Our first week of bible study is here and I kind of wish you were all in my living room, because then we could drink Diet Coke and eat cookies [two serious requirements for bible study] but I guess that means I gotta eat and drink for all of us! The way this will work is you all will read Jesus Is [the book I shared last week!] and I’m reading it while going through the leader guide. I’m taking what I think are key components to share with my takeaways/questions for us to discuss. [Meaning: some of these are the questions Judah Smith has laid out for the sessions and some are mine. I’m getting these from the Participant’s Guide, so if you want more questions get that!] I’ll share scripture that Smith outlined to go with these texts for your devotional time, important takeaways and then discussion questions. Respond to each others, uplift one another and feel free to share your e-mails if you want to get some deeper conversations going! I just want Chronicles of Frivolity to be a platform for you to be able to dig deeper and meet one another! At the end of each session I’ll tell you the chapter we will read for next week! Each session will be defined by these sections: Read, Scripture, Takeaways, Questions.
Read:
Make sure you read the Introduction & Jesus Is Your Friend section of Jesus Is. This is compromised of Chapters 1-3 or pages 3-34!
Scripture:
Romans 5:6-8
“You see, at just the right time, when were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 3:9-12
“What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charger that Jews & Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.”
[This part may have you like huh?! Paul is basically saying no one is innocent. Every person matters to God [he made us, he loves us, he sent his son to die for us] but we are sinful creatures. So God has redeemed us through his son and through our acknowledgement that we need him, he forgives us.]
John 7:3-38
Read this during your devotional time.
Takeaways:
1. Could last week’s topic “Jesus is a Friend of Sinners” be any more ironic? The past few days my Facebook was basically a newsfeed of self-titled Pharisees, Pastors, Politicians and “Peace Keepers” in regards to Caitlyn Jenner. Everyone thought they had the right answer, but yet I never saw love. I either saw some people in disgust over the news or the other spectrum persecuting those who didn’t understand and giving their best hate speech to the Kardashian clan. People “thought” they were sharing love [because as humans we think that in order to lift up one person we have to put down another group] but in reality we were all just sharing grievances. Any grievance we ever have is because other people aren’t doing something, saying something or thinking something our way. How selfish are we? I think if Jesus was here he would be having dinner with Caitlyn, Kris, and each one of us who liked, commented or rolled our eyes [me!] at a status. And I’m pretty sure he would have had one of those baskets where we put our phones in it so no one would be allowed to retweet our thoughts. I’m a sinner. You’re a sinner. Your Kindergarten teacher is a sinner. Caitlyn Jenner is a sinner. Your pastor is a sinner. We are all sinners and this was long before last week happened. We were born into bright and shiny delivery rooms and became sinners. And all that means is that Jesus would be eating dinner and loving on us all. He doesn’t have a scale like, “Uh oh, Sarah made 4 Facebook statuses about the issue looks like I need to book Olive Garden with her twice next week.” So why should we? In fact so many people didn’t even think Jesus was [or is] the Messiah because while he was here he wasn’t acting like all of us. He wasn’t demeaning everything he saw that was wrong and degrading those he didn’t agree with. He just loved them. He was their friend. He is our friend.
2. Now this isn’t to say Christianity is a festival where we all sin and eat ice cream with Jesus and say it is okay because we were born this way. Jesus ate with these sinners and spent time with them so he could love them. Through this love people trusted him and changed. They wanted to become more like him, which is what Christianity is all about! Love is the most influential behavior of all and Jesus’ love was so powerful that all it took was one meal with Zacchaeus for him to want to change his heart and repay those he had stolen from. How incredible is that? Think of the most kind-hearted person you know. When you’re with them do you catch yourself changing your words? I do. My sister is honestly the sweetest person I have ever met. When I eat dinner with her I constantly find myself complaining less, speaking softer and being more uplifting to others. I could be telling her a story of how someone rear ended me and because she is so kind and loving I would automatically change my wording form
“Sorry I’m late, this stupid teenager was texting and driving and hit me.”
to
“Sorry I’m late! I feel so bad, this poor girl was texting on her phone and rear ended me. I’m okay and she had insurance, but I’m sure she was shaken up, I know I was.”
And this is just my 16-year-old sister I’m talking about. Imagine how loving and kind Jesus had to be around Zacchaeus for him to think, “What am I doing? I want to be like Jesus. My heart is yearning to be more like him, because he cares for me. I have to change my life.”
This is Christianity. It’s a love so pure that our hearts are overcome with a desire to serve him and be like him. We do that through a relationship with him and fellowship with other believers [example: my sister]. By surrounding ourselves in his love [church, devotionals, quiet time, bible studies] and fellowship [Christ-centered friendships] it becomes second nature for us to want to become like him.
3. So how do we change our hearts? God made this so easy for us. It’s like a birthday party that we just have to RSVP to and show up, then he feeds us cake. Make that time for him, be in constant prayer with him [Make it a conversation, talk to him while you drive to work, talk to him while you work out, before meals, before bed, while you curl your hair. Invite him in your day!] and surround yourself with believers who will hold you accountable. Jesus does the rest. He is the keeper of our hearts, we don’t have to say 14 prayers backwards and forwards while doing a strange cleanse in order to stop cursing. If we become his friend, he will do that himself. Because let’s be honest, we are human if we say “I’m going to stop cursing” we will do it 25 minutes later when AT&T messes up our bill.
4. Criticism. Throughout these chapters [and last week’s social media scandal] I kept thinking about how easily humans criticize. The Pharisees made a living criticizing and they were so mad Jesus didn’t do that. He acknowledged sin, he said, “Go and sin no more” but he did so with understanding. Maybe we don’t outwardly criticize people daily in a harsh sense, like those religious vigilantes dragging the woman before Jesus, but we do do it. They wanted Jesus to pronounce judgement on her and have her be stoned to death. Jesus said, “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.” When I read this I kept thinking, “SCREENSHOT.” You know what I’m talking about. You scroll through social media, find something you don’t agree with and you screenshot. You then send to your said group of friends who will agree with you and make your comments. Lord knows I’ve done it and Lord knows people have done it to my blog. Judah Smith says, “It’s so convenient. And so deluded.” We put others down to help our self esteem rise. What if we were understanding before we criticized. What if we had to make one comment uplifting a person and putting ourself in their shoes before we were allowed to make our backhanded comment. And I don’t mean the whole, “If you say bless her heart before you say she looks awful it’s okay!” kind of exercise. I simply mean, what if before we questioned why she went back to her cheating boyfriend and posted it all over Instagram, we put ourself in her shoes. What if we thought about the pain she has from being cheated on or the pain she has from worrying he will do it again? It might be more difficult for us to criticize. Let’s take it a step further. What if you went to dinner with her? What if you got to know her and her heart and then you shared how you think getting back with their ex is only going to further hurt their hearts. Then we wouldn’t be criticizing. We would be loving. We would be holding our friends accountable. We would be becoming more like Jesus.
5. This section showed us that Jesus Is a Friend Of Sinners. He allowed people to “belong long before they believed or behaved.” He didn’t say, “Oh I know you’re struggling with alcoholism, so let’s define you by that!” He loved. He shared the faith that he would return. And he gave us hope. Let’s relate to others like he did. Let’s stop being pharisees and placing our sinful opinions all over Facebook so we can get a few likes and boost our self esteem. Let’s just be friends and go to dinner with each other and invite Jesus to the table as well. All we have to do is show up. He will change our hearts.
Questions:
1. If Jesus, the friend of sinners everywhere, is a true picture of God the Father, why do people so frequently view God as an angry, vengeful deity? [Judah Smith]
2. How can you “save” people who are lost? Is it really your responsibility? [Judah Smith]
3. Do you judge others too quickly? Why or why not? [Judah Smith]
I’m all for good discussion! I’m a human. I’m not perfect. So none of what I wrote was perfect, either. If you disagree with me or someone who comments below please respond with kindness! We all allow barriers in our minds to come down and see other viewpoints when our comments are coming from a place of love, not pride.
Be sure to read Jesus Is Grace next week! Pages 35-82!
Fantastic Bible study today!!! I really got a lot out of it and I hope others do as well! Have a great day!
I really enjoyed reading this katey. I almost needed it. I needed to be reminded of how we want to become more like Jesus and not downplay others for success. I needed to remind myself what it’s like to be in other people’s shoes instead of pushing them out when they make bad decisions. Thank you for sharing this with us!
So glad you started this! Can’t wait to get together with my girlfriends tonight! Looking forward to next week!
Great discussion! Here are some of my thoughts around your questions.
Hope you have a wonderful day and thank you again for sharing your faith and encouraging us to talk about Jesus!
Lots of love
Sheridan
1. If Jesus, the friend of sinners everywhere, is a true picture of God the Father, why do people so frequently view God as an angry, vengeful deity? [Judah Smith]- I think there are a few reasons why people sometimes view God as angry. First being, because they think of him and visual aspect in times of trouble; thus picturing him as an angry man… maybe punishing us for our sins. Secondly, maybe we are self-internalizing and we ourselves are feeling shameful of our sins so we think of God as being angry or disappointed with us. I know for me, I don’t always think of him as angry but maybe disappointed with me when I am sinful and I am feeling guilty for my sins.
2. How can you “save” people who are lost? Is it really your responsibility? [Judah Smith]- I don’t know that “I” can save them myself but maybe discuss with others who are lost of how I was once lost and how I came to find Jesus. Tell them my story so maybe they can relate or have a sense of Jesus’ compassion and understanding that we are not perfect and we ALL sin.
3. Do you judge others too quickly? Why or why not? [Judah Smith] – Guilty as charged! This is something I am truly trying to work on and stop myself for being too quick to judge but I am not perfect and I do it more than I would like to admit. Its funny how easy it is to judge quickly and how difficult it can be to stop yourself and redirect your thoughts.
It’s so easy for people to view God as angry and vengeful because these same people aren’t being shown enough love. I truly believe it’s as simple as that. When you are constantly being judged and condemned by the same people who are calling themselves Christians it’s easy to think that if these people are this way, then so is their Father. When you think about it, how you are raised can say a lot about who you are as a person and from the outside looking in it may seem that some people were raised by an angry and vengeful God. I know that’s not the case, and I know that I can be the Christian making these people feels this way at times. Obviously it’s never on purpose, but of course I am a sinner. That’s why I can agree that showing love is our most important duty as Christians. It’s not our job to be anything but a friend to these people who don’t know Jesus’ love the way that we do. I can only hope that the love we show the people around us encourages them to get to know the man who already loves them so unconditionally. I don’t believe it’s our “responsibility” to save people. I believe it is our responsibility to love them and to share with them what Jesus has done for our us and the love he has for them. I believe love, from Jesus and from people, can and will change their hearts which will lead them to their salvation from Jesus.
I try not to judge others to quickly, and it’s something I would love to be able to answer “no” to but I’m sure I do. I’m human, and again I am a sinner. My hope is that anytime I do, I am able to take a step back and address the WHY and then make the effort to act differently in the future.
Thank you, Katey for sharing your love for Jesus with your readers! Your light shines so bright and I look forward to continuing this study with you!
Hi Katy 🙂 I just started reading your site and love that you are sharing Jesus so boldly on your blog! Everything is about Him and nothing works without Him! I’m excited to follow along with the study!
Blessings~ Mindy
I love that you decided to do this! I have pushed my faith to the back burner lately and this was just what I needed. When I picked up this book I could not put it down! This book spoke right to my heart. Jesus is our friend and we need to be friends to others! Everyone needs more love. I cannot save anyone. Jesus saves. All I can do is show the love and light that He has brought to my life in hopes that someone else will want that too. I’m so very guilty of being quick to judge. I know it’s not my right to judge but here I am a sinner who cannot help it. Sometimes I’m quick to change my thoughts to love, others not so much. I have already been so blessed by you and this study; I’m so glad you decided to this.
– How can you “save” people who are lost? You can help “save” people by sharing your story of finding God. Guide them into the steps that were taken when you were in their position. Is it really your responsibility? In a sense I do think its my responsibility. I think by sharing my story is taking that responsibility to help save those who are lost. If I know that person is seeking the help to find God its my duty to help them the same way I was helped. [Judah Smith]
-Do you judge others too quickly? Why or why not? [Judah Smith]
Guilty! It is easier to judge someone that you know nothing about other than what they share on social media thinking you do know everything. God puts us all through different obstacles, some hard and some easy. But because I am not perfect, when I find myself judging someone I try to take a step back and remember I am not in their position. And if for some reason I am I hope I can handle it the way they I God tells me and not get judged by others.
I love this! Thank you Katey.
Hello. It is written that Jesus can to heal the sick I beleive the sick (as in health) and the sick at heart ( the spiritual unhealthy). I don’t only see God as angry but I see God as loving compassionate carding giving full of wisdom and understanding and so much more. Of course God gets angry look at all he has done for us and them look at all we do to him. You would get angry too. But when we come to God and confess he forgives and is angry no more. My question is do we do that Do we forgive and love again or is it easier to stay angry and have something to talk about to others. How so and so hurt us and wait for others compassion to make us feel justified in our anger. I beleive the love is harder because we have to let go of our pride and be spiritual We have to think with our hearts and ask ourselves What would Jesus do in this situation . This is the person I want to be. I want to think with my Jesus heart and pray to the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of my heart to others. But I fall short and I sin. Paul said it best even when I try to do good I sin. I keep praying and keep trying.
As for what happened last week with the change that BJ. went though I have a very strong opion towards his transformation that I will not comment in case I upet anyone. I am not here to judge that is Gods job but I will say this God does not make mistakes He made me a woman for a reason and it is not for me to change that. It is for me to change my way of living to represent God in all I do (I hope they was ok and I did not upset anyone that was not my intent). We are to transform out spiritual self not not our flesh. Will I sit and eat with him of course. Maybe we could help one another grow in faith.
I pray that everyone has a good day and thank you again for this bible study. I don’t have to book yet but I’m hoping to get it soon. Even with out the book I have learned a lot and I feel blessed
Thank you.
Lina
Katey,
I really loved this post, and love that you’re doing this on a regular basis! They are so relate-able and great, I look forward to next weeks!
Thank you so much for hosting this bible study! I really enjoyed the first 3 chapters. I feel as if I am trying to incorporate the learning into my day to day. I often have trouble in my day to day regarding question 2. My husband is not a believer. He has read the bible and knows so much about Christianity, however I can not get him to go to church or to believe. I try to help him understand and I am reminded by this group and the lessons in Jesus Is to lead by example. I pray he will come around and I will have a hand in helping him. Xo until next week!
So I sat down at the dinner table last night with my husband and read him a section from chapter 2. It really got our conversation going and for that I am so thankful. We have both been struggling with being judgmental and impatient lately and this reminded me that “who am I to judge people just because I go to church?” So with that, here are my thoughts…
– 1. I think people so frequently see God as vengeful because we are always so quick to say “Why did you do this to me, God?” and usually forget to say “Thank you for providing this for me, God!” We blame Him when something bad happens, but forget to give thanks to Him when something good happens, so we only associate him as a God who passes judgment. Just because we don’t know His plan, doesn’t mean that what He is doing is vengeful.
– 2. We can save lost people by loving them. If we are to live as Jesus lived and follow by His example, we should just love people and the “saving” will happen. I do feel that is a responsibility God has put in our hands as we follow Him throughout our lives.
– 3. Of course! I think we all do. I can’t remember the last time I put myself in someone else’s shoes before I passed judgment on them. “If they are sinning, stay away.” It goes through my head so often I’m embarrassed to admit it! What I haven’t been so great at is recognizing that I’m sinning in that very moment. It’s something I’m working to be better at every day and this bible study has given me more motivation than ever to do so.
Wow, so great! I loved your blog to begin with and now that you’ve incorporated your faith in it I love it even more! You are so encouraging and kind, can’t wait to see what else God has in store for you and your blog. It could be the start of something you never even imagined and I bet it’ll be great!
xoxo,
god bless
Katey, I am really excited about this Bible study and I have truly enjoyed the book so far. I think it perfectly falls right in with things happening in the media. After reading the first few chapters, I immediately thought of Bruce Jenner. God loves Bruce Jenner the same as he loves me or anyone else. No sin is greater than any other sin. In regards to the questions:
1. I think we see God in the same way we see humans. For example, if we had a child and he continued to misbehave, we would be mad and disappointed. So we think God is mad and disappointed in Us beacuse we continue to fail him daily. However,, the Bible says that Gods thoughts are not like our thoughts, and his ways are not our ways. I think that is difficult to process because we are human. God sees us in a different way and with true love.
2. I do believe it is our Christian duty to help save others. We are supposed to be missionaries for Christ. I know I fail at that daily. I think the best way to do that is to live your life like Jesus. Be friends to everyone and talk about what God has done in your life. People will be drawn in and ask questions. Invite people to church or do something nice without needing to be paid back. People do not see that much in our world today and they will see you are different. They want to know what makes you different.
3. It is so easy to judge others quickly. I am guilty of this, myself. However, over the past few weeks, I had someone tell me a “secret” something that she regretted. It changed my outlook on how I perceived it. I realized I should show her forgiveness and kindessbecause she needed it the most Granted not everyone will tell you their life story but I think we must realize that everyone has a story and “secrets” which cause them to act certain ways. Some people need more kindness and for you to show them what Christianity is all about!
Thank you again for this study! Love your insta and this blog post.
Wow! Thank you so much for
Starting this Bible study. I enjoyed every bit of it and how you related it to real life situations that we do.
I am so in love with this!! I am so happy that you started it and I cannot wait to see what comes out of it within the next weeks! Can we all please just fly out to Texas once a week and meet together?!?!
Great idea Katey. I think so many of us need multiple avenues for fostering our relationship with Jesus. We live in a world where we are always trying to be better than someone else and I think we judge people to help validate our feelings of being better than someone. We fail to open our hearts and lives to people who are different or may be different but we all face a struggle that pulls us away from God and the love we should be sharing with others. There is no right or wrong way to share this love either.
1. We view God in that way because we are taught rules and expectations and that God casts judgment upon us for failing. Also imagery of God on the Internet and in churches etc. seems to show God as being being vengeful.
2. It isn’t my responsibility to actually “save” Jesus already did that. But I should be opening my heart to them and helping them open theirs to God so they can be saved.
3. I try my best to not judge others too quickly. I know that I do and probably in more simplistic ways than I even realize. I find that some times it is easier to judge less than other times. I try to place myself in their position because sometimes I really don’t know what it would be like. My right answer may not be right and I have to realize that and accept it.
I am so stoked you have started this. I am loving everything so far. This was greatly needed in my life as a fairly new christian excited to learn more becoming more like Jesus!!! Can’t wait for next Tuesday!!! Xoxo
Love that you are doing this Katey! I am 24 and also living in Dallas. I adore your blog and love that you are incorporating Jesus into your posts. I loved the example that you wrote about changing the wording of a simple text message. I find myself making the same mistakes daily. I was raised in a strong Christian household but strayed away from Jesus when I went to college and joined a sorority. I currently have a perfect little baby boy and now more than ever want to renew my relationship with Jesus. I think that I was scared to keep a strong relationship with Christ in college because I thought that if I did I would have to give up going out with friends and margaritas and curse words and everything that I thought was fun. I now realize that by putting my life more in line with what Jesus wants, I will actually have a better life than what I ever could have imagined. I currently have a sense of peace and inner strength that was never present in my college years.
I am going to answer the first question you listed. I think that people tend to view God as angry because they feel that he punishes or condemns sin. In actuality, Jesus wants what is best for us and does everything out of love. He does not punish but he does lovingly redirect our paths if we are going the wrong direction. I can’t even tell you how many times that I have been able to hear God tell me lovingly to stop something I was doing and I rejected him and did what I wanted to do anyways. (I’m stubborn!!) He has always answered my prayers and has continued to love me even though I have continue to sin. We are told over and over again that Jesus loves us. Sometimes I feel like I dismiss the power in that statement and think yeah yeah yeah I know! But seriously how amazing is that! Jesus loves all of us no matter what we do. Being a mother and having a love for my baby that I can’t even put in to words has made me realize how amazing God truly is. I am so sorry that this post was all over the place! Excited to read more of your posts like this!
Loving this book and study. Just started last week and discovered that my daughter has been reading this for awhile. Thanks so much for this.
I am just starting this bible study so I am behind but I really loved reading this first post. Your #4 “criticism” gave me goosebumps. It’s always good to put yourselves in peoples shoes, think about the pain they have been through and are going through and will continue to go through. Then take time to connect with them and be someone they can truly share their heart with.
Here are my thoughts on the questions:
1. If Jesus, the friend of sinners everywhere, is a true picture of God the Father, why do people so frequently view God as an angry, vengeful deity? [Judah Smith]
I think it’s hard for us to understand his greatness. We cannot comprehend that we are sinners and always will be and that he loves us anyway when he does NOT have to. Because most would be angry if they knew all that God knows about us, we automatically think of him on the human level and think that there’s no way he’s not mad (I mean he sees ALL we do, he hears ALL of our thoughts!). He is so much more than human though! He loves us NO MATTER what we do, think, say. There is nothing we could do that would turn him away from seeking our love and that’s something I think we have a hard time grasping as mere humans.
2. How can you “save” people who are lost? Is it really your responsibility? [Judah Smith]
We don’t have the power to “save” people. Only Jesus can save. But when someone is lost we can help them along the way, or at the very least, redirect them. That is definitely in our power and as Christians, I believe it is our responsibility to spread the Word of God to others. People should not look at us as Christians and have to wonder if we are Christians. I want someone to look at me and KNOW I am a Christian so I will try my best to live like Jesus in all aspects of life.
3. Do you judge others too quickly? Why or why not? [Judah Smith]
Recently, I went to a yoga class I have been going to for quite some time. I walked in and the mats were lined up on the floor horizontally rather than vertically. For our practice on this day, we would be facing the side of the room as the front instead of the mirrors. Automatically I thought “I don’t like it this way”. Then I realized I have never even tried it this way and I was passing judgment on it. How do I know I don’t like it this way? I think it’s easy to pass judgment on someone or something that is new or different to us without giving it a chance. When someone else sins we think bad of them, but when we do the exact same thing we have an excuse for ourselves and why it isn’t really that bad. (I.e. telling a lie…we may say, I had to lie, it was just that time, etc. but we don’t account for any reasons why someone else may have told a lie. We don’t hesitate to straight up call them a liar though.)
We should not judge someone because we will never be in their exact situation, with their exact circumstances, feelings, etc. I try to approach everyone with an innocent heart, give them the benefit of the doubt and trust until given a reason not to…and even then, forgive when they ask for forgiveness.
I think I see the good in people more often than not but that doesn’t mean I don’t slip up. Often times I’ll leave a meeting and think “man I really loved those people!” “or she was awesome, I’d love to know her outside of business” only to debrief with a coworker and have them say something like “did you notice how much she interrupted” or “I got a bad feeling about that person”, etc. They rag and criticize about things I hadn’t even noticed or thought about. I need to do a better job of correcting their criticism or bringing up the good rather than agreeing out of comfort. I am not saying I’m perfect because I definitely have judgmental thought sometimes (people watching anyone?) and I try to catch myself and tell myself that’s not nice..I don’t know them at all.
Thanks so much for hosting these. I can’t wait to read Jesus is Grace next!
Tara
Some are often easy to successfully clean, persons not as a
result easy. The green area rug cleaner is considered not very much costly.
I like the two part containers.
Can you please bring this back?! I love this!
I definitely want to!! It just probably will be a bit after baby since it takes a little more time! <3