The Essential Gospel - Loving ‘The Other’....overcoming our differences

This week we look at Luke 7.36-50 to see how the gospel empowers us to love those that are different from us. In the story there are two main characters who are totally different to one another, react totally differently to Jesus and in their attitudes and actions reveal two totally different understandings of how to relate to God and others.

Here are some questions that you can do as a MG that will hopefully unpack the passage and help you apply the gospel to your heart which will enable to you to love those who are different from you.

Questions and Applications

(1) Why do we find some people ‘difficult’? What are the reasons for divisions in our world?

(2) Describe the two people in the story
      (a) How are they different from one another?
      (b) How do they relate to Jesus and why?
          (why are both their actions outrageous…for totally different reasons)
      (c) What words would you use to describe the characteristics of them both?

(3) What is Simon’s problem?

(4) Why does Jesus tell the parable? And what is the point of the parable?

(5)  How does the punch-line (vs47) make sense of everything that is going on?

(6) How do these two characters show the difference between (a) the gospel and (b) religion? Below is the diagram from Sunday if that helps

(7) The Gospel is you are more sinful and evil than you ever dared believed (you have an enormous debt) and you are more loved and cherished than you ever dared hope (Jesus paid the debt). How does this help us when approaching those that are different from us?

(8) Where do you see Simon in your life? Why?

(9) Why are meals so good at breaking down barriers between us? What do meals signify and enable? Who could you offer a meal to in the next 2 weeks?

RELIGION
- I obey therefore I am accepted
- Pride and Superiority
- Judgementalism
- Inability to love ‘the other’

THE GOSPEL
- I am accepted therefore I obey
- Humility and Equality
- Accepting of others
- Offer love and forgiveness to ‘the other’

THE ESSENTIAL GOSPEL - overcoming shame

How does the Gospel deal with shame?

Luke 19:1-10
The story of Zacchaeus gives us some examples of how Jesus restores this unloved, despised, collaborator.

i) Acceptance (v.5)
Observe that the crowd turn on Zacchaeus but Jesus shifts the crowds hostility to himself.  Intense aggression is transferred to Jesus. And Zacchaeus is suddenly on the receiving end of a costly demonstration of unexpected love. 
Jesus accepts a shamed Zacchaeus at great cost to himself.  This is a powerful antidote to shame. 

Christian salvation goes beyond legal pardon. It is the work of a loving Father who adopts us into his family. He loves us and accepts us as we are (Heb 2:11).  Just like the prodigal son, our heavenly father covers our shame at great cost to himself (Luke 15:21-23)

ii) Honour (v.7)
The scene moves on to Zaccheaus’ house.  The crowd murmur because in their eyes the house has been defiled.
It’s dirty spiritually. It needs cleansing.  In their minds, by entering, eating and sleeping in the guest bed, you become unclean.  So here we have Jesus being shamed so that Zaccheaus can be honoured. 
This is the gospel. Ultimately we believe that Jesus deals with our shame by taking it onto himself at the cross and in return he gives us his honour (Heb12:2).
Remember Zacchaeus is the lowest of the low in society.  That’s the reason he is in the tree.  He is despised, shamed, rejected.  But Jesus says ‘Zacchaeus, out of my endless grace, I want to eat with you, get down from the tree.’ Why?  Because Jesus will go up onto the tree (Gal 3:13).
1 Cor 1:27-29 tells us that Jesus takes your shame and transforms it to honour. 
He takes weak, lowly, despised things and gives them such honour that they shame the things that our world values like wisdom and strength.  This is crucial if the shame you feel wasn’t your fault.  You don’t need forgiveness, your honour needs restoring.

iii) Freedom (v.8)
How does Zacchaeus decide to be so generous?  Simply that anyone that encounters the love of Jesus is never the same again.  Zacchaeus is now free to demonstrate costly love to a community he has hurt and betrayed! Will they accept him? Who knows, all that’s clear is because he is accepted he is free.

iv) Family Status (v.9)
This is a powerful thing for an ostracised Jew to hear - “You are a son of Abraham”. Jesus is affirming Zacchaeus’ place in the family of God.  Regardless of how he is treated from this point on, he is been assured of family status.
Anyone who turns to Jesus is welcomed into the very same family tree.  You are a child of God with a new heavenly father. 
We need to let this truth touch the depths of our hearts.  Getting the job done is not the goal. He can do it without us. He doesn’t need you, he’s not looking for success, he understands your shame, he recognises your pain and he loves you!

Questions:
1) What is the difference between embarassment and shame?  why do people feel shame?
2) What is the difference between shame and guilt? 
3) How does the gospel free us from our guilt before God?  Can you explain how that doesn’t help us with our shame?
4) Can you give an example of when you felt accepted by someone? If Jesus accepts us like the Father accepts the prodigal son, what are the implications?  what should it feel like?
5) Talk about what it means for Christ to honour us.  What are some of our privileges and rights in Christ?
6) How does shame hold you back in life?
7) What does it mean to be a ‘child of God’? 
8) How does your experience of an earthly father affect your view of God?  Talk about Andre Agassi’s experience - does it sound familiar to anyone?
9) How can you grow in your experience of God as a father? 

The Essential Gospel - ENTERING THE DANCE

Mark 1.1-15 looks at the Gospel of Jesus and we saw 3 things

(1) The Gospel is an announcement of of a victory that brings great joy. The word is ‘Euangelion’ and it is made up of the word ‘Eu’ which means joyful and ‘Angelos’ which means ‘one announcing news.’ A battle has been won and fought and we receive news (from heralds) of the victory and it changes everything about who we are and every aspect of our lives.

(2) The Gospel is opposed to religion. The Gospel is news about something that has been done for us that we live in the good of. The battle has been won and we reap the benefits. Religion (even athiesm) is advice - advice about how we should live, connect to God, prove ourselves etc. The Gospel brings liberation and joy (we’re free…Hallelujah!), Religion brings (a) inadequecy, guilty and condemnation (when we fail) or (b) pride and superiority (when we succeed)! Either way, whether through guilt or pride, religion stops people connecting to God but the gospel forgives our sin and shatters our pride.

(3) The Gospel is the climax to a story. The moment of victory comes against the backdrop of hopeless and despair.  Mark sets the victory of Jesus in it’s Old Testament context (vs1-3: he quotes Malachi and Isaiah who prophesied about a king who would come and restore and renew the whole world) but through the baptism of Jesus (vs9-13) he alludes back to the original creation (Gen 1.1-3) where the Father, the Son (the word) and the Spirit (fluttering like a dove - Aramaic translations) were present. Here the Word (Jesus) receives words of Love from the Father and Power from the Spirit. What we see at Jesus is the dance of God - each member of the trinity delighting and adoring and centering their lives upon and orbiting the other. This is what has been going on from all eternity with the divine community of love and joy. Mark locates Jesus within the oldest story there is - the story of the world. We were created to be part of the dance of God - to share in his love and joy. But we chose a stationary self-centred life. We lost the dance. And all of life started to unravel. We wanted to be king and have everyone orbit around us and all the ‘bad news’ in the world came from this. But there was the promise of the king who would come and restore and renew all things - Jesus was that king, proclaiming the return of his kingdom, here to put things right again (vs14-15). We can now re-enter the dance (repent and believe) and orbit our lives around him and other people.

What is the moment of victory and climax within the story? It is the moment that for the only time in all eternity the dance stopped. The Father and the Son were separated, so you could join back in. Through the cross and resurrection Jesus achieves a victory that we now stand in - that is the climax to THE STORY and every other story. It is the answer to all other bad news. This is the gospel message that affects all of life.

Discussion and Application

(1) Why did you become a Christian? What was the good news you believed and responded to?

(2) Why do many people think Christianity is bad news?

(3) How are religion and the gospel opposed?

(4) In what ways do we slip into religion? What fruit does that reap in our lives?

(5) Describe the greatest moment of climax/victory in your favourite story (whether book, film, bible-story, moment in history etc). How is that moment of victory only a shadow of Jesus’ victory?

(6) What areas in your life or in your friends life do people want to know good news? In what ways the cross and resurrection (and re-entering the dance) good news to these areas?

(7) Why is it important to understand the ‘the big bible story’ if we are to understand fully of what Jesus has done? Which bits of the bible story do you not understand (or struggle with)?

(8) Pray that you might have the opportunity this week to share some aspect of the good news with people you are reaching out to

Mosaic Vision Talk

After returning from his sabbatical, Matt Hatch reminds us of the vision and goals of Mosaic and how we 'join God's mission to build a community that transforms the world'.

Philippians 1:1-6
The Apostle Paul was keen to encourage the church he founded in Philippi and promote their ‘partnership in the Gospel’. 
The Greek word for partnership is ‘koinonia’ and it conveys a sense of working together, commitment, and investing personally into the community.  If Paul that it was important enough to thank them for it, so we need to foster partnership in Mosaic.
So what did ‘koinonia’ look like and what can we learn?

1) Financial Partnership:
Surprisingly, Paul probably has their financial partnership in mind.  The believers in Philippi were commended for their generosity.  More than once they had sent money to Paul to support him in his apostolic ministry.  Paul encourages them for this partnership, not to get more money out of them but by reminding them what generosity achieves (see Phil 4:15-19).

In the same spirit, Matt thanked the church for their generosity (we are just under budget for this year) but encouraged Mosaic to continue to partner together financially as we keep growing as a church family.  The two big financial challenges we face are:
i) Staffing:  In order to cope with the breadth and size of the church, we need to invest administratively, evangelistically and pastorally in staff at some point.
ii) Venue:  Again, because of growth (particularly families with children) we need to either start a 3rd Sunday service in the morning, move venue or start a service elsewhere in the city.
no decisions have been made but we are very open to God’s leading.  Both of these will mean trusting God for thousands of pounds.  Moving venue will mean hundreds of thousands of pounds! What an incredible chance to grow in faith and generosity!

2) Serving Partnership
Paul is also thinking of the general serving sense in which the church has partnered with him.  Paul uses this word Koinonia six times in the letter to emphasise this.  In 4:14 Paul says the partnership was so strong they shared his suffering with him.  This is a great example for us to serve one another and be involved in each others lives.  Matt encouraged us all to use our gifts and talents to serve one another, especially those who are new.  Every serving team needs volunteers as many people have moved to go church planting or serve other churches in the UK and abroad.

3) Gospel Partnership
Paul was also thinking about how their lives revolved around Jesus.  Proclaiming him, demonstrating his power, and sharing his message.  To partner in the gospel means we must learn how to be a very hospitable, generous, open hearted people prepared to share the life changing message of the Gospel.  Chiefly we do that through our mission groups and Matt encouraged us all to participate in them and for some to pioneer new groups.

Questions:
1) At the beginning of the letter, Paul talks about being ‘in Christ’.  What does that mean and how can it affect the way we live.  What are the consequences of not believing we are first and foremost ‘in Christ’?
2) Paul also talks about Grace and Peace.  Why is it so difficult for us to get grace?  How do you receive more grace?  Why do grace and peace go together?
3) Read Roman 5:5 and pray for each other to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Grace is a gift received from God through the Holy Spirit so it’s vital we spend time accepting the gift!
4) Pray for our church goals ( 5 church plants and 50 mission groups by 2015).  Remember the goals themselves aren’t important, but the values they reflect are biblical and part of the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20).  Pray for God to speak to us as a church about what we should do with our venue challenge.  Are there any prophetic words?
5) Explain the idea of partnership (koinonia).
6) Talk about giving and generosity as a group.  What are the issues?  Why do we give to the local church?  How we grow in generosity in such difficult financial times? Who has the gift of giving in your group? How can they use their gift?
7) Talk about serving each other.  What are peoples gifts?  Do they get to use them during the week, at mission group and when we gather on a Sunday?
8) Talk about gospel partnership.  Pray for everyone in the group to be more effective at sharing the gospel.  What are peoples challenges?  How can they grow in their love for Jesus?

Daniel 3: Bow or Burn - A Question of Allegiance

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego give us one the greatest examples in scripture of what it means to give your complete allegiance to God - and it is dazzlingly impressive!

Here are some questions/suggestions that you can use from Daniel 3 in your MG. Please select whatever questions are most helpful

(1) As a group, retell the story of Daniel so far (in brief)?

(2) Read through chapter 3 together
—What do we learn about Nebuchadnezzar from the story?
—What do we learn about the rest of the people of the empire from the story?
—What do we learn about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the story?
—Where do you fit in the story? Why?
—Where do you see Jesus in the story?
—What qualities do Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego show that you would like to emulate?
—In what contexts do you have to stand up for what you believe and find yourself in the minority? Where do you find it hard to stand up for your faith? How does this passage help us?

(3) What is the tension that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego manage to hold in verse 16-18?
—Why is verse 17 a great statement of faith?
—Why is verse 18 a GREATER statement of faith?
—Why are both verse 17-18 important?
—Where do you find it hard to hold this tension?

(4) How does knowing Jesus entered the greatest fiery furnace for you and enters every other furnace with you help you face your challenges tomorrow?

(5) What areas of life do we often give our final allegiance to?
—What does it mean to put Jesus above all things?
—To help you with this question you may like to reflect on Luke 9.57-62 and Luke 14.25-34?

(6) Why are Fiery Furnaces in life important for our faith?
—How do fiery furnaces reveal where our true allegiance lie?
—How can we use trials to draw near to Jesus?
—What does 1 Peter 1.5-8 tell us about the importance of Fiery Furnaces in life?

(7) As we enter a new academic year
—What are you nervous about?
—Do you feel there are areas in your life you want to fully surrender to Jesus?
—What do you want prayer for?
—Who (and where) is God calling you to witness to, even if you face persecution for it?

(8) Pray for one another (a) to be witnesses to King Jesus and (b) to hold on to Jesus in the trials of life

Daniel in Exile

Daniel is in exile and faces the question of how does he live in exile? Not only is faced with this question, but also whether God is in control and whether he has abandoned Daniel?

Daniel’s exile is described in Verses 1-7:

Verse 1 “… Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it”
Daniel is in Babylon, a nation bent of defying and rejecting God.  Babylon stands throughout the Bible as a place, group of people or circumstance where God is not loved, obeyed or served.  Daniel finds himself far from home, from the place he fitted in and belonged, he finds himself in exile.

Verse 5 - “…They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service”
He is to be retrained in ways and practices that were very different to how God’s people knew and approved of.  He was to learn a new language, literature, culture, try new food, serve a new king and be called by a different name.  Everything was set up for him to become a servant of a Babylonian king and a child of a pagan god.

Daniel’s reaction

Daniel chooses to engage three times with Babylonian society and yet reject one aspect in order to remain distinct.

1. Yes to a ‘Pagan Education’ - They chose to engage with the education on offer and they were able to discern what was good to learn and what was not. 

2. Yes to a political career – Daniel and his three friends trusted that God was in control over all political rulers in the world so they should not worry about being involved in politics. What they should do was aim to engage with politics and to be salt and light in that sphere. 

3. Yes to a change of name - these three men accepted a new name because they knew their identity was not in their name but in their God.

No to the food.  Verse 8 – “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way”

Whatever the specific reason, this refusal allowed them to remain distinctive from the Babylonians and show that their true allegiance was to God, he remains distinct.

God’s control and active working

Three times we see God in control:

1. Verse 2 – “And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand”.  Daniel is in exile but this is because God has sent Judah into exile.  God is in control of the exile, he has not been overpowered by a stronger nation but he is using Babylon to discipline his people and to show them where their true home is.  Not only is God in control in delivering Daniel into exile but verse 21 states that Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.  That is, Daniel remained as a witness in Babylon for 70 years until the Babylonians were attacked and defeated by the Persian Empire. 

2. Verse 9 – “Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel”.  Daniel had one request to be distinct but it was a request that could have meant persecution and death from the King.  God caused the official to show Daniel favour so he could be distinct in a foreign land.  God made it possible for them to eat different food and in verse 15 we see he made them look healthier than all the other young men who ate the royal food.  God created a way for them to be distinctive.

3. Verse 17 – “To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning”.  God gives them an ability to learn quickly and to learn a lot.  For Daniel he also gave the ability to understand visions and dreams.  What is the result of this?  In verse 18 and 20 – The king finds none equal to Daniel and his friends; in fact he finds them ten times better than everyone else in his whole Kingdom.  God blesses them in their engagement.  God has made them the best of the best in Babylon but everyone knows they are Jews because God has enabled them to be distinctive.  Everyone knows that they are the best because of the one true God.

Jesus – The True Daniel

Daniel would have been able to see God working and moving but he would have needed to have great faith too.  We need that faith but we can now also look to Jesus who is the true Daniel.  Jesus chose exile for us.  He chose to go to the exile of the cross so we could be brought home into relationship with God.  Jesus chose to be abandoned on the cross so we could be in relationship with God so he would never abandon us today.  This knowledge and Daniel’s example gives us the strength to engage and yet remain distinct in our Babylon today.

Application and Reflection

1. Where is your exile? Is it a place (like your work), a people group (non-Christian friends) or a circumstance (uncertainty about job security)?

2. How do you feel you are being retrained? Do you find yourself running after money because your colleagues do or worrying about what job to get after university because that is what your friends talk about?

3. How can you engage?  Is there a people, place or circumstance where you can bring God’s peace, compassion, love, trust or security?  A worried friend, a school governors meetings, a local election or in the pub?

4. Where do you need to draw back and remain distinct?  Where do you think your friend, family member or work colleague need to notice you are different? 

5. How do you relate to Daniel?

6. When you see God in control and working in Daniel chapter 1, how does that make you feel? 

7. As a Mission Group, can you see where God might be moving in a situation you or another group member is in now?  Pray for strength in that area and renewed trust in God using Isaiah 40:28-41 and Romans 8: 28-39?

8. What does it mean for you to know Jesus chose exile and abandonment on the cross for you?

9. How do you about being salt and light in the world?

Notes by Dave Horsfall

Ecclesiastes 12: The Final Conclusion

Reading Ecclesiastes is a bit like climbing a mountain. It is hard work hearing again and again that life is meaningless! It leaves you tired and wondering what the point is in life. There are moments of light but they are few and far between. However we have finally reached the summit, the mountain top, the final conclusion! So what is it? “Fear God and keep his commandments.” Fear God? That sounds like a funny conclusion to me? How on earth is that the mountain top? What actually is the fear of God? Why should we fear him? And what is the fruit in our lives? And if it really is so great then how should we cultivate it?

What is the fear of God?

The author Jerry Bridges (The Joy of Fearing God) defines fearing God as a “Reverential Awe”. He says it is a mixture of respect for God, admiration of him and amazement all mingled together.

This is so important for us to grasp: The fear of God is NOT the same as being afraid of God! For Christians, those who believe and follow Jesus, there is no actual danger or threat to us! That is the gospel, the good news about Jesus! God’s punishment for our sin was laid on Jesus and now we are forgiven and accepted!
But the Bible does tell us to fear God (Acts 9:31; 1 Peter 1:17; Hebrews 12:28-29). The fear of God seems to be central to biblical worship.

The fear of God is the fear of a SON not a SLAVE, of a FRIEND not a ENEMY. Though we were once his enemies and should have been afraid of God, we are now called friends! We don’t need to be afraid but we should stand in fear, in awe and in amazement before him.

Why should we fear God?

Ecclesiastes 12:13 tells us that we fear God because he is the judge who will judge EVERYTHING. But we don’t fear all judges do we? So what kind of judge is he? Well the Bible tells us that he is the GREAT Judge, the HOLY Judge and importantly the LOVING Judge.

1. The Great Judge - Isaiah 40 talks of the Greatness of God. While I can only hold a tablespoon of water in my my hand God holds all the waters of the earth. He measures the universe with the breadth of his hand and he has named every star. Even the nations are like dust in comparison to the greatness of God. THAT is why he can judge the whole earth! How awesome to know that our lives are in the hands of such a great God. Why would we fear anything else?

2. The Holy Judge - Isaiah 6 shows us something of the holiness of God. Not only his moral purity and goodness but his total otherness to the rest of his creation. He WILL judge everything perfectly and put all thing right. That means that that even seemingly meaningless evil and injustice can have meaning. And also there is meaning to our lives. God will judge and reward us for what we have done. How good to know that our lives are not meaningless!

3. The Loving Judge - Psalm 130:3-4 tells us that it is because of God’s forgiveness that he is to be feared. It is because of the cross that we fear God.  Without knowing the love, mercy and forgiveness of God because of Jesus, we would be left terrified. We would fear him as an enemy and not as a friend, as a slave not a son. But the good news is that in Jesus we are his friend and son. We can stand in awe, reverence and adoration because of Jesus!  The cross does not remove the fear of God it completes it. At the cross we see both God’s perfect judgement and perfect love meet. When you truly realise what was headed for us, what we have been saved from, it leaves us in awe! The love of the Father turns terror into true fear - awe, admiration and respect. His love draws you to him instead of pushing you away.

What is the Fruit in our lives?

One of the most important fruits of the fear of god is the absence of all other fears! It is like comparing a money spider to a tarantula - there is NO comparison!

-If You fear death – learn to fear the one who conquered death

-If you fear the ‘unknown’ future – learn to fear the one who holds the future in his hands, the beginning and the end

-If you fear other people – learn to fear the one whose eyes burn with fire and out of his mou-th comes a double edge sword

-If you fear failure – learn to fear the one who approves you no matter whether you succeed or not

-If you fear unhappiness then learn to fear the one in whom there is fulness of JOY!

-Whatever you fear…the answer is learning to fear the Lord. To cultivate greater awe and wonder and admiration for almighty God. To let fear of him drive out all other fear.  Fear of Him eclipses all other fears! We need the fear of God in our lives or else we will be crushed by the fear of everything else!

How can we fear God?

Firstly it is a work of the Spirit, if you believe and follow Jesus then you have the fear of the Lord. It may just be an ember but if you have encountered God then you will fear him. However it is something which can grow or else we would not be commanded again and again in Scripture to “Fear him”. So how?

- Pray for it! - Keep asking the Spirit to reveal more of God to you and to increase your fear of God. Pray for each other, in mission group and also for us a church! Pray that we would be a people marked by the Fear of the Lord.

- Read your Bible - The Bible is the primary place we get to see the character of God and what he has done. Importantly do not miss the Old Testament. It might feel harder to read, but so much of the awesome works of God are in the Old Testament. If you don’t know where to start then spend time meditating and studying chapters such as Isaiah 40, Isaiah 6, Job 38-42 or Revelation 1. You could study them in your mission group or with your accountability partner. But don’t neglect the New Testament either! We need a balance. Read about God’s might in creation as well as God’s love in Jesus.

- Worship - Think about him, gaze upon him, worship him! Whether on your own or with others, train your mind to think great thoughts of about him. Whatever it takes cultivate a fear of God - it is worth it!

Application and Reflection

1. How much do you fear God? Do you treat him lightly and do you think that the fear of God is something worth cultivating?

2. Have you understood before what the fear of God is? Has your thinking now been changed? If so how?

3. Are you sometimes tempted to fear God as a slave or an enemy? Do you believe that you are a son and a friend of God? What is a barrier for you in grasping this?

4. Do you believe that God’s love completes the fear of God? Spend some time discussing how the cross increases our fear of God rather than remove it.

5. What effects do you think it would have on your life if you grew in the fear of God?

6. Are there things that you fear? How do these fears affect your life?

7. What would help you grow in the fear of God? In what way do you most connect with this aspect of God’s character? Why don’t you agree with someone in your mission group or with your accountability partner to help each other with this.

8. Why don’t you spend some time meditating on one of the passages suggested. Pray for yourself and each other that you would see more of who God is and grow in fear, in awe and reverence of him.

Ecclesiastes 9: Defeating Death

After many chapters of skirting round the issue the writer of Ecclesiastes finally turns round to face death.

We had already been introduced to death in 2.25-26, 3.19-20, 5.15-17 but now he gives a more detail description of death

vs1: Death is inevitable (everyone faces the same destiny)

vs2: Death is a neutraliser (the distinctions in this life come to nothing_

vs3: Death means life meaningless (because all our accomplishments are rendered meaningless)

vs12: Death often comes expectantly

vs10: Death is the end (we end up in Sheol where there is just darkness)

This teacher is helpless in the face of death that is pursuing him and will one day catch him and overpower him! Enter Jesus….the one man to beat death and reverse the consequences on the fall through his death and resurrection! He faced death and beat it, in the death of others (Mark 6, Luke 7 and John 11) but also in his own death. The New Testament is full of Christians rejoicing and living in light of his victory. Revelation 1.17-18, Hebrews 2.10-15 and 1 Peter 1.3-10. We all need to be able to turn and confidently face death knowing that Christ has won the victory for us. George Herbert put it beautifully when he said “death used to be an executioner but the Gospel makes him just a gardener.”

What does it mean to live in light of Christ’ victory over death. Here are some suggestions, I am sure you can think of more…

(1) Great confidence (not even death can separate me from the Love of God in Christ - Romans 8.35ff)

(2) Hold onto things more lightly (because we not only gain an eternal perspective but we realise that only what is done in Christ’s name will last - 1 Corinthians 15.58 - it is not in vain).

(3) More generous (we brought nothing into the world and we take nothing out, so why not be generous with what we have?)

(4) Urgency (we want to tell others about the Risen Lord so they no longer need to fear death and what lies beyond the grave).

Reflection and Application

(1) Why is it that we often don’t think about death (whether as a church or in society in general)?

(2) Why does the man in Ecclesiastes feel pursued by death? Why does he want to push it aside but knows he can’t?

(3) What does chapter 9 say about death?

(4) How seriously do we take Jesus’ victory over death? How much is our faith built on his resurrection?

(5) How does thinking about death and Jesus’ victory over death help us live life to the full?

(6) How has reflecting on death and resurrection caused you to examine the way you live?

(7) Paul shouts in victory over death in 1 Corinthians 15.53-57. What is his BIG application of this in verse 58? How does this contrast with the book of Ecclesiastes? Why is our labour in the Lord not in vain?

(8) Pray for each other, that you would live in light of eternity.

(9) Pray for us to be urgent in our evangelistic zeal and effort.