DC 101 - Week 3 (more)

After re-examining this week's workload, it appears that we may have a little extra time at the end of our meeting on Monday. If that's the case, we'll have some group prayer time and/or a brief testimony time, so that the guys can get to know each other better.

DC 101 - Week 3 - God the Son

This is actually week four in terms of our meetings. I'm not counting the introductory week in my title; rather, I'm considering the weeks we meet to discuss issues. In week 1, we considered the character traits of a disciple of Jesus Christ. In week 2, which concluded with our meeting this morning, we discussed God the Father. And in preparation for next Monday's meeting, which I'm calling week 3, we'll discuss God the Son. The workload for this week, if you're breaking it down by daily work, might look something like this:

Monday - Read John 10-21
Tuesday - Read Proverbs 9 and both workbook articles (one on "The Completeness of Christ" and one on "The Emotions of Jesus")
Wednesday - memorize 2 Corinthians 5:21 - "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" - and review the previous memory verses (2 Peter 3:18 and Ephesians 2:10)
Thursday - Review the memory verses and answer questions 1a-c and 2 a-c (6 questions)
Friday - Review the memory verses and answer questions 3a-c, 4, and 5 (5 questions)

Monday's 12 chapters in John's gospel is probably the most time-consuming portion of the workload, but just read it and enjoy it. Take an hour and jot down a point or two from each chapter. I'll comment more on the workload later in the week.

DC 101 - week 2

Going through the workload this week, we find that there is much more to discuss than in week 1. We could easily spend the entire meeting time on John 1-9. In fact, we could easily spend the entire meeting time on John 1:1-18. John Piper once took a 15-week seminary course on the Gospel of John, and the first 14 weeks were devoted to this prologue. See my blog posts, which serve as a commentary on the prologue, here.

Next, as the DC leader's guide notes, a discussion of John's gospel can break off into tangents that naturally flow from a reading of the text. But we don't have time in our meeting to deal with many of them. Thus, we'll try to focus on personal application, rather than issues of doctrinal debate. We'll also sneak in a brief discussion of Proverbs 8 in the first few minutes of our meeting; how do we understand the personification of wisdom found there?

Finally, we'll discuss a number of questions regarding theology - the study of God. We'll focus specifically on the character traits of God the Father, His eternal purpose, and His role in salvation. We won't be able to cover everything adequately; rather, we'll try to focus on the key points and overarching application of the topics at hand.

DC 101 - Week 2 - God the Father

Our group met yesterday to discuss the character traits of a disciple of Jesus Christ. Humility was one of, if not the main, one noted. Thanks to all who participated in the discussion of Ephesians, Titus, and Proverbs 1-4 as well. This week, we are focusing on God the Father. Our plan for the workload might look like this:

Monday - Read John 1-9
Tuesday - Read Proverbs 8 and the article on fearing God
Wednesday - Memorize Ephesians 2:10 - "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" - and consider the context of this verse, especially in light of having read Ephesians last week.
Thursday - Answer questions "1a-e" and "2a-e" (10 questions total) and review the memory verses learned so far (both 2 Peter 3:18 and Ephesians 2:10).
Friday - Answer questions "3a-d", "4a-c", "5a-c", and 6 (12 questions total), and review those memory verses.

Louisville has experienced quite a wind storm from Hurricane Ike, and if you lack electrical power, you may have to be creative in finding time to get the work done this week.