Living It Out – Message Notes and Discussion Questions for the weekend of 10.8.11
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Refining Faith
From The Good Life To The Great Life
Steven Whitlow
October 8 & 9, 2011
GOOD: the steps you’ve taken towards God.
GREAT: being able to take the next step.
1 Peter 2:1-5 1 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. 4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. 5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.
Remove and Replace to be prepared for G______________.
Remove Sin and Replace it with H______________.
James 5:16
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
Remove L_____ and Replace it with T________.
Remove I____________ and Replace it with A__________.
Ephesians 5:14-16 …“Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” 15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.
Remove ______________________________________________________
and Replace it with ________________________________________.
All Scripture is from the New Living Translation.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. If “good” means a step toward God and “great” is making the next step, then identify the good things you are doing to grow in your faith as well as the “great” things you need to do in order to keep growing in your faith.
2. What happens to us spiritually if we only settle for “good?”
3. Not to be contradictory, but Ephesians 2:10 says that believers were created by God to do good works. God desires for us to live out a life of faith, which means that His plan includes that our ability to impact the kingdom of God should keep increasing. What is something “great” that you’d like to eventually do for the kingdom of God?
4. Unfortunately, moving from “good” to “great” can get hijacked by certain lies we believe about ourselves or God. What kinds of lies have you believed about yourself or God that have prevented you from stepping toward the “great” life?
5. Apathy is simply not caring about what’s going on around you. Like the frog stuck in the proverbial pot of slowly boiling water, many of us have been involved in sinful patterns for so long that we don’t even realize the extent to which it is damaging our faith. How can we stay free from apathy and keep moving forward in our relationship with Christ?
6. The process of moving from the “good” life to the “great” life is different for every person. Discuss one “good” step you can take toward God this week as well as one “great” next step you will commit to taking in the near future.