Breaking Ground
Who was your first crush or relationship? What did you like about the person?
The Dig
This Sunday, we continued our new series Boundless Church, where we’re exploring what it means for Element3 to become a centered-set community. As a reminder:
- Bounded-set churches define who’s included by whether or not they share a set, clearly defined, & strict list of similarities (the same doctrinal beliefs, race, cultural background, socioeconomic status, political views, etc); while excluding those who deviate from these shared characteristics.
- Centered-set churches define who’s included solely by their relationship to Jesus Christ as our shared center. Moreover, they direct members to focus less on assimilating to shared characteristics & more on whether they’re moving towards their shared center.
Though more ambiguous & challenging, we believe that this centered-set idea better reflects the kind of community Jesus called his disciples to create.
This week, we explored how this centered-set vision should impact our engagement with sex & sexuality.
What is your personal experience with sex & sexuality? How were you taught to think of these topics in your own life & how did that shape your own engagement with this part of your humanity?
How have thoughts & perspectives on this topic changed over the course of your lifetime? How has this change impacted your thoughts on these areas & your interactions with others?
What does it mean to seek God in our engagement of sex & sexuality? When have you succeeded & fallen short in doing this? How did each case impact you & your relationships?
What boundaries do you currently have when it comes to sex & sexuality? How is that impacting you holistically (physically, spiritually, mentally, & emotionally)?
How should we view the Bible in terms of its prescriptions and descriptions of sex & sexuality? What central themes & ideas do you think can help us inform how to understand this part of our humanity today?
How does the Centered Set model challenge our views of sex & sexuality? How should this impact us individually & corporately as a community?
Coming Out of the Hole
During each week of this series, set aside time to reflect on your own struggles with creating boundaries & excluding people from Jesus & his community.
- What’s your history with this week’s topic? In your experience, has this been used as a boundary of exclusion in the Church?
- Where do you struggle to fully embrace those who differ from you when it comes to this topic? Do your attitudes & treatment of them reflect Christ or our world more?
- How can you humbly adjust your posture towards this topic over the course of this coming season in order to embrace a more Christlike one towards it? How can this help E3 further live into its vision of being a centered-set church?
Journal, reflect, & pray on how God might be speaking to you through each week’s teaching. Share your experience with your growth group next week!
Additional Resources*
TheBibleProject.com
Centered-Set Church: Discipleship & Community Without Judgmentalism by Mark D. Baker
The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
Coming Up This Week:*
Sunday, July 21st: Join us next Sunday as we continue our series Boundless Church!
* Please see mye3.org for details.