Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

236 / CORNERSTONE CURRICULUM STUDENT WORKBOOK

• How should the self-emptying of Jesus Christ affect our attitudes about our own lives and ministries as we go forth to answer God’s call on our lives? • To what extent is Jesus’ lowliness and humility a model for us, and in what ways is his submission to the Father unique to him alone? Explain your answer. • How do you currently apply the following instruction of Jesus to your own life and ministry? Luke 9.23-25 – And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. [24] For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. [25] For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” • In what way should we incorporate texts like Philippians 2.5-11 and 2 Corinthians 8.9 into our understanding of Christian discipleship and ministry? • Of all of the pictures given of Jesus’ death and its meaning for our lives, which do you personally find most powerful for your life and ministry? • Finish the following statement: “The one thing that still troubles me about my own grasp of Jesus’ death that I need to learn more about is ____________________.” • What are the ways in which you will seek to make the death of Jesus more real in your life and ministry? Why is the Lord’s Supper such an important ongoing practice to help us appreciate the meaning of his passion and death on our behalf? • How might we better teach the humility and death of Jesus in our discipling, preaching, and teaching? Brainstorm together ways you can reemphasize the passion of Christ in your church life.

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T heology and E th i c s

CASE STUDIES

A Bloodless Faith? Many modern presentations of the Gospel tend to focus on the ethics of Christian faith , that is, on the character of relationships and virtues associated with the Christian faith and not on the passion of Christ, his humility, sufferings, and death on Calvary. Many mega-churches associated with church growth and more contemporary approaches to Christian worship and witness are explicit in their insistence that

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