Jesus died to save us?
2. ‘Take up your cross and follow me’. What does that mean for you in practice?
3. What have you learned from following Jesus?
4. What qualities in Jesus do you want to grow in your life?

Prayer	
Have a time of open prayer, or use the following:

	Lord Jesus, we thank you 
	for all the benefits you have won for us,
	for all the pains and insults you have borne for us.
	Most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, 
	may we know you more clearly, 
	love you more dearly 
	and follow you more nearly,
	day by day. Amen 

Coffee

Recommended Reading: Purpose Driven Life Days 22-28

NOTES

RESOURCE SHEET - WORSHIP IDEAS
(To spark your own)

Week 1
(You may want to have a session of worship after your discussion time.) Ask the group how they express love for someone. (Flowers, gifts, love letters, touch etc may be mentioned.) Ask if any of these ideas could be adapted to express love for God. Then choose one to do – briefly (eg if writing a love letter, just ask each person to write one sentence and then read them out to God in turn.)

Week 2
Explain the ‘battle of the buts’:-  We can say, ‘I know God is good, BUT I don’t understand why he allows so much suffering.’ Or we can say, ‘I don’t understand why God allows so much suffering, BUT I know he is good.’ The words after the ‘but’ weigh more heavily than the words that came first. The battle is to make sure that what comes after the ‘but’ is more positive than what comes before.
In your worship time begin by saying, ‘We know there are many things we don’t like about the world, BUT we praise God for…’ and let everyone finish the sentence one at a time, as many times as they wish. (Not everyone may want to say anything.) If the group likes singing, end with a song praising God for his creation.

Week 3
Read the following story:
‘Colin Holtum went from Coventry to Kenya in January this year, to take part in a mission among the Maasai. The team went to help a church which started four years ago, when two Maasai men had a dream about Jesus in the same night, and became Christians. Neither knew what had happened to the other, but both felt compelled to go and tell others about Jesus, and by ‘chance’ met each other on the road. They didn’t know much – but they told people what they knew, and now there are four churches in that neighbourhood where before there were none. Colin reported that people were very responsive to the story of Jesus while the team was there, and many became Christians. God is working among the Maasai!’
If anyone in the group knows another story of how God is bringing people to faith in Jesus, let them share it. Then spend a moment thinking about your own areas, and ask people to thank God for what he is doing there – even if they can’t see it yet. (They can thank God silently or aloud.) 
Finally pray this ‘Collect for the Missionary Work of the Church’ or the prayer that comes after:

Almighty God, who called your Church to witness
that you were in Christ reconciling men and women to yourself:
help us to proclaim the good news of your love,
that all who hear it may be reconciled to you;
through him who died for us and rose again
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Mission belongs to you, O God.
The ground is holy
Because you are already there.
All we are and all we do in faith
Is dependent on you
And the victory is already won.
We place ourselves in your hands
And ask you to keep us in readiness
For the time you want us to serve you
And that you will give us all that we need to do the task. Amen.

Week 4
(This may best be done in a kitchen!)
Choose a simple all-in-one recipe for a cake or biscuits, and share the ingredients out to members of the group.
Say a simple thank-you prayer for the ingredients, and for the people holding them.
Read the recipe, and as each ingredient is mentioned, the person holding it adds it to the mixture.
Put it into an appropriate tin and place in the hot oven (set the timer so you don’t forget it!)
Continue with the meeting until the cake is cooked, then take it out and share it between you – first giving thanks to God for the cake, and how everyone contributed.

Week 5
Keep the pictures of Jesus in view, and add a blank piece of paper. Ask the group to call out words that describe Jesus, and write them on the paper. Then ask them to choose one of the words, and to think about it and Jesus for five minutes – one of the pictures might help. End by listening to or singing an appropriate song.

GENERAL
1
Read verses of a psalm in turn or together. Often it helps to have a longish pause between each verse.
2
Give each member a piece of plasticine or modelling clay, and ask them to make a shape or object that represents their spiritual lives or their relationship with God or what they feel about God. Then each one puts it on a table, and says a little about their object as if they were saying it to God. 
3
In the previous meeting ask each member to come prepared with a brief contribution to the worship - a reading or song or prayer or meditation or whatever. In the worship time let each one contribute when they feel it is appropriate - you’ll be amazed how often everything fits together.
4
Place an empty chair in the group to symbolise that Jesus is with us.
5
Use the Lord’s prayer as a template for the worship: have quiet instrumental music in the background, the leader says a phrase and then leaves space for reflection, listening to God, or allowing others to add praise or prayer or confession as appropriate; then goes on to the next phrase.
6
Draw a cross on a large piece of paper, with a matching cross on the reverse side. On the reverse, write the words of 1 Peter 2:24. During the worship, give out pens and paper and ask people to write down things in their life they want to change for Jesus’ sake, and then to stick them on to the cross (with the writing hidden.) Promise them that at the end the papers will be destroyed without being read. When all who want to all have done so, turn the paper around so that they can see the writing. You will need to begin and end with prayer and praise, and you will need to explain beforehand what is happening. 
7
The worship could follow themes of holiness and cleansing, using Isaiah 6:1-8 as a basis; an illustration might be washing hands before sharing finger food or bread and wine, or washing cups before using them for drinking - let the washing be a symbol of spiritual cleansing, preceded by a time of silent or open confession and followed by praise.
8
Have a time of blessing! We bless God by praising him, we bless one another by encouragement, using spiritual gifts, praise, appreciation, intercession for one another and our concerns.
9
Give to each person a piece of paper and ask them to write or draw something that represents a gift they would like to give to Jesus. After a time, when not all have finished, ask the members to explain what they have been doing. Then as an act of giving to God place them, unfinished as they are, on a table. Explain that nothing we offer God is perfect, yet through Christ it is accepted. Give time to look, and to absorb. Then have a time of thanksgiving for God's gifts to us.
10
Spend time in intercession for those who are suffering bereavement or loneliness, for those who are stateless or homeless, those who are experiencing persecution, and others who find it difficult to celebrate.
11
Give each person a piece of paper and a pencil. Read one or two passages about God's glory e.g. 2 Chronicles 7:1-3, Isaiah 6:1-8. The ask the group to write the letters G L O R Y down one side of the paper, and to write a word or phrase of praise beginning with each letter. The end result may be something like,
G od, you are great.
L et every creature worship you.
O ur hearts are full of praise for you.
R eign in us always.
Y our glory will last for ever.
Then let each read their composition in turn as worship to God.
13
Read Psalm 23 and then give everyone a pen and paper and ask them to write their own psalm. When they have all finished, read them in turn as an act of worship.
14
Sing or read hymns or songs.