Discipleship

Vision: Thanksgiving Essentials

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THANKSGIVING ASSESSMENT

1. Would the people who live nearest to you characterize you as a complaining person or a thankful person?

2. When you look at your world, do you find yourself celebrating God's common grace?

3. Do you view yourself as one who has been constantly short-changed and or do you view yourself as one who has been unfairly showered with blessings?

4. Do you choose to focus your communication on what is broken and wrong or do you tend to communicate what is beautiful and good?

5. What is your tendency? In your relationships, are you encouraging friends and family to continue their grumbling or are you encouraging friends and family to find reasons to give thanks to God?

6. What is your tendency? In your relationships, do you find yourself frequently tearing others down or do you find yourself frequently building others up?

7. What is your plan to cultivate the discipline that Paul calls Thanksgiving? 

Vision: Discover & Treasure Jesus

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Faith Talks:

Please set aside at least 10 minutes this week as a household to have an honest talk about what God spoke to you in the sermon today.

1.We are called to lay aside every weight and sin. Over the next week or two take 1-3 hours to get alone with God.  Ask God to reveal to you the weights and sins in your  life that would hinder you from running well. Write them all down and create a plan with the Lord to change those things. 

2. When you think about the cloud of witnesses and Jesus cheering you on in your race, how does that make you feel? 

3. How can you let the truth that you play a crucial part in God's plan for redeeming all things impact the way you live everyday?

Vision: Lead Like Jesus

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Faith Talks:

1.  If Jesus has such a high view of what we can become in Him, why do we consistently keep selling ourselves short?  Name 2 ways you sell yourself short. 

2, Are there any areas of your life that are either off limits, or have not be submitted (surrendered) to the Lordship authority of Jesus Christ? What are they, and why are they off limits? 

Vision: Follow Jesus Into Every Area of Life

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Faith Talks:

1. Which of the two “bookshelf” illustrations do you identify the most? Why?

2. Can you think of a moment when following Jesus brought joy to you?

3. What is a current area in your life where you find it difficult to follow Jesus? And which of the three obstacles considered today may be preventing you from following him?

Knowing God - Scipture

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Faith Talks

  1. What point about the doctrine of scripture did you find most attractive or significant?
  2. What part of the doctrine of scripture is challenging to you and why?
  3. Tell about a time when you didn’t want to submit to the authority of scripture but you did. What was the outcome?
  4. What are some ways you can grow in making time with God in scripture a bigger part of your life?
     

Life on Life Discipleship

Life On Life

Faith Talks

Review together the characteristics of the crowds that followed Jesus. Talk about the ways your following Jesus has at times looked too much like the crowd.

Talk together about how your life has been changed (or could be changed)  by life-on-life discipleship — how being known in your failure has led you (could lead you) to heart change. What helps/hinders that from happening more?

Reveal Jesus Through Discipleship

Reveal Jesus Through Discipleship 

Faith Talks:

What have you learned about the way Jesus leads his disciples that makes you want to follow Him?

What did you learn about the pattern of the disciples that you can identify with? In other words how are you like or not like the original 12 disciples?

What does discipleship look like in your life?

How do you respond to the call to disciple and be discipled. What is Jesus wanting you to do now? What are the next steps you can take this week to start moving in obedience?

Resurrection Realities

Resurrection Realities - Mark 15:42-16:13

 

Faith Talks

Review the 8 Resurrection Realities. Which ones do you need reminded about most? How you can remind each other of those truths.

Talk about the areas of alarm and unbelief that come as a result of forgetting Resurrection. Pray for each other in those areas that you will experience resurrection power. 

When following Jesus includes failing Jesus

When following Jesus includes failing Jesus

Mark 14:43-72

Faith Talks

The contrast between Jesus and everyone else in today’s teaching makes the point that all of us fail and deny Jesus. How aware are you that you fail and deny Jesus? 

Jesus’ example of finding strength by being watchful included leaning into community. Spend time together as a community of faith, talking about and praying together about some of your patterns of failing to follow Jesus. 

Discipleship Fail

Discipleship Fail
Mark 14:22-42

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Faith Talks

1. How do the central elements of the Bread and the Cup in communion explain how Jesus restores our relationship with God the Father?
2. In this story, the disciples fail Jesus. Their spirits may have been willing but their flesh was weak. Did you know that disciples fail? The question is not will you fail as a disciple but rather how do you respond when you have failed God and others? Do you ignore it,rationalize it, deny it, or work to fix it?
3. Based on this story what do you think Jesus would say to you when you fail?
4. In the garden, what does Jesus do when he is confronted with his spirit being willing but his flesh being weak?
5. What is one way that you desire to be more like Jesus and less like the sleepy disciples?

Stay Awake, Because it’s too easy to fall asleep. Mark 14:1-21

Stay Awake
Because it’s too easy to fall asleep

Mark 14:1-21

Faith Talks

What are the situations/circumstances where you tend to fall asleep spiritually or go “off duty”?  (consider times when life is going well as well as when life is not going well.)

What are practices that you do or have heard of that might be helpful to you being more alert/watchful?  Are any of these practices ones you might want to embrace for your household?  Talk about putting  them into practice

Worship Jesus as True Savior

 Worship Jesus as True Savior 

Faith Talks:

For Jesus, love is most important. Talk together about the evidence in your life, over the time you have been walking with Jesus, that you have grown in whole-hearted love towards God and others. 

Jesus warns us to watch out for the natural tendency to be like the Scribes who live to impress others, who love to be praised by others. Talk together about the ways Jesus is setting you free of being like a Scribe.

Discover Jesus in Scripture 

Discover Jesus in Scripture
 MARK 12:18-27

Faith Talks:

In Mark 12 Jesus said to the Sadducees, a group of religious leader, “…you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God…you are quite wrong.” That is a pretty stinging rebuke from Jesus to a group of people that prided themselves on know Scripture and knowing God.

  • According to the teaching today why is it essential as a disciple of Jesus to know the scriptures and to know the power of God?
  • How is your relationship with scripture? What are you doing to cultivate a life of knowing God in scripture?
  • The power of God in this story is specifically referring to resurrection from the dead and that is the guarantee of what we call eternal life. How does the truth of life eternal change your perspective on the challenges and strategies for life now?

Follow Jesus in Stewardship

Follow Jesus in Stewardship 

FAITH TALKS

"The big struggles of life are struggles with authority." Talk together to see if that statement is true in your life. 

"We can never effectively steward what God has given us until we recognize Him as our authority." Where are you in the process of joyfully yielding all you are to the authority of God?  Name the obstacles. 

The Making: Discovering Jesus Through His Church - Part 2

The Making: Discovering Jesus Through His Church - Part 2

Faith Talks

What are some ridiculous things you have asked of God? Has He answered any of those requests?  What do His answers tell you about the will of God? Talk about this with 2 people this week.


Which of these five statements about Jesus is most true of you because of your faith in Christ? If Jesus were to make you more like Him in one of these areas, which one would need the most attention?

  • Jesus loves to answer our requests.
  • Jesus always answers according to the will of God.
  • Jesus is not held captive the agendas of man.
  • Jesus lives out His words.
  • Jesus Love to Make the Last First.

The Making: Discover Jesus Through His Church

The Making: Discover Jesus Through His Church 

Faith Talks:

The Bible calls us, at times, to be childlike and at times not to be childlike. Talk together about the ways we should and should not be childlike.

Talk about ways in which you want to grow in childlikeness.

The Making: Follow Jesus In Family

THE MAKING: Follow Jesus In Family

Faith Talks

  1. What challenges do you face when you follow Jesus into your family? What are the obstacles?
  2. How can Jesus’ new way of thinking about marriage, family, and relationships impact the way you face those obstacles and challenges?
  3. At Living Faith Alliance Church we value the marriage covenant and graciously care about the pain and aftermath caused by divorce. If you need assistance processing your experience, please take a step toward healing:

Contact our Ministering Elders elders@lfachurch.org

Join the Life’s Healing Choices Class. 8-week class, Sunday 9:00am at CCS upper building room 128. Begins Jan 15, 2017    

Consider Divorce Care Ministry https://www.divorcecare.org (group locator) Wednesdays 6-8pm. Begins Jan 25, 2017, Beacon Evangelical Free Church 420 S. 6th Ave, Galloway, NJ 609-748-0001

Who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus?  Mark 9:1-13

Faith talks

Talk about the way you imagine Jesus. What picture do you have of Him in your mind? What’s the look on His face? If you saw Him, do you think you would bow before Him in reverence or give Him a hug?

Think of a recent time when you were either worried, tempted, or disappointed. How did knowing Jesus effect the way you walked through that situation?

Discover and Follow Jesus - Part 2 Mark 8:27-38

Discover and Follow Jesus - Part 2.  Mark 8:27-38

FAITH TALKS

In Mark 8, the disciples hear about Jesus’ sufferings, death, resurrection, and second coming for the first time.  They also hear that they are to deny themselves and carry the cross for the first time.  Why do you think Peter struggled with this?  Are any of his struggles the same as your struggles?  Explain. 

When was the last time you discovered & treasured something about Jesus?  Share that story with 2 people.  

What are your three biggest obstacles in following Jesus into every are of life?  Ask 2 friends to pray for you this week.    

 

Reveal Jesus: Getting It Right

Reveal Jesus: Getting It Right - Mark 8:1-10

Faith Talks

For Jesus to be revealed to our friends, they must experience the miracle of revelation and faith. Pray together specifically for those two things over people in your life who need Jesus. 

We learned from the Feeding of the 4000 that bread has to be broken before it blesses others. Talk about what Jesus may be breaking in your life. How are you responding? How do you need to cooperate? Pray for each other.