Chi Alpha Resources

September 16th : Read John 1 & 2; Pray for the tribal groups of the world. The tribal groups collectively include 161 million people in 704 people groups with sixty cross-cultural workers for every one million Tribals. 17th : Read John 3; Pray for God to call laborers towards tribal groups. 18th : Read John 4; Tribal environments are vastly hostile to outsiders. Pray for tribal students who leave their home to find Jesus and return as laborers to their native tribe. 19th : Read John 5; Pray for courage for the called ones of God to answer God’s call as they face language, cultural, ethnic, and religious barriers. 20th : Read John 6 & 7; Ask the Spirit of God how you should pray for the unreached tribal people and pray as He directs. 21st : Read John 8; Pray for open doors to minister in creative contexts that will help missionaries engage Hindus, especially India’s booming younger population. 22nd : Read John 9; Pray against ancient strongholds of fear. Many equate leaving behind Hinduism to leaving behind their families. 23rd : Read John 10; Pray for Hindu international students to be radically saved during their college journeys. Pray that these very same ones will return to their families and tell them about Jesus. 24th : Read John 11; Ask the Spirit of God about how you should pray for Hindus and pray as He directs. 25th : Read John 12; Pray for God’s supernatural power to meet many more Muslims where they are at. 26th : Read John 13; Pray for workers to have access into Islamic countries. 27th : Read John 14 & 15; Pray for the fear against Muslims that exist in our society to turn into compassion toward their lostness. 28th : Read John 16; Pray for Muslim international students on our campuses to meet Jesus through their Christian friends on campus 29th : Read John 17; Ask the Spirit of God how you should pray for Muslims and pray as He directs. 30th : Read John 18; Pray for workers who understand the Buddhist worldview and can effectively share truth in Buddhist contexts to be sent to them. October 1st : Read John 19; Pray for Buddhist international students amongst us to find Jesus here and go back to their home countries as missionaries. 2nd : 10.2 - Read John 20 & 21;Pray for the strongholds of religion to be broken and for the eyes of Buddhists to be open to the emptiness of their beliefs.

Read Chapter 3 - Just Words? Language "Behind the words that make up language is a complex system of values, assumptions and habits of mind that reveal themselves in the words we use and leave unsaid. When we cross a culture, as when we read the Bible, we often assume that what goes without being said in our culture and language also goes without being said in other cultures and languages. This can lead to profound misunderstanding." (pg. 70) 1. What are some words that we, as westerners, assume mean one thing to all people, but in actuality, do not mean what they we think they do to everyone? e.g. Love, Family "Western readers typically believe that if something is important, then we’ll have a word for it. And the more important something is in our culture, the more likely we are to develop specialized language to describe it." (pg. 72) 2. This may be a new concept for you; take a moment to discuss whether or not you agree with the authors. Remember, always remain FAT (faithful, available, teachable) in your discipleship journey. 3. If there is not a western "word" for something, how can we ever fully understand the concepts of other cultures? "Westerners are wired, by virtue of our worldview, to seek cause-and-effect connections in everything. We instinctively ask, “Why did this happen?” When we read the story of Job, for example, we tend to emphasize why these things happened to Job. We may be emphasizing the wrong point. Job never does know why those things happened. How might Job’s experience help us face life, since we also are rarely told by God why things happen? " (pg. 90) Prayer Points 1. Read Luke 11:1-13. Pray together as a group through this teaching by Jesus in light of our conversation today. Teaching about Prayer Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. 3 Give us each day the food we need, 4 and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation.” 5 Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 6 ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ 8 But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. 9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 “You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? 12 Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! 13 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” Homework: Read Chapter 5- Just Below The Surface Photo by Oleg Magni from Pexels

Read Chapter 2 - The Bible In Color Discussion Questions Race and Ethnicity 1. The authors use adoption here in America as an example of how we may accidentally place a monetary value onto someone who is being adopted based on their skin color. What were some of your thoughts as you read this methodology through their point of view? Have you ever thought of such a practice as being unethical, especially in light of the Imagio Dei truth that all people are created equal in the image of God? 2. Read Galatians 3:1 - The authors suggest that Paul uses an ethnic slur when addressing the Galatians in this verse. Assuming their statements to be true, how does that change what you understand about the Apostle Paul in his dealings with the Galatian church? What do you think Paul was trying to communicate by using this type of language? 3. Read John 1:43-46; Jesus was considered "less than" by Philip simply because of where Jesus was from. This is an issue that humans still wrestle with today, though our bias is not based only on a person's city of origin. How does it affect your view of Jesus to know that he was born to a people group considered inferior by the majority culture (Romans) and in a town that other Jews considered backward and unimportant (Nazareth)? 4. What are some other areas that we tend to be bias in leading to judgement in our hearts towards others? Think through the lens of identity, politics, socioeconomic and class structures, as well as ethnicity and race. 5. As a reconciling community, what action steps we must take in order to be aware of our own bias, and create a culture that is biblically based and not overly influenced by our western culture? Prayer Points 1. Take time to prayerfully consider your prejudices. Pray for the person to your left asking Jesus to reveal such shortcomings in your heart and for the Holy Spirit to help you overcome your moments of failure 2. Each day this week pray a prayer as you start your day asking the Lord to remind you to be cognoscente of how you are interacting, and thinking, of others in all that you do. Homework: Read Chapter 3 - Just Words? Photo by Oleg Magni from Pexels