1. In his sermon today, Tim talked about the ways in which St. Guinefort was embraced as an example of two of Christianity’s core values: cruciformity & solidarity.

Do you have people in your life who exemplify cruciformity and solidarity especially well in your eyes? In what ways do they do say? Why are they such exemplars for you?

In what areas of your life are these two values particularly relevant? In which ways have you moved or do you want to move more toward cruciformity and solidarity in your own life & community?

Brainstorm as a group some specific small (or large) actions you (individually or collectively) could take that will help you to further embody cruciformity and solidarity in your own life.

2. Tim shared a simple formula for helping us to move our lives more toward cruciformity. He listed some examples of status (see slide below for examples list & formula). Once we identify our own places of status, then we need to be intentional about not using or leveraging those advantages for our own self-advancement (as is the “mind of” our culture). But, instead, we are to pursue the “mind of Christ,” following his example of “kenosis,” emptying ourselves and instead engaging those places of status to help lift others in solidarity.



Which advantages from this status list (or otherwise) do you identify in your own life? What do you think it would look like for you pour out, make void, and self-empty in that regard, rather than exploit or leverage your status/advantage/privilege?

Do you think there should be limits to kenosis in your life? If so, how would one determine where they should be? If not, why not? What do you think influences your answer to this specific question?

3. Tim taught about Jesus’ parable of the sheep & the goats (Matthew 25:31-46). He pointed out that in Jesus’ teaching, “those who refuse God’s grace to others they see as unworthy, are themselves unable to receive it.”

In contrast, “those who practice cruciformity & solidarity with the excluded will come alive with a life that is truly life.”

Further, Tim highlighted that Jesus’ call to cruciformity and solidarity includes no litmus test for who is worthy of that inclusion and solidarity, saying “there is no means testing for God’s grace.”

Where are the areas in which you are most tempted to try to apply restrictions to whom “should” be able to receive God’s grace, your solidarity, and/or any other form of inclusion? Why do you think those hesitations or refusals arise in you? Do you feel willing to move toward more cruciform solidarity in those areas? If so, how might you go about that? If not, why not?

1. In the first sermon in this year’s Saints series, Tim taught about Jürgen Moltmann’s life, work, and theological legacy.

What jumped out at you during this sermon and its stories? What ideas impacted you or caught your attention? What were some of the big ideas you heard as you listened?

2. When Moltmann, interred in a POW camp, first read the Bible, and read about Jesus’ cry from the cross, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?,” he thought, “here is a fellow who understands me.” He described Christ as “…the divine brother in need, the companion on the way…the fellow sufferer who carries you, with your suffering.”

Consider this view of Christ. To what extent does this align with the way you tend to this of the Son? Is there anything in this description that feels particularly resonant for you? Anything that feels kinda off? What, if anything, might you modify, add, or subtract to articulate your own sense of Christ more closely?

What emotions or thoughts are prompted in you when you spend a little time considering Christ through this lens? Does the hope that surfaced for Moltmann feel relatable? Accessible?

3. Following are three of the Moltmann quotes Tim shared. Read through them as a group (all at once or one-at-a-time), and discuss your thoughts on each. What’s stirred up for you? How is your sense of hope impacted? What resonates with your own experiences of hope and/or its absence?

Is there anything here you needed to hear or of which you often need to be reminded? Is there anything in these words that inspires intention or action within yourself?

“Peace with God means conflict with the world, for the goad of the promised future stabs inexorably into the flesh of every unfulfilled present.”

“Hell is hopelessness.”

“[the cross] encounters us as the great promise of our life and this world: nothing will be in vain…We are called to this hope, and the call often sounds like a command - a command to resist death and the powers of death, and a command to love life and cherish it: every life, the life we share, the whole of life.”

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1. In her sermon, Marina McClure spoke about the often unconscious assumptions we might make while we read the Bible. She specifically pointed out assumptions we might make about the underlying motives behind social interactions and/or the tone of voice being used in different exchanges.

What are your thoughts about these ideas and the examples she gave from today’s scripture reading? To what extent have you considered tone of voice when reading Biblical dialogue? How often are you aware of assumptions you might be making when you read?  How often do you explore ideas about  the different possible underlying social norms and subtext?

How easy or difficult does it seem to integrate this kind of slowed-down and curious exploration of different possibilities as you read the Bible? How appealing is it for you? How valuable does it seem?

2. In a couple places in the scripture’s story, Marina suggested alternative ways of understanding Jesus’ experience of the moment, or a variety of ways of interpreting what’s being communicated.

What’s it like for you to encounter alternative frames for understanding often familiar Biblical stories or ideas? Do you experience any resistance or does it feel interesting? Does it seem difficult to consider things in that way? Are there things about your own personality or background that might be especially congruent with your response to this way of thinking about the Bible?

3. Marina invited us all to try to engage with the Bible in a way that intentionally looks for questions and tries to practice active wondering as we read.

What thoughts & feelings surface in response to these suggestions? How do you feel about the idea of intentionally seeking things you can’t easily clarify? What do you think it might look like to try to engage in more “active wondering” as you read the Bible? What kind of impacts do you think this orientation toward reading the Bible could have for your own experience of the Bible and/or your faith?

1. Today, Nick Pickerell taught about Zacchaeus’s repentance and immediate commitment to making reparations as told in Luke 19. He paralleled some of Zacchaeus’ likely activities as a tax collector to some of the unjust practices of excluding and exploiting black people, native people, and other people of color that have long been codified in our country’s governmental and social structures. 

How did you feel as you listened to Nick reciting the list  of some of the unjust policies and practices that he shared as examples? What emotions came up for you?

If possible, try to recreate that moment in your memory & share about your experience of it as you listened. Were there thoughts or ideas that surfaced for you as well? 

Reflecting back on the moment, what observations can you make about your own internal responses? Do you have any thoughts about how you responded and what your own experience of that moment was?

2. Nick pointed out that, in response to Zacchaeus repentance and commitment to enacting justice, Jesus declared that, on that day, salvation had come to Zacchaeus’s house. 

What do you make of this apparent cause-and-effect moment? What is it about Zacchaeus’ actions that allowed salvation to come to the entire household? 

What wisdom for your own life today can you find in this moment of both Zacchaeus’ commitments & Jesus’ pronouncement? How is this relevant for you today? What questions or ideas does this part of the story prompt in you?

3. Nick had us discuss a few questions together in smaller groups as he prepared to close his sermon. He first asked us to identify and name different systems of injustice which we’ve seen, participated in, or been made aware of. He then asked for us to identify different ways - big and small - in which we personally can impact or have impacted these and other unjust systems in our lives and communities. 

Spend some time as a group responding to those two questions. You can share what your group discussed during church if you were there and also come up with new examples and ideas together. 

Make a written list, as a group, of ways to engage. To whatever degree possible, generate a list of resources, organizations, or engagement opportunities you’re aware of so that you can work together as a group to help support and inform each other’s efforts to engage and enact justice in whatever capacity is possible for you as a way to remind yourselves that, as Nick said, every action matters and helps to bring wholeness to our communities. 

1. Pastor Tim Keel began his teaching today by framing some ideas around politics and citizenship. He said:

“Politics is about…

* How we belong to each other
* What we owe one another
* What we owe society &
* Who holds ultimate loyalty”

What do you think of these summarizing statements? Does one or another capture something significant in your view or just jump out to you? Which and for what reasons?

Are there any of these that seem more or less relevant to our present moment in history? More or less relevant in our lives as Christians? Share about how so or why not.

2.  Tim also added that what we’re really talking about with all these ideas is citizenship, and added that the a key question is, “when there is a conflict in loyalty, who wins?”

Many of us know that our ultimate loyalty is “supposed to be” to Christ, and yet living our lives in that way is often much simpler in theory than in practice.

What are some of the areas in life in which your divided loyalties are most likely to present themselves? Where do you most struggle to choose a path that honors your ultimate identity as a Christian rather than another loyalty or identity? Share about those spaces, what characterizes them, and the ways in which you experience the tensions between different loyalties that you hold.

Are there contexts in which you feel like the idea of Christ-as-ultimate-authority is especially relevant? What about contexts in which it may seem like Christ’s authority is or should be less a factor in your decision making or actions?

3. Tim also talked about the impact of Emperor Constantine’s adoption of Christianity as the state religion of Rome, and the far-reaching impacts on Christianity’s relationship to politics and power. He said that, for the many centuries since, Christians have tended to believe that the Church needs the power of the state.

What are your thoughts about this idea? What have you observed about the threads of this concept in the Christianity you see around you?

Is there some extent to which you think that Christianity does need - or, at least, could be aided by - integration with powers of state? Alliances with powers of state? Is this something that’s shifted for you over time? Share about your views & experiences.

Considering these ideas, how do you then understand and integrate Paul’s directive to “pray for those in authority…so that we may live peaceful and quiet lives?”

In what ways does the idea of “peaceful and quiet” living align with your sense of living out your Christian faith and fidelity to Christ?

Are there ways in which you feel some measure of  resistance to or dissonance resulting from the idea of “peaceful and quiet living” as an ideal Christian way of engaging with secular authority? Share about your thoughts and feelings with the group.

1. In his sermon about the story of Hagar in Genesis 16, Dr. Taylor Johnson talked about the difference between anxiety and fear.

Of anxiety, he said, “Anxiety is a response to a potential threat that may or may not occur at some point in the future.” He also noted that anxiety gets its power from the unknown, and that we often try to give ourselves a sense of control by predicting the future - even though the accuracy rates for our predictions are abysmal.

What are some examples from your own past? Share about a time in which the unknown and its accompanying anxiety drove you to try to figure out the future. How accurate were your predictions? In retrospect, how do you feel about the energy you invested into making them, considering them, and carrying anxiety about them?

When you’ve done this type of predicting to try to gain a sense of control, has it worked? Has it helped? What are other ways you might have tried to create a sense of control? And are they any more or less helpful in the long run?

2. Taylor also taught about the concept of liminal space, using Richard Rohr’s words as a definition: “liminal space is where we are both betwixt and between the familiar and the completely unknown. There alone is our old world left behind, while we are not yet sure of the new existence.”

Taylor talked about the liminal spaces in which Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar all most likely suffered.

Think about, and if you’re willing, share about a liminal space in which you have found or presently do find yourself. What was/is your experience of that space? (And it can be a liminal space of any significance, size or importance; there’s no need to compare your experience to Abraham’s, Sarah’s, Hagar’s or anyone else’s).

Are there things that made or make it less bearable? More bearable? Do you feel able to consider your own liminal experiences and discomfort in light of the compassion and curiosity Taylor talked about? Are you able to access compassion & curiosity when it comes to the liminal spaces of others? Is that easier or harder? Why?

3. Dr. Johnson spent some time re-narrating the stories of Abraham, Sarah, & Hagar - all with an emphasis on highlighting the pain they each must have experienced in their own liminal spaces.

What’s it like for you to reconsider these stories in this way? How does it impact your feelings about these stories? These people? Your own journeys through life and liminal spaces? God?

What are you learning or reflecting on bevause of the stories of these three people after and because of Taylor’s sermon today?

1. In his sermon on Mark 8:22-35, Dr. Brady Braatz pointed out that this story, in which Jesus restores sight to a blind man, stands alone as the only miracle Jesus performs in the gospels in which he has to give it a 2nd try to fully complete the miracle. 

What do you make of the fact that Jesus essentially tries again in this story? What do you think the different groups of people (disciples, onlookers, etc) around him might have thought or felt in those moments? What about the blind man himself? What do you think could have been happening for Jesus? 

2. Brady then taught about the expectations that the disciples (and many others) had for a messiah. He also talked about the fact that, after Peter shares that the disciples think Jesus is the messiah, Jesus doesn’t confirm or deny that for them. 

Dr. Braatz said this type of (non) response probably led to an explosion in the imaginations of the disciples - specifically because of their likely well-developed expectations for the long-awaited messiah. 

Take a second and let your mind imagine that moment between Jesus and the disciples. What tones of voice do you hear? How would you characterize Jesus’ questions? Why do you think he’s asking? What about Peter’s responses? Spend some time imagining the moment knowing that there are no right or wrong answers. Then share or brainstorm together as a group about some of the different possible versions of that exchange. 

Are there any perspectives or imagined characterizations that surprise you? Any you think of as less or more likely? Why do you think certain versions resonate with you differently than others?

What about the tail end of that story, when Jesus predicts his death and resurrection only to be contradicted by Peter. As Jesus responds to Peter by rebuking the accuser or Satan, how do you imagine the tone of that interaction? The responses of those witnessing it? What do you think was happening under the surface in that moment for Jesus? For Peter? 


3.  Finally, Brady tied these two stories together and suggested that we may be able to see parallels to our own lives of faith in each of them. 

As we contemplate the story of Jesus’ 2-step healing of the blind man ,and that of Peter’s confession to and subsequent rebuke by Jesus, we might also see instances in which - like some of those in the stories, we struggle with a moment that goes against our expectations of God or things of faith.  

Think about this dynamic in your own life. Can you share an occasion on which you struggled to let go of your pre-existing ideas in favor of a new understanding of some part of your story of faith? 

What other experiences do you have that relate to the idea of only partially “getting it” in your life of faith? What has been your experience of seeing things a new way or of shedding old expectations and understanding? What have the impacts of these examples been on your relationship to God and to your practice of life as a Christian?

1. What might you discern, in this final third of the year, that God might be asking you NOT to do?

“Stress is a perverted relationship to time…we become [time’s] victim.” John O’Donohue

She also asked (paraphrased) “do you think the way you live your life (and the way you engage with time) reflect God’s vision for your life in the world?”

“You are not a machine. Your life is a garden, and it’s a life that needs to be tended.”

“Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” - Dallas Willard 

“Hurry and love are incompatible. All my worst moments…are when I’m in a hurry - late for an appointment, behind on my unrealistic to-do list, trying to cram too much into my day. I ooze anger, tension, a critical-nagging - the antithesis of love.” - John Mark Comer

“Love requires a slowness… love requires margins…love requires hospitality.” 

God prunes both the branches that are not bearing fruit AND the living branches… all in order for us to bear more fruit. (Re: John 15:1-2)

What in your life needs to get pruned right now?



2. What might you discern that God is asking you to continue to do? 

What in your life needs you to give it time to faithfully tend it?



3. What new thing do you discern that God might be asking you to plant?

“Whatever you plant in your life will be the thing that grows.” 

Where’s the deficiency in your life right now?

“When you step into that spacious place, what is God trying to tell you?”