THE WALK: FIVE ESSENTIAL PRACTICES OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
LESSON 2: THE IMPORATANCE OF LISTENING AND PAYING ATTENTION
REV. ADAM HAMILITON’S LENTEN STUDY
OPENING DIRECTIONS AND QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
• Reminder for those in the Wednesday Night Class: All conversations in class are confidential.
• If you hear something you might like to share, please ask the person who has shared for permission.
• If you are participating online, those conversations are open.
• How do you understand the verbs: to worship and to pray?
• Do you worship and/or pray? If so, why do you worship and/or pray?
• If you do not worship and/or pray, what might motivate you to do so?
WEEK 2: SESSION GOALS
Through conversation, activities, and reflection, participants will:
• Consider the ways God speaks to us through general and special revelations.
• Explore different ways to hear God’s voice through Scripture
• Commit to practicing the spiritual discipline of listening for God’s Word
1 MINUTE OF SILENCE
PREPARATION FOR THE STUDY (PLEASE JOT DOWN RESPONSES)
• Have you had any experiences with the disciplines Hamilton recommends in this reading?
• If so in one sentence can you describe what that was/is like?
FROM LAST SESSION:
• How has your experience of community worship strengthened your walk with God?
• How has individual worship through prayer strengthened your walk with God?
• How will you continue to practice worship and prayer going forward?
This session explores listening for God with an emphasis on reading Scripture:
Holy and loving God, thank you for walking with us. Thank you for revealing yourself to us as we walk with you. We pray that you will open our eyes and our ears for we may be mindful of what you are saying to us. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
LEARNING TOGETHER VIDEO, STUDY, AND DISCUSSION
After we watch the video, (Online participants will respond from reading the text. Anyone can purchase the video at Cokebury.com. Let me know if you want help doing this.) these are the question we will contemplate together.
• What is one thing you learned that you did not know before?
• What other voices tempt you?
• How can you be tuned into God’s voice?
• Why is it important to read Scripture with others, and not just by yourself?
Bible Study and Discussion:
Please turn to Chapter 2 in THE WALK. Let us read the Psalm 19.1-4 from the NRSV.
Would volunteers read the same passage from other translations?
• What differences in the wording did you notice?
• What do the heavens reveal to us about the glory and nature of God?
• What do other aspects of nature reveal to us about God?
• When have you had a special experience of God’s presence or a revelation of God’s word while in nature?
• What significance is it that the Bible points to nature as a way of knowing God?
• What does this imply about the relationship between revelation and special revelation?
BOOK STUDY AND DISCUSSION
Chapter 2: General Revelation
o Read the first paragraph
o Genesis 1.27: (CEB) “Gad created humanity in God’s own image.”
1. God is our creator and God has blessed us with the gift of creativity.
2. Sometimes God speaks to us when we engage in creative activities.
3. Sometimes God speaks to us the the creativity of others.
• Let’s look at this painting for a few minutes.
o What is God revealing through this art?
o What was the process of listening for God through art like for you?
• How has a visual art form spoke to you of God in the past?
Special Revelation
• Read the first paragraph in this section.
1. The Holy Spirit
2. Scripture
3. Jesus: God’s Word in the flesh
The Holy Spirit
Scripture: we read for
1. Understanding
2. Formation
3. Prayerfully
4. Lectio Divina
5. In community with others
How do you define these disciplines?
Are there any that work for you?
Any new ones you might like to try?
OPTIONAL EXERCISES IF TIME
CLOSING PRAYER
Let us pray the prayer at the end of the book on page 62.