1. Wedding at Cana: John 2:1-11
2. Woman Caught in Adultery: John 8:1-11
3. Rich Young Ruler: Mark 10:17-31
4. Unforgiving Servant: Matthew 18:15-35
5. Washing Disciples Feet: John 13:1-17
6. Fruit of the Vine: John 15:1-17
7. Jubilee (Review & Commission)

Tickets for the sophomore season of Discipling by Jesus (leading up to Pentecost) will be available on Wednesday, April 7th.

This time we are focusing on learning to love more like Jesus, especially with family and those closest to us.

As usual, we will cover one passage per week, with the seventh “Jubilee” week being a review and commissioning.

Backstory

Like last season, I chose this theme based on the narrative I most need to grow in right now.

This season I am primarily focused on marriage and family. I had long thought about doing a special DBJ for pre-marital counseling. The “breakthrough” for me was realizing I could do that as part of a general-purpose DBJ focused on “love.” This would speak into the core issues that affect marriages, but really are applicable to all relationships.

This also allowed me to revisit the theme of “Loving More Like Jesus” which animated the second half of The Great Reset. I still believe that is a central skill for Christians, but I wanted to reframe that in the context of receiving and sharing grace with each other.

1. I wanted to start with the wedding in Cana, both chronologically and because I think we all run out of natural wine.
2. The woman caught in adultery touched on law, grace, and how Jesus loves those the world condemns.
3. The rich young ruler has a special place in my marriage, because Jesus loves someone enough to ask him to do the impossible.
4. Forgiveness came up when I asked DBJ-er Ross for passages to pray into my family. The parable of the unforgiving servant seemed the best narrative for wrestling with those issues.
5. Jesus washing the feet of the disciples — including Judas! — really challenges my tendency to think of love as condescension.
6. I really wanted to include Jesus command to love others as He has loved me, but I never noticed it was tied to abiding in Him.

Note: The really hard part is cutting the passages down to ~16 verses. I have done full-chapter DBJ, but it tends toward the Word over-dominating our time together. Someday it might be fun to do DBJ Uncut, where we have two-hour sessions studying the entire chapter for each passage. Or even a DBJ Marathon, where we do, e.g., the 21 chapters of John over a triple-season of 21 weeks.