QUARTER 2 INTRODUCTION

The Second Quarter

Heart

Now that you’ve completed the first quarter of Twelve, you have a sense of the weekly rhythms and how the twelve questions work. But now that you’re getting used to the rhythms, be sure you’re still engaging. Familiarity often leads to apathy. So as you continue in your year with Jesus, be sure that you’re opening yourself up to be influenced, challenged, and changed by him.

Three Questions

In this second quarter, you’ll address three more questions that Jesus asked his disciples:

4.     Have you encountered me?

5.     Will you join me?

6.     Do you trust me?

As you examine these three questions, you’ll see Jesus interacting with more and more people from a variety of backgrounds and stages of belief. The questions continue to get personal as people are forced to wrestle with who they believe Jesus to be. It’s impossible to truly encounter Jesus and remain the same, but as you continue to come face to face with Jesus, you’ll be pushed to ask what you think about him. Do you trust him? Will you join him? These questions focus on the heart. It’s easy to get caught up in religious systems and structures that allow us to do religious things without ever engaging at a heart level. A true encounter with Jesus will expose, reshape, and redirect our hearts. As you work through these session, be sure you’re opening your heart to this process.

At this stage in Twelve, you’ll begin to take a more active role. Your group leader(s) should be asking you to lead a discussion from time to time. On top of that, come to your gatherings with questions and insights that you’re gaining. Be sure to tie everything in with the tools, the questions, and how it is all impacting your relationship with Jesus. Remember that what you get out of this study depends on how much you put into it. Don’t waste this opportunity to get closer to the heart of Jesus.

Challenge

Your challenge for this quarter is to take a day to fast and pray. Depending on your experience, this may be a brand new concept for you. First, refresh yourself on fasting by rereading Matthew 6:16–18. The basic idea with fasting is that you’re utilizing your hunger to remind yourself of your need for God. You obviously need food to live, but fasting reminds us that as much as we need food, we need God all the more. It’s not about trying to convince God to love us or listen to us; it’s about reminding ourselves that we cannot live without God—“man does not live by bread alone.”

So sometime in the next few months, choose a day to fast and pray. You may choose to do this together as a group or to do it individually. Either way, you should set aside some time to share what the experience was like. When you fast, you can choose to forego all food and drink, or to forego food while still drinking water, or some other form of fast that better suits your health needs. You can also fast for longer or shorter periods of time. The point is to simply spend time with the Lord—every time your stomach reminds you that you’re hungry will serve as a reminder to pray and be with the Lord. Take this time to consider your own encounters with Jesus and to ask yourself who Jesus is to you.