Facedown Defiant

Revelation 4:1-11; 5:6-14

Responses and Reactions

·      What disturbed you, challenged you, or intrigued you in this week’s message?

Digging Deeper

·      Meghan suggested that every culture has a story it tells about the world and how it works.  What would you identify as key elements of our current cultural narrative?

Bringing It Home

·      Early Christians had to make difficult choices about whether and how to participate in common Roman entertainments like gladiator fights, bathes, and theaters. How does your faith inform how you think about and engage with modern entertainment?  

·      What would it look like for you to “lean in” when it comes to the practice of worship?

Where the Earth Quakes

1 Peter 2:4-12

Responses and Reactions

·      What disturbed you, challenged you, or intrigued you in this week’s message?

Digging Deeper

·      Beyond 1 Peter 2, other metaphors for the church in Scripture include “bride” (Eph. 5:25-27; Rev. 21:9-10), “body” (1 Corin 12:12-20), and “family” (Matt. 12:46-50; Gal. 6:10).  What aspects of the church’s purpose do each of these metaphors emphasize?    

Bringing It Home

·      Which potentially problematic metaphor (museum, civic org, social club, ark) for the church are you most tempted to align yourself with?  What are the strengths and weaknesses of that metaphor?

·      In what ways might the church here in 2017 be called to live as “foreigners” to our environment in order to align ourselves with the teachings of Jesus?

A Buyer’s Guide to Barns and Purses

Luke 16:1-9; 12:16-33

Responses and Reactions

·      What disturbed you, challenged you, or intrigued you in this week’s message?

Digging Deeper

·      Read Isaiah 58:6-12.  Isaiah is one of the books that Jesus quotes most often and that informs his teachings.  According to Isaiah, what does God ask of us, and what does God promise us? 

Bringing It Home

·      What implicit expectations of the future are reflected by your current budgeting or spending habits?

·      How will you practice being “rich toward God” this year?  Or to put it in different terms, where and how will you invest in the kingdom Jesus says is coming?

Prayer in Action

Matthew 6:5-15

Responses and Reactions

·      What disturbed you, challenged you, or intrigued you in this week’s message?

Digging Deeper

·      Read Luke 11:5-13; 18:1-8.  What do these additional passages add to our understanding of Jesus’ teachings on prayer?

Bringing It Home

·      Have you ever experienced God answering a specific prayer that you made as you were acting to serve God in some way?  Share the story.

·      Do you find it easier to be bold in prayer or bold in action?  How might you practice greater boldness is whichever area you are weaker?

True Grit

Matthew 1:18-2:23

Responses and Reactions

·      What disturbed you, challenged you, or intrigued you in this week’s message?

Digging Deeper

·      Read Ruth 1:1-4:22  What are circumstances in Ruth's life which lead to developing true grit?

·      Reread 1:16-18  What do these verses tell us about committing to a purpose for the long haul?

Bringing It Home

·      How have you witnessed God form and strengthen you/others in midst of difficult circumstances?

·      What is one small thing in how you think or act which you can change this week so that your life is more oriented, long-term, to the cause of Christ placed on your heart?

Under Construction

Luke 3:2-14

Responses and Reactions

·      What disturbed you, challenged you, or intrigued you in this week’s message?

Digging Deeper

·      Read Jeremiah 1:4-19.  What roadblocks must Jeremiah address and what infrastructure must he build in order to be able to live fully into the calling God is giving him? 

Bringing It Home

·      What are the obstacles to God’s movement in your life right now that need to be removed?

·      What kind of infrastructure do you need to lay in order to be prepared to walk more fully into your calling for this chapter?

Shepherds Rising

Luke 1:26-56

Responses and Reactions

·      What disturbed you, challenged you, or intrigued you in this week’s message?

Digging Deeper

·      Read 1 Samuel 2:1-10.  What kinds of common themes do you hear between Hannah’s song and Mary’s song (Luke 1:46-55)?

·      Who are the modern “shepherds” within our own greater-Phoenix community? 

Bringing It Home

·      Who are the “lowly” you personally are being called to lift up, or who are the “shepherds” you are currently being called to contend for?

·      What excuses have you used to disqualify yourself from God’s call, and what does the upside-down gospel of Mary and the shepherds speak to those disqualifications?

Sparked

Exodus 3:1-12

Responses and Reactions

·      What disturbed you, challenged you, or intrigued you in this week’s message?

Digging Deeper

·      How would you define a ‘calling’?  Does everyone have one?

·      Matthew 4:18-22 offers another example of a “call” story.  How is this story similar to and different from the call of Moses? 

Bringing It Home

·      What piece of God’s dream is conceived in you right now?  (Other ways to begin to asking yourself that question: What “strange sight” keeps catching your eye?  What burns in you without burning you out?  Where is your “here” to fully inhabit?)

The Honey Trap

Galatians 1:6-10; 2:11-16

Responses & Reactions

  • What disturbed you, challenged you, or intrigued you in this week’s message?

Digging Deeper

  • Read Galatians 5:1, 13-25.  What kind of “freedom” are Christians meant to have?

Bringing it Home

  • Do you tend to err in the direction of people-pleasing or its opposite (doing what you want without caring what anyone thinks)?  How does the Gospel challenge your normal way of doing business?
  • What kinds of contradictory voices are exerting a pull on your life right now?
  • What would change about your life if you were only serving one Master?

“Don’t Eat Your Binder” and Other Advice

Matthew 18:21-35

Responses & Reactions

  • What disturbed you, challenged you, or intrigued you in this week’s message?

Digging Deeper

  • What counsel would you offer someone who is struggling with the practice of forgiveness?
  • Do you believe there is a difference between justice and fairness?  If so, what is it?

Bringing it Home

  • What is your typical default response to conflict?  Are you more likely to attack with your binders, try to hide them, or swallow them? (the three possibilities Meghan suggested)
  • What step do you need to take this week to start dealing in a healthier way with one of the binders in your life?

 

After the Locusts

Joel 1-2

Responses & Reactions

  • What disturbed you, challenged you, or intrigued you in this week’s message?

Digging Deeper

  • Read Psalm 6.  Why do you think laments are the most common kind of psalm (more than 60 out of the 150 psalms in the Bible)?  What function do they serve?
  • Did the events of 9/11/01 change your view or experience of the world?  How so?  What shifted in you?
  • Does (or should) being a person of faith change of our perception of large-scale tragedies?

Bringing it Home

  • How are you making space in your life for the work of intercession?  Who or what are you most often interceding for?

A Different Kind of Love Story

Ruth 1:1-22

Responses & Reactions

  • What disturbed you, challenged you, or intrigued you in this week’s message?

Digging Deeper

  • Why do you think so many people in our culture struggle with profound loneliness?  What factors might contribute to our present “epidemic”?
  • When in your life have you entered into an “unlikely” relationship that ended up surprising you with its gifts?

Bringing it Home

  • Who is the “gift” in front of you whom you might be overlooking?
  • What do you need most from community right now, and what do you have to give?

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