Unified Diversity - On Letting Someone Help (Focus 3 of 4)

Consider this ice breaker as you gather for the Spotlight.
Have you ever found surprising common ground with someone over a movie, show, song, or other media? 

Focus 3 | Unified Diversity

Can true diversity be unified—truly? Yes! But how, and what would that look like?
Now that you've answered the icebreaker, let's answer another question, this one about cahoots. Listen to this audio clip when you’re ready to begin today’s Spotlight.
See what this Spotlight—and series—is focused on.
Tap on the words "Focus 3" in the image below to read this Spotlight's summary.
Focus on the destination while understanding the paths to it.

In perhaps his most powerful prayer (at least from what the Gospel writers recorded), Jesus prayed to the Father these words. Read them aloud. 

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.”
John 17:22–23

As you think and talk about “letting someone help” in this series, know that you’re thinking and talking about how to be the answer to this prayer. Every connection that you share with another person is part of making Christ’s goal a reality, so don’t miss out on the beauty of when it’s happening.

Sometimes the oneness Jesus prayed for comes naturally out of mutual admiration, love, or respect. Other times it doesn’t, and God is able to forge this unity by other means—things like need, crisis, or confusion. When the end goal is unity, we can appreciate the way we got there, even if it’s hard.
Pray along (and sing, too, if you want) with this song about becoming one.
Read aloud (rotating readers if you’re doing this Spotlight in a group) for each of the following paragraphs.

First Reader
There’s something that happens when a group of people sing about unity that makes it sound so close you can almost feel it. At the same time, we're probably realistic enough to understand that this unity will not be fully achieved until we are with God fully.

Second Reader
Here’s how it’s described by John, one of Jesus’ disciples, after he was given a glimpse of the end of time and the goodness of that unity:

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
Revelation 7:9

Third Reader
And that is only possible because of the total victory of Jesus, the lamb of God.

ALL
And they sang a new song [to Jesus], saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
    and with your blood you purchased for God
    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
    and they will reign on the earth.”
Revelation 5:9

Fourth Reader
The very idea that…
  • you have unity
  • with people of every tribe and language and people and nation
  • because Jesus has saved all of us
…is a consummate example of how “letting someone help” creates “unified diversity.”
Know the needs you have that can make this happen.

The triangle image above is known as “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need.” It’s a simple way to categorize the types of needs each person has.

Pray through this list for yourself, starting from the bottom (the more essential needs) and moving up.

Try to get specific as you pray. For example, instead of just praying for “air” (the first in the list of physiological needs)—what is it about air that you would ask for? Air quality improvement? Help against asthma? For everything on the list, try to dive into your particular need, since the more clearly you see the need the more clearly the potential solutions can be.

This prayer activity can be done in person or in families or in other subdivided groups. This is a big list, and hopefully can provide a pretty focused session of praying for you.

Use as many as eight minutes to pray through this, allowing getting through this list attainable.

(The ambient background audio below can help govern your allotted time.)
Dig into the “Gentile offering” of the New Testament.
Navigate through the interactive experience below by clicking through using the arrows.
Distinguish between the different types of counselors.
In the Serve sections of this series, you’ve been looking at letting someone professional help. That same theme continues this week with a look at the variety of different kinds of counselors that exist.



Divide and conquer (within your group), finding the differences between each type of counselor.
  1. Have each member of your group choose a different counselor type.
  2. Give each member time to research their chosen counselor type.
  3. Provide space for each member to define their counselor type for the rest of the group.
Feel free to submit a prayer request by filling out the below form.
(If you choose to make your request public, you'll see it display in the Current at the end of the Spotlight along with anyone else who did the same.)

Prayer Requests



Contact
Pray through your requests—together—as a group.
After submitting your requests in the above form, take some time to share with your group whatever requests the group might have for this week.
Pray together for the help God gives.
Rotate reading through Psalm 20—a prayer for hope—verse by verse, in order of birthdate (month/day) within your group.
Sing along with (or listen to) this song to close out this Spotlight.
Feel free to sing along or simply listen. Do what makes you comfortable—but do whatever helps you focus on the song's meaning best.
Let's wrap things up by taking a look at what's Current at Illume.

Tap on the buttons in the frame below to see what’s currently happening at Illume—information on everything from current and upcoming online content to live events and opportunities to serve in the community can all be found here.                          

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