A presentation for FBC-JC Deacons on Ruth Haley Barton's book, "Pursuing God's Will Together: A Discernment Process for Leadership Groups".

1. PURSUING GOD’S
WILL TOGETHER:
A Discernment Practice
For Leadership Groups

2. THE FIVE GREAT STREAMS
OF SPIRITUAL LIFE
1. Contemplative
2. Holiness
3. Charismatic
4. Social Justice
5. Evangelical
Richard Foster and James Bryan Smith, from Devotional Classics, p. 3

3. “They heard the sound of the LORD God
walking in the garden at the time of the
evening breeze, and the man and his wife
hid themselves from the presence of the
LORD God among the trees of the garden.
But the LORD God called to the man, and
said to him, ‘Where are you?’”
Genesis 3:8-9

4. “And this is eternal life, that they may
know you, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom you have sent.”
John 17:3

5. “Yet whatever gains I had, these I have
come to regard as loss because of Christ.
More than that, I regard everything as
loss because of the surpassing value of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Philippians 3:7

6. “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Psalm 46:10

7. “But the LORD is in his holy temple;
Let all the earth keep silence before him!”
Habakkuk 2:20

8. “When the Lamb opened the seventh
seal, there was silence in heaven for
about half an hour.”
Revelation 8:1

9. HOW MANY EARS DOES IT TAKE
TO HEAR GOD?
Romans 12:1-8
I Corinthians 2:12-13
I Corinthians 12:1-13

10. PURSUING GOD’S WILL TOGETHER :
A Discernment Practice for Leadership
Groups
by Ruth Haley
BartonWe suffer from
institutional/structural
blindness, just as the
Pharisees did.

11. “As he walked along, he saw a man blind
from birth. His disciples asked him,
‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?’
Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his
parents sinned; he was born blind so that
God’s works might be revealed in him.

12. We must work the works of him who sent
me while it is day; night is coming when
no one can work. As long as I am in the
world, I am the light of the world.’
When he had said this, he spat on the
ground and made mud with the saliva
and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,
saying to him,

13. ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’(which
means Sent). Then he went and washed
and came back able to see. The
neighbours and those who had seen him
before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this
not the man who used to sit and beg?
‘Some where saying, ‘It is he.’Others
were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like
him.’

14. He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’But they
kept asking him, ‘Then how were your
eyes opened?’
He answered, ‘The man called Jesus
made mud, spread it on my eyes, and
said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.”
Then I went and washed and received
my sight.’

15. They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He
said, ‘I do not know.’ They brought to
the Pharisees the man who had formerly
been blind. Now it was a sabbath day
when Jesus made the mud and opened
his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began
to ask him how he had received his
sight.

16. He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed,
and now I see.’ Some of the Pharisees
said, ‘This man is not from God, for he
does not observe the sabbath.’ But
others said, ‘How can a man who is a
sinner perform such signs?’And they
were divided.”

17. The more involved we get in church
activities/leadership, the more difficult
it is to carve out time for God.
We ask the wrong questions! Don’t ask,
“Who sinned?” but ask, “What is God
doing and how do we get in on it?”

18. THREE QUESTIONS
1. What are the practices, relationships
and experiences that will help us stay
in a process of spiritual
transformation – together?

19. THREE QUESTIONS
2. What practices will help us stay open
to the presence of Christ in our midst
so that we can discern God’s will
together?

20. THREE QUESTIONS
3. How can we order our life together so
we are becoming increasingly
abandoned to God rather than being
driven by our egos and caught up in
our own compulsions?

21. PREPARING TO BE LED
PRACTICES:
The Prayer for Indifference
The Test for Indifference
The Prayer for Wisdom
The Prayer of Quiet Trust

22. The Prayer for Indifference
Ask God to make us indifferent to
anything but the will of God relative
to the matter we are gathered to
discern.
What am I willing to let die to give
God room to start something new?

23. The Test For Indifference
Ask ourselves, “How many are
indifferent?” Be honest and pray for
one another.
Remember indifference is something
God does in us rather than something
we can make happen.

24. The Prayer for Wisdom
Now that we are indifferent, we pray
for wisdom.

25. “If any of you is lacking in wisdom,
ask God, who gives to all
generously and ungrudgingly, and it
will be given to you.”
James 1:5

26. The Prayer of Quiet Trust
Creates space for us to live in deep
trust in God where we know and
experience utter dependence on God

27. “God, I’m not trying to rule the
roost,
I don’t want to be king of the
mountain.
I haven’t meddled where I have no
business or fantasized grandiose
plans.

28. I’ve kept my feet on the ground,
I’ve cultivated a quiet heart.
Like a baby content in its mother’s
arms, my soul is a baby content.
Wait, Israel, for GOD. Wait with
hope. Hope now; hope always!”
Psalm 131

29. The Prayer of Quiet Trust
Creates space for us to live in deep
trust in God where we know and
experience utter dependence on God.
A silent prayer that occurs
simultaneously with prayers for
indifference and wisdom.

30. PURSUING GOD’S
WILL TOGETHER:
A Discernment Practice
For Leadership Groups