We Believe 1
Icebreaker
Let's play Hot Take or Held Back. Go around the group and share something you say you believe but your daily life tells a different story & keep it light! Maybe it's recycling, eating better, getting more sleep, calling your mom more.
Belief vs. Conviction
Wes opened with a confession: he believes in global warming but doesn't drive electric, hates paper straws, and isn't sure the kids are sorting the recycling right.
In your own words, what's the difference between belief and conviction?
Think of something you believe with conviction — something that actually moves your feet. What made that belief land differently than the others?
Wes referenced the Anabaptist idea that orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxis (right practice) can't be separated. What we believe shapes how we live. How we live reveals what we actually believe. How does that land for you? Does it feel freeing, challenging, or both?
Jesus Is the Centre
We Believe (Knowledge & Conviction) Jesus is God
Read Hebrews 1:1–3 together
God spoke through prophets. Then through his Son. Then Hebrews drops this: Jesus is "the exact imprint of his nature." Not a hint of God. Not a representative of God. The precise image.
What changes practically when you move from "Jesus shows us something about God" to "Jesus shows us everything about God"?
Wes said: "If you want to know what God would say, listen to Jesus. If you want to know what God would do, look at Jesus."
Is there an image of God you've carried from church, family, culture that looks different from Jesus? What would it mean to let Jesus correct that image?
A Jesus-Centred Bible
Wes was clear: Reunion loves the Bible but Jesus is the authority, not the Bible itself and that changes how we read it by placing our priority on Jesus’ life, teachings and practices over all other scripture.
Wes named the issue with a flat reading of scripture: Every Verse is Equally Inspired and Equally Applicable: Jesus says turn the other cheek, Moses says eye for an eye. Jesus elevates women, Paul tells them to sit down and be quiet. Jesus says love your enemy, the prophets say go kill everyone.
How have you navigated those contradictions before? What tools did you use — or were you given?
Reunion's approach is to read the whole Bible through the lens of Jesus — his life, teachings, and practices. Where other parts of scripture seem to point somewhere different, the question becomes: what does Jesus show us?
How do you react to that approach? Does it feel like a solid anchor, or does it raise questions for you? (Both are totally welcome here.)
Wes introduced the idea of context that Paul's instructions were equally inspired but not always equally applicable to our situation. Context isn't a shortcut to avoid hard texts; it's how we take them seriously.
Can you think of a biblical text that landed very differently once you understood its context? What changed for you?
Apprentices, Not Just Believers
Wes said Jesus' invitation to follow me wasn't a ticket to heaven it was a call to apprenticeship: To be with him, become like him, and love like him. Over time, people around you should be able to say they're like Jesus — not because you can win a theology debate, but because of how you actually live.
Read 2 Corinthians 3:18
"Our lives are gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him." Gradually. That word matters.
Where do you see that slow transformation happening in your own life, even in small ways?
Wes said Reunion isn't asking you to sign a doctrinal checklist. The invitation is simply: be with Jesus, become like Jesus, love like Jesus.
What is one concrete thing that would look different in your week if you took that seriously as a practice, not just a belief?
Application
This series is called We Believe and this week is the foundation everything else builds on. Before we can talk about what we believe on the harder questions, we need to be clear on the centre: Jesus. His life, teachings, and practices are the lens.
So here's the homework this week and it's good homework, we promise:
Read the Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5–7
This is Jesus' defining teaching, the one he gave not once but many times in many places. Read it slowly. Read it like someone who wants to actually do what it says, not just understand it. As you read, ask:
What surprises me about Jesus here?
What makes me uncomfortable?
What would change in my life if I took this seriously?
Come back next week ready to share one thing that stood out.
Close in Prayer
