Session 2 "Discovering Your Birthright"
Video can be watched HERE
A major theme in the video is contrasting
'identity' with 'birthright'. We all have different ways of defining our personal identity. For example... by profession, some by religion, some by family.
Mike
Slaughter defines identity in this way... "We are children of God living under
the kingship of Jesus Christ"
As Christians that's who we are.
What about birthright?
Bible Study and Discussion
Read Genesis 28:18
“The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had
rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar.
Then he poured olive oil over it.”
Mike Slaughter suggests that what
Jacob saw at the top of the ladder (or staircase) was God. Slaughter
urges us to ask ourselves what (or who) is at the top of our ladder,
since he believes that our life dreams will be limited by the ceiling
of our life pictures. As we picture our own personal
ladder. is God at the top, or is something else—such as a job, a
vocational ambition, or even another person?
What limitations are our life pictures
placing on us?
Genesis 28:20-22
“Then Jacob made this vow: "If God will indeed be with me and
protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and
clothing, 21 and if I return safely to my father's home, then the
LORD will certainly be my God. 22 And this memorial pillar I have
set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to
God a tenth of everything he gives me."
What characteristics....
negative or positive do we see in Jacob here?
Do we ever make
conditions?
Are we faithful in worship and tithing?
THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
• God comes into our lives through
the Spirit, which serves as the ladder that connects us and leads us
in all things to come.
• How do we develop an intimate
relationship with the Holy Spirit?
Our discussion group came up with practices such as...
Worship
Prayer
Spiritual disciplines (i.e. walking the labyrinth)
Scripture Reading
Meditation
1 Corinthians 2:9-15
9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has
seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has
prepared for those who love him." 10 But it was to us that God
revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out
everything and shows us God's deep secrets. 11 No one can know a
person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can
know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. 12 And we have received
God's Spirit (not the world's spirit), so we can know the wonderful
things God has freely given us. 13 When we tell you these things, we
do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words
given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain
spiritual truths. 14 But people who aren't spiritual can't receive
these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and
they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can
understand what the Spirit means. 15 Those who are spiritual can
evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by
others.
Galatians 2:1-2 Then
fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with
Barnabas; and Titus came along, too. 2 I went there because God
revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately
with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with
them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. (Gal
2:1-2 NLT)
Homework : Building Your Life
Mission Statement: Part 2
In Genesis
28:18, Jacob got up early in the morning, took the stone that he had
put near his head, and set it up as a pillar to serve as a memorial
stone. Mike Slaughter share his personal Mission Statement in the video. He recommends
addressing three questions to begin the process of developing our own life
mission statement:
• Where do you see the greatest need
around you in your neighborhood, your community, or your world?
• How can you meet that need?
• What
gifts do you bring to further that mission?