Pray: To open your time together.
Read: A selection of “Psalm of Ascents”: Psalm 121; 124; 127 – Read these psalms aloud together.
Consider: Some thoughts for your group
“Discipleship (mathētēs) says we are people who spend our lives apprenticed to the master, Jesus Christ. We are in a growing-learning relationship, always. A disciple is a learner, but not in an academic setting of a schoolroom, rather at the work site of a craftsman. We do not acquire information about God but skills for faith.”
– Eugene Peterson, “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction”
Group Questions:
What are some themes that you hear when you read the Psalms of Ascent out loud? Take some time to re-read, if necessary, noticing the main-ideas the psalmist is sharing.
How do those themes of the psalmist reflect a life of discipleship to God?
Have you considered your life as a Jesus-follower to be that of an apprentice to a master? How does the word “apprentice” resonate with your current journey with Jesus? How does it seem foreign?
Pastor Eugene Peterson says that the skills we acquire in our apprentice to Jesus are not academic, but rather “skills of faith”. Does this sound true of your experience following Jesus? Give some examples of ways you have grown in skills of faith. What are some areas you want to grow in faith in this current season of your discipleship?
Closing Prayer:
Spend some time praying for one another. Pray for a continued growing of intimacy with Jesus and for our “skills of faith” to be expanded and deepened.