If discipleship is a skill that we learn one step at a time, today we look at how we take each step.

Dave today talks about how we make our way through life. What is our destination, how do we get there and how much do we involve God in both of those questions?

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.  God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.  This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:4-5

Conversation Questions:

• What is your instinctive metaphor for life? Is it a race, a game, a slog, a competition? How does this manifest itself in the way you approach life? What is it you are looking for to make your life a success?
• Have you had a sense of destination for your life? Has it changed? How have you tried to get there? What have you learnt so far?
• How have you involved God in the direction of your life? What has happened at those crossroads moments? Have you had experiences of God guiding you? Have you ever looked back and seen God was there even when you didn’t know it at the time?
• Look at today’s key verse and consider how each of the enormous ideas fit with you. Do you find these ideas easy or difficult to believe? How does this challenge or inform our idea of God?
  • Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:4-5

Bible Study:

It is so easy to read the Bible knowing what happens next and missing the drama in the moment. In this study we are going to try and capture the surprising events.

First read Mark 1:32-34. Try to imagine the scene, if you are a townsperson, or a disciple, or even Jesus. Can you imagine the buzz and excitement?

• Without reading ahead, what would you think should happen next?
• If it helps, imagine we have an Exeter Vineyard meeting where crowds of people turn up and there is amazing miracles and healings. What do you think we would plan to do next?

Now read Mark 1:35-39.

• • What do you think happens to set the next step of Jesus’ and his disciples’ journey?
  • Thinking about mapmaking and wayfinding – if the destination is for Jesus to usher in the Kingdom of God what would the pre-planned map look like?
  • How are the events in verses 35-38 more like wayfaring?
  • How does what Jesus did contrast with the world’s idea about success, progress and achievement?
  • What can you learn from this in your everyday life?
    • Can you think of one action you could take to embed something you’ve learned?

We continue to think about the process of discipleship and the conversations that arise from the discipleship questions, “What is God saying to me?” and, “What am I going to do about it?”

Today Dave tackles a common misconception we sometimes have that God is in a hurry and things should happen all at once. We think about how transformation is a journey and what Eugene Peterson calls, “a long obedience in the same direction”.

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:25

Conversation Questions:

• Have there been times when you have been desperate for a circumstance or situation or personal battle to be sorted? What happened? Did it happen very suddenly did it happen over time? If it took time, did God do other things with you during that process?
• If change most often happens gradually – both for good and bad – we often don’t notice it, we just drift into it – like the proverbial frog in the pot of water.
  • Think about yourself 5 years ago. What changes are good? How did the change happen? Were there choices you made or differences to your life?
  • Paul talks about our transformation in Romans 5:1-6. Are there similarities with what he describes and your experience?

Bible Study:

We’re going to compare the very different ways in which two famous Kings of Israel were transformed by God. Very different experiences and very different outcomes. This is an opportunity to reframe our understanding of how God transforms us and what outcome he really wants.

We’ll start with King Saul, Israel’s first king. You can read his story of transformation in 1 Samuel 8:19 – 10:16 .

• Think about Saul’s experiences. How are these similar to stories we sometimes hear in church and conferences or read in books?
• Are there times when you would love an experience that was indisputable and clear? Why might God sometimes do this and why might he sometimes not?
• Think about what other people thought of Saul in 1 Samuel 10:23-24.

You may know the rest of Saul’s story, but it gets summed up pretty succinctly in 1 Samuel 15:22-23

• Consider Saul’s transformation and the sort of person he ends up.

The second king is David, who came after Saul and couldn’t have had a more different story. It happens over a much longer period, but you can roughly follow it in the following passages.

• For each passage consider whether it would feel like a good, faith-building experience or a discouraging and depressing experience. David has been told he would be king – so think about the following events and whether he would have felt it was a step forward or a step backwards.
  • 1 Samuel 16:4-13
  • 1 Samuel 16:15–23
  • 1 Samuel 17:41-51
  • 1 Samuel 18:9-11
  • 1 Samuel 18:24-29
  • 1 Samuel 19:9-10
  • 1 Samuel 21:10-22:2
  • 1 Samuel 24:1-22
  • 1 Samuel 30:1-6
  • 2 Samuel 2:4

This is only a select edit! You may know about the rest of David’s life but it’s summed up in Acts 13:22.

• • These two kings have a really stark difference in their stories and outcomes.
  • What relevance does it have to us, how we expect God to work, what we think is important and what stories about God we celebrate?
  • If you look at your life, can you see a elements that have the same rollercoaster ride as David? Does this encourage you that God might be working in you even with the ups and downs?
  • How might you be more aware of the process God has us on, so you can see him at work and cooperate?

We want to think about how discipleship is learning the skill of living life the way God intended. It’s not just about information, it’s about seeing the God, ourselves and the world in a different way and then discovering, practicing and developing ways to live a Jesus-sized life.

We are thinking about how this works, and the relationships involved – the conversations we should have with ourselves, with God and with others – to help us learn.

Today Dave talks about how we learn a skill and how we need to approach the challenge.

“Now go and learn…” – Matthew 9:13

Conversation Questions:

• Dave used different aspects of his experience at music college to describe ways we might feel about our faith. Do you resonate with any of these:
  • Thinking it’s about knowledge. Do you sometimes think faith is about how much you know? Do you admire people for their great Bible knowledge? Is it strange to think of faith more like developing a skill than knowing more stuff?
  • Feeling you’re doing ok. Sometimes we think we’re doing well, but only because we don’t comprehend just how amazing the potential God has put in us. What is your vision for God’s plan for you?
  • Losing your spark. Just like the warm dishwater on Dave’s fingers, everyday life sometimes wears away our passion. Have there been times when you’ve really felt excited about God and his work in your life?
• What does growing in your faith mean to you? What do you expect? What has it looked like in the past? What does it look like now?
• How would you approach your faith differently if you thought of it like a skill rather than information?
  • What natural abilities and skills do you have that help?
  • What are the areas that are more of a challenge?
  • Do you ever compare yourself with others? Is this helpful? Do you feel secure and confident in being a unique creation that carries God’s image? How does comparison fit with this and when is it fruitful?

Bible Study:

Throughout the four Gospels Jesus is teaching. Often it’s his disciples, sometimes it’s the Pharisees and lawyers or the crowd. Each of these are really interesting as we consider how Jesus thought people, especially his followers, could best learn about the Kingdom and how to live in it.

Here are a few of them. Look at these incidents of teaching and learning. What do you notice? Who is teaching and who is learning? How is it happening? What is surprising? How might these ideas correspond to our everyday lives? How does this fit with the ideas from today’s talk?

• Matthew 9:9-13
• Matthew 14:22-33
• Mark 9:14-29
• Luke 10:25-28
• Luke 20:9-19
• John 6:1-13
• What other examples can you think of?