
Sunday, March 20
THE PRACTICE OF LEARNING by Seth Botts
Reflection
When I attended my first Explore Group in the Summer of 2021, I had been attending the church for several months and was existing as simply a consumer of christianity, I was far from an empowered Christian leader. I would attend Sunday sermons, arriving once worship had started and leaving immediately after the closing prayer. Through this intimate group of people, which would eventually become my Core Group, I began being challenged to look at passages in the Bible that made me uncomfortable, discuss what Jesus meant to me, and view Christian principles through other perspectives. Through the vulnerability required to learn in a small group, I have been transformed from being a consumer of Christinaity, into an empowered leader in the church.
The immense personal growth that comes from gathering together with a small group of people, studying and dissecting the text through diverse experiences and asking difficult and challenging questions was something that both John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, and Jesus Christ himself found immensely valuable. Although Jesus had a vast following of individuals the bible labels as disciples, he chose an intimate group of 12 to become the apostles, to learn and grow together (Luke 6:13). These apostles were not intellectual powerhouses or strong and charismatic leaders, they are actually notorious for asking silly questions, making attempts to gain personal power and were plagued with doubt. All of these things are key in the vulnerability that is needed to learn in small groups.
Prayer
Dear God, please help me with the willingness to be vulnerable enough to grow, trusting that my fellow Christians will accept and love the parts of me that I am not yet able to love myself.
A practice to try this week:
What areas of my life can benefit from the vulnerability required to learn in a small group? Am I operating as a Christian consumer or am I on a path to becoming an empowered leader in the church?
When I attended my first Explore Group in the Summer of 2021, I had been attending the church for several months and was existing as simply a consumer of christianity, I was far from an empowered Christian leader. I would attend Sunday sermons, arriving once worship had started and leaving immediately after the closing prayer. Through this intimate group of people, which would eventually become my Core Group, I began being challenged to look at passages in the Bible that made me uncomfortable, discuss what Jesus meant to me, and view Christian principles through other perspectives. Through the vulnerability required to learn in a small group, I have been transformed from being a consumer of Christinaity, into an empowered leader in the church.
The immense personal growth that comes from gathering together with a small group of people, studying and dissecting the text through diverse experiences and asking difficult and challenging questions was something that both John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, and Jesus Christ himself found immensely valuable. Although Jesus had a vast following of individuals the bible labels as disciples, he chose an intimate group of 12 to become the apostles, to learn and grow together (Luke 6:13). These apostles were not intellectual powerhouses or strong and charismatic leaders, they are actually notorious for asking silly questions, making attempts to gain personal power and were plagued with doubt. All of these things are key in the vulnerability that is needed to learn in small groups.
Prayer
Dear God, please help me with the willingness to be vulnerable enough to grow, trusting that my fellow Christians will accept and love the parts of me that I am not yet able to love myself.
A practice to try this week:
What areas of my life can benefit from the vulnerability required to learn in a small group? Am I operating as a Christian consumer or am I on a path to becoming an empowered leader in the church?
Posted in Lent Devotional 2022
Recent
Archive
2023
2022
January
February
March
M-Note 3.1.22Lenten Devotional // Day 1Lenten Devotional // Day 2Luke: The Gospel For Rebels Week 5Lenten Devotional // Day 3Lenten Devotional // Day 4Lenten Devotional // First SundayLenten Devotional // Day 5Lenten Devotional // Day 6Lenten Devotional // Day 7Lenten Devotional // Day 8Lenten Devotional // Day 9Following Jesus: Some Assembly Required – Week 1Lenten Devotional // Day 10Some Assembly RequiredLenten Devotional // Second SundayLenten Devotional // Day 11Lenten Devotional // Day 12Lenten Devotional // Day 13Lenten Devotional // Day 14Following Jesus: Some Assembly Required – Week 2Lenten Devotional // Day 15Lenten Devotional // Day 16M-Note 3.20.22Lenten Devotional // Third SundayLenten Devotional // Day 17Lenten Devotional // Day 185 Benefits to Embracing Your Uncertainty of GodLenten Devotional // Day 19Lenten Devotional // Day 20M-Note 3.24.2022Lenten Devotional // Day 21Following Jesus: Some Assembly Required – Week 3Lenten Devotional // Day 22Lenten Devotional // Fourth SundayLenten Devotional // Day 23Lenten Devotional // Day 24Lenten Devotional // Day 25Lenten Devotional // Day 26
April
Following Jesus: Some Assembly Required – Week 4M-Note 4.1.2022Lenten Devotional // Day 273 Implications of God's Humanity on YoursLenten Devotional // Day 28Lenten Devotional // Fifth SundayLenten Devotional // Day 29Lenten Devotional // Day 30Lenten Devotional // Day 31Lenten Devotional // Day 32Following Jesus: Some Assembly Required – Week 53 Misunderstandings of Easter that Impact YouLenten Devotional // Day 33Lenten Devotional // Day 34Lenten Devotional // Palm SundayLenten Devotional // Day 35Lenten Devotional // Day 36Lenten Devotional // Day 37M-Note 4.14.2022Lenten Devotional // Day 38 Maundy ThusdayLenten Devotional // Day 39 Good FridayLenten Devotional // Day 40 Holy SaturdayLenten Devotional // EasterMysterious You: How your union with God makes you divineM-Note 4.20.2022No Filter: See The Real You – Week 14 Ways Embracing Your Sin Serves the WorldM-Note 4.28.2022No Filter: See The Real You – Week 2
May
3 Reasons You Should Embrace Your WeirdnessM-Note 5.5.22No Filter: See The Real You – Week 3Identify Your Purpose and Empower Your FutureM-Note 5.12.22No Filter: See The Real You – Week 4Confidently Approach Life as a Second ChanceLearning to Enjoy LIFE by Eliminating DistractionsUncomplicating the “God” Question to Simplify Spirituality
Categories
Tags
1 Kings 3
1 Kings
1 Timothy
2 Corinthians 9:5-7
Belden Lane
Beyond Simple
Celebrate
Change
Christ
Commit
Confidence
Denee Bowers
Distractions
Divine Love
Doubt
Easter
Ephesians
Equity
Five Shared Practices
Focus
Frederick Buechner
Fresh Take
Friends
Generosity
God
Gratitude
Holy Ambiguity
Hope
Humanity
Identity
Jesus
John 21
John
Joy
Kids
King Solomon
Life
Limitations
Longing
Matthew
Nadia Bolz-Weber
No Filter
Open
Parables
Parenting
Patience
Paula D'Arcy
Paula D\'Arcy
Paula D\\\'Arcy
Paula D\\\\\\\'Arcy
Paul
Privilege
Proverbs 1
Proverbs
Psalms
Purpose
Questions
Redeem
Rejoice
Righteousness
Sabra Engelbrecht
Second Chance
Self-Love
Struggle
Success
Timothy
Uncertainty
Untethered
Vision
Weird
acts
adulting
advice
challenge
commitment
creation
deconstruction
deconstruct
faith
finances
fitness
forgiveness
forgiving
foundation
freedom
give
growth
kelley weber
love
meister eckhart
money
mystery
new life
opportunity
reconstruction
reconstruct
redemption
relationships
responsibility
simplify
sin
social
thomas merton
transition
truth
willingness
willpower
will
young adult
No Comments