A Different Kind of Triumph | Learning Guide

April 2nd, 2023

10:15am I Facebook Live

Watch last week's message here

Title

A Different Kind of Triumph​

Text

John 12:12-16, 1 Corinthians 1:18-24 (NET)​

Introduction:​

We are all familiar with the cliche, “fight fire with fire”. And I understand the roots of the saying and the context where it makes sense. But most of the time we practice it, we only end up with a much bigger fire. Most of the time, the best way to “fight fire” is by eliminating the elements that are being used to “make” the fire in the first place, the fuel, the oxygen, the heat. Wouldn’t it make so much more sense to say “fight fire with water”?

On “Palm Sunday” Jesus, in a very real, but in a very unexpected, very revolutionary way does just this.

Come and join us friends.

Grace and peace y'all,

John Ray and the teaching team

Big Idea: The way of Jesus is the ultimate subversion and overthrow of the ways of the world.

Take Away:

The ways of the world, the strategies of power, the campaigns of strength will never accomplish the will of God, will never usher in the Kingdom. The Gospel is the wisdom of God so often revealed in things that upset and contradict the “ways of the world” God sets a very different standard of what it means to be a servant leader, a divine kingdom, and through that offers us a very different reality.

How Does This Fit with Become, Belong, Believe?

At Grace Church we practice radical hospitality, the invitation to belong, as an imitation of the subversive, restorative invitation of Jesus to us. Through this practice we are formed and become more and more like Jesus and more and more ourselves. These practices are guided by and influence our confession, the ways we express what we believe and what we are coming to believe.

Resources:

Thinking differently about Jesus’ power

Questions for Table Fellowships and personal devotions

• When you think about Jesus “triumphal entry” as a caricature, or making fun of and Roman triumphal entry, how does that sit with you? How does that line up with how it may have been presented to you in the past?

• As a society, we are steeped in the myth of “might makes right” and that the answer to “bad” violence is “good”, or necessary violence. How does that line up with what we see in Jesus?

• As you read the passage from Corinthians, how does that line up with the predominant expressions of Christianity we see displayed in our society?

What's Next?

It's Easter!​

Contact Grace Church NWA here