These are sample questions for the chapters we'll be discussing on Sunday, July 25. Please feel free to respond with answers, additional questions or related ideas. See instructions for commenting in the right-hand column of this blog.
Books are still available for anyone who wants to join the class, or who wants to read on his or her own.
Chapter 3:
The basic question of this chapter, “Finding or Found?”, informs a great deal of Reformed theology, which holds that we are saved by grace, through faith, not by any action of our own. Are any of you comfortable sharing how God found you?
What was your response? How has it changed along the way?
Lindvall writes, “This road is not in search of a lost God but of a way into a God who has passionately sought us, somehow found us, and then coaxed us onto the way.” “A way into God” suggests that we seek understanding, which is certainly true. What else do we seek?
Having been sought, found and encouraged, what responsibility do you feel to live out your faith, and to understand what God is calling you to do? How do you discern that call?
Chapter 4:
People often think that life would be easier if God did not allow them choices, and especially if the option to sin were not available. At the same time, one of the strongest political movements in this country right now rails against anything that restricts freedom. How do you feel about free will and the terrible consequences it sometimes causes?
Lindvall gives examples of the free will God has given us. Do you think people appreciate the “system” God has set up, of pursuing us while giving us freedom to choose, or even to flee?
Does anyone remember reading “The Brothers Karamazov?” Is religious intolerance — as expressed most extremely in the Inquisition and the Holocaust — the opposite of our God-given freedom of conscience, or is it the inevitable result?
Chapter XX of the Westminster Confession speaks “Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience.” This chapter is most often remembered by the sentence, “God alone is Lord of the conscience, and has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in any thing, contrary to His Word; or beside it, if matters of faith, or worship.”
What that generally means, in practice, is that even the edicts of the church need not be obeyed when a person, in good conscience, believes that to obey them would be contrary to God’s will. Another implication is that obedience to God trumps obedience to civil authority — but civil disobedience sometimes brings down civil punishments.
We have all experienced times when we felt it wasn’t convenient or desirable to obey God’s law. Have you also experienced times when you felt the laws of God and secular society were in conflict?
Here is the entire chapter:
Chapter XX
Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience
I. The liberty which Christ has purchased for believers under the Gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, and condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law;[1] and, in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin;[2] from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation;[3] as also, in their free access to God,[4] and their yielding obedience unto Him, not out of slavish fear, but a child-like love and willing mind.[5] All which were common also to believers under the law.[6] But, under the New Testament, the liberty of Christians is further enlarged, in their freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial law, to which the Jewish Church was subjected;[7] and in greater boldness of access to the throne of grace,[8] and in fuller communications of the free Spirit of God, than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of.[9]
II. God alone is Lord of the conscience,[10] and has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in any thing, contrary to His Word; or beside it, if matters of faith, or worship.[11] So that, to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commands, out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience:[12] and the requiring of an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also.[13]
III. They who, upon pretence of Christian liberty, do practice any sin, or cherish any lust, do thereby destroy the end of Christian liberty, which is, that being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life.[14]
IV. And because the powers which God has ordained, and the liberty which Christ has purchased are not intended by God to destroy, but mutually to uphold and preserve one another, they who, upon pretence of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of God.[15] And, for their publishing of such opinions, or maintaining of such practices, as are contrary to the light of nature, or to the known principles of Christianity (whether concerning faith, worship, or conversation), or to the power of godliness; or, such erroneous opinions or practices, as either in their own nature, or in the manner of publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the external peace and order which Christ has established in the Church, they may lawfully be called to account,[16] and proceeded against, by the censures of the Church. and by the power of the civil magistrate.[17]
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Dinner and a movie!
Or rather, a slide show.
At our Thursday potluck this week, July 22, Gerry and Marilyn Griebel will show slides of their recent medical mission trip to Oyugis, Kenya, with Project Helping Hands.
Thursday potlucks begin at 6:30. The church will provide table service and drinks. Please bring a dish to share and a big appetite, because the food has been yummy every week. Dave Lucas has promised to bring peach cobbler baked in his Dutch oven this week. Come on Thursday to learn whether Dave can make good on his promise or his wife's raised eyebrows prove to be prophetic.
This would be a good time to invite a friend to learn about the good things going on at Rico Community Church, and the good things going OUT from RCC! Anyone who thinks we are a staid bunch of Christians who never laugh or discuss anything but the Bible is in for a big surprise. We are an animated bunch who are doing our best to live as God's faithful people.
At our Thursday potluck this week, July 22, Gerry and Marilyn Griebel will show slides of their recent medical mission trip to Oyugis, Kenya, with Project Helping Hands.
Thursday potlucks begin at 6:30. The church will provide table service and drinks. Please bring a dish to share and a big appetite, because the food has been yummy every week. Dave Lucas has promised to bring peach cobbler baked in his Dutch oven this week. Come on Thursday to learn whether Dave can make good on his promise or his wife's raised eyebrows prove to be prophetic.
This would be a good time to invite a friend to learn about the good things going on at Rico Community Church, and the good things going OUT from RCC! Anyone who thinks we are a staid bunch of Christians who never laugh or discuss anything but the Bible is in for a big surprise. We are an animated bunch who are doing our best to live as God's faithful people.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Opportunities for fellowship and learning
Summer potlucks begin at 6:30 p.m. every Thursday at the church. Bring a dish, bring a friend, and prepare to engage in thought-provoking conversation. All are welcome! Come as you are.
The book study group is discussing Michael Lindvall's "A Geography of God" on Sunday mornings beginning at 9:30. Books are still available; ask Suzy at Thursday potluck or on Sunday. Discussion questions for the first three chapters are posted below, and as you can see, you'll be able to participate intelligently whether or not you've read the chapters!
The Presbyterian General Assembly, a biennial meeting of our highest governing body, took place earlier this month. A summary of actions taken is on the table at the front of the church. Although I know not many of you are Presbyterian, the Rico Community Church is a fellowship of the Presbytery of Western Colorado, so General Assembly votes do matter to us!
For more information about what's going on at the Rico Community Church, keep watching this blog site or call Suzy at 560-1407.
The book study group is discussing Michael Lindvall's "A Geography of God" on Sunday mornings beginning at 9:30. Books are still available; ask Suzy at Thursday potluck or on Sunday. Discussion questions for the first three chapters are posted below, and as you can see, you'll be able to participate intelligently whether or not you've read the chapters!
The Presbyterian General Assembly, a biennial meeting of our highest governing body, took place earlier this month. A summary of actions taken is on the table at the front of the church. Although I know not many of you are Presbyterian, the Rico Community Church is a fellowship of the Presbytery of Western Colorado, so General Assembly votes do matter to us!
For more information about what's going on at the Rico Community Church, keep watching this blog site or call Suzy at 560-1407.
Book Study Questions, Ch. 1-3
These are the questions we'll be discussing on Sunday, July 18. Please feel free to respond to this post with your own discussion questions!
Chapter 1:
One correlation to the idea of a journey is the Apostle Paul’s conviction that followers of Christ should be in the world but not of the world. “Be not comformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind …” (Romans 12:2) How does that relate to what Lindvall writes about Christ as a stranger in town, or in our world, when our lives are so greatly shaped by modern culture?
More specifically, how do faith, religion and our faith community help us to hold onto what is good in the world and pass by what is not?
HOW does Christ become “the knowable stranger”? The idea that it happens by OUR study is somewhat contrary to Reformed thought.
Lindvall writes, “In the end, the most eloquent testimony to the Christian faith is the word of those who have taken the road before us and along the way found more than they first sought.” That sounds very linear; do we believe that the steps toward knowing God must be taken in a certain order? Can we learn also from people who seem, in some ways, to be behind us?
Chapter 2:
Lindvall speaks of two reasons for “rising and shining” — e.g., for beginning or resuming a Christian journey. The first is need, the second is potential enjoyment. The Westminster Catechism teaches us that “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Does Christianity sometimes focus too much on duty at the exclusion of acknowledging the joy we find in our relationship with God?
In what ways do you find joy?
On the other hand, is a life without responsibilities a good one? What does that tell us about the structures God has put in place to guide our daily lives?
What does it suggest about our reason for existing?
Lindvall writes, “If Jesus had been an Asian, I bet he would have said, ‘I am the rice of the world.’” When he said he was the bread of life, his listeners would have envisioned different bread than we do. How do we limit our ideas of Jesus and of God by letting the words of the Bible grow too familiar?
Lindvall writes, “Some longing led (people of faith( to look deeper and ask the underneath questions about life.” For what do we long? What are we seeking? From God? From other sources?
Chapter 3:
The basic question of this chapter, “Finding or Found?”, informs a great deal of Reformed theology, which holds that we are saved by grace, through faith, not by any action of our own. Are any of you comfortable sharing how God found you?
What was your response? How has it changed along the way?
Lindvall writes, “This road is not in search of a lost God but of a way into a God who has passionately sought us, somehow found us, and then coaxed us onto the way.” “A way into God” suggests that we seek understanding, which is certainly true. What else do we seek?
Having been sought, found and encouraged, what responsibility do you feel to live out your faith, and to understand what God is calling you to do? How do you discern that call?
Chapter 1:
One correlation to the idea of a journey is the Apostle Paul’s conviction that followers of Christ should be in the world but not of the world. “Be not comformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind …” (Romans 12:2) How does that relate to what Lindvall writes about Christ as a stranger in town, or in our world, when our lives are so greatly shaped by modern culture?
More specifically, how do faith, religion and our faith community help us to hold onto what is good in the world and pass by what is not?
HOW does Christ become “the knowable stranger”? The idea that it happens by OUR study is somewhat contrary to Reformed thought.
Lindvall writes, “In the end, the most eloquent testimony to the Christian faith is the word of those who have taken the road before us and along the way found more than they first sought.” That sounds very linear; do we believe that the steps toward knowing God must be taken in a certain order? Can we learn also from people who seem, in some ways, to be behind us?
Chapter 2:
Lindvall speaks of two reasons for “rising and shining” — e.g., for beginning or resuming a Christian journey. The first is need, the second is potential enjoyment. The Westminster Catechism teaches us that “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Does Christianity sometimes focus too much on duty at the exclusion of acknowledging the joy we find in our relationship with God?
In what ways do you find joy?
On the other hand, is a life without responsibilities a good one? What does that tell us about the structures God has put in place to guide our daily lives?
What does it suggest about our reason for existing?
Lindvall writes, “If Jesus had been an Asian, I bet he would have said, ‘I am the rice of the world.’” When he said he was the bread of life, his listeners would have envisioned different bread than we do. How do we limit our ideas of Jesus and of God by letting the words of the Bible grow too familiar?
Lindvall writes, “Some longing led (people of faith( to look deeper and ask the underneath questions about life.” For what do we long? What are we seeking? From God? From other sources?
Chapter 3:
The basic question of this chapter, “Finding or Found?”, informs a great deal of Reformed theology, which holds that we are saved by grace, through faith, not by any action of our own. Are any of you comfortable sharing how God found you?
What was your response? How has it changed along the way?
Lindvall writes, “This road is not in search of a lost God but of a way into a God who has passionately sought us, somehow found us, and then coaxed us onto the way.” “A way into God” suggests that we seek understanding, which is certainly true. What else do we seek?
Having been sought, found and encouraged, what responsibility do you feel to live out your faith, and to understand what God is calling you to do? How do you discern that call?
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