Sermon

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SHEPHERD GROUPS

1. What was one thing you found particularly interesting, insightful, helpful, or difficult to understand from this Sunday?
2. Are you engaging others in conversation about Jesus more now than before this series? Why or why not?
3. Read and discuss Acts 17:22-27. What do these verses say? What do they tell us about us? What do they reveal about God? What are the practical implications for us? What do they tell us about sharing our faith?
4. What does it mean to be “asleep in the light”? Do you think this describes you? How can we be more aware of opportunities for gospel impact right where we are?
5. How do you respond to the following statement? We must study culture so we don’t become part of it.
6. How would you describe the times in which we live? What are the “objects of worship” (Acts 17:23) in our culture?
7. How does our culture tend to see truth? What is moral relativism? How is this at odds with the gospel of Jesus?
8. How does understanding our cultural context help us in sharing our faith? How do we contextualize the gospel within the culture without losing the gospel to the culture?
9. What circles of influence has God given you to steward? How do you think God had chosen you for impact where you are? What holds you back from engaging others with the Gospel?
10. Spend some time in prayer for the things you have discussed. Give thanks to God for the grace of the gospel which has saved you. Ask the Lord to help you see the opportunities He’s putting in front of you. If you are wiling, pray the prayer Pastor Jim suggested: Holy Spirit, if You open the door, I will walk through it.

“NO GREATER LOVE” FOCUS: IMPACT WHERE WE ARE

• Facilitate a conversation in which people are able to discuss the philosophies and beliefs in our culture to better understand the world in which we live.
• Discuss the tendency to be drawn in and become part of these cultural philosophies and the biblical concepts that stand in contrast to those positions. (The sermon will give you a couple of philosophies from which to launch into a discussion.)
• Continue to discuss conversation starters that people have used or could use in open a dialogue with someone who may not know Jesus.
• Help group members identify the things that make it difficult to open spiritual conversations.
  • Fear of rejection
  • Fear of being seen as bigoted
  • Fear of consequences at work.
• Discuss the impact list – 3 names of the people each group member is praying for who need to hear about Jesus as outlined in the sermon.
• Continue to discuss the critical Scriptures for explaining the Gospel. Ask if anyone can give examples of the Scriptures they would use.
• Discuss the importance of ultimately getting to the explanation of the Gospel itself at some point in a given relationship. Read Romans 10:13-17.