Ask Forgiveness

This is the discussion we made for the last Ed's Story video that has been released thus far, "Ask Forgiveness" - I hope that these discussions can be a useful  blessing for you and your community

www.edsstory.com

Ed’s Story - Ask Forgiveness

Initial reactions to this video?

Why do you think Ed felt the need to make this list of everybody he knew he had offended and work his way through it, forgiving and asking forgiveness?

If you made a similar list today, how long would it be?

Do you ever lose sight of the importance of your relationships over whose right and whose wrong? Share.

Has asking for forgiveness ever been hard for you? Why?  Is there a story you are willing to share about the difficulty of forgiveness? 

“I think forgiveness is a great idea until you have someone to forgive, then it’s very difficult, you have to humble yourself and admit that you’re wrong, you have to look at the person in their eyeballs and that is intimidating.”

Honestly, do you ever struggle in humbling yourself?

“Having gone through the list I am much slower to judge and much quicker to listen, if we lived in a world like that there would be harmony and peace.”

What are your reactions to this?     In what areas of our lives can we be slower to judge and more quick to listen?

Final thoughts on this discussion?

“There are consequences to the choices we make, forgiveness and forgiving people do not overrule those consequences, but it’s still the right thing to do.”

Challenge: Make a list of those you've wronged. Be honest with God and yourself about it. Through the loving grace of God, begin working your way through the list seeking forgiveness and reconciliation.

My Garden

(This is the fourth discussion in the Ed's Story series ... "My Garden") 

Visit Edsstory.com

Initial reflections on the video?

What are your reactions to Ed leaving his pastorate?

Have you had to leave something behind before that was difficult to do? A vocation? Family? Home?
What was that like?

Ed talks about how when you feel that you’re not needed you lose part of your purpose in life…
Have you ever experienced this sort of thing before? – A loss of purpose?

Ed spent a year living as closely like Jesus as possible… going to synagogues and even Jewish festivals. He reflects that he’d been trying to follow Jesus all of his life, yet previously he never had time to do it.

What do you think about this period of Ed’s life and his reflections on it?

The more Ed understands he’s getting closer to the end, he realizes how much more fragile life is.
So because of this he spends time only doing the things that are important.

How much of your life do you believe you spend on the important things?

“You ain’t livin’ forever.”

Ed reflects how in the creation narrative “taking care of” the garden is directly connected with worship.
“Part of how we worship is how we take care of the garden.” Having a new understanding of where his garden is has unveiled for him the importance of influencing others one on one rather than thousands at a time.

What is your response to this?
How can this give you clarity about your purpose in life right now?

 “The good news is, out there, there is a purpose for everyone, and when you arrive there, you’ll know it.”

Final thoughts?

Challenge: This week make it a point to have one on one space with someone, be willing to invest your time and yourself.

Be There

For the film "Be There" in the Ed's Story series. www.edsstory.com

Ed’s Story – Be There    

Initial thought’s on the story?

In your own words, what happened in the Ed meeting JJ story?

When you are going through a difficult situation do you tend to avoid being around others?
If so, why?

Looking back in life, do you see more significance in some moments your path crossed with others?
Any times that stands out above others? 

Do you see anyone ever leaving you their “corvette?” Why, why not?

What is it like for you when you connect with someone who is also struggling along the same journey you are?

Is it a challenge for you to simply be present, to just “show up and shut up,” with others?

“Everyone I meet is on a pilgrimage or a journey and in the providence of God our paths cross and I think they cross so we can mutually encourage each other.”

How can we live in our present struggles and journey in such a way that we connect others with hope and encouragement?

Final thoughts?

“In retrospect, the random meeting of JJ was a reminder that God was with me even on the worst of days.”

Consider the Birds

This is a study we created for the second video in the Ed's Story series: "Consider the Birds"
(again, see Edsstory.com for more info)

Initial thought’s on the story?
               

Have you ever been known to be a “worry-wart”?

Has there been a time that you got so caught up in what seems to be a hopeless future that you sank into despair?
Is there a story? Share.

Ed shares that when you’re living in fear every issue is overwhelming and discouraging.

What are some fears that make your life feel overwhelming or discouraging sometimes?
Share your fears with the group. What about tomorrow are you afraid of?

In the video he talked about learning to let go. Ed had to learn to let go of his future with ALS and not only that he had to let go of his son Daniel.

Why is giving our futures and fears over to God so difficult sometimes?

“The truth is, you don’t control squat.”

Jesus said, in Matthew 5:25-26 “Don’t worry about your life… Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?”

What are your reactions to this text? What does it say to you?
Honestly, do you see yourself as worth more than the birds?

What does resurrection say about us being able to “let go?”

Ed talked about how when he would get really discouraged he would take a five minute “time-out” to dwell on Scripture.

What are other practical things we can do to step back and get some healthy perspective?

“Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.’” Hebrews 13:5-6

Final thoughts?

“When you’re worried about the future it’s hard to find God, when you’re living in the moment He’s right there with you.”

Take a moment and write down what things that you are currently having trouble letting go of:
- Give these things over to God… continually. 

Ed's Story - It Ain't Over

This is a series we did a little while back. The videos are very well made and the story is even better. 

Ed's story is a film series about hope in the midst of suffering, featuring Ed Dobson. 

Diagnosed with ALS and given a short time to live, Ed wrestles with issues suffering raises: worry, identity, forgiveness, gratitude, and healing. Emerging from it all is his discovery that there is always hope.
.....

I believe you can either download the videos for free or for really cheap. 

It's good stuff. I will post the five discussion guides we created for this series (the last two films are yet to be released). Enjoy!

www.edsstory.com
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Ed’s Story – It Ain’t Over

What are your initial reactions to this video?
Which part of his story do you feel you resonate with the most? Why?

How do you think you would respond to this situation if you were Ed?

When has there been a situation in your life that just seemed hopeless?
How have been / are you moving past this?

What do you think he means by “It ain’t over until it’s over”?

How can we experience suffering in a way that it changes us for the better?
Have you done this?

What does resurrection have to say about suffering?

“I had considered my life over, but it wasn’t.”

We are all tempted sometimes to give up, lay down, and die.
So, what can we do to help ourselves and each other keep going?

Final thoughts?

“It’s not about how much time I have left, but about how I spend the time I do have.”

Laughter

Laugh - [laf, lahf]:
To express mirth, pleasure, derision, or nervousness with an audible, vocal expulsion of air from the lungs that can range from a loud burst of sound to a series of quiet chuckles and is usually accompanied by characteristic facial and bodily movements.

Synonyms: amusement, cachinnation, cackle, chortle, chuckle, chuckling, crack-up, crow, fit, gesture, giggle, giggling, glee, guffaw, hilarity, howling, merriment, mirth, peal, rejoicing, roar, shout, shriek, snicker, snigger, snort, sound, titter, yuck

When was a time that you laughed until you literally had difficulty breathing?
How did you feel afterward? Stories?

Have you ever heard the saying: “Laughter is the best medicine?” Why would that be?

Does laughter have anything to say about hope?

Are there inappropriate times for laughter? If so when?

Have you ever been “in trouble” for laughing? Story?

In the past, would you say the church (as you have experienced it to be) has encouraged or discouraged laughter?

In the past, has there been space in your faith to laugh?

Do you seriously think God laughs? If so, at what?

Question to reflect on:
Do you laugh at the thought of Jesus being alive, or do you laugh because Jesus is alive?

Blessed are you who are hungry now, because you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, because you will laugh. - Jesus

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.  ~Jean Houston

What monstrous absurdities and paradoxes have resisted whole batteries of serious arguments, and then crumbled swiftly into dust before the ringing death-knell of a laugh!  ~Agnes Repplier

What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.  ~Yiddish Proverb

When people are laughing, they're generally not killing each other.  ~Alan Alda

Laughter gives us distance.  It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.  ~Bob Newhart

The Precious Present

Read - The Precious Present (by Spencer Johnson)

What are your reflections and initial thoughts on the story?

How would you define the precious present? 

1. being, existing, or occurring at this time or now; current

2. at this time; at hand; immediate: articles for present use.

3. a. noting an action or state occurring at the moment of speaking.

4.being with one or others or in the specified or understoodplace: to be present at the wedding.

5.being here: Is everyone present?

When was a time that you remember being the happiest?

Odds are that it wasn’t that you didn’t have issues in your life or lots of things going on at that point and time… but that you were so absorbed into the present moment… you were choosing happiness.

In the same way, we talked about having to pursue peace… the same principle holds true for happiness doesn’t it? You have to pursue it.
Too many people wait around for happiness to fall on them like a bomb.

Why did this young man have such a difficult time finding the precious present?

Why can it be so difficult to experience the precious present?  
(your past…. Your future)

Jesus is interested in the present.
I imagine that it was an awesome experience to come in contact with Jesus….

The gospels are full of stories when people found themselves engaged with Jesus… because if anyone was ever fully present with anyone… it was those who came into contact with Jesus…

Do you recall any stories when Jesus was fully present with someone?
Nicodemus… the woman at the well… Zacchaeus… the bleeding woman in the crowd… Nathaniel…
Jesus is interested in you, in this present moment.

Jesus didn’t come to announce… “the kingdom of heaven will be here shortly”… or “it’s just around the corner…”     But He announced: “the Kingdom of heaven is upon you!” It’s here! Now!... and it is yet coming fully!
So… may the blind be healed, may the dead be raised, may the reconciliation and forgiveness begin today!  

Then before His resurrection He tells everyone to … what? “be alert” … not even He knows when all will be finished…. When the kingdom will be fully here… But all we have is this present moment… and to be fully present… fully awake in it…

Why do you think God didn’t just clue us in on when exactly it would be that He would fully return and reconcile everything?

Because we’d be living not in the present… but the future…  We would miss the very gift of life…
We would miss faith…. And so we would miss the opportunity of true relationship with our Father.

Last thoughts?

Christian Hedonism

(This is a discussion we recently did related to seeking happiness)

“If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
- The Weight of Glory  - C.S. Lewis

What are your reactions to this quote? Thoughts?
What is C.S. Lewis trying to say here?

What are your reactions to the belief among some Christians that we shouldn’t be people of desire? That pursuing happiness is a bad thing? Share…

Have you ever known or perhaps been a hedonist before? Share…
(Hedonist: a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification. Hedonism: a school of thought that argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good.)

“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.”
― Blaise Pascal

Do you believe what Pascal is saying in this quote? Do you think God designed us for the pursuit of happiness?
Does seeking your own happiness sound self-centered?

Truth is, we value most what we delight in most. Pleasure is not God’s competitor, idols are. Pleasure is simply a gauge that measures how valuable someone or something is to us. Pleasure is the measure of our treasure.

In your own words, how would you describe a person who is a Christian Hedonist?

If a friend says to you, “I really enjoy being with you,” you wouldn’t’ accuse him of being self-centered. Because your friend’s delight in you is the evidence that you have great value in his heart. In fact, you’d be dishonored if he didn’t experience any pleasure in your friendship. The same is true of God. If God is the source of our greatest delight then God is our most precious treasure; which makes us radically God-centered and not self-centered. And if we treasure God most, we glorify Him most.

Christian Hedonism is not a contradiction. It is desiring the vast and deep pleasures of God more than the “mud pie” pleasures of wealth, power, or lust. We’re Christian Hedonists because we believe what Psalm 16:11 proclaims, “You show me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy, in Your right hand are pleasures for evermore.”

Would you consider yourself a Christian Hedonist? Thoughts?
Would you say that God is your ultimate pleasure in life? Share.

God Himself is joy and our pleasure, the only real pleasure to be had, is found in Him…living a life in His presence. But too often instead of seeking Joy we seek out the effects of Joy or we seek the product of Happy instead of Happy Himself. We seek the created instead of the Uncreated. Sometimes we gaze upon the finger that points to the moon, instead of the moon itself.

Reactions to this? Does this make sense?
In what ways do we as Christians sometimes “gaze upon the finger” instead of the moon?
How do you see us focusing our worship on “holy” things instead of the “Holy One?”

Last thoughts?

Challenge: For the things that truly give us pleasure in life we are constantly moving our world around to make time for them, aren’t we? This week, this year, what would it look like for you to begin to seriously set aside time to spend with your Pleasure?
May your quest for joy and pleasure lead you to spending time with the God who is our Joy!