Redemption Church KC Sermon Podcast

1. Tim pointed out that after God promises to be with Jacob and keep him, Jacob almost immediate responds with his own caveat-filled transactional vow. Of this, Tim said that bargaining with God is part of living in a world we can’t control. Think back to some of the times and so situations in which you have bargained with God, added caveats to God’s presence, or tried to negotiate that be God on your own terms. Do you see those times differently now than you did then? How so? Share about some of the circumstances and experiences in which bargaining, adding caveats, and etc has felt most prevalent. Do you see any similarities or themes that are consistent from one instance or context to another? Are there commonalities between your experiences and those of others? Common threads? 2. In considering the staircase in Jacob’s dream and the moment in his life at which Jacob has this dream, Tim said, “this dream is daring us to believe that there are no forsaken places.” Does that seem difficult to believe? What types of places or circumstances might make it hardest for you to really believe this idea of no forsaken places? Are there areas in your life or in yourself that you once feared might be forsaken, but now you see differently? How do you explain your shifted perception? What happened? Are there areas within your self or your life that you fear are forsaken? What would it look like to believe - in light of those places - that there truly are no forsaken places? What would believing that change? 3. As Tim neared the closing of his sermon, he said, “if you want to make a vow, let it be this: no more transactions.” What do you think this means? What would it mean for you? Why do you think humans seem to naturally fall into this transactional mindset with God? How do you understand the role of control in that dynamic? What would this look like in the rhythms of daily life? Would it change the practices and dynamics of your relationship with God? If so, how so? Why do you think it is important to shift away from a transactional view of the relationship between ourselves and God? (If you don’t think it is, share about why.) What could be impacted if we fully were able to step out of that transactional mindset in our faith? What might happen as a result?

1. In his sermon today, Tim described 3 melodies that show up and repeat throughout the book of Genesis: creation & blessing testing & failure de-creation & re-creation What is your response to these melodies? What thoughts, feelings, or questions are provoked in you as you consider them throughout the Genesis stories, either as Tim outlined them, or as you see them in other places? Where else do you see these melodies? In media? Books? Stories from your family? Etc? Can you mark the presence of these melodies in your own life? Which feels most present right now? 2. One of Tim’s slides posed a question that, alongside all of us, the Genesis characters are asking: "what can make us safe & happy; help us flourish and find wholeness?” The answer he gave was: “each other…community, friendship, & neighboring.” What’s your response to the identification of this question? Is it one you can identify in your own self & life? Do you see it in the lives of others? Do you see it in these stories? To what extent do you feel a part of authentic community, friendship, and neighboring? Where and how have those things been built? Do you see ways in which community, friendship, and neighboring have helped you to feel safe and happy? To flourish & find wholeness? If so, how so? If not, what do you make of that? If you would answer this question (“What can make us safe & happy; help us flourish and find wholeness?”) differently than Tim did, what would you say? 3. Toward the close of his sermon, Tim said, “In a world built on Babel’s tower…, the Church is meant to be a garden…this, I think, is why the Church still matters.” Presumably, you think the Church matters too, since you’re a part of this group, Redemption Church, and the global Church. Why do you think it is that the [global] Church matters? In what ways does the Church matter for you personally? Does the global Church matter in ways that are different from the ways in which Redemption Church matters for you? In what ways does the global Church matter beyond your own personal experience of it? What about Redemption Church? As is true of all of us individually, the church sometimes builds up, cooperates with, and defers to Babel. What emotions surface for you as you think about that fact? Do you tend to think of the global Church more as allied with empire or a hopeful contrast? Why do you think that is?

1. Today, Tim set up his discussion of Jesus’ new command (John 13:34) by sharing about the concept of pleasure v. enjoyment. This slide outlines what he shared: In light of this concept, Tim taught that the reason the original 613 commands of the law couldn’t transform the Israelite people was that they worked against human nature. We’re wired to seek continual opportunities for enjoyment, often found by transgressing the “commands” in our lives. Spend some time with this dichotomy. Think of ways in which you’ve experienced pleasure, as it’s conceived of here. Think of some ways in which you’ve experienced enjoyment. Share some examples of each with your group. Which of these experiences feels more familiar? More appealing? What do you think it is about your personality that leads you to answer in the way you are? 2. Tim also taught about the opportunity for enjoyment that’s provided by exclusion. He said, “any kind of exclusion makes our sense of belonging so much better.” Where do you see/have you seen this principle at work in yourself? What groups/categories have you seen engage in frequent exclusion? How/when have you been excluded? How did you respond to that exclusion? How did it make you feel about the crowd/people from which you were excluded? 3. Tim taught that Jesus’ new command (from John 13:34) leads to enjoyment in a new and different way; rather than finding enjoyment through transgressing commands, we find it through transgressing the self. This process of loving sacrificially leads to both pleasure and pain. It also provides opportunities for endless enjoyment. Tim said that, as the church, our only real command is love and inclusion. When you think of your life in and as a part of the church, how do you feel about this sole command? What thoughts, ideas, and feelings arise for you as you take a moment to consider this command as the command for the church? Are there [other] “commands” that you have embraced in the past hoping in their ability to create transformation in your life? How has that worked for you? Do you have commands (other than Jesus’ new command to love) that you embrace now, hoping for them to produce transformation? What fruit, if any have you seen from those efforts? What experiences do you have that speak to the power of sacrificial love’s ability to create transformation when it’s embraced or enacted as a command? See if you can think of experiences in which you’ve been the one loving actively and experiences in which you’ve been loved in this way. Share some examples as a group. If you can see transformation that has resulted, share about that with the group.