Open-ended,
Life-centred,
Gospel-Focused Explorations of Australian Prayer
Book
Eucharistic Readings
No Hebrew
Bible reading set, hence ACTS 9: 1-6..
3rd S. of Easter, Yr C. (For
JN 21: 1-19 scroll on site.)
NOTES: 1] To see what happens
next, read to v.20.
WARMING UP: What is the most dramatic journey we can
remember?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
1-2 What kind of beliefs,
emotions, feelings might make a person like Saul such a religious
fanatic? If that is intolerance at its worst, is there an equal &
opposite over-tolerance when it comes to religion? What kind of
inadequate understandings of God does each extreme reflect? Do our
religious heavies play much of a part in defining who's 'in' with God
& who's 'out' today? Is that a good thing or a bad? In the church
to which we belong, how important an issue is 'jurisdiction' over
people? What kinds of things do we do, or use, to 'bind' others up in
our way of looking at things? If we thought of ourselves as first &
foremost belonging to the Way, might that be a helpful thing in
relating to other Christians who walk the Way differently from us?
Given that Jesus is the Way, are we ever instead tempted to 'walk' some
way of our own making? How good are we at taking our bearings as to
whether we're on the Jesus Way or some other way, & doing something
about what we find?
3-6 Have
we ever had some meaningful 'Damascus Road' religious experience of our
own? Does the fact that so many biblical experiences are accompanied by
bright light or other physical manifestations make it harder for us to
discern spiritual experiences not necessarily accompanied by such
elements? What kinds of signs might be more likely to be part of our
own religious journeying on the Way today? Have we ever been 'felled to
the ground' by some more powerful than usual spiritual experience? Are
we more likely to be wary of someone claiming a 'flashing light'
&/or 'a voice from heaven' experience these days, than impressed by
it? If God may not ever as dramatically accuse us of 'persecuting' him as Saul is accused here,are there things we do need to be
conscious of that fall / almost fall into that category? What might
constitute 'persecuting' God these days?
How did Jesus first
introduce himself to us? Or haven't we been introduced yet? Can we
identify any way(s) in which God has - dramatically, or not - attracted
our attention & either called us to get ourselves onto, or
confirmed us in our journeying on the Way? Have we ever asked the
question of God, "Who are you, Lord?"? Or have we always assumed we
don't need to ask that question? If someone were to ask us, "Who is
God?", how might we 'introduce' them to God? Or don't we feel we know
God well enough to be able to / have the right to introduce anyone else
to God? Is there any sense in which God might be telling us to: a) get
up, b) go somewhere, c) discover what we're meant to be doing for God?
Have we become so used to 'being our own boss' that we don't take
kindly to being told to do anything, by God or anyone else? How does
that kind of attitude sit with 'walking the Way'? If we're not
compatible with God, are we any more likely to be compatible with the
Way? Whose move is it next?
