The next Sunday, May 1 (wow!), we will return to "What's the Least I Can Believe and Still Be A Christian?," talking about Chapter 15, "Jesus' Example: What Brings Fulfillment?" Here are some questions to get us started talking. Feel free to reply with more questions or comments.
•What are some of the reasons we grow disillusioned with the American Dream?
•One reason I have heard is that it is not, at base, a dream of community but a dream of individual achievement and fulfillment. What is our dream for everyone?
•What possessions enslave us? The house, the lawn, the computer or television, the cell phone? What can we do to break free?
•What possessions enable us to do God's work in this world more effectively?
•In our various opinions, what makes work fulfilling or meaningful?
•What do you think about the life prescription of the fictional Dr. Mark Green on ER: "Be generous with your time. Be generous with your love. Be generous with your life. Be generous."? Is generosity the highest standard of stewardship?
•Ours is a result-driven society. Karyn talked about that a couple weeks ago, and suggested that we don't always need to fix something — that goal is often beyond us; we just need to make the right choice each time we have a choice and trust God to put the pieces together. In the last story in this chapter, Gus, the cancer patient in hospice, died with a smile on his face even though he had not saved the life of the little girl who was his fellow patient. What had he accomplished?
•Bottom line: Can we (the book-study class) come up with a brief outline of reoriented values that would better serve God? Could we be happy with those values?
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