Welcome to this four week journey to discover your life in the family of God. We are excited you have decided to join us. This kind of journey requires your participation. You are not simply a passenger being taken from point A to point B, rather you are invited to become more like Christ as you discover his love for you and how his love empowers you to love the people around you. Like any journey there will be ups and downs, twists and turns, and questions along the way. But it is important to remember that Jesus is with you every step of the way and in each of those steps he is helping you become more like him.

Our hope is by the end of this journey you will not simply know more information about God, but that you will encounter God, and your life would be transformed as you deepen your relationship with Christ. Throughout the four weeks there will be scripture passages read, questions to discuss and reflect on, stories shared, but there will also be spaces to practice and encounter God. Each week has a specific weekly practice that allows you to continue to embody what you learned in your group from the previous week. Each Week there will also be a time of guided prayer that will help you make space for God as you open your heart to experience his love.This time of prayer may feel a little uncomfortable in your group at first, but as you surrender to God in these spaces I promise he will meet you in these spaces and empower you to become more like him.

Pause and be still for a moment, take a few deep breaths.

Put yourself into the story of the prodigal son from Luke 15 and picture Jesus running to meet you and embracing you as he welcomes you to the family. As a child of God, how do you want to respond to God?

Read: Psalm 139

What does your relationship with God look like on a day-to-day basis? How involved is God in your life?

God is inviting you to a relationship that extends beyond knowing more information about God, and inviting you to a relationship where you can experience his love. Do you tend to want to know more about God instead of knowing God more?

With your group, or individually, how can you cultivate a space to experience God’s love that goes beyond just learning or discussing? Share a time when you felt connected to God…What about that experience could be helpful for others in your group?

When I was growing up I had two friends named Tim and Alex, and I would go hang out at their houses quite often. Every time I went over to Tim’s house I felt very out of place. His family had a lot of rules, and there was always a “right” way to do something. I enjoyed hanging out with Tim, but at his house I felt like I was always walking on eggshells, I never felt comfortable, and I never felt at home. Alex’s house was quite the opposite. At his house I was invited into the family. Anything in the cupboards was free game, I knew their garage code to come over whenever I wanted, and I even helped him with his chores. At Alex’s house I always felt welcomed, I felt comfortable, I was able to be myself, and I was always invited to stay for dinner. In John 15 God calls us all into a relationship to abide with his presence, to make our home in him. “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.” You have been invited into the family. In this family at Red Rocks Church you should not feel the fear of doing things the “right” way, but you should feel the freedom to be who God has created you to be. In this family we want you to feel comfortable and confident, we want you to feel secure as a child of a God who lavishly loves you, and we always want you to know you’re invited to stay for dinner.

Do you feel comfortable and confident in the family of God, or do you feel like you’re walking on eggshells hoping you don’t mess up, why?

Practically, what would it look like for you to make your home in Christ?

Practice Being with God — This week, take ten minutes each day to intentionally become aware of God’s presence in your everyday life, such as driving to work, washing dishes, going to the grocery store, or going for a walk.

At Red Rocks church we believe you are created to be in deep relationship with God and with each other. As you participate in a group there will be people who are different from you, but our transformation is not simply an individualistic matter. The love of God draws us from isolation into community, where our lives meet and our stories become intertwined. Your pain becomes my pain, your celebration becomes my celebration, our lives are established in solidarity with one another as we experience the love and presence of God through each other. You cannot do this alone, we need each other. Let’s gather around the family table.

Pause and be still for a moment, breathe deeply for a few breaths.

Think about 3 people this week that you are thankful for. Offer up your praise to God for these people. Think about a few people you have had a difficult time with because they are different than you. Pray about the ways God is leading you to love them even in their differences.

End with this written prayer about community “You alone, O God, by your gracious and life-giving Spirit have the power to knit our imperfect hearts, our weaknesses, our strengths, our stories, and our gifts, to one another. Unite Your people and multiply our meager offerings, O Lord, That all might resound to your glory. Let all that we do here, in our brief lives, in our brief moments to love, in the work you have given for this community, grow into a beautiful foretaste of your kingdom” (Prayer about the Labors of Community from Every Moment Holy)

Read: Luke 24:13-31

As these two friends were journeying, Jesus was in their midst. However, they did not recognize Jesus until they were at the table where he broke bread with them. How is Jesus present in the relationships you have? Is it at times hard for you to notice his presence, why or why not?

Notice in the text, it was not the information they received from Jesus’ teaching that opened their eyes, but it was their relational experience with Jesus at the table. How has your experience with others in the family of God affected your relationship with God? Has it helped draw you closer and grow in love? Or has it created more of a challenge?

Has there been a time when the body of Christ nurtured and sustained you? What was that like for you?

It was my first day of college, and like any new student, I entered the lunch room frantically scanning for a familiar face. I slowly got my food walked towards the table trying not to look too desperate for a friend to sit with. I didn’t know anyone and no one seemed to be welcoming newcomers at the moment. I took a seat at the end of a long table and hurriedly ate my food as I pretended to check my phone as if I was very busy. In the middle of a crowded lunchroom, full of people, I never felt more alone.

Don’t get me wrong, now, as a dad of two young boys, a quiet meal is a welcomed experience. There is nothing wrong with eating alone. But I am sure all of us have experienced feelings of loneliness and isolation at some point in our lives, some of you may even feel this right now. It is because you are designed to be in relationship. God has created us to be in relationship with him, and with each other.

On the other hand, another recent experience was around our family table. It was Thanksgiving dinner from a few years ago where we had all of our family and extended family crammed into my parents tiny three bedroom home. There was barely enough space for 15 people and three dogs to move in the house let alone sit around the table, but we made it work. As you can imagine, it was chaotic, messy, and uncomfortable, but it was beautiful. We loudly shared stories, passed around the food, laughed, and relished in each other’s company. In all of our differences in opinion, experiences, background, and belief, love was shared because we are family.

These stories are not about family drama or lack thereof, I share these stories to show that in your group there will be differences, it may be uncomfortable, and it’s going to get messy. Our hope is you will find unity in your diversity and be drawn together in your differences, that you will experience the love of Christ through each other. You are not family because you are all the same, you are family because God has called each of you his children.

Knowing God has called each of us a child, how does this change the way you see and interact with people? As a group, how does this reframe the way you interact with one another?

This week choose seven of the “one another” statements from scripture, and practice living one of these statements each day. Here are some examples: “Love one another (John 13:34)” “forgive one another (Eph. 4:32)” “serve one another (Gal. 5:13)” “pray for one another (James 5:16)” “encourage one another (1 Th. 5:11)” “bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2)” “be kind to one another (Eph. 4:32)” “live in harmony with one another (Rom. 12:16).” Each day, take time to write about your experience.

As we prepare to build our house on the rock for Jesus, we can get so worked up that we forget why we are building it in the first place. Jesus invites us to relinquish control, stop striving, and let go of our agenda. In their place he offers rest, fulfillment, and the opportunity to discover ourselves in him. When we put ourselves at the feet of Jesus, we find what we have been striving for all along. When you surrender yourself to the presence of Love, Love transforms you. This week we will do our best to put ourselves at the feet of Jesus and surrender to God as we participate, with him, to build our home on the rock.

Pause and be still for a moment, breathe deeply for a few breaths.

Open your hands palms up as if to let go of the things you have been clinging to so tightly. Pray and offer to God the things in your life that you need to let go of controlling. Now receive the gift of his presence. Pray about what it would mean to let Christ lead your life.

Read: Luke 6:46-49 (MSG)

What is your initial reaction to the words “surrender” or “becoming less”?

Are you able to be still, and silent, with Jesus? Examine the way you think about productivity and earning in our society compared to the Kingdom of God. Have you focused on doing more for Jesus or being with Jesus?

Reflect on a time you felt you had a true experience with God rather than just thoughts about God. How was this different? How did it affect you? How did this experience feel?

My previous job I was a superintendent for residential home building. My job was to oversee the building process for one of our building sites. When I started the job I began in a community where everything seemed to run smoothly, the excavation, and forming and pouring of the foundations seemed easy and straightforward. We had finished out that community and moved over to a new lot where we began again from the beginning, excavating, setting foundation forms and pouring the foundation, but this time there was a huge problem.

Previously we were building on ground that was solid. When when we dug it formed well and held together even better! I didn’t get it, we were probably 20 blocks down the road at the new site but the ground was completely different. The problem was that there was a bunch more sand within the soil at the new site which made the process of the build much more difficult and brought on many more problems.

My excavator explained that since this ground and soil had a lot more sand it would take a lot longer to dig because the soil wasn’t strong enough to hold. Once the dig was complete, my foundation company informed me that they will need more time setting and pouring the foundations. They explained that since the soil isn’t solid, the ground shifts and moves more than they would like and needs to take measures in order for the foundation to sit firmly or the house could shift a lot of the years and could be detrimental!

All I continued to remind myself through this process was from Matthew 7:24-27 when Jesus is telling a parable of a wise man who built his house on solid rock that when the rain, floods and wind came the house did not fall. Unlike the house built on rock, the one built on sand, when the rain, floods and wind came, the house fell and great was the fall. Through my actual job of building houses, God reminded me how important the foundation of my faith is.

What I build it on could depend whether my faith fails or not in the times when trials, heartache, etc happen in my life. Am I building my life on the firm foundation of the truth, strength and confidence of Jesus or on my own or the world where it is just a matter of time that it fails.

Collaborate with your group, or a friend, on ways you can participate with Christ as you build your life on the Rock from the lens of becoming less. What is the foundation? What are some tools you can use to build? What do you want your house (your group) to look like when you are done?

What we need is a knowing that is deeper than belief. It must be based on an experience of being with Jesus, sitting at his feet, gazing at his face, being caught up in his presence. Each day this week, let go of control, stop being productive, and become less by putting yourself at the feet of Jesus and basking in his presence. Listen to his assurances of love to you, allow yourself to simply be still in his presence. Then take time to reflect on this experience.

At Red Rocks Church we say all the time that “We exist to Make Heaven More Crowded” but becoming a follower of Christ is not the end of your journey, it’s the start. Like Abram you have been called into a foreign land, the journey is hard and there are many questions along the way, but it is not about what God is asking you to do for him (as if he couldn’t do it himself) but it is about who God is asking you to be. As an individual or with your group, you have the opportunity to represent the tangible presence of Christ to the world, to become a blessing to those in our neighborhoods, on your sports teams, in your schools, at your workplace, or in the grocery store. You have been saved by God’s Love, for a purpose, to be the blessing of Love to those around us.

Pause and be still for a moment, breathe deeply for a few breaths.

Reflect on the ways God is already present and working in your home, your workplace, your neighborhood, and the places you frequent. Imagine God inviting you into those spaces to participate with Him in what he is already doing. Pray for one person in each of these places.

Read: John 1:9-14 (MSG)

Consider what your neighborhood would be like if Jesus moved in next door, how would you, and the people you live by, be transformed? Imagine practical ways this transformation would take place. What does this kind of neighborhood look like?

Are you living with the kind of presence that enables others to feel at home? What are some practical ways you could help those around you find peace, freedom, belonging, healing, and family?

Jesus, the flesh of God, has moved into the neighborhood, and has shown us what God is like. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. Now the tangible presence of God dwells in the Church through his Spirit. Do people see what God is like when they look at you? How can you show them?

need content

God is inviting you to first be transformed and then join with the body of Christ to make a difference in the world. He is calling you to GO and be a blessing. What emotions do you feel when you hear this calling to GO? As a group, or as an individual, take time to rewrite the great commission (Matthew 28:16-20) in personal, practical terms, as it relates to your context.

Draw a tic-tac-toe grid, in the middle put your name. Now fill in the names around it with people you interact with on a frequent basis, neighbors, coworkers, parents of kids from school, family members, someone on your sports team, the homeless man you see on the side of the road everyday. Take time this week to introduce yourself to them and ask about their story. Then find a way to bless the neighbors around you.

Cross your fence — get to know your neighbor. Introduce yourself if you don’t know them. Find a way to bless them this week.

Cross your office — In your workplace, or place of daily living, take someone you don’t know very well out for lunch or coffee.

Cross a social, political, or ethnic barrier — Get to know someone who is different from you, visit a part of town that is unfamiliar, go to an ethnic restaurant. Reflect on how God is changing your heart through these encounters.