Week 11 Reading
Read Anatomy of the Soul, P. 205-255
Apparently the rationale provided by her reptilian friend is enough to help Eve cope with her emotional distress of shame. “That's not surprising, since shame exploits our left brain's capacity for analysis, As a means of quickly diminishing the feeling of shame, we often rush to explain why we feel what we feel. This venture into left-mode thinking distracts us if even only slightly-from the intensity of the sensation of shame itself. This distraction is enough to keep us from wading into the shame in the presence of a safe, flexible, capable, and empowered relationship, the only way for the shame to be truly healed and explained reasonably.” (Page 214) What do you think about this quote from Thompson? What do you feel about it? Have you recognized this in your own life?
Later on that same page Thompson says, “This is critical for us to remember: God does not find our emotional states offensive; what he does abhore is our propensity to ignore them and likewise eject him from our minds' landscapes. When we do so, we unwittingly face death the subhuman, withering, devolving existence of comprehensive isolation of our mind(s), within themselves and apart from God and others.” (Page 214) What do you think about this quote from Thompson? Do you agree that ignoring our emotions means that we can unknowingly eject God from our mind?
What have your thoughts and feelings on confession been in the past? Have they shifted at all while reading this book?
In chapter 13 starting on page 235, Thompson speaks of complex systems, the human desire for intimacy (connection) as well as independence (autonomy) and how we can live in healthy community. What stood out to you about this? What do you think it takes to have this type of healthy community?
Is there anything else you want to share?
Week 9 Reading
Read Anatomy of the Soul, P. 157-204
On page 176 Thompson explains that prayer often requires hard work, especially contemplative prayer, which requires us to be aware of what God is doing. He also talks about a depth of prayer that comes primarily from the right hemisphere of the brain and relates it to Romans 8:26 about how our innermost being groans. He suggests that this is one of the primary ways the Holy Spirit engages with us. Have you experienced Holy Spirit in this way? Share a time that you felt like you connected with God on a level far beyond reason and logic.
How does the idea of God’s movement toward and away from us—like in Genesis 3:8—challenge or deepen your understanding of His presence in times of joy and distress? How does this play out in the truth that He never leaves us, yet sometimes feels distant? How can it also relate to the reality that He sometimes comes in greater measure? See Page 187 for context.
What do you think about the role of shame in the Christian life? Can it ever be helpful, or is it always something we should reject? See page 192 for context.
Is there anything else you want to share?
Week 8 Reading
Read Common by Earley P. 31-46
Read Celebration by Foster P. 42-58
Read Celebration by Foster P. 237-251
What is one thing from this week’s reading that was new to you or that stood out the most?
“The reason God answers prayer is because His children ask.” How can this one statement change the way we pray?
The theme of aligning with God’s will and praying with authority has now come up in the reading as well as in Seth’s message. What do you feel about this concept? Do you find it hard to know the will of God? Do you tend to pray with authority?
Of the 5 misconceptions listed in Celebration of Discipline, which have you encountered in yourself other than others?
Discuss what is means that “Joy comes through obedience to Christ, and joy results from obedience to Christ. Without obedience joy is hollow and artificial.”
Are you willing to try kneeling prayer 3 times a day? What do you feel about this? Are you nervous or excited?
Is there anything else you want to share?
Week 7 Reading
Anatomy of the Soul (P. 109-156)
After reading about the four attachment patterns, have you noticed anything about how you interact with others?
How do our attachment patterns through our past relationships shape the way we relate to God? Can you think of ways your emotions and memories affect how you see God, even when it conflicts with your beliefs?
Curt explains how Jesus’ behavior followed the Father’s pleasure and not the other way around. We often believe that living rightly will earn God’s pleasure, but His love for us existed before we ever did anything. How would your life look different if you lived with this understanding?
Did you struggle with anything you read about? (If no, you don’t need to write more)
Is there anything else you want to share?
Week 6 Reading
Anatomy of the Soul (P. 49-108)
How well are you paying attention to what you are paying attention to?
As you read the story of George and his daughter Kristin, what stood out to you? One P. 57 Thompson says “Like George, we can be inattentive to a great many things: our thoughts and feelings, the nonverbal signals we send and receive from others and our-selves, the memories from our developmental years. George was oblivious to the many things that were influencing his experience of God and life. He was missing the undercurrent feelings of sadness and guilt, how his facial expressions and tone of voice revealed his impatience and irritability, and his own mildly increased heart and breathing rates whenever he spoke with his daughter or about his daughter's problems. He was not aware of the activity of his brain stem and limbic circuitry or their influence on his behavior. Nor did he realize how they were shaping the development of his daughter's brain. More-over, ignoring these aspects of his brain's function resulted in his missing ways that God was attempting to capture his attention. Ignoring his brain was the equivalent of ignoring God.” What does this bring up for you? Pray and ask God to begin to reveal to you if there are parts of yourself that are disconnected.
P. 72 says, ‘In order for your experience to change, you must first change what you are doing.” What parts of your experience in life would you like to change (more joy, less stress, more purpose, certain relationships, etc)? What things do you need to change in order to start to change your experience? Have you changed at all (both habits and internal shifts) since starting Rehoboth?
“Your memory creates your future. That's because you imagine the future through the neural networks created by your past. It was true for the Hebrews, and it is true for you today. The experiences that will drive your responses in the future are embedded within your memory.” P. 83-84 Thompson emphasizes that our memories are not fixed; instead, they are reconstructed every time we recall them. This concept is grounded in the science of neuroplasticity — the brain's ability to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning, experience, or trauma healing. Each time we recall a memory, it becomes flexible, giving us an opportunity to reshape its emotional impact. Through practices like prayer, paying attention, storytelling, and safe relationships, we can reframe painful memories with compassion, understanding, and God’s presence. This process allows old wounds to lose their power, transforming them into stories of healing, growth, and redemption. If our memories shape how we respond to the future, how might inviting God into our past experiences change the way we live out our faith moving forward?
Did you struggle with anything you read about? (If no, you don’t need to write more)
Is there anything else you want to share?
Week 5 Reading
Anatomy of the Soul (Pages XIII-48)
Thompson says this on page 16, “We tend to place a great deal of emphasis on the ways and the degree to which we know God (or know things about God) rather than to the degree we are being known by God.” He then goes on to quote 1 Corinthians 8:1-3, “Knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.”
We think that the concept of being truly known by God is often overlooked in the global Church. Most people think that because God knows everything, He already knows them… however, this is talking about a much deeper and more personal knowing. Why do you think this is often overlooked? How do you personally feel about this?
What is your experience of being known by God? What fruit in your life reveals that you are known by God? Are you still hiding parts of yourself from God?
On page 18, Thompson says, “ We delude ourselves into thinking that we know God, but God as we believe him to be-in control and invulnerable-not God as scripture describes him to be: risk-taking and able to be hurt badly.” On page 23 he goes on to say, “At this point some of you might begin to worry that I am saying that God needs us in the way the we need Him. I am not. But I am saying that you and I affect God as significantly as He affects us. Not in terms of ultimate power, but rather in terms of the emotional valence, or level of intensity with which He feels. I believe He allows Himself to be deeply affected by our attitude toward Him, though often we don’t grasp this aspect of His character.” What is one example that you see in scripture of God being vulnerable and able to be badly hurt? On most days, do you see Him this way? How does/would having this perspective shift your daily walk with Him?
Did you struggle with anything you read about? (If no, you don’t need to write more)
Is there anything else you want to share?
Week 4 Reading
Practicing the Way (Pages 208-221)
The Common Rule (Pages 1-28)
Celebration of Discipline (Pages 1-12)
What does “take up your cross and follow (Jesus)” mean to you?
Earley says, “The idea is that we (like plants) are always growing and changing. But when there is no order, growth can take something that was supposed to produce fruit and turn it into a twisted vine of decay. That description was frighteningly accurate in my case. The rule of life is intended to pattern communal life in the direction of purpose and love instead of chaos and decay.” What do you think of the idea that the disciplines are like a trellis? And how do you think the disciplines affect communal life?
Reflect on the following quote within a quote from Celebration of Discipline. What do you think about it? Do our will or thoughts play any role in defeating sin? “Willpower will never succeed in dealing with the deeply ingrained habits of sin. Emmet Fox writes, 'As soon as you resist mentally any undesirable or unwanted circumstance, you thereby endow it with more power - power which it will use against you, and you will have depleted your own resources to that exact extent?”
Did you struggle with anything you read about? (If no, you don’t need to write more)
Is there anything else you want to share?
Week 3 Reading
Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer
Pages 120-205
“There is a special evangelistic work to be done, of course, and there are special callings to it. But if those in the churches really are enjoying fullness of life, evangelism will be unstoppable and largely automatic. The local assembly, for its part, can then become an academy where people throng from the surrounding community to learn how to live. It will be a school of life (for a disciple is but a pupil, a student) where all aspects of that life seen in the New Testament records are practiced and mastered under those who have themselves mastered them through practice. Only by taking this as our immediate goal can we intend to carry out the Great Commission.” Dallas Willard
If the most effective form of evangelism is a Christian “enjoying the fullness of life”, how does one embrace and live out a good life despite the fact we are also called to embrace trials and suffering?
The idea of living by a rule of life and apprenticing ourselves under Jesus might seem pretty foreign in our culture. How do we begin introducing this shift to people who may not even realize they need it—or might be resistant to the change?
Gary Thomas discovered the concept of “spiritual temperament”-nine unique pathways of engaging God.
We believe that there should be a level of participation in all nine, but what two or three do you gravitate to most?
Naturalists: loving God in nature and the outdoors
Sensates: loving God with the senses candles, incense, materials, and so on.
Traditionalists: loving God through ritual, symbolism, and liturgy.
Ascetics: loving God in solitude and self-denial.
Activists: loving God by fighting injustice.
Caregivers: loving God by caring for those in need.
Enthusiasts: loving God with music and dance and celebration.
Contemplatives: loving God through quiet adoration.
Intellectuals: loving God with the mind.
What was your overall opinion of this book? What stood out to you the most that you want to actually implement into your life?
Did you struggle with anything you read about? (If no, you don’t need to write more)
Is there anything else you want to share?
Week 2 Reading
Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer
Pages 64-117
Talk to us about the 3 losing strategies for change (see pages 84-88) Why do these not work (by themselves)? Which have you tried to use as a means of change and what were the results?
As you read Comer’s “Working Theory of Change” (see pages 101-112), which of his 6 focuses, which was most helpful for you in understanding how we change to become more like Jesus?
Did you struggle with anything you read about? (If no, you don’t need to write more)
Is there anything else you want to share?
Creation and the Patriarchal Histories
Pages 9-30
4. Reardon says creation is God's 'first writing.' How does this change the way we see nature and the Bible?
5. Did you struggle with anything you read about? (If no, you don’t need to write more)
6. Is there anything else you want to share?
Formation Project
7. What struggle / issue did you choose for your Formation Project (if you’d rather not say, you can skip this)
8. Are you nervous or excited to dive into this with Jesus and this community? Explain.
Week 1 Reading
Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer
Pages XI - 63
As you reflect on this week’s reading, what stands out to you about being an apprentice of Jesus vs. a Christian?
“All of us are abiding… what are you abiding in?” What is the thing you find yourself abiding in the most? Work, anxious thoughts, family?
Comer spoke about contemplation and contemplative prayer? Is this something you regularly practice? If so, tell us about it. If not, are you willing to try it?
Did you struggle with anything you read about? (If no, you don’t need to write more)
Is there anything else you want to share?