11.17.19 Huddle

Zach Below   -   November 15, 2019

Week 5 Intro

We are in week 5 of our CENTERED SERIES, which is all about establishing a Christ-Centered Worldview. Remember…our working definition of a worldview is, “what you believe about the most important and meaningful questions of life.” This week we will be discussing, Who is Jesus?

 

Remember our Worldview Assessment Grid

  1. Claims—What are the claims each worldview makes in answering the question
  2. Reasons—What are the reasons they make such a claim
  3. Implications—What are the implications in other areas of life if the claim is true…think “IF”……, “THEN”…..
  4. Actions—What actions should it inspire? How should we live in response?

 

WATCH SHORT FILM

 

INTRO QUESTIONS

  1. What are some ways that you hear Jesus described in today’s culture? How do the majority of people talk about him?

 

  1. When you think of Jesus’s influence, what are some things that he DIDN’T have going for him? As a group (or smaller groups) make a list.

 

Leader Note: Possible answers include he was poor, he was possibly homeless, he never authored a single book, his ministry only lasted 3 years, he didn’t have an Instagram account, he never traveled outside of a 100 mile radius, he never led an army.

 

 

  1. Given all of that, how do you think someone who didn’t follow Jesus would rationally explain Jesus’s influence? How did someone with all that going against him become the most influential man in history?

 

  1. What are some potential ways a follower of Jesus would answer that same question?

 

 

CLAIMS

Leader: There’s no doubt that Jesus was a great man. However, the Christ-Centered Worldview believes that He was more than a man. The Christ-Centered Worldview claims that Jesus was FULLY GOD and FULLY MAN. We want to spend some time, examining scripture to see why Christians believe that.

 

 

REASONS

Leader: One of the arguments used historically to try and refute the idea that Jesus is God is the claim that Jesus was just a man, but over time his legend grew and grew until eventually he began to be viewed as God.

 

If true, that would be problematic. Two ways to explore this claim is to look at what the earliest Christians claimed about Jesus and to look at who Jesus claimed about himself.

 

First, what did the earliest Christians Claim about Jesus?

 

GROUP SCRIPTURE ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITY: EARLY CREEDS

Leader: Over the last 30 years or so there have been some groundbreaking insights that have added major weight to the historical reliability of both the Bible and the claim that the earliest Christians viewed Jesus as God. One of those insights is the identification of early creeds.

 

Creeds are statements of belief that were written and recited for a number of different reasons…to clarify beliefs, to promote unity, and to be used in worship. What was discovered was that throughout the letters of the New Testament, there are a number of early creeds used by the church to talk about Jesus. A few of these are Philippians 2 and Colossians 1 (both written by AD 60—30 years after Jesus’s death).

 

What is important to remember is that even though these texts were written 30 years after Jesus’s death (which is still really early), the realization that these are early church creeds suggests they had been read and used in worship for years and years before Paul ever wrote them down. Paul writes them as if they are already common language among the churches.          Even more, the earliest known creed in the book of 1 Corinthians is usually dated in the AD 30’s…within just a few years of Jesus’s death.  

 

Directions: Break down into smaller groups and read these early creeds. Either have one group read Philippians 2: 5-11 and the other group read Colossians 1:15-20…OR…Have each group read both.

 

As you read the text, make a list of the claims the early Christians are making about Jesus.

 

  1. What from this text would lead us to believe that Jesus is fully God?
  2. What from this text points to Jesus’s humanity?

 

 

Who Did Jesus Say He Was?

Leader: We have seen pretty good evidence to suggest that the earliest Christians viewed Jesus as fully God and fully Man….but…what about those who claim that Jesus never actually said he was God? How do we respond to that?

 

WATCH REASONABLE FAITH VIDEO—WHO DID JESUS THINK HE WAS (6 Min)

 

 

  1. What evidence or arguments from this video gives good reason to claim that Jesus thought he was God? Can you think of anymore besides what was on the video?

 

 

IMPLICATIONS

Leader: What are the implications if Jesus actually claimed he was God? Even more, what are the implications if Jesus WAS REALLY GOD?

 

One implication if Jesus really claimed to be God but wasn’t…then he can’t be a good moral teacher or someone worth following.

 

The Greatest Question Asked by the Greatest Man

Leader: One time when Jesus was walking with his disciples, he stopped and asked what might be the most important question any of us will ever be asked…

 

Have someone read Matthew 16:13-16

 

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

 

 

Leader: Right here in Matthew, we see the greatest question being asked by the greatest man in history. That makes it pretty important. And it’s the same question that each of us have to consider if we are going to take our search for truth seriously. Of course, we could simply ignore the question and just keep living our lives with blinders on, but C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia guy) argued that if Jesus really made outrageous claim about being God…that is not really a valid option. He said.

 

“I’m trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is one thing we must not say.

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”   – C.S. Lewis

 

  1. What do you think C.S. Lewis means by this quote?

 

  1. Do you agree/disagree, why?

 

 

ACTIONS

  1. BREAK INTO SMALLER GROUPS and try to come up with a list of 5-10 ways that Jesus still impacts society today. Another way to think of it is, what Jesus’s followers contributed to society…this might include institutions, innovations, philosophy, art.

 

  1. If you actually believe the claim that Jesus is God…what personal actions should it inspire? How should it affect how you view the world?

 

 

 

THIS WEEK’S PRACTICE

  • Personal Reflection on Scripture
    • Find a quiet space and read back through Philippians 2:5-11 and Colossians 1:15-20
    • Consider the claims that the texts are making about Jesus
    • Gauge your heart as to what you believe about those claims and what you struggle to believe.
    • Offer it up to God in prayer.