0306 Letting Go
3-6-16: Jamie George:
Letting Go APPETIZER: St. Patrick’s Day For the story behind the person Saint Patrick, go back to the message from March 15, 2015. Spend some time this week to recapture the legacy of love & kindness of Saint Patrick. http://podcasts.journeyfranklin.com/message031515.mp3
DINE-IN: Letting Go
Love is not found in the intensity of your grip but in the tenderness of your release. Parents model letting go at their children’s wedding. Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved… to love another is to will what is really good for him. - Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island The cross changes things forever: • Mary & Jesus experience true detachment • Both surrender to the greater good • The last goodbye to the humanity of Jesus The redemptive movement into the future still involves loss: • What have you lost? • What have you gained because of the loss? Sometimes when we experience loss, kind but unhelpful people try & sweep us past grief, not realizing the road to joy is often paved in sadness.
John’s love • follows Jesus to the Cross • takes Mary as his own mother Peter’s love • rebukes Jesus’ plan for redemption (Matt 16:22) • begs Jesus not to leave him (John 13:37) • denies being a disciple at Jesus’ greatest moment of abandonment (John 18:17) Excuses from Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:16-24): • Just bought a field (career/job) • Just bought oxen (possessions/wealth) • Just got married (love/relationships) As long as your job, your career, your brand, your song, your spouse, your girlfriend/boyfriend, your child remains the first place you go for meaning, you will remain unsatisfied. Hungry. Attached.
TAKE-OUT:
1. In what ways have you experienced loss & grief that has led to joy? 2. Did Peter’s attachment to Jesus remind you of someone in your life? Was it a mirror? Are you seeking fulfillment from someone else instead of God? Are you providing fulfillment for someone else in God’s place? Meaning is only found in Jesus. 3. South Nashville Refugee Outreach needs help. Can you provide mentorship? Job(s)? Can your village supply some of these items? a. KITCHEN: trash bags, can openers, baking sheets, aluminum foil, Ziploc bags, measuring cups, etc… b. HOUSEWARES: lightbulbs, lamps, Kleenex, toilet paper, dish soap, sponges, dish detergent c. PERSONAL: bar soap, deodorant, shampoo, lotion, toothbrush/toothpaste, feminine products, bandaids https://www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofstonebrook/
Village Conversation HANGOUT (Warm-up) 1. What is the hardest part about letting go? For you, is it harder to leave or to be left? Why do you think that is?
HEAR (Listen to God through scripture) 2. Read John 14:15-31 aloud. 3. Take 1-‐2 minutes of silence to meditate on the words. 4. Now re-read the same scripture. a. What stands out to you? What did you notice? b. The Jews showed love for God through sacrifices. We worship God many different ways. What does Jesus highlight as proof of love? What makes His commandments different? c. Why won’t Jesus just show himself to the whole world (after the cross)? Why only show himself to some? d. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit will come as a Helper, Counselor, Advocate. What else does Jesus give them? e. What does Jesus model in verse 31? How does that reflect the beginning of the passage (verse 15)? f. How would you communicate to others that you follow a loving, merciful, & redemptive God if you could not use words or written communication? g. Any other thoughts on the passage?
HUDDLE (Making it Personal & Praying together) For Villages with 10+ people, split into smaller groups so everyone has a chance to answer the following questions. 5. When was a time you felt truly loved? Describe what happened. 6. Based on your interactions with friends, family, & strangers, how would others describe your God? 7. Pray for South Nashville Refugee Outreach. Plan to collect needed items & donate them (see list on previous page).
QUOTES/SCRIPTURE… John 19:25-30 NIV In this state of self-‐abandonment, in this path of simple faith, everything that happens to our soul and body, all that occurs in all the affairs of life, has the aspect of death. - Jean Pierre de Caussade, Abandonment to Divine Providence A selfish love seldom respects the right of the beloved to be an autonomous person. Far from respecting the true being of another and granting his personality room to grow and expand in its own original way, this love seeks to keep him in subjection to ourselves. It insists that he conform himself to us, and it works in every possible way to make him do so. - Thomas Merton, No Man is An Island Matthew 16:21-23 NIV 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” 37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! - John 13:34-38 NIV A selfish love withers and dies unless it is sustained by the attention of the beloved. When we love thus, our friends exist only in order that we may love them. In loving them we seek to make pets of them, to keep them tame. Such love fears nothing more than the escape of the beloved. It requires his subjection because that is necessary for the nourishment of our own affections. Selfish love often appears to be unselfish, because it is willing to make any concession to the beloved in order to keep him prisoner. - Thomas Merton, No Man is An Island Luke 14:16-24 NIV
Letting Go APPETIZER: St. Patrick’s Day For the story behind the person Saint Patrick, go back to the message from March 15, 2015. Spend some time this week to recapture the legacy of love & kindness of Saint Patrick. http://podcasts.journeyfranklin.com/message031515.mp3
DINE-IN: Letting Go
Love is not found in the intensity of your grip but in the tenderness of your release. Parents model letting go at their children’s wedding. Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved… to love another is to will what is really good for him. - Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island The cross changes things forever: • Mary & Jesus experience true detachment • Both surrender to the greater good • The last goodbye to the humanity of Jesus The redemptive movement into the future still involves loss: • What have you lost? • What have you gained because of the loss? Sometimes when we experience loss, kind but unhelpful people try & sweep us past grief, not realizing the road to joy is often paved in sadness.
John’s love • follows Jesus to the Cross • takes Mary as his own mother Peter’s love • rebukes Jesus’ plan for redemption (Matt 16:22) • begs Jesus not to leave him (John 13:37) • denies being a disciple at Jesus’ greatest moment of abandonment (John 18:17) Excuses from Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:16-24): • Just bought a field (career/job) • Just bought oxen (possessions/wealth) • Just got married (love/relationships) As long as your job, your career, your brand, your song, your spouse, your girlfriend/boyfriend, your child remains the first place you go for meaning, you will remain unsatisfied. Hungry. Attached.
TAKE-OUT:
1. In what ways have you experienced loss & grief that has led to joy? 2. Did Peter’s attachment to Jesus remind you of someone in your life? Was it a mirror? Are you seeking fulfillment from someone else instead of God? Are you providing fulfillment for someone else in God’s place? Meaning is only found in Jesus. 3. South Nashville Refugee Outreach needs help. Can you provide mentorship? Job(s)? Can your village supply some of these items? a. KITCHEN: trash bags, can openers, baking sheets, aluminum foil, Ziploc bags, measuring cups, etc… b. HOUSEWARES: lightbulbs, lamps, Kleenex, toilet paper, dish soap, sponges, dish detergent c. PERSONAL: bar soap, deodorant, shampoo, lotion, toothbrush/toothpaste, feminine products, bandaids https://www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofstonebrook/
Village Conversation HANGOUT (Warm-up) 1. What is the hardest part about letting go? For you, is it harder to leave or to be left? Why do you think that is?
HEAR (Listen to God through scripture) 2. Read John 14:15-31 aloud. 3. Take 1-‐2 minutes of silence to meditate on the words. 4. Now re-read the same scripture. a. What stands out to you? What did you notice? b. The Jews showed love for God through sacrifices. We worship God many different ways. What does Jesus highlight as proof of love? What makes His commandments different? c. Why won’t Jesus just show himself to the whole world (after the cross)? Why only show himself to some? d. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit will come as a Helper, Counselor, Advocate. What else does Jesus give them? e. What does Jesus model in verse 31? How does that reflect the beginning of the passage (verse 15)? f. How would you communicate to others that you follow a loving, merciful, & redemptive God if you could not use words or written communication? g. Any other thoughts on the passage?
HUDDLE (Making it Personal & Praying together) For Villages with 10+ people, split into smaller groups so everyone has a chance to answer the following questions. 5. When was a time you felt truly loved? Describe what happened. 6. Based on your interactions with friends, family, & strangers, how would others describe your God? 7. Pray for South Nashville Refugee Outreach. Plan to collect needed items & donate them (see list on previous page).
QUOTES/SCRIPTURE… John 19:25-30 NIV In this state of self-‐abandonment, in this path of simple faith, everything that happens to our soul and body, all that occurs in all the affairs of life, has the aspect of death. - Jean Pierre de Caussade, Abandonment to Divine Providence A selfish love seldom respects the right of the beloved to be an autonomous person. Far from respecting the true being of another and granting his personality room to grow and expand in its own original way, this love seeks to keep him in subjection to ourselves. It insists that he conform himself to us, and it works in every possible way to make him do so. - Thomas Merton, No Man is An Island Matthew 16:21-23 NIV 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” 37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! - John 13:34-38 NIV A selfish love withers and dies unless it is sustained by the attention of the beloved. When we love thus, our friends exist only in order that we may love them. In loving them we seek to make pets of them, to keep them tame. Such love fears nothing more than the escape of the beloved. It requires his subjection because that is necessary for the nourishment of our own affections. Selfish love often appears to be unselfish, because it is willing to make any concession to the beloved in order to keep him prisoner. - Thomas Merton, No Man is An Island Luke 14:16-24 NIV
