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DISCIPLESHIPG R O U P SMIDWEEKCONNECTPracticing the way of Jesus together

8/289/49/119/189/2510/210/910/1610/2311/611/1311/20Week 1- Sa b b a t hWeek 2- Sa b b a t hWeek 3- Sa b b a t hWeek 4- So l i t u d eWeek 5- So l i t u d eWeek 6- So l i t u d eWeek 7- Si m p l i c i tyWeek 8- Si m p l i c i ty Week 9- Si m p l i c i tyWeek 10- T a b l e F e llowshipWeek 11- T a b l e F e llowshipWeek 12- T a b l e F e llowship“The central point for the discipline of simplicity is to seek thekingdom of God and the righteousness of his kingdom firstand then everything necessary will come in its proper order.”-Richard FosterCelebration of DisciplinePracticing the way of Jesus together

Jesus lived a simple life. He chose to live as ahomeless teacher, preacher and healer. He was notburdened with a house, a closet full of clothes,retirement accounts or a meeting calendar. Jesuschose to live a simple life.Simplicity is more than just your attachmentment tothings. Simplicity is about your availability to God, hislove and his kingdom; both inwardly and outwardly.Cultivating the practice of simplicity opens us up morefully to God. Simplicity guides us towards peace andfreedom and away from bondage, stress and addiction.Our lives can become cluttered with materialpossessions, responsibilities to keep and images tomaintain. The clutter that comes with theseattachments can keep us from attending to God.So simplicity is detaching from things that keep usfrom God.It sounds simple. But simplicity is hard. Saying no tothings that others enjoy, our society tells us we shouldenjoy and things that we enjoy for the sake ofattending to God is hard.SimplicityWhat it isWeek 1

Before tonight’s introduction on the practice ofsimplicity, how did you view simplicity? Did youview it as a spiritual practice? Where did yourview come from? How has your view ofsimplicity been challenged tonight?SimplicityWeek 1 Group DiscussionsWhat thoughts, feelings or fears do you havebefore entering into this practice of simplicitythis week?Have you tried practicing a form of simplicity inthe past? How did your previous attempt go?How long was your effort to the practice ofsimplicity sustained? Why did you stop?

Group DiscussionsWeek 1SimplicityName some of the clutter that impacts your life.Name some of the clutter that impacts yourfamily life. How much of that clutter is placedtheir by our own choosing? You can’t “simplify” your life over night.Knowing this, where do you want to start? Doyou want to detach from the things that occupytoo much time, too much worry or too muchthought? Why do you think you should startthere?It can be culturally trendy to simplify, minimizeor cut back. How can we make sure ourmotivation to simplify remains on a greateravailability to God and his Kingdom and notmerely engaging in trendy simplicity?

.As you detached from something this week,how often did you feel the pull to reattach? SimplicityPrompts for Reflection on the PracticeDid your awareness of God grow during thispractice?What drew you back to the things you detachedfrom this week? Comfort? Stress? Habit?What did you do with your newfound time after you detached ? Did you pray, worship,commune with God in nature? Or did youengage in other disordered attachments? Do you feel like the majority of your cluttercomes from within you or from outside of you?Can you name the biggest 3 things that clutteryou from within? Can you name the biggest 3things that clutter you from outside of you?What do you want to add into your practice of simplicity next? Why? Do you foresee that to be easy of difficult?

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Simplicity should be an inward reality that is seenin an outward lifestyle. -Richard Foster.Jesus tells us it is not what goes into a man thatmakes him unclean, rather it is what comes out of him.Our inner life is important to Jesus. And our inner lifeis important to our practice of simplicity. But how dowe measure inner simplicity?A good place to start is with our thoughts. Whatoccupies most of our thoughts?Work, family life, bills, faith, friendships, savings,health, keeping up with the Jones’, and entertainmentcan make up one never ending stream of thought. Youcan’t cold turkey quit thinking about all of the thingsabove! But we can begin to lessen our attentiontowards such things. How are we feeding thesethoughts? What objects, habits and hobbies feedthoughts that we are enslaved to thinking? Inner Simplicity is freedom not slavery. Notice whataddicts your attention! Inner simplicity allows us togive single-minded thought, devotion and attentionGod and people. It removes what distracts us from this focus. SimplicityWhat it isWeek 2

Group DiscussionsWeek 2SimplicityWhat things did you choose to lessen in yourpractice of simplicity last week? Was that easyor hard for you to do? What have been thefruits of simplifying in that area of your life?Have you noticed fruit? Has your family orfriends noticed any fruit?What is your mind like when it is cluttered? Doyou become stressed, overwhelmed,obsesssive, scattered? Does a cluttered innerlife lead you to loving God and loving peoplebetter? How would you currently describe yourinner life?What 3 areas of your life do you feel are themost cluttered and complex? Can you namethem? What is a step forward in simplifyingeach of these areas?

Phillipians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers andsisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble,whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever islovely, whatever is admirable—if anything isexcellent or praiseworthy—think about suchthings.” How might you simplify you thoughts tobe more positive, loving and admirable?SimplicityWeek 2 Group DiscussionsWhere do you feel like the biggest input ofnegative thoughts stems from in your life? TV?Social Media? News Channels? How do theseinputs affect you? What keeps you coming backto these inputs if you know they negativelyaffect you?If simplicity is detaching or removing thingsfrom your life that keep you from attending toGod? How do we engage in simplicity without itbecoming something distracts us from God?Where is a healthy stopping point and how dowe know when we have reached it?

.What things did you remove from your life forthe purpose of simplicity this week? Were theytangible or intangible things?SimplicityPrompts for Reflection on the PracticeWhat websites do you frequent the most? What drives you to these sites? Information?Products? Entertainment? What do yourinternet habits say about what is in your mind? “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever istrue, whatever is noble, whatever is right,whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whateveris admirable—if anything is excellent orpraiseworthy—think about such things.”Use Philippians 4:8 to help observe yourthoughts? What noble thoughts did you havetoday? What admirable thoughts did you have?If these thoughts are not present in your week,what thoughts are present? What is feedingthese other thoughts?Do you feel like your practice of simplicityimpacted others this week? If so, how?When you are overwhelmed how loving are youto God? How loving are you to others?

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Simplicity needs to have an outward and seencomponent to its practice. Declutterring andsimplifying your thought, time and attention is good!But if we stop there we miss out on some of theblessing of simplicity. Scripture and Christian historytells us that living simply allows us give and share withthose in need.“ T h e m a n w i t h t w o t u n i c s s h o u l d share with him whoh a s n o n e . A n d t h e o n e w h o h a s food should do thes a m e . ” L u k e 3 : 1 1For many, our outer world is filled with stuff. Stuff thatcosts money to own. Stuff that occupies our time touse or space in our homes. Our material possessionscan posses us.Simplicity is saying no to some material things so thata better yes can be given. A “yes” to a friend orstranger in need. A “yes” to hungry kids in ourcommunity or our world. A “yes” to volunteering in aministry or to the Girls and Boys Club.That being said, we can go too far in our outwardexpression of simplicity. When we lose sight of theother in need and instead get caught up in piousexpressions abstinence. We’ve lost sight of simplicitywhen it is merely about the trendy aesthetics ofminimalismChristian simplicity unburdens us from the many thingsof this world and helps us more fully focus on thethings that really matter to us: to love God and others. SimplicityWhat it isWeek 3

Group DiscussionsWeek 3Simplicity“Here is the secret to subtraction. It doesn’tmatter what you remove. What matters is thatyou stop adding it back.” -Erin LoechnerRecall the things that you have removed fromlife so far in your practice of simplicity, can youimagine going without those thingspermanently? Why or why not? What makes youwant to add those things back into your life?What material possessions do you have a hardtime saying “no” to having? How do youaccumulate these things? Why do you think youwant, need or deserve these possessions?Where do these thoughts of wanting, needingand deserving come from?Do you see a correlation between simplicity andgenerosity? What are some ways you want togrow in generosity? What can you give up tomake your growth in generosity possible?

Looking at this practice over the past 3 weeks,have you found it difficult to not be too strict orlegalistic with it? Would writing some rules or guidelines help give you a plan or structure forliving simply this week? Or would that burdenyou? SimplicityWeek 3 Group DiscussionsHave you felt any pain in the practice ofsimplicity? Maybe that pain came in the form ofjudgment from from friends, going without thenewest trendiest item, or inner wrestling withwanting. How did you manage this pain? Whattype of affect did it have on you?How might the continued practice of simplicityaffect your family? What future challenges layin front of you as you continue to practicesimplicity? What blessings do you imagine foryour family if you continue to practicesimplicity?

.Over the past three weeks has simplicity become harder or easier for you to engage in?Why?SabbathPrompts for Reflection on the PracticeWhat material items in your life do you have a strong attachment to? Why? Where does that attachment stem from? Inner simplicity or outer simplicity? Which are you more drawn towards? Why?When was the last time that you enjoyedsomething without owning something? What areyour habits when it comes to borrowing, rentingor repurposing? What do those habits to sayabout your need to own?What does a realistic engagement with thepractice of simplicity look like in this stage oflife? How might this practice change in the lifestage to come?What does Jesus have to say about wealth,possessions, generosity, sharing? When wasthe last time you sat in his words over thesetopics? Why do you think it has been a whilesince you have sat with his words on thesetopics?

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Simplicity is not a vow of poverty! Simplicity is not a style.Simplicity is not a bragging point.Simplicity is valuing what is m o s t important.SabbathTips for this PracticeWhile practicing simplicity avoid:-impulse purchases-online shopping-owning when you can borrow-saying “I want…”Once a week spend time thanking God for thematerial possessions that he has given you.List them. Become aware of what you have inGod’s presence.Limit how many advertisements make their wayin front of your eyes For this practice try simplifying category by category-clothes-gadgets-decorations

Freedom of Simplicity by Richard J. FosterSabbathResources for further Study The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark ComerMargin by Richard A. SwensonCelebration of Discipline by Richard J. FosterChasing Slow by Erin LoechnerEnough by Adam Hamilton