GATHERING / WORSHIP / PRAYER Take a few minutes to catch up with each other and build community. If you have new people present give time to getting to know each other. Possibly listen to ‘God So Loved’ by We the Kingdom and/or ‘How He Loves’ (various artists). Pray and give thanks for God’s generosity and love. Generous and loving God, you have given us more than we could ask or imagine. Above all you have given us your love even before we loved you! Help us to grow in knowing who you truly are, for it is in this knowledge that we will come to have a perfect love for you. Amen. FOCUS Our series ‘The Good and the Beautiful’ is based on three books by James Bryan Smith. Our focus throughout May on the first book 'The Good and Beautiful God’, challenges us to unpack God’s character and discover how this knowledge impacts both who we are and how we live. SETTING THE SCENE The two big idea is “God is generous”. We do not earn God’s love, favour, forgiveness or acceptance.Rather, God is generous and gives them to us freely. Then there is “God is love. Sadly most people believe that love is conditional, that it is based on their behaviour. This is heavily influenced by a performance-based culture where earning is the means by which we obtain things e.g. school grades are given based on our performance, wages are given based on our labour, affection is offered on our attractiveness etc. Thus, most people believe that God loves them only when they are good. However, Jesus told of a God who loves without condition—a God who even loves sinners. OPENING GOD’s WORD Warm Up Question: How would you describe someone who is ‘generous’ and ‘loving’? What behaviours would they exhibit? Read: Matthew 20:1-15 Take turns reading a few verses out loud to the group. What does this parable say to you about God’s generosity? If this was the only story you knew about God, what would you conclude? Read: Romans 5:8 Have one nominee read the verse out loud to the group. Romans 5:8 rejects the false narrative that God only loves us when we’re “good”. However, sadly, performance-based acceptance is deeply entrenched in our society and thus psyche. Do you sometimes feel that God’s love depends on your behaviour? The overarching story of the Bible reveals a God of grace. Certain minor narratives may seem to contradict this major narrative, but the minor narratives must be interpreted only in terms of undeserved and unearned love (p. 79, The Good and Beautiful God). How does this way of reading Scripture resonate with you? In what ways does it help your reading of the Bible? In what ways does it make you uncomfortable? LIVING OUT GOD’s WORD If it is true that God is abundantly generous, what would you do differently tomorrow? Why? If it is true that God’s love is not earned, what would you do differently tomorrow? Why? “Grace is not a licence for sin, rather it is the power to overcome sin". How can you live out this statement in the week ahead? PRAYER Pray for each other to experience a fresh encounter with God’s generous love. Pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal to you areas where you have internalised the false narrative of performance-based acceptance, so that you may interchange it for Jesus’ narrative of a generous and unconditionally loving God. Pray that those who do not yet know the love of God could discover it in a real and powerful way. Contacts If you would like more information or further help please contact: scott.button@hopevalleychurch.com.au