Crown Him with many crowns, KING OF KINGS and LORD of LORDS. He has made you a member of His family. That makes you nobility!
verb: en·no·ble | \ i-ˈnō-bəl
1: to make noble : ELEVATE
2: to raise to the rank of nobility.
Throughout the Easter season, for the following seven weeks, you're invited to explore, in your home, with your ministry groups, and with others in your faith community, the idea of being Ennobled. Being elevated to nobility comes with many rights and privileges that a common life doesn’t afford, but it also comes with a new life and new responsibilities. Let’s engage growth and learning, let’s put in the work, and let’s watch Downton Abbey for inspiration! What could God do to change your life in seven weeks?
Spend some time getting familiar with Downton Abbey. Watch season 1, get to know the characters and the structure of their society. We'll begin our journey on Sunday, April 11 with season 2, episode 4. While watching the entire show isn't required to participate in this challenge, it provides some great talking points to tie in to our Home Growth Challenge cards that will be available beginning on Easter Sunday.
Each week, a diffrerent Pastor from around the world will lead us in a study on a specific passage. Click here to view our partners in this ministry and the schedule for studies.
In our journey of being Ennobled, we'll discover that as children of God, we are Made for More. Jesus has a greater calling and purpose for your life. We invite you to purchase a shirt and wear it as a reminder of empowerment as Jesus teaches us each week what it means to be Ennobled. Visit our shop to pre-order your own Made for More t-shirt, hoodie, or tank before April 16.
CLICK HERE to shop.
SEASON 2, EPISODE 4 | How have Tom Branson’s perspectives and priorities changed? Once a passionate socialist, his politics and values are more important than anything, even his freedom. Now it seems his entire outlook on life has changed. What is the difference?
How does such a move in our hearts shift our outlook, our purpose, and even our actions?
ACTION POINT | Find a great friend and make a pact to do this together
Sometimes our past gets in the way of who we are or who we are hoping to become. Before you can move forward, you may need to take this opportunity to confess those things. Who can you tell about them? Who has God put in your life that you can be honest with and will also remind you of the forgiveness you have from Jesus. If you can’t tell someone, then write it down, and in prayer, confess it to God and then rip it up, burn it, throw it away. Know that you are new because of Jesus and He is no longer concerned with your past!
ACTION POINT | Journal your Journey Part 1: Who I am because of Jesus
Over the course of this challenge, you will be writing a 3-part personal identity statement. The first part is to put in words your identity in Christ. Start by finding a quiet place in your day to consider who Jesus is, what He’s done for you, and what that kind of love means to you. Then begin to put words to who you are now because of that love.
COLOSSIANS 3:1-4 | If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
SEASON 2, EPISODE 4 | Tom’s hope is rekindled as Lady Sybil first refers to them as “us.” As Sybil begins to open up about the truth of their connection, they question how they will still fit in their respective worlds. They struggle with the question of losing their current lives and if they will be accepted in new ones - their new one together.
When love takes us, we are no longer our own. How does your view of your life change when love enters in? How do your decisions change? Share a time when love changed your entire life.
ACTION POINT | Build your Boxes: Bad, Good, Better, Best.
Love makes us think outside ourselves. Jesus’ love for you kindles your love for Him. Now it’s time to think anew about what’s in your life, your decisions, your schedule, your relationships… all of it. Think of them with new values. Replace those choices “I” with “we”, and ask Jesus where He wants to be in your life. Then prayerfully make 4 boxes. “Bad” for things that don’t belong in this relationship. “Good” for things that are ok. “Better”: for things that will bless and grow the “us”. And finally, “best” for things that you both love because they bring you together in deeper and wonderful ways. We have to recheck our priorities and make sure to get all the “best” stuff in our lives, some of the “better”, and a couple “good”. Pray and ask Jesus to tell you which box to put your stuff in, maybe even things you don’t have in your life yet!
ROMANS 6:1-5 | What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.
SEASON 2, EPISODE 7 | After the war, everyone at Downton is struggling to define their lives. With the war, their lives changed dramatically. Each person has to ask the question “why am I living now?” Their beliefs, values, and finally, their actions have to line up with their new realities. Sybil finally realizes what makes life worth living.
She found fulfillment in her purpose during the war, and believes that with Tom, she can have that sense of belonging and purpose. Life has been changing in very permanent and drastic ways in the last year. How are you evaluating your beliefs, values, and your actions? What kind of life do you want to build for yourself? What do you want for your relationships?
ACTION POINT | Laying your life’s foundation in faith
We have a new purpose in life and that comes with new priorities. When Jesus called you to follow Him and make fishers of men, He called you to a life of purpose with eternal value and worth. Your journey and life is your own, but your sense of belonging and purpose is a life lived with Jesus. Take time in your journal to write down step-by-step plans to make changes to align your values and your beliefs, and finally, figure out what tangible steps you can take in the days and weeks ahead to start living the life you believe in.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:17-20 | Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake, He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
SEASON 2, EPISODE 8 | At the end of the last episode, Tom and Sybil planned to run away together. Wouldn’t it be nice if a fresh start came without the baggage of before? Lady Mary convinced them to stay and live their change in full view, but it comes with a cost.
How did the family respond? What did it do to their relationships? What is the fallout and from whom? Were you surprised at who struggled with their new lives? Why?
ACTION POINT | Journal the Journey Part 2: Banding Together
Some relationships and rhythms of life don’t align with our new calling and values in life. Sometimes things can adapt, other times they are lost. You are one of the nobility, as you are a member of the King’s family, through His Son’s blood. As you create plans to make changes to your life, don’t forget to expect there to be fall out. Not everyone in your life will accept the changes being made. Tom couldn’t leave without Sybil, nor her without him. Take some time to pray and consider who is moving in life with you, and ask God to draw you closer together. Share the experience with each other and build each other up. The road is hard when journeying alone.
1 PETER 2:9-12 | But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
SEASON 3, EPISODE 8 | Change needs to happen at Downton for the family and the village to survive. With Michael and Robert fighting over change versus tradition, with Mary, Cora, and Tom leveraging talents and experiences, as the estate manager each of them must come together for the sake of the family.
It’s not peaceful or easy, but they can’t allow the purpose of the family and Downton to be lost. What would you be willing to sacrifice for your family? What about your community? What if their survival comes down to what you bring to the table? How does that change how you see yourself?
ACTION POINT | Add to your boxes. Who & What matters now?
When Jesus ennobled us, He changed the fabric of our lives. He calls us to deep and meaningful relationships with Him, in our marriages and households, in our neighborhood, and in our church. We are given to one another as a blessing. Get out your bad, good, better, best boxes and write on sheets of paper, all the people you are given to and how your gifts, abilities, and heart can bless their lives. To get you thinking, consider your family and friends, then look at your church and the many groups and people that make it up. Write each group down then put them in a box to think about later.
ROMANS 12:9-13 | Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
SEASON 3, EPISODE 9 | Tom stays back while the family goes to Dublin. With the family gone, Branson has to figure out how to interact with the staff, once his co-workers. After a few weird interactions where you can’t tell if Tom is nobility or staff, Mrs. Hughes gives him clear wisdom.
The relationships are still there, but they mean something different to each other now. How would you navigate the change in relationships? Would you change your behaviors? If so why?
ACTION POINT | Journal the Journey Part 3: Who I am to the others. Fill the boxes.
When we were called into Jesus’ family, our purpose and values changed. Truly what hasn’t changed!? It’s hard to know how to relate to those who don’t share the same identity and faith. It’s easy to get swept up in a foreign way of life when we try to live in those relationships. What kind of life do you live with those outside your faith family? Write down a vision and values for how you want to live amongst your friends outside your faith community. What do you want your reputation to be. Don’t forget to add those people and activities into your bad, good, better, and best boxes.
EPHESIANS 4:17-24 | Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
SEASON 6, EPISODE 3 | New beginnings for Mrs. Hughes and Carson mark the restored peace in Downton Abbey, as everyone finds their place. Do you notice the sense of completeness even we feel as the audience? Everyone is where they belong.
Everyone has a place and a purpose, deep and meaningful relationships, and a bright future. Look back at the last few weeks, what you’ve had to learn, and how you’ve had to challenge yourself and each other. What do you look forward to most about your new Ennobled life?
ACTION POINT | IN and OUT Action Plans - for the Best, Betters, and a Good
Change is a lot, and growth is demanding. It’s time to seek out personal peace. The last step to bring unity to our new lives begins with going back and reviewing your Identity Parts 1-3. Create an action plan that considers some of your past experiences and future ideas for how you want to live within your faith, family, and church. Get the pages out of your boxes and get all the best, some better, and a couple goods out for IN and OUT. Come back later, and take some time to examine your interactions and relationships outside the faith. Make an action plan for those, too.
EPHESIANS 2:13-19 | But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.