Called to Holiness

In one paragraph

This message, preached by Pastor Brian, worked through one verse in 1 Thessalonians 4: "God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives." He focused on two words from that verse, holy and called, and built the whole conversation around what those words actually mean in the Greek rather than what we assume they mean in English. Before getting into the text, Pastor Brian drew a line between...

Read together

1. 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 Read aloud by a congregation member; the central passage for the sermon, with verse 7 as the key focus
2. Romans 6:12-14 Read from the screen and discussed to contrast common versus holy, sinful desires versus giving oneself completely to God
3. 2 Timothy 2:20-21 Read from the screen as an illustration of common versus set-apart utensils, applied to holiness
4. Luke 14 Referenced by Brian as the parable of the king's banquet, used to illustrate the meaning of 'called' as an invitation rather than a demand

What was said

• Read Romans 6:12-14 slowly this week and mark which phrases describe common living and which describe set-apart living, the way Brian color-coded them in the sermon.
• Pick one area of your life where you have been grinding on a treadmill of trying to be good in your own strength, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what it would look like to receive his holiness as an invitation rather than manufacture it yourself.
• Memorize or write down this line from the sermon and sit with it: 'Religion demands outward adherence. Jesus invites us into relationship that evokes inward holiness.'
• Read 2 Timothy 2:20-21 on your own and walk through it the same way Brian walked through the Romans passage, looking for what Paul contrasts as common versus set apart.
• Fill out a connect card and hand it in, especially if there is something you need the Tribe staff to pray over with you this week.

Talk about it

1. Brian talked about the difference between a churchgoer and a Christian, saying that going to church does not make you a Christian any more than going into a garage makes you a car. How would you describe that distinction in your own words, and where do you think you land?
2. Brian used two identical batteries to illustrate holiness, setting one apart from the other to show what consecration means. What is an area of your everyday life where you find it hard to stay 'set apart' rather than getting mixed back in with what he called the common?
3. Phil connected the battery illustration to how he manages his camera batteries as a photographer, and Brian said the Holy Spirit makes those personal connections when we slow down and wrestle with scripture. Has a passage you have read many times ever landed differently because of something from your own life or work? What happened?
4. Brian said that many people read the word 'called' in verse seven as a demand, but that the Greek word also means to invite. How does hearing it as an invitation rather than a demand change the way you think about living a holy life?
5. Brian drew a contrast between religion demanding outward adherence and Jesus inviting us into a relationship that evokes inward holiness. Where have you experienced that treadmill of trying to manufacture holiness in your own effort, and what did it feel like?
6. Lissa brought up the Emancipation Proclamation and said that some enslaved people kept living as slaves because they did not know they had been set free, and that even released prisoners often keep prisoner habits. What habits or ways of thinking in your own life might still reflect the old 'common' self rather than the freedom you have been invited into?