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Study Files

Session 1 Video

How does the Bible read us? Why does the Bible end the way it begins?

Classroom

- **The Good News**

  - The Bible ends where it begins…Kind of.

  - The Tree of Life (Revelation 22:i-2a; Revelation 2i :3 4)

- **The Problem**

  - Lived between these two trees.

  - And between these two trees, life is hard.

- **The Reality**

  - We all long to be someone different. Every one of us.

    - Even if it’s just a better version of ourselves.

    - As children we know this intuitively.

  - This longing is not a curse, but a gift from God.

- **A Case of Amnesia**

  - Somewhere along the way, we forgot the gift of transformation.

  - Yet the feeling never goes away; it just changes shape.

- **Conclusion**

  - We are not asking just “how do we read the Bible?” but “how does the Bible read
us?”

  - Why does the Bible end the way it begins?

    - To finish an unfinished creation.

**Discussion  Questions for Video I:**

  - Thelonging to be someone else is normal. So how do we affirm this deep longing, while pointing to the “true tree of life”?

  - Why do you think as a society we have shut down the idea that we have a need for transformation? How has the damaged us?

  - When and why did the idea that transformation is a “bad thing” start?

  - What is it that scares us about transformation?

  - How should we begin to break the lie that transformation is a bad thing with our none Christian friends and family?

  - How do we explain to non-believers that the longing that they are experiencing is the product of a much deeper longing within?

  - How do we show people the path to transformation in a way that doesn’t offend them?

  - What does clinging to the tree in the middle (i.e., the cross) look like in each of our lives?

  - What part of your identity is society telling you to embrace even though you know God is telling you otherwise?

  - How can we distinguish the longing to be someone different as a gift from God and not hating one’s own body?

  - How do you know you are being transformed into the image of Christ and not some other imitation?

  - In what ways do you see yourself longing for “New Creation”?

  - Do you think the church takes this longing for transformation seriously enough? Or have we forgotten how much impact this longing has on us?

  - How does the Biblical narrative of transformation contrast to the world narrative that “you need to stay true to yourself”?

Life Between Two Trees

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Life Between Two Trees Instructions