SUNDAY MESSAGES

Part 11 Discipleship – Walking in the Footsteps of our Ancestors

Questions from the message:

  1. We may know sports figures, their statistics, even their personal likes and dislikes, but we don’t really know them. How well do you know God? You likely know all about Him, you likely have studied His book, the Bible, but do you actually know Him? Are you spending dedicated time each day with him? What does that look like?
  2. What do you need to rearrange in your life so that discipleship – your own and that of others can take priority? Who are you discipling?
  3. Discipleship is a daily part of our life of worship, so what needs to change so that my life fits around worship and not that worship fits around my life? In other words – is discipleship a core part of my daily growth to spiritual maturity?

Part 10 Discipleship: Qualities of the Hand – The Ministry of a Disciple

Questions from the message:

  1. How would you respond to someone who said: “You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian?”
  2. With whom do you have relationships that encourages depth & transparency? If you find it hard to identify people that fit into this category, with which acquaintances might you develop deeper relationships?
  3. Why is having a few deep relationships so important to spiritual growth, and what are the challenges to having these relationships?
  4. What gifts, skills, and passions has God given you to serve His purpose? How are you using those gifts, skills, and passions?
  5. In what ways can you grow in your ability to serve Him?

Part 9 Discipleship: Qualities of the Hand – The Mission of a Disciple

Questions from the message:

  1. What do you notice about the way that Jesus interacted with people? Did He react differently with religious and non-religious people? What can we learn from His attitude as we engage with the world around us?
  2. In terms of your own faith growth, who has helped you in your discipleship journey? How were they influential in your life?
  3. Who is God putting in your path who is not a Christian? In what ways are you relating the Gospel in way that is meaningful and pertinent to them? How can you play your part – as God uses you – in bringing them to faith?
  4. Can you identify newer or younger believers that you could disciple?
  5. How are you being an active carrier of God’s aroma that makes Jesus ‘non-ignorable’ in the places you live, work and play?
  6. What are you doing to cultivate missional relationships with people outside of the TCF community? How do you handle objections or opposition to your faith in Jesus?
  7. Are you grabbing hold of the unique opportunities you have right now to invite people to what could be described as a ‘once in a lifetime-looking church?’

Part 8 Discipleship: Satisfied Living, Bearing the Fruit of Faithfulness & Self-Control

Questions from the message:

  1. Are you that faithful kind of friend and servant of Jesus? Are others able to describe you – even praise you – with the term faithful? Have you found something outside yourself that is big enough to deserve your highest love and loyalty? Have you found something that demands your energy and your effort?
  2. Where is your internal ‘line in the sand’ in regard to wading into dangerous rip tides of losing your self-control?
  3. In what ways do you practice self-control?  How can you build on that? How can you model that to others?
  4. In what ways do you lack patience or self-control?  What steps can YOU take to improve on that?

Part 7 Discipleship: Satisfied living, bearing the fruit of joy, peace and patience

Questions from the Message:

  1. JOY – Where are you finding your joy?  Is it in Jesus? And if you have that joy, is it overflowing and changing the atmosphere around you?
  2. PEACE – What might be stopping you from having peace – from experiencing ‘Shalom?’ Don’t we all desire peace? The world hungers for peace of heart and while the statesmen and diplomats of the world work for outward peace, it is only Jesus Christ who can produce peace within individuals.
  3. PATIENCE – What do you do to practice patience – to keep from losing your temper? From going postal? Do you even try? When you find yourself losing patience, what can you do to react in a way that honours Jesus?

Part 6 Discipleship: Gracious living, bearing the fruit of kindness and gentleness

Questions from the message:

  1. How does my temperament affect how I express kindness and gentleness and where do I need to work in areas of my life to improve that?
  2. Who are the people in my life who I need to be kinder and gentler to?
  3. Am I allowing Jesus to do the ‘power steering’ in my life? Am I being responsive to His ‘steering?’
  4. How can you ask Jesus this week to release the wonderful fruit of kindness and gentleness within and through the unique person He has made you to be?

Discipleship Part 5: Sacrificial living, bearing the fruit of love and goodness

Questions from the Message:

  1. Is this area of ‘sacrificial living’ that calls for love and goodness a challenge for you at times? 
  2. Do you have a problem with a lack of love? Do you find it difficult to practice a spirit of goodwill toward others?
  3. Can you picture someone – right now – who continues to love you – even when – you’re unlovely? How can you take their example and incorporate it into your own life? 
  4. Do I exude ‘goodness’ to everyone I encounter in my Christian life?

Discipleship Part 4: Don’t Settle For Less!

Questions from the Message:

  1. What times in your life when you felt most connected to God? How have you maintained that connection?
  2. Am I in a journey of discipleship where I continually crave the Word of God and be satisfied by it at least as much, and preferably more than I am by other things in my life? 
  3. How do you typically connect with God?
  4. Have you ever tried practicing a spiritual discipline? What was it? How did you go?
  5. Which spiritual discipline/s can you commit to practising this day/week/ month?

Discipleship Part 3: Gospel Identity – A Disciples Heart

Questions from the message:

  1. What image of salvation in Scripture is most meaningful for you? (e.g. being adopted, forgiven, redeemed, saved, or reconciled.) Why?
  2. What are the clues that reveal whether your actions are gospel-motivated or selfishly motivated? Have there been times in your life when you’ve been doing the right things with the wrong attitude?
  3. Where are the places other than Jesus that you might tend to base your identity on?
  4. How does the gospel, through your daily journey of discipleship, help you when you realise that you are placing your worth in something, or someone, other than Jesus?

Discipleship Part 2: Our Journey of Daily Discipleship

Questions from the message:

  1. Think of a time or times in your life when you have grown as a Disciple of Jesus.  What were you doing then, that you could be doing now – both in your own life and in the discipling of others?
  2. How can you be more intentional in putting your knowledge into action in the relationships you have in your life?
  3. What does ‘giving up your own way’ (Luke 9:23) look like for you?
  4. What does that look like? What does following Jesus look like for you?