JOHN – Chapter 10
What/who was important to Jesus?
Humanity
What needs did Jesus meet?
He met our needs by His Love
What did Jesus ask or require of his followers?
To listen to Him
What issues did Jesus address (relationships, work, money, character, religious practice, etc.)?
Jesus assures us that He is our Shepherd
What is compelling to you about Jesus in this section?
That Jesus gives us the ability to discern and interpret scripture for ourselves for that is what Psalm 82:6 means as exposited in John as well as Luke 17: 20-21 stating: 20And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (KJV)---and part of the Kingdom of God being within us is again the right for individual believers and churches to be free in their interpretations of the scriptures guided by the Holy Spirit and discernment (judgment) and to interpret them however they choose
How do followers respond to Jesus?
By listening for Jesus’ spiritual voice
What in this section challenges us to respond/ imitate/obey?
Discerning God’s voice in all things
How did Jesus change the world (for an individual or for a community)? He lived a self-sacrificial life for our sake
What vision of being missional do you glimpse for yourself? For the church? The church should seek to eradicate poimenolatry or pastor worship and ecclesiolatry or worship of the church just as Luther formulated an anti-poimenolatry/anti-clericalism position by eradicating the distinctions between the clergy and laity, when he established the Protestant doctrine of the Priesthood Of All Believers---in an age when the clergy were considered spiritually superior to the laity by having direct links to God---(Although certain Christians in direct violation of the Protestant doctrines of the Priesthood Of All Believers, religious liberty and freedom are trying to reestablish clerical superiority over the laity by reasserting the clergy’s absolute authority to dictate what and how the laity are to believe---and how they are to act and what they are to do---and also, by deifying fallible clerical opinions pertaining to religious and moral issues as the end of dialogue)---for Jesus is our True Shepherd: pastors are only pointers and guides in our own ability of discernment and interpretation in our own individual spiritual quests and journeys with Jesus
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