1. Discipleship can be distilled down to two elements: meeting Jesus and following Jesus.

• The chapter calls this a simple path that starts and ends with Jesus. He is the starting line, the finish line, and the whole path in between. In what ways have you overcomplicated your discipleship journey?
• What does it mean to meet Jesus?
• If someone asked you today what it means to be a disciple, what would you say?

2. Before anyone can accept the invitation to follow Jesus, they first need to meet Him.

• Does the order matter? Can you truly follow, in the transformational and relational sense that Jesus intends, without meeting Him first?
• Can you name the moment you met Jesus?
• Can you identify anywhere in your discipleship journey where you are following a routine, rather than a Person?

3. Jesus’ ascension did not limit our ability to meet Him; it enhanced it.

• More people met Jesus through His Spirit than have ever met Him in person. Why do you think God designed it that way?
• Have you ever wished you had been there in the Gospels, walking with Him in the flesh?
• If Jesus can be known now, as He was known then… how does that truth impact you personally, and your experience with Him?

4. God created mankind for this reason: to know Him and to be known by Him.

• What does it mean to be known by God, and not merely to know about Him? What’s the difference?
• Which is harder for you? Knowing Him, or letting yourself be known by Him? Why do you think that is?
• Is there a part of your life you would rather God did not walk through? Name it. Introspectively ask yourself, “why?”

5. The trees meant to supply you are not sufficient to cover you.

• Read Genesis 3:8 carefully. Adam and Eve hid from God among the very trees He had given them for food and health. What is the irony there?
• What are the trees in your life? What “good” things that God has given you, have you been hiding behind?
• The chapter says the trees are good, but not when they are used as a cover-up. What would it look like for you this week to step out from behind them?

6. God is our cover.

• Before sin, Adam and Eve were naked and completely unashamed about it. But as soon as they sinned, they realized that they were now uncovered. What exactly was covering them in their nakedness?
• Every attempt to cover our own shame will always be ineffective. What have you been sewing together out of fig leaves lately?
• Shame pushes us away from His presence. What areas in your life are ridden with shame?

7. Jesus wants to meet you face-to-face, through the presence of His Spirit.

• The Hebrew word for presence literally means “face.” How does reading Genesis 3:8 as “Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord” change the scene for you?
• Read Exodus 33:11. The Lord spoke to Moses face-to-face, as a man speaks to his friend. Have you ever experienced anything like that?
• Many only know God by the look, shape and texture of His hand. What changes in your life, when you realize you can know Him instead by His face?