GOING DEEPER
01.05.2020 | UNDONE | Wk 1: “I Was Undone”
Join the community and go deeper with this Bible study.
Breaking Ground
What is something new you want to do this year? Anything you are super excited about?
The Dig
What comes to mind when you hear the word weakness? What about strength? When do you feel weak or strong?
Read 2 Corinthians 11:22-33.
Paul is boasting – an ancient practice of promoting one’s strengths, successes, or achievements. However, what he includes would be the exact opposite of what someone in his culture would expect to find in a Roman boast.
How do you respond to the list that Paul puts forward? Does anything, in particular, stand out from it?
How do you respond to the idea that Paul boasts about his weaknesses?
Next, read 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.
How does this impact how you interpret the previous text? How does God’s power & grace impact how we understand weakness & strength?
How does this illuminate Paul’s claim that when he is weak, then he is strong?
One of Paul’s central beliefs is that, in Christ, our shame of weakness is undone. That grace means we no longer need to hide our weaknesses because, in Christ, our areas of weakness & failure can become the areas of truest growth, resurrection, & newness in our lives.
How do you respond to the idea that failure, falling down, & brokenness are the pathways the God uses to see us grown, resurrected, & made new?
If this is how Paul sees these areas of weakness – what, if anything, holds you back from sharing (or boasting about) your own areas of weakness like he does?
How might a deeper understanding or acceptance of God’s grace change how you view & share that area of your life?
How does not talking about it keep you from finding healing & allowing God’s grace/power to work in that area of your life?
Close by taking time to boast, as Paul does, in our weakness.
Where have we experienced God’s healing in an area of weakness & brokenness in our lives?
Where do we currently need to boast or confess an area of weakness in our lives?
What would it look like to find God’s grace & power in that area in this New Year?
Getting Out of the Hole
Take time this week to reflect on what it means to be undone & remade by God.
When have you experienced coming undone? What did it look like to find healing & to be remade after?
Where, currently, do you need to experience coming undone so God can lead you to something new & better?
What is one step you can take this New Year to begin seeing change & newness in that area of your life?
Journal about your answers to these questions & pray for insights. Share your experience with the group next week!
Additional Resources*
Falling Upward by Richard Rohr
2 Corinthians for Everybody by NT Wright
Jesus and the Victory of God by NT Wright
Coming Up This Week:*
Sunday, January 12: Join us for the second week of our series UNDONE. We will be looking at what it means for the Church, as a community of disciples, to experience resurrection & new life on the other side of being broken.
* Please see mye3.org for details.