Month: September 2019

Introductory thought:  God is not just one who has done great things, but He’s active in our lives today!

Question 1:  After singing the song honoring God as the Way Maker, Pastor Josh asked three questions: (1) How many of you have seen God make a way in an impossible situation? (2)  How many of you are currently in a seemingly impossible situation?  (3) How many of you have allowed someone or a particular situation create apathy in your heart toward God? Ponder these three questions. If comfortable, share your personal responses.

Question 2:  God’s intention regarding prayer is for us to have an intimate and purposeful relationship with Him.  God working through us doesn’t happen accidentally; we need to be intentional in our relationship with Him.  In Matthew 6:5, we read Jesus’ words, “Whenever you pray…” 

Pastor Josh said that if the “whenever” is never identified, it will never happen.  When do you pray?

Question 3: Pastor Josh openly expressed one question that confounded him for a long time:  If our Father knows our every need, why pray?  The answer he shared was quite eye-opening:  Prayer is NOT about the need we have, but about worshipping God. Have you ever felt like there was no use in praying?  That is, have you ever experienced hopelessness in praying?  How does worshipping God affect your view?

Question 4:   Pastor Josh highlighted some things about The Lord’s Prayer (see Matthew 6:9-13) including: (1) The phrase, “Hallowed be Your name” may be translated as, “Help me honor Your holy name.”  God, the Father, does not need reminded of His holiness; we are the ones who perpetually need reminded of His holiness. (2)  The request, “Give us this day our daily bread” causes us to recognize that we need to be in relationship with Him every day. Pastor Josh then urged us to get in a regular pattern of acknowledging the truth of who He is.  What are ways to perpetually remind yourself of who He is? Where do you find it easy to do these things?

Question 5:  How has prayer shaped your pursuit?

Wrap-Up Thoughts:  Don’t worry about eloquence in prayer; just pray! God responds to hearts who pursue Him.

Introductory thought:   Let us continually walk in awareness and awe of God’s presence.

Question 1:  Read Colossians 3:12-14 and consider the virtues Paul writes to “put on.”  Pastor Josh defined the phrase “put on” as “sink yourself into,” and he encouraged us to operate in these virtues.  Pastor Josh also noted that we have become skeptical of humanity.  He urged us to not let moments of being scammed to stop us from being compassionate. Have you experienced expressing compassion only later to discover you were duped or deceived?  How has this affected you in expressing compassion to someone else?

Question 2:  Pastor Josh plainly stated that our purpose in life is to accept one another and to forgive one another.  He cautioned that we may not have truly forgiven someone if seeing them causes us to turn and walk the other way.  Is there someone in your life that in thinking about them causes you to feel “stunned in the gut,” so to speak?  If so, you may still be harboring unforgiveness toward them. 

Question 3: Read Colossians 3:15-17 and take notice of the word, “let.”  Pastor Josh likened this word (“let”) to how some enjoy allowing big waves in a wave pool to carry them wherever.  We, too, can allow the peace of God to carry us to wherever God leads. When was the last time you yielded a situation in your life to God in such a way that you recognize it was He who carried you through it?

Question 4:   When talking about letting the peace of God control your heart, Pastor Josh said the word, “control” means to umpire, to make the call, or to be the deciding voice.  There are many other things which take control if we allow, like insecurity, grief, lust, turmoil, and drama.  Pastor Josh shared a snippet of his own story of working through insecurities, which were rooted back in his childhood.  He vulnerably expressed how challenging it was to let the peace of God control the area of insecurity.  What is preventing the peace of God to rule in your life?  Consider what you have done to compensate not having God’s peace in this area.

Question 5:  Pastor Josh addressed the question, “How do we begin to let the peace of God control our hearts?”  He offered four ways:

1. Be in the Word; that is, read the Bible.
2.  Worshipby filling your home with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
3.  Hang out with otherswho want peace to rule in their hearts.
4.  Say breath prayers, like “Be still and know that He is God.”

Which of these four will you start doing so that you may let the peace of God rule your heart, even now?

Question 6: Whatever you do, do it in the name of Jesus.  What is one way to practice peace this week so your heart is controlled by peace?

Wrap-Up Thoughts:   If peace is in you, you bring peace to others. Let us pursue peace and live controlled by the peace of God.

Introductory thought:   It is necessary in our faith to have someone in front of us after whom we can follow or chase.

Question 1:  Pastor Josh said that sometimes our prayers may be answered in an unexpected or even disappointing way by our own human standards.  This experience may shake our theology, and it may cause doubts to settle in our hearts.  Have you ever had answers to prayer yield a not-so-welcome outcome?  What did you do to hold on to your faith?

Question 2:  Share about a time when you truly found the presence of God.  How has this experience changed you?

Question 3: Pastor Josh commented about what we are to do when we have found or experienced the presence of God; he said that we need to keep running and pursuing Him more.  In this context, Pastor Josh discussed the Scripture passage, Philippians 3:13-14 and talked about forgetting what is behind and reaching forward toward the goal.  He continued by saying that you can take the message of a previous moment, but you cannot take moments with you as time moves on.  Is there a “God-experience” you have held dear for such a long time that it may have inhibited you from reaching forward toward more of Him?  If comfortable, share about this experience.

Question 4:   Pastor Josh used two visual demonstrations to contrast how we reach for something.  In the first, he and a lad from the congregation tossed a Frisbee back and forth.  Pastor Josh had the boy do a “lazy” reach and miss the Frisbee.  Pastor Josh likened this to how we sometimes show some kind of lazy effort, but we are missing what God has for us – even though He is tossing it right to us!  The second example was in using a Stretch Armstrong doll to really s-t-r-e-t-c-h. Pastor Josh said that Paul does not call us to stretch to an unrealistic goal.  On a continuum of a lazy Frisbee player to yielding yourself to be painfully stretched like the doll, where are you in your pursuit of Him?

Question 5:  As long as we have breath, we continue the race.  Whatever truth we have obtained about Him, we need to keep living in that truth.  The example Pastor Josh shared was:  You have been forgiven so walk in forgiveness.  Name a truth you have gained in your pursuit of Him.  In what ways have you lived this truth?

Question 6: Pastor Josh invited us to answer several closing questions:  Whose pursuit are you imitating?  Have you neglected watching him/her?  Who helps shape your pursuit?  What have you gained from imitating this person?  Consider each of these questions and honestly answer those which you are ready or comfortable to share.

Wrap-Up Thought:   Take hold of Him in the same degree as He has taken hold of you.

Question 1: The message covered Philippians 3:1-11.  Before moving on to the rest of the review, read the passage again, and aloud if you are in a group. 

Question 2: This week (and last) there has been an emphasis on the absolute need for our walk with God to be “with others.”  What challenges or barriers do we need to press past in order to live, love, and serve together more?

Question 3: The apostle Paul writes with strong language in verse 2 about those who were opposing:  “dogs…evildoers…those who mutilate the flesh.”  Why is he so forceful?

Question 4: Pastor Josh noted the three differences in those who orient themselves in the right direction in pursuit of Christ. They “worship/serve by the Spirit…glory in Christ Jesus…put no confidence in the flesh.”  Describe or review together what  a life with these three markers might look like.

Question 5: The process of gains and goals hinges on the word consider (or count, depending on your translation)  Note or discuss together a) how many times the word occurs in the passage b) what essential truths is Paul telling us to consider or count.

Question 6: Paul has his own list of “gains” that he might be tempted to trust in.  What are some common or even personal to you “gains” that we could be tempted focus on instead of Christ?

Question 7: The ultimate goal as shared in the message is to a) know him and the power of his resurrection b) share in His sufferings  becoming like him in his death.  Discuss what it might mean to live a life pattered after these two vital truths. 

Question 8: As well, how are death and resurrection related to or dependent on each other in our walk with God?

Question 9: What are some daily or weekly habits we can develop to keep us on track with a goal-focused (knowing Christ) instead of a gain-focused (lists of accomplishments) life?