Key Bible passage(s):

Heb.2; 5:8; 12: 4-13 & Ps.119:71-72

Tier 1:

John warns the Church, ‘Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you’ (I Jn.3:13). When the world is brought into contact with the Gospel, there is often an explosive reaction. We actually know this to be true, and the temptation we face is to ‘privatise’ the Gospel, to hide it so that it doesn’t find expression in what we do or say. We do that to avoid the hostility we know the Gospel provokes. This session seeks to explore the legitimacy or otherwise of this as a response to the perceived threat of opposition.

Tier 2:

Hebrews is written to encourage the Church to remain ‘public’ about the Gospel and the Church in the face of impending persecution. It calls us to this on the basis that Jesus is worthy of our following Him into suffering. And yet our suffering is not the same as Jesus’. His suffering remains unique in what it achieves. We are used to thinking of His making atonement for our sins, but He is also perfected Himself through HIs suffering. It is how Jesus becomes the One who is able to fulfil His calling as a merciful and faithful High Priest.

Tier 3:

Our experience of suffering for the Gospel is part of how God disciplines us and renovates our character so that we learn how to be like our Lord Jesus. He is present with us in our suffering to achieve this glorious end. Hebrews draws on Scriptural examples and the Church’s own experience to teach us how we can suffer to this end.

If we suffer persecution and affliction in a right manner, we attain a larger measure of conformity to Christ, by a due improvement of one of these occasions, than we could have done merely by imitating his mercy, in abundance of good works.

John Wesley

Discussion Groups:

Isn’t there wisdom in not pushing the fact we are Christians on others by what we say and how we live.  should we seek to build relationships with others without being antagonistic about our own discipleship (see e.g. Rom.12:8; I Tim.2:1-3; Titus 3:2 etc.)

Is it ever appropriate for Christians to keep their faith ‘personal and private’ to protect themselves, their families or their jobs?

How do we gauge when we are provoking hostility needlessly, and when we are simply being faithful as Christians?

…and later in the session:

Read Heb.12:4-13

Does the idea of Jesus’ being made perfect through suffering inspire you or trouble you? Why?

What is God’s purpose for us? Is that purpose worth suffering for?

What does seeing ‘hardship’ as ‘discipline’ teach us about God’s purposes in our suffering?

How can we waste our experience of suffering?

Based on this passage, how would you support someone who was struggling to see how God could love them in the midst of suffering?

…and towards the end:

What does Christianity that ‘refuses the cross’ look like?

Have these last 5 sessions changed your thinking about Christian discipleship?  

How much of it do you think any of this is applicable to the Church in the UK?

Homework:

Read and Reflect on Revelation 8-13 ahead of next session.

Let me know if you would be willing to talk about your experience of DTP from the front of Church. As we prepare to start a second cycle, it would be great if folk could get a vision of the difference DTP can make!

Watch this video of a talk on ‘secularism’ given by Ron Boyd-Macmillan. We will begin our next session discussion what he says.

Memorise Heb.10:32-35