LET IN THE LIGHT

Planning the Session

Session Goals

As a result of conversations and activities connected with this session, group members should begin to

• explore Jesus' teaching on choosing what to let in;

• encounter contrasting playlists;

• reflect on a new playlist.

Scriptural Foundation

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

(Matthew 5:1-2)

"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light."

(Matthew 6:22)

Special Preparation

• If participants are not familiar with one another, provide nametags.

• Have available a notebook or paper and pen or pencil for anyone who did not bring a notebook or an electronic device for journaling.

• On a large sheet of paper or a board, print the following from the text: "Whatever generation you belong to, you likely have a memory of music moving you and making you experience feelings in a way that was unique and memorable."

• On three large sheets of paper, print the following, one per sheet:

» "You have to do everything."

» "You have to say yes to everything."

» "You have to be all places."

• Decide if you will use either of the optional activities. For creating playlists, participants will need scratch paper for jotting down entries as well as a large sheet of paper and a marker.

• For the wrapping up activity, you may want to print the group responses on a large sheet of paper or a board.

• If you decide to use a closing hymn, obtain copies of a familiar hymn such as "Open My Eyes, That I May See" or "Wonderful Words of Life," and arrange for accompaniment if needed. Versions of both with lyrics and music can be downloaded from the Internet.

Getting Started

Opening Activity

As participants arrive, welcome them to the study. Gather together. Call attention to the posted statement about the power of music from the Introduction to the book. Form pairs, and invite participants to discuss music from any genre that has moved them in a unique or memorable way. Then, back together in the large group, ask each person to introduce their partner and describe briefly what was memorable about the piece of music that the person named.

Ask someone to describe what a playlist is. Then tell the group that in this study, we will encounter the impact of the playlists with which our culture bombards us. We will examine the messages we hear and what we choose to believe about those messages. And we will reflect on how we can create a new playlist that allows us to hear what Jesus is really saying.

Opening Prayer

Pray the following prayer, or one of your own choosing:

Eternal God, we yearn to open ourselves to your Spirit so that you can speak to the deep places of our hearts. Make us more keenly aware of your presence as we seek to hear and respond to your message more fully. Amen.

Learning Together

Video Study and Discussion

In Session 1, Jacob Armstrong introduces us to the idea that today we are distracted, anxious, and overloaded by the predominant playlists of our culture — those spoken and unspoken messages that bombard us daily, seeking to convince us of what and who we should be. Armstrong, founding pastor of Providence Church, a United Methodist congregation in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, suggests that Jesus offers us a new playlist that counters the messages of the culture.

After viewing the video segment, discuss some of the following:

• Armstrong observes that the culture's playlist has three powerful messages about who we should be and what we should do. What are they?

• He relates the story of a time when he said no to a task he had taken on in previous years. What did he say no to doing? What was his reason? What was the result?

• How does Armstrong describe his schedule? If your schedule was inscribed on a large calendar, what would it look like? What would it reveal about your priorities?

• What do you imagine that Armstrong, in being gone from home so often, was communicating to his daughter Lydia about what he valued? What do you think your own family members are learning from how you choose to spend your time?

Book and Bible Study and Discussion

Explore One of Jesus' Teachings

Invite a group member to read aloud Matthew 4:23-25.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Ask participants to notice that Matthew names teaching first in describing Jesus' ministry, giving us a clue that for this Gospel writer, teaching takes priority over miracles. Note that Matthew 5–7, what we call the Sermon on the Mount, is the first and longest portion of Jesus' teachings in Matthew's account. And point out that, though we call this a sermon, it could also be called the Teachings on the Mount.

Ask someone to read aloud the first foundational Scripture passage, Matthew 5:1-2.

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

Invite group members to quickly scan chapters 5–7, noting the headings in their Bibles that indicate the breadth and depth of Jesus' teachings in this portion of Matthew's Gospel. Then suggest that they imagine themselves to be a part of the crowd that followed Jesus.

Read aloud the second foundational Scripture, Matthew 6:22.

"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light."

Then discuss some of the following:

• Jacob Armstrong observes that although this verse addresses what we take in with our eyes, Jesus' metaphor addresses a more expansive, deeper reality. What do you think Jesus is really saying to us?

• How do you respond to Armstrong's idea that Jesus knows your heart?

• Armstrong relates the story of sitting with a friend just before the friend's death. Armstrong tells us that he can't ever recall a time in such moments when someone wanted to talk about the things they had acquired on earth or the places they had gone. What does he suggest is primarily on their minds?

Encounter Contrasting Playlists

Invite the group to refer to chapter 1 of the book, where the author suggests there is a playlist of distraction, schedule overload, and anxiety that is playing loud and clear, one that crushes our hearts. Ask one or two volunteers to summarize briefly what Armstrong tells us about the Pharisees and their understanding of the law, in contrast to how Jesus summarizes the law.

Call the group's attention to the three sheets of paper you prepared before the session, each one headed with one "playlist" that is commonly playing in our heads and influencing how we live. Point out that their discussion of the video segment touched on these playlists.

Form three small groups or pairs and assign one of the playlists to each. Ask the groups or pairs to read over the information in the chapter about their assigned playlist, as well as what the author has to say about the new playlist that can counter those messages. Suggest that participants discuss their assigned playlist, jotting down examples from their own daily lives to add to the examples the author cites.

After allowing several minutes for groups or pairs to work, invite participants to gather in the large group. Ask each pair or group to report on their conversation. Then discuss the following:

• What is the number 613 as used in this chapter? What does the author mean when he observes that it has always been hard for God's people to resist its temptation? What does the 613 keep us from focusing on?

• Which of the three playlists exerts the most influence in how you live your life? Why?

• What barriers stand in the way of our abandoning these pervasive playlists in order to open our ears and hearts to new playlists? What challenges do we face in breaking free of their influence?

Reflect on a New Playlist

Recall for the group the story that Jacob Armstrong relates about wearing glasses for the first time at the age of eight, when the negative message he had received about glasses ("Four-eyes!") was transformed by the positive message he received from his teacher. Ask them to think back on times when they experienced negative messages. Then invite the group to reflect in silence on the following questions posed in the Introduction, and then to respond in writing to one or more in their journals:

• What have you heard about yourself that you just can't shake?

• What messages of self-doubt and insecurity have you carried for years?

• What would it mean to listen to Jesus, not to the culture?

Encourage participants in the coming week to reflect on the playlists that dominate their lives. Remind them that in order to transform their lives with the new playlist that Jesus offers, they need to consider how they might open their hearts to Jesus through a deeper commitment to Scripture reading, prayer, and other spiritual practices.

More Activities (Optional)

Create a Playlist

Jacob Armstrong uses the concept of a new playlist as a metaphor for a new willingness to listen to Jesus. With this in mind, challenge participants to formulate a new playlist for themselves. Distribute scratch paper. Suggest that group members make a list of music that communicates the messages they have encountered in this chapter. It could include hymns, but also any secular music with similar messages, Scripture passages, poems, or other thoughts and insights.

After allowing time for participants to make individual lists, have them form pairs and share their lists with each other. If time allows, compile a master list of playlist entries. Participants may want to keep a running list in their journals. Encourage them to play a musical selection from their lists each day during the week, reading poems or Scriptures aloud for themselves.

Spiritual Reading of Matthew 6:22

Invite participants to engage in a spiritual reading of today's second foundational Scripture verse. Ask them to find a comfortable position for sitting and close their eyes, breathing in and out deeply several times and settling into stillness.

After an interval of silence, read Matthew 6:22 aloud once. Pause; then read it aloud slowly again. Ask group members to name aloud a word that seems to jump out to them, then to repeat that word to themselves silently. Again wait in silence; then read the verse aloud again. This time ask them to name whatever answering response was evoked to the word they identified — it might be an emotion, an image, a memory, or something else. After another time of silence, invite participants to reflect on what the meaning might be in that word and response for their lives. What might God be trying to say to them? What message might Jesus be conveying through this Scripture?

End with a time of silent prayer.

Wrapping Up

Invite those who are willing to name aloud a response to each of the following prompts from the false playlist of our culture. When everyone has had a chance to respond to a prompt, invite the group to counter that prompt by responding together with Jesus' words, our new playlist, which can be found below each prompt.

• A time when I feel pressured to do everything is when _______________.

But Jesus says, "You are supposed to do two things: love God and love people."

• A time when I am convinced I should say yes to everything is _______________.

But Jesus says, "Saying no is often the best yes."

• A time when I feel pressured to be all places at once is _______________.

But Jesus says, "You can be only one place."

Remind participants to read book chapter 2 before the next session.

Closing Activity

Sing or recite a familiar hymn together, such as "Open My Eyes, That I May See" or "Wonderful Words of Life."

Closing Prayer

Pray the following or a prayer of your choosing:

Amazing God, we long to listen — really listen — to Jesus. We want to let the light in, to let Jesus have our hearts. By your Spirit, open our eyes, our ears, our hearts, that we may love God and love others. Amen.

WHO IS YOUR MASTER?

Planning the Session

Session Goals

As a result of conversations and activities connected with this session, group members should begin to

• explore Jesus' teaching on serving two masters;

• examine our divided hearts;

• encounter more contrasting playlists;

• reflect on a new playlist.

Scriptural Foundation

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

(Matthew 5:1-2)

"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other."

(Matthew 6:24)

Special Preparation

• Have available a notebook or paper and pen or pencil for anyone who did not bring a notebook or an electronic device for journaling.

• On opposite sides of your learning space, post each of the following signs:

» "My cell phone is often a major distraction in my daily life."

» "My cell phone rarely distracts me in my daily life."

• On three large sheets of paper, print the following, one per sheet:

» "You have to make everybody happy."

» "You have to look good all the time."

» "You have to run so fast."

• Decide if you will use any of the optional activities. For creating golden calves, you will need a variety of art materials: large sheets of paper, magazines, scissors, glue, colored markers or crayons.

• Decide if you will sing or recite the suggested hymn, "There's Something About That Name" for the closing activity. Obtain copies of the hymn and arrange for accompaniment if needed. Several versions can be found on the Internet.

Getting Started

Opening Activity

As participants arrive, welcome them to the study. Gather together. If there are newcomers who were not present for the first session, and as a way of reviewing, invite someone to read aloud Matthew 5:1-2.

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

Remind the group that in Session 1, they explored one of Jesus' teachings from the Sermon on the Mount. Ask a volunteer to read aloud Matthew 6:22.

"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light."

Explain that the author of the study book, Jacob Armstrong, uses this Scripture as an entry point into understanding Jesus' teachings, messages that counter what Armstrong calls the cultural "playlists" with which we are bombarded every day.

Invite volunteers who were present for the first session to report on their experiences in identifying the playlists that dominate their lives and their experiences in devoting more time to spiritual practices that serve to open their hearts more fully to Jesus' messages.

With a show of hands, ask participants to indicate if they have their phones with them. Acknowledging that cell phones are a necessary element in our lives today, invite group members to indicate how much of a distraction they are. Point out the signs you posted at opposite sides of your learning space, and ask participants to line up on a continuum between the two signs, placing themselves at the point that they think indicates the degree of distraction they experience.

When everyone has found an appropriate position on the continuum, invite one or two volunteers to describe why they placed themselves where they did. Then tell the group members that in this session, they will explore how cultural playlists serve to distract us from hearing the message of Jesus.

Opening Prayer

Pray together, using the following prayer or one of your own choosing:

Gracious God, we come seeking to open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts more fully to the message of Jesus. We know we are distracted by other messages that come at us from all sides. Be with us, as you have promised, as together we encounter you in your word and in our interactions with one another. Amen.

Learning Together

Video Study and Discussion

In Session 2, we encounter the many distractions we face on a daily basis — distractions that lead to divisions. We examine the need to rid ourselves of those competing masters that threaten our commitment to our one true master, Jesus Christ. After viewing the video segment, discuss some of the following:

• Jacob Armstrong describes a time when he bought a new car. Describe what happened to that clean car. What did Armstrong discover about himself? What do you think he communicated to his three little girls? What "masters" or "little gods" can you identify in your own life?

• What important distinction about identity is Armstrong noting when he speaks of those who close big business deals, those who love a football team, or moms with a perfection complex? What aspects of your life can you name that could pose a danger to how you identify yourself? How important to you is what you do, what you own, or whom you know?