Tour 0: Small Group Discussion

What Did You See?

Start with "What did you see?

The discussion time is a critical time for you and your guests. It is here that you want to allow them to express what God was provoking within them during the tour. The best way to do that is to start off with something non-threatening. I suggest you begin with simply asking them to list what they saw. Below, I have listed a number of things that they might have "seen" during the tour. You can add anything that you think is missing.

So, begin with: "Wow, there was a lot there. Let’s first of all just list some of the things that we saw." Then, listen to what they say. If your group is somewhat quiet this first night, you might read some from the list below as well. Then, having listed a number of things, ask them "What struck you?" and then be quiet. We want the Holy Spirit to move in them; we want to hear what the Holy Spirit has provoked within them.

It is critical for you to be quiet. If no one is saying anything, then make a little joke of it and tell them that you aren’t going to "save" them from the quiet, and that it is important for you as a group to hear from each other as to what the Lord is prompting within them. Then be quiet again. They will speak, especially if you have been praying for them that God will reveal Himself to them. Wait for the Lord to answer your prayers.

Okay, here is the simple plan for your discussion time:

“What did you see? Let’s list them…” (use the following list as a reference)

  • We were told we were going to go on a marvelous quest to gaze upon the crown jewel in the nature of God

  • We were going to look at the Royal Task and what God has asked us to do

  • We were going to look at the Royal Vision and why we were still here

  • We looked at the “The King’s Order” – the opening vignette with the king and the scroll and the courier on horse and the lord and his men at the banquet table and his opening the scroll and saying “It’s too simple,” “It’s too hard,” “It’s brilliant” and “This changes everything”

  • We listed three questions that would guide us:

    • Why did Jesus leave?

    • Why does God send?

    • What is God’s endgame?

  • We listed the epochs in God’s Metanarrative:

    • Creation

    • Fall

    • Redemption

    • Restoration

  • We looked at adding an epoch to name the time we are in: Engagement

  • We talked about touring the Grand Canyon and the word “blimey”

  • We said that the ultimate tour was to gaze upon the face of God

  • We talked about the danger associated with coming into the presence of God and Mr. Beaver saying “Aslan wasn’t safe”

  • We talked about signing a waiver that we wouldn’t run away from the face of God

  • We talked about the encounters that man has had with God: Adam, Nebuchadnezzar, Noah and Jacob

  • We talked about getting a new name

  • We looked at the encounter Isaiah had with God

    • It exposes us

    • It exposes our culture (remember Wilberforce?)

    • It calls us to engage

  • We talked about the sons of Issachar who understood their times and what to do

  • We looked at the word “binah”

  • We talked about living in a land of Nought

  • We looked at the Apollo 13 mission and asked how we know when we have a problem

  • We saw that the gauges in a cockpit help the pilot understand what truly is and that his job is to know the ought and how to get the “is” to the “ought”

  • We talked about our culture not wanting any gauges

  • We looked at a death spiral and how difficult it is to not live based upon how we feel (like John Jr)

  • We talked about our culture not wanting to hear, see or speak truth

  • We looked at the students who were afraid to tell the interviewer that he wasn’t a 6’5” Chinese woman

  • We talked about living in a land of Nought where all the social powers are opposed to a biblical WV and we get called names for saying something is wrong.

  • We looked at the stats in our culture: 24,000 crimes/day; 5200 STDs/day; 2360 abortions/day; 6,600 divorces/day; 130 suicides/day

  • We talked about being a remnant in our culture today and how we must live differently to be light and salt

What else did you see?

What is God showing you? (Wait for the Holy Spirit to provoke your guests)