Engage

Engage Small Group Curriculum

Jesus Said What?: The Radical Beatitudes

Far too often the Beatitudes is brought out to teach comfortable religious insiders what Jesus would have us do more of—so that God would favor us more, or be less disappointed — so we would feel better about our Christianity.

That might be partly true, it is burying the real headline of the Sermon on the Mount and the clear intent of Jesus’ message. On that hillside in Galilee, Jesus wasn’t speaking to the comfortable religious insiders. No. He was speaking to those who had been shamed and rejected by the religious institutions. They were societal and religious failures. They didn’t have a voice. No one was pursuing them. Until Jesus.

But He really saw them. He called them poor in spirit, the harshest idiom that he could have chosen. They were the society’s miserable, humiliated, much maligned poor—not clean enough for God—or so some claimed. These were those who could not get their lives back together again no matter how hard they tried. No one expected much out of them.

But Jesus intentionally pursued and embraced them—as they were. Theologian John Barclay captures it well.
“Whereas good gifts were (and still are) normally thought to be distributed best to fitting or worthy recipients, …the Christ-gift, the ultimate gift of God to the world, [is] given without regard to worth, and in the absence of worth—an unconditioned or incongruous gift that did not match the worth of its recipients but created it.”

The Beatitudes are all about what happens when the Kingdom of God bumps into those poor people who have been treated unfairly and unjustly—many chronically–who cannot change their situation—no one has their back.

That’s the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount. That is the heart of God.

Jesus Said What? is a provocative relevant study for Christians who want to feel the love of God for them more than they have recently. Seven video-based modules. The ‘Engage” format is designed to encourage organic shame-free dialogue. It is OK to disagree in Engage. All are welcomed.

Engage: Can’t Forgive?

A SHAME-FREE breakthrough group study on the Biblical principles of “How to Forgive.” You’ve heard a lot about the Biblical path to forgive crimes and deep hurts, but nothing like this. 

So, Christian, you’re hurt. Someone did something to you, took something from you. You tried to forgive, just like Jesus said, but the pain is still there. You’re stuck, but not alone. Forgiving others is hard. Perhaps, now you feel guilty or ashamed that you’ve disappointed Jesus. It’s a nasty cycle. You have tried to get help: with counseling, conferences, or books. These can be expensive, inconvenient and you’re still hurting. So why are we so bad at it?

Can’t Forgive? is based upon the breakthrough Biblical research by Pastor and forgiveness expert, Dr. Bill Senyard. What if we have, well-meaningly, misunderstood what the Bible has to say about how to forgive others? Jesus did say that we should forgive others seventy times seven times. Yet, He didn’t say how.

Can’t Forgive? focuses on the “How?”. As an added bonus, Can’t Forgive? works in conjunction with “The Forgiving Path”, the on-line Biblical Forgiving tool that has helped hundreds of Christians learn how to forgive (www,forgivingpath.com).

Welcome to Engage.

Module #1: Forgiving is Hard!
Module #2: Seven Propositions
Module #3: The Magnanimous King
Module #4: Final Due Diligence
Module #5: Trial: Part 1
Module #6: Trial: Part 2
Module #7: Dance!

Engage Starter Kit: Jesus “Sees” and “Says” and “Heals”

The Engage Starter Kit is a bit of a “taster set”. In the Gospels, we come across provocative accounts where the author observes that Jesus “sees” or “says” or “heals.” Not just any “sees” or “says” or “heals,” the actions occur in contexts that raise obvious questions. What did it mean that Jesus saw? What did He see? What did the person(s) whom Jesus saw, feel? Why them? I want to be seen that way. You get the idea, right? Same with Jesus “says” or “heals.” Good news, there will be separate collections of each in the future. Have fun!