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Rev. Russ Whitfield 2/16/19 Rev. Russ Whitfield 2/16/19

2019 Session 3 - Enlarging Our Hearts and Engaging God's Mission

God is a God of enemy love. Who are your enemies? (Think: whose receiving of God’s mercy makes you bristle?) How can God’s grace help you to enlarge your heart toward them?
Do you have the language of grace but lack the life of grace? (Think: do you tend to apply grace to yourself but Karma to others, wanting a God who shares your prejudice rather than shatters your prejudice?) How can you more deeply experience the transforming grace of God?
Jonah ends in tension; the story waits to be finished. Take some time to write out your ending. What kind of neighbor do you want to become? 10 years from now? 6 months from now? Today? Jesus’ mission is neighbor redemption. How is he specifically calling you to engage this mission?

Rev. Russ Whitfield 2/15/19 Rev. Russ Whitfield 2/15/19

How has the false dichotomy of sacred vs. secular kept you from seeing your neighbor’s deep religiosity? Do you tend to view your neighbor in a separate category from yourself? How has this kept you from neighbor love? Be specific.
Our “boats” are filled with deeply religious, fearful, and desperate neighbors. Are we asleep and detached or awake? What would being awake toward your neighbor look like? Awake toward their misplaced worship? Awake toward their fears? Awake toward their desperation?
Our greatest problem is not being against others but being for ourselves; not a how to problem but a want to problem. What’s the greatest want to hindrance in your heart? Nationalism? Fear? Comfort? How does the gospel free us from these concerns?

Rev. Russ Whitfield 2/14/19 Rev. Russ Whitfield 2/14/19

How does your orthodoxy tend to be a replacement for neighbor love rather than an inducement to neighbor love? Give specific examples.
The ethic of our culture is tolerance; the ethic of the gospel is love. Which one best describes the ethic of your heart? How does tolerance undermine the gospel?
Does your life have the optics of neighbor love but lack the substance of neighbor love? What steps can you take toward being a loving neighbor rather than just looking like one?