Key Bible Passage(s):

I Peter 1:15-16; Eph.4:20-5:20; Eph.6:10-20

Tier 1:

When God saves someone He cuts them off from this world and separates them to Himself, and to a vision for life like nothing we’ve ever seen.  We can assume we know what a ‘christian’ life looks like, but we need to be very diligent in allowing Him to show what that life is actually like. Only when we have a clear understanding of the life we are called to, will we recognise when we are being tempted to embrace something else.

Tier 2:

We are children of God, living in enemy territory. The Bible presents the Christian life as a battle (e.g. II Cor.10:3-4; Eph.6:10-12) - something which finds expression in many aspects of the Church’s worship and preaching over the centuries. There is a balance in being able appreciate the urgency of the battle, whilst also being confident in God’s purposes for us. Christian maturity is in many ways our learning to pursue holiness and to resist certain other ways of thinking and being.

Tier 3:

We have an enemy who seeks to frustrate our being transformed into the image of Christ. The Bible teaches us about his schemes and strategies. As we pray for deliverance from the evil one, our prayer must again be matched by the structures of our life and the orientation of our hearts.

It is by true piety that men of God cast out the hostile power of the air which opposes godliness; it is by exorcizing it, not by propitiating it; and they overcome all the temptations of the adversary by praying, not to him, but to their own God against him. For the devil cannot conquer or subdue any but those who are in league with sin; and therefore he is conquered in the name of Him who assumed humanity, and that without sin, that Himself being both Priest and Sacrifice, He might bring about the remission of sins…

Augustine of Hippo

Group discussion:

Either on your own, or in a group, read through Eph.4:20-5:20:

List out patterns of life and character that Paul identifies as sinful, associated with our ‘former way of life’.

Highlight which ones you are most susceptible to. 

Can you identify why, when, or with whom these temptations become more acute? 

Are there ways you can structure life so as to avoid those situations?  Are there deeper issues you need to identify and address?  What help do you need here… and who could you ask for it?

Does the wider Church feature in your thinking about this?  How should it?

And later in the session:

In groups:

How important is the pursuit of holiness to you?

Read: I Peter 5:8-9

What is Peter seeking to convey by the analogy of the devil as one who ‘prowls around like a roaring lion’?

What does a ‘devoured’ Christian look like? (see e.g. Matt.16:21-24 & Lk.22:31-34)

How can we resist him?  What does it mean to stand firm in the faith?

How does it affect you to know that Christians everywhere are ‘undergoing the same kinds of sufferings’?

Homework:

Over this half-term we have been working to memorise Matthew 7:7-12. You will have to keep refreshing Matt.5:1-16, and Matt.6:5-15 whilst you do this.

(we’ll memorise the whole of the Sermon on the Mount over the next 3 years)

To Be A Christian: Q&A 209-223

repeat the intentional discipleship model you worked through in the first week (using the same events/people if possible).  Can you see any difference?

Proactive discipleship cycle:

Map out a week:

what will you be doing… who will you be meeting…

Pick out one or two specific events… (repeated / weekly)

Go through your list of commands distilled from Matthew’s Gospel.

which commands of Jesus of particular relevance… useful…? Pray / memorise / meditate – what does it look like to obey His commands in that moment..?

Why might it be difficult? Temptations?

What do I need to remember? What support do I need to be able to work this out? To do it?

How will this look different to times when I’ve been in that situation before?

Do I need to reflect / feedback / be accountable?