Through the Disciples’ Eyes

Letting Go and Following Jesus

On Sunday, Nicole Howe began our journey of looking at some well known Gospel stories through the eyes of the disciples. We explored the calling of the disciples found in Mark 1: 16-20 and Luke 5:1-11. It is easy for us to miss the complexity and difficulty in what it meant for the disciples to leave behind their work and the choices or possibilities they had for their lives when they chose to follow Jesus. The call, “follow me”, means letting go of other possibilities and paths. What was it like for the first disciples to wrestle with what they had to let go of in order to make the choice to follow Jesus? Nicole challenged us to consider how we often want Jesus to bless what is already happening in our lives rather than hearing his call of what is “yet to be”.

Kingdom Practices
For this series we are engaging in the practice of Imaginative Prayer. This is a well established practice within the church. We use our imaginations to connect with the presence of God in our lives. To help us lean into this practice we have created a separate poducast, Imaginative Prayer: Jesus Calls the Disciples. This week, we invite you to imagine what it was like for the first disciples to be called by Jesus. Imaginative Prayer allows us to play out the story from our perspective. 

Snapshots of the Provision of God

This week we engaged with the story of the feeding of the 5,000 found in Luke 9. As she guided us through the story, Kirsten Hitchcock, invited us to notice God’s provision in the narrative as well as in our own lives. When Jesus fed the people, after teaching and healing them, his action linked back to past provision of God. Recalling the story of God providing manna and quail in the wilderness for Israel (Exodus 16) and of the feeding of a hundred with the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 4: 42-44) the disciples witnessed for themselves God’s care and provision. Like their ancestors of the past, the disciples that day experienced how God was in control and how he continues to provide. As we place ourselves in the story, consider how God’s provision fosters trust in him and shows his presence in our lives. And when God provides we have an opportunity to share with others thereby extending his blessings.

Kingdom Practices
For this series we are engaging in the practice of Imaginative Prayer. This is a well established practice within the church. We use our imaginations to connect with the presence of God in our lives. Imaginative Prayer allows us to play out the story from our perspective.  To help us lean into Imaginative Prayer we have created a separate podcast that will guide you through the practice, Imaginative Prayer: Feeding the Multitudes. This week, imagine yourself with the disciples as they witnessed God’s provision in action, the feeding of thousands.

Where is Your Faith?

On Sunday, our guest speaker, Dr. Dennis Edwards, challenged us to consider, where is our faith? The story of Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4: 35-41 is the first story in a narrative section that addresses fear, faith, and amazement. Our fears, like the disciples’ fear that day in the boat, often lead us to question God’s willingness and care. We may believe God is powerful and able, but when storms and difficulties overwhelm us, we find ourselves questioning whether God cares. Faith is the antidote to fear. Faith rises when we are afraid. Dr. Edwards reminded us that it is never a question of how much faith, but of where we place our faith. We trust in Jesus, like the first disciples, to get us to where we need to be.

Kingdom Practices
For this series we are engaging in the practice of Imaginative Prayer. This is a well established practice within the church. We use our imaginations to connect with the presence of God in our lives. Imaginative Prayer allows us to play out the story from our perspective.  To help us lean into Imaginative Prayer we have created a separate podcast that will guide you through the practice, Imaginative Prayer: Jesus Calms the Storm. This week, we invite you to imagine yourself with the disciples and Jesus in the boat crossing the sea of Galilee during a storm. 

The Faith of a Roman Centurion

On Sunday, we experimented as a community with Dialogical Teaching. Using the encounter between Jesus and the Roman centurion found in Matthew 8: 5-13, Jason Feffer guided us through four movements:

• Investigation- we read the passage and explored the context
• Expression – after a brief time of quiet reflection we shared as a community what we noticed about the text, what questions arose, what did we wonder about
• Collection – for this third movement we considered what themes were emerging from our dialogue
• Declaration – in the last movement we considered how the story of Jesus and the Roman centurion proclaimed the good news of God’s kingdom breaking into our world. 

If Dialogical Teaching is new for you, we would invite you to listen or watch the service. As you engage with the passage, place yourself with the disciples and reflect on the following questions:

• What would you have been thinking as you observed the interaction of Jesus and the centurion? 
• What emotions would have been stirred in you as you watched this scene play out? 
• What might you have been feeling in your body during the exchange of Jesus and the centurion?

Kingdom Practices
For this series we are engaging in the practice of Imaginative Prayer. This is a well established practice within the church. We use our imaginations to connect with the presence of God in our lives. Imaginative Prayer allows us to play out the story from our perspective.  To help us lean into Imaginative Prayer we have created a separate podcast that will guide you through the practice, Imaginative Prayer: Jesus Heals the Centurion’s Servant. This week, we invite you to imagine yourself with the disciples as Jesus interacts with the centurion.

We Are Made for Christlikeness

This week our guest speaker, Dr. Malcolm Foley, exhorted us to consider how badly we want the kingdom of God or are we content with our own kingdoms. Jesus’s encounter with the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-30) challenges us with what it means to deny ourselves and take up our crosses daily to follow after Jesus. Jesus’s call to the rich young ruler and to his followers today is a call to act differently not only to think differently. Dr. Foley defined Jesus’s words in Luke 18 as “leave nothing for yourself but yourself and then give that to me.”

Kingdom Practices
For this series we are engaging in the practice of Imaginative Prayer. This is a well established practice within the church. We use our imaginations to connect with the presence of God in our lives. Imaginative Prayer allows us to play out the story from our perspective.  To help us lean into Imaginative Prayer we have created a separate podcast that will guide you through the practice, Imaginative Prayer: Rich Young Ruler. This week, we place ourselves with the disciples as they watch Jesus interact with the rich young ruler. How does Jesus’s words about riches, treasure, and faith challenge you?

Why Do We Follow Jesus?

On Sunday we explored the passage in John 6:56-69 where Jesus challenges the reasons why people follow him. While the crowds see Jesus as the new Moses who will lead and provide for them, Jesus confronts their expectations and desires. What Jesus asks of those who follow him is to trust in him rather than follow after their own expectations or pursue that which will satisfy their desires. Do we continue to trust Jesus even when our own expectations and desires are not met?

Kingdom Practices
We are continuing to engage with the practice of Imaginative Prayer. This is a well established practice within the church. We use our imaginations to connect with the presence of God in our lives. Imaginative Prayer allows us to play out the story from our perspective. This week, we place ourselves with the disciples as they wrestle with Jesus’s difficult words about eating his flesh and drinking his blood (John 6:56-69). As you engage with Imaginative Prayer this week, consider what expectations you have of God. Who do you expect God to be? Is there a word or picture that you hold of God? We invite you to hold your expectations and desires before Jesus and have a conversation with him.