Crazy Love Session 6: When you're in love

Week 6 video here...

Sorry for the delay. Here are the discussions and questions we covered as a group

     Different people tend to respond to God in different ways. Whether it's your background, your relationships, your disposition, your theology, or something else, you have a somewhat unique way of relating to God. To some extent, that's healthy. God made you to be who you are, and your relationship with Him should reflect that.
     But there's another sense in which your unique situation presents you with unique obstacles to overcome. SOme people have no trouble approaching God with reverence but can't imagine what it would be like to relate to God intimately. Others are the exact opposite. We all have some sort of baggage that colors our thoughts, feelings, and actions toward God.
     Like any personal relationship, your relationship with God will probably look a little bit different from anyone else's. But it's helpful to identify and evaluate your tendencies. As you do so, think about whether your relationship with God reflects the love Hehas for you and the love that should characterize your relationship with Him.

Which is more difficult for you, relating to God with intimacy or approaching Him with reverence? Why do you think this is more difficult for you?

What baggae do you carry around with you? How do you think this affects your relationship with God?

Does your relationship with God resemble an "in love" relationship? How so, or how not?

     As Paul evaluated the situation in Galatia, he recognized that they were missing the point. He saw a tendency among some of the Jewish Christian to center their religious life in their Jewish identity. They believed circumcision and adherence to the law were vitally important, and they taught other Christians accordingly. Paul's answer to this issue is triking, both in its power and its simplicity. He says, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision not uncircumcision counts for anything, but on faith working through love" (Gal. 5:6)
     Imagine if we applied this line of thinking to our lives. What if you could truly sum up your life by saying, "The only thing that matters is faith working itself out through love"? I believe in love, and I can honestly say that I love God passionately. But there are many times when my life does not reflect the fact that faith working through love is all that matters. Take a minute to examine your lifestyle in light of Paul's words.

As you look at the way you interact with the people around you (both inside and outside the church), would you say those interactions are best characterized by love? Why do you say that?

     Another testament to the power of love in our relationships with God is found throughout the psalms. It doesn't take much effort to find psalms expressing a profound love for God. I always find these psalms inspiring. THey push me to go deeper in my relationship with God. They tell me that there's still further to go -- that there's still more fellowship and intamacy with God to be had.

Take some time to meditate on the following psalms. Try to put yourself in the psalmists' shoes and feel the emotions they felt. How do these psalms compare to your relationship with God? Do you relate to them at all? Make some notes below. And if you find a gap between that the psalmist says and your own experience, consider stopping and asking, "Lord, please help me see You this way. Help me respond to You like this."

Psalm 4:7-8


Psalm 16:11


Psalm 28:7


Psalm 90:14


Psalm 119:111


Psalm 131:2


     We have covered this concept briefly in earlier sessions, but it's absolutely foundational to the Christian life: The solution to loving God more is not simply trying harder. I'm sure there will be plenty of effort involved, but ultimately, loving God requires His work in our hearts. Remember that love is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Think about what that phrase means: fruits of the Spirit. They are the natural by-product of the Holy Spirit wokring in our lives, changing us from the inside out.
    In light of this, it's completely appropriate (and necessary) for us to ask God for more love. We have plenty of reasons to lvoe God, but since we are dependent on Him for every aspect of our existence, we still need to rely on Him to produce love in us. Remember 1 John 4:19: "We love because he first loved us."

After going through the previous sessions, have you been asking God to increase your love for Him and for the people He has placed in your life? If so, what changes have you seen? If not, what is keeping you from doing this?

It's time to stop talkign about loving God and start spending time directly with Him. Use everything you've thoguht through in this session as you approach God. Be honest with Him about your lack of love for Him. Tell Him about your struggles and ask Him to produce more love in your heart. (You may find the prayer on the last page of Chapter 6 to be helpful in approaching God with complete honesty.)

Jesus, I need to give myself up. I am not strong enough to love You and walk with You on my own. I can't do it, and I need You. I need You deeply and desperately. I believe You are worth it, that You are better than anythign else I could have in this life or the next. I want You. And when I don't, I want to want You. Be all in me. Take all of me. Have Your way with me.

Crazy Love Week 2

This is the Crazy Love week 2, Chapter 2 video above.

If you have the Crazy Love Book, it would hel to read from CHapter 2 and Chapter 3 prior to our next meeting this coming Tuesday.

We didn't get through much of the workbook and stuck specifically to questions about the video contents. I have copies of the other questions if you would like to go through them on your own (which I really recommend doing, the questions are really good... also, it would be really helpful if you buy the workbook. In Last weeks post I put some links in there on how and where to purchase the workbook.)

Okay, so here's what we talked about... and I know it sounds a bit morbid, but I think it was a good exercise to help us really ponder where we need to be in our understanding of this life and the next.

Once we are reminded of our proper place in the universe, we can begin to function as God intended us to function. Our lives will be off base and our priorities will be skewed unless we see ourselves as God sees us. Remember that this world is about God, not us. If we live for anything other than God's glory, we will end with regrets.

I'm reminded of the importance of this every time someone around me dies. It's actually healthy for us to be exposed to deathf rom time to time. Solomon says this explicitly in Ecclesiastes 7. By Remembering that our lives are fragile -- that it could all be over at any moment -- we'll find it eaiser to stay focused on the most important things in life.

1. Describe some people in your life who have died abruptly. What were some of their achievements in life and what were their regrets?

2. If today was the day you died, what would you regret, and why?

3. What can you change about your life today to avoid those regrets?

For this final thought and prayer, we first spent some additional time reading through James 4:13-17

4. Close your time in this session by praying. You've been thinking through some pretty heavy issues, and if you're seriously thinking about making changes in your life to avoid regrets, you likely have some important changes to make. Rememeber that this life is all about dependence on God and that so many things will pull you away from His simple calling on your life. Spend some time asking God to work in your hearts and mind to remove distraction and place you on the path He's calling you to.

 For the next few days leading up to our group, please rememeber to pray for those in your community group, that we can be strengthened in His love and grace, that we can come together as a group and body of Christ, grow, teach and encourage one another. 

See you Tuesday!



 Zach & Elizabeth

Crazy Love Week 1

Great first week! For those of you who missed out, here's the video that we watched and below are the discussion questions.

Also I've attached some links to resources for your study if you are interested in purchasing them for yourself. I think it'd benefit you if you had a chance to go through all of the study questions prior to our meeting so that we don't run long on time like we did at the first meeting.

Elizabeth and I were remarking after our first session that we feel like God has really chosen the exact right people to be in this group at this precise moment. I am so excited to keep working our way through this together. See you Tuesday!

After reading Chapter 1 from the Crazy Love book, you should be able to answer these questions. There is also a companion workbook by the same name. I definitely reccommend using both, but you should at least purchase one or the other to get the most out of this study.

What do you think would come out of your mouth the moment you first saw God? What would be the first thing you'd say?

After reading Eccl 5:1-2 below and considering the implications that this might have to the way you pray, answer the following question:

Describe your prayer life. DO you find yourself Talking at God, or do you take time to consider who you are talking to and enjoy being awed by His presence? Why d you think you pray the way you do?

How often do you stop to consider how great God is and how insignificant you are by comparison? When you do, what leads you to this point? If you never do, why do you think you've never done this?

What tings in your life distract you from loving and worshiping God the way He deserves to be loved and worshiped?

We read the chapter of Revelation 4 together and answered one more question:

Which details in this passage strike you the most? Why?

Here are the promised links to purchase your own materials

• Crazy Love Book - HIGHLY recommended that you purchase this. (If you cannot, speak to Elizabeth or myself and we will see to it that one ends up in your hands.)

• Crazy Love Workbook - We will be providing xerox copies of each chapter from the workbook on the day of the session, but having the workbook at home might be additionally beneficial so that you can go over the questions before our session begins. Totally not required, but Elizabeth and I like going over the questions together prior to the session so that we already have formed some thoughts that we can more easily communicate

• Another resource that Elizabeth and I just adore is the NIV Study Bible. It's a great tool for going a little deeper in scripture and helping out with some of those tougher to understand sections.

So, to wrap up this already much too long blog post. I'm looking for suggestions, comments, and conversation about anything and everything pertaining to our community group.

This would be a great place to ask questions of the group through the comments section or expand on something that we discussed together in the session.

We look forward to spending time with each of you again! What a privilege it is that God has put us all together at this moment, in this place, for His purpose to worship and glorify Him, to strengthen and encourage each other in Christ and have fun doing it! How awesome it is when Jesus is at the center of every conversation. It almost feels like this is the way fellowship was meant to be. ;)

Sincerely,

Zach & Elizabeth