Big Idea: Abraham was a commando!

Genesis 14:1-16

1. There’s a war raging around you. Genesis 14: 1-7

And it came about in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). All these kings came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). For twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. And in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites on their Mount Seir, as far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness. Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and conquered all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, who lived in Hazazon-tamar.

2. Don’t move next door to the enemy. Genesis 14: 8-12

And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they lined up for battle against them in the Valley of Siddim, against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them. But those who survived fled to the hill country. Then they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed. They also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom.

3. Faith always changes the fight.  Genesis 14: 13-16

Then a survivor came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was residing by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and they were allies with Abram. When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, numbering 318, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. Then he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. He brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the other people.

Next Steps:

• I will fight the good fight of faith this week.
• I surrender to King Jesus today.

Discussion Questions:

1. Has someone close to you caused you to struggle spiritually lately?
2. Describe spiritual warfare in your own words.
3. What was the last spirit battle you were in?  Be specific. 
4. Do you tend to engage or withdraw from spiritual conflict?
5. Do you believe there’s any connection between spiritual and physical conflict?  Explain your answer. 
6. What weapons can be used to fight spiritual battles?
7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you push back darkness this week.

Big Idea: Is faith merely a crutch for weak people?

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

I. Embrace the demotion

1 Corinthians 1:26-27

Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

 II. Kill your pride 

1 Corinthians 1:28-29

God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one may boast in his presence.

III.    Make Jesus famous

1 Corinthians 1:30-31

It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption —in order that, as it is written: Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need Jesus to give me new life today. 

• Become: I need the Holy Spirit to help kill my pride this week.

• Be Sent: I will put Christ’s strength on display this week

Discussion Questions: 

1. How would you respond to someone who claims that faith is a crutch for weak people? 
2. How often did you reflect on yourself compared to thinking about God yesterday? Provide a ratio. 
3. In which areas of your life are you most likely to take pride? 
4. How can you surrender that area of your life to Christ? 
5. Does boasting in Christ mean you cannot feel good about your successes? 
6. When did you have the opportunity to make Christ famous last week? How did it go?
7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to teach us humility this week. 

AMA Week 3

Big Idea: Every honest question deserves an honest answer!

1. How do I know which faith is true?

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

John 14:6

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

2. Does God help us make good decisions?

2 Chronicles 7:14

…and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

James 1:6

But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

3. What will the new earth be like? Who is the antichrist?

Romans 6:23

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

1 John 2:18-19

Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us. 

Next Steps:

• I will help someone else understand our faith this week.
• I need to give Jesus my heart today. 

Big Idea: Jesus goes with you into the pit.

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 39:1-23

I. Jesus is in control over the pit.   1-7

Now Joseph had been taken to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guards, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful, Joseph found favor with his master and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority. From the time that he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph. The Lord’s blessing was on all that he owned, in his house and in his fields. He left all that he owned under Joseph’s authority; he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

II. Temptation is waiting for you in the pit.   7-10

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome. After some time his master’s wife looked longingly at Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.” But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has put all that he owns under my authority. No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do this immense evil, and how could I sin against God?” Although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her.

III. The pit can always get deeper.   11-20

Now one day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were there. She grabbed him by his garment and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his garment in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. When she saw that he had left his garment with her and had run outside, she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “my husband brought a Hebrew man to make fools of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, and I screamed as loud as I could. When he heard me screaming for help, he left his garment beside me and ran outside.” She put Joseph’s garment beside her until his master came home. Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought to us came to make a fool of me, but when I screamed for help, he left his garment beside me and ran outside.” When his master heard the story his wife told him—“These are the things your slave did to me”—he was furious and had him thrown into prison, where the king’s prisoners were confined. So Joseph was there in prison.

IV. Don’t lose hope in the pit.   21-23

But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him. He granted him favor with the prison warden. The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph’s authority, and he was responsible for everything that was done there. The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need Jesus to pull me out of my pit of sin.
• Become: I am in a pit. I need Jesus’s presence in my pit.
• Be Sent: I will be Jesus’s hands to someone in a pit this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. When was the last time you were in a pit?
2. Did anyone show up to help you or sit with you in the pit?
3. How did your time in the pit affect your relationship with God?
4. How do you identify God’s favor on someone’s life?
5. In your opinion, is temptation more powerful in the pit?
6. Have you ever suffered even though you did the right thing?
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the strength to face the pit with hope.

Big Idea: You will give away what no one can take from you. 

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 47:13-31

I. Your fortune and future. 13-17

But there was no food in the entire region, for the famine was very severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were exhausted by the famine. Joseph collected all the silver to be found in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain they were purchasing, and he brought the silver to Pharaoh’s palace. When the silver from the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan was gone, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die here in front of you? The silver is gone!” But Joseph said, “Give me your livestock. Since the silver is gone, I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.” So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks of sheep, the herds of cattle, and the donkeys. That year he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock.

II. Your time and toil. 18-26

When that year was over, they came the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our lord that the silver is gone and that all our livestock belongs to our lord. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. Why should we die here in front of you—both us and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food. Then we with our land will become Pharaoh’s slaves. Give us seed so that we can live and not die, and so that the land won’t become desolate.” In this way, Joseph acquired all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, because every Egyptian sold his field since the famine was so severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, and Joseph made the people servants from one end of Egypt to the other. The only land he did not acquire belonged to the priests, for they had an allowance from Pharaoh. They ate from their allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land. Joseph said to the people, “Understand today that I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you. Sow it in the land. At harvest, you are to give a fifth of it to Pharaoh, and four-fifths will be yours as seed for the field and as food for yourselves, your households, and your dependents.” “You have saved our lives,” they said. “We have found favor with our lord and will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” So Joseph made it a law, still in effect today in the land of Egypt, that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. Only the priests’ land does not belong to Pharaoh.

III. Your dying desires. 27-31

Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property in it and became fruitful and very numerous. Now Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years, and his life span was 147 years. When the time approached for him to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor with you, put your hand under my thigh and promise me that you will deal with me in kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt. When I rest with my ancestors, carry me away from Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” Joseph answered, “I will do what you have asked.” And Jacob said, “Swear to me.” So Joseph swore to him. Then Israel bowed in thanks at the head of his bed.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: Today, I give my soul to King Jesus. 
• Become: I will focus on things of eternally importance this week. 
• Be Sent: I will help someone see the value of their soul.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Can you put your dying wish in one sentence?

2. What would you like others to say was your greatest contribution in life after you’re gone?

3. What would you use to measure the value of your life?

4. Can a person’s soul be bought or sold?  Explain your answer. 

5. Read Matthew 13:44-16.

a. What is the common price in both stories? 

b. Does it look like the farmer and the merchant are sad about the price of the treasure?

c. What do these stories teach about our time and energy this week?

6. Pray for the wisdom to focus your energy on eternity this week. 

Big Idea:No church is too small to change a community.

Genesis 18:16-33

1. No person is insignificant.

Genesis 18: 16-21

The men got up from there and looked out over Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off. Then the Lord said, “Should I hide what I am about to do from Abraham? Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what he promised him.” Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious. I will go down to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to me. If not, I will find out.”

2. The dinner table is the best place to deal with doubt. 

Genesis 18:22-25

“The men turned from there and went toward Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people who are in it? You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won’t the Judge of the whole earth do what is just?”

3. No plead is ignored.

Genesis 18:26-33

The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Then Abraham answered, “Since I have ventured to speak to my lord—even though I am dust and ashes—suppose the fifty righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Then he spoke to him again, “Suppose forty are found there?” He answered, “I will not do it on account of forty.” Then he said, “Let my lord not be angry, and I will speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” Then he said, “Since I have ventured to speak to my lord, suppose twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it on account of twenty.” Then he said, “Let my lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time. Suppose ten are found there?” He answered, “I will not destroy it on account of ten.” When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

Next Steps:

• Believe: I can make a difference in my community this week.
• Become: I will intercede for my community this week.
• Be sent: I will engage someone in my community this week.

Discussion Questions:

1. Has a small act of kindness greatly impacted you?
2. How can the ripple effect multiply small actions?
3. Why do you think Abraham stopped at only 10 people?
4. Read Luke 19:17.  
1. In what small matter is God asking you to be faithful? 
2. Why does God give great rewards to small acts of faithfulness?
5. How is one person that you can impact this week?
6. Pray for your efforts to touch that one person’s heart this week.

Big Idea: Transparency is the only way for people to see Jesus in you!

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 41:1-36

I. Have a faith that leaves a lasting impression.   1-8

At the end of two years Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile, when seven healthy-looking, well-fed cows came up from the Nile and began to graze among the reeds. After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside those cows along the bank of the Nile. The sickly, thin cows ate the healthy, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. He fell asleep and dreamed a second time: Seven heads of grain, plump and good, came up on one stalk. After them, seven heads of grain, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up. The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump, full ones. Then Pharaoh woke up, and it was only a dream. When morning came, he was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

II. Have the character to give away the credit.   9-14

Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I remember my faults. Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and he put me and the chief baker in the custody of the captain of the guards. He and I had dreams on the same night; each dream had its own meaning. Now a young Hebrew, a slave of the captain of the guards, was with us there. We told him our dreams, he interpreted our dreams for us, and each had its own interpretation. It turned out just the way he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.” Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said about you that you can hear a dream and interpret it.” “I am not able to,” Joseph answered Pharaoh. “It is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

III. Have the courage to speak hard truths.   15-32

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, when seven well-fed, healthy-looking cows came up from the Nile and grazed among the reeds. After them, seven other cows—weak, very sickly, and thin—came up. I’ve never seen such sickly ones as these in all the land of Egypt. Then the thin, sickly cows ate the first seven well-fed cows. When they had devoured them, you could not tell that they had devoured them; their appearance was as bad as it had been before. Then I woke up. In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, full and good, coming up on one stalk. After them, seven heads of grain—withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind—sprouted up. The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven good ones. I told this to the magicians, but no one can tell me what it means.” Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years. The dreams mean the same thing. The seven thin, sickly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind are seven years of famine. “It is just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt. After them, seven years of famine will take place, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will devastate the land. The abundance in the land will not be remembered because of the famine that follows it, for the famine will be very severe. Since the dream was given twice to Pharaoh, it means that the matter has been determined by God, and he will carry it out soon.

IV. Have the integrity to be a trusted voice.   33-36

“So now, let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this: Let him appoint overseers over the land and take a fifth of the harvest of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. Let them gather all the excess food during these good years that are coming. Under Pharaoh’s authority, store the grain in the cities, so they may preserve it as food. The food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine that will take place in the land of Egypt. Then the country will not be wiped out by the famine.”

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I want Jesus to clean my sins today.
• Become: I will trust Jesus with my future this week.
• Be Sent: I will give Jesus public credit for my success.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. When was the last time you had the chance to lie but didn’t? Why not?
2. How open and vulnerable were you with friends last week?
3. How close are you to someone who isn’t transparent?
4. Would you rather hear advice from a distant expert or a totally honest novice? Explain your answer.
5. Do you work in an environment that values honesty? Explain.
6. What are some challenges you've faced when trying to be transparent in a professional setting?
7. Pray for the courage to be transparent this week.

Big Idea: God’s promise is more powerful than your pain.

Genesis 15:1-6

After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield; your reward will be very great.  But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.” Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.” Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

1. Look to God’s promise in the midst of your confusion.

Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless…

2. God’s promise shines through your darkness.

“Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”

3. Your life shows how much you believe God’s promise.

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Next Steps:

• BELIEVE: I need Jesus to change my heart today.
• BECOME: I will hold on to THE promise in my darkness this week.
• BE SENT: I will enter someone else’s pain this week.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you know anyone who has lost all hope?
2. What promise are you most excited for God to fulfill?
3. Which is stronger, love or grief?  Explain your answer. 
4. Was there a time when hope got you through some difficult circumstances?
5. How can your hope for the future get you through today’s pains?
6. Is there a difference between hope and positive thinking?  Explain.
7. Thank God for his gift of grace to you this week.

Big Idea:  Jesus favors faith on bloody knees.

John 21:1-14

Jesus favors faith on bloody knees.

1. Don’t avoid the “come to Jesus meeting”.

John 21: 15 When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Feed my lambs,” he told him.

2. Why excuses are deadly.

John 21: 16-17 A second time he asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Shepherd my sheep,” he told him. He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” “Feed my sheep,” Jesus said.

3. Every child falls before they can run.

John 21:18-19 “Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. After saying this, he told him, “Follow me.”

Next Steps:

• I need Jesus to restore my broken soul today.
• I will run to Jesus when I fall this week.

Big Idea: Passing the torch takes steady hands. 

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 50:15-26

I. Hand off what God handed to you. 15-21

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said to one another, “If Joseph is holding a grudge against us, he will certainly repay us for all the suffering we caused him.” So they sent this message to Joseph, “Before he died your father gave a command: ‘Say this to Joseph: Please forgive your brothers’ transgression and their sin—the suffering they caused you.’ Therefore, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when their message came to him. His brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “We are your slaves!” But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people. Therefore don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

II. Thank God for the faith that was handed to you. 22-23

Joseph and his father’s family remained in Egypt. Joseph lived 110 years. He saw Ephraim’s sons to the third generation; the sons of Manasseh’s son Machir were recognized by Joseph.

III. Only hand off what’s most important.   24-26

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will certainly come to your aid and bring you up from this land to the land he swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” So Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath: “When God comes to your aid, you are to carry my bones up from here.”

Joseph died at the age of 110. They embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need to be adopted into God’s family today. 
• Become: I will show gratitude to those who shared Jesus with me.
• Be Sent: I will present my faith to someone this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Who handed you their faith? How did this happen?
2. Who are you actively handing your faith to this week?
3. Read Matthew 5:14.  What happens to a city that has no light?  What happens to a world without a gospel presence?
4. If you could only pass one thing to your family and friends, what would it be?
5. Did anyone encourage your faith this week?
6. Have you thanked someone who influenced your faith this week?
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you someone to pass your faith. 

Big Idea: Borrowed faith becomes bold faith, which then leads to loaned faith.

Genesis 24:50-67

1.  The family saw this servant’s faith.

Genesis 24: 50-61

Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we have no choice in the matter. Rebekah is here in front of you. Take her and go, and let her be a wife for your master’s son, just as the Lord has spoken.” When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed to the ground before the Lord. Then he brought out objects of silver and gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother. Then he and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they got up in the morning, he said, “Send me to my master.” But her brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us for about ten days. Then she can go.” But he responded to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has made my journey a success. Send me away so that I may go to my master.” So they said, “Let’s call the girl and ask her opinion.” They called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She replied, “I will go.” So they sent away their sister Rebekah with the one who had nursed and raised her, and Abraham’s servant and his men. They blessed Rebekah, saying to her: Our sister, may you become thousands upon ten thousands. May your offspring possess the city gates of their enemies. Then Rebekah and her female servants got up, mounted the camels, and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

2. Rebekah saw her place in God’s plan.

Genesis 24: 62-66

Now Isaac was returning from Beer-lahai-roi, for he was living in the Negev region. In the early evening Isaac went out to walk in the field, and looking up he saw camels coming. Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she got down from her camel and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” The servant answered, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. Then the servant told Isaac everything he had done.

3. Acceptance will satisfy your soul.    

Genesis 24: 67

And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah to be his wife. Isaac loved her, and he was comforted after his mother’s death.

Next Steps:

• Believe: I take my first step of faith today.
• Become: I will trust God’s plan, even when it’s scary.
• Be Sent: I will walk with someone who’s struggling this week.

Growth Group Questions: 

1. Whose faith would you like to emulate?
2. What is special about their faith? 
3. What was your last big step of faith?  How did it turn out?
4. Can you see God work in your life without taking a step of faith?
5. Is God’s plan for your future clear for you to see?  Explain.
6. Does it feel like God has a great role for you to play in his plan? 
7. Pray for God to show you someone who needs to hear about Jesus tomorrow.

Big Idea:  Paradise Lost: God in the Garden of Evil.

Genesis 3: 8-19

Paradise Lost: God in the Garden of Evil.

1. When parents act like children.

Genesis 3: 8-13

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man replied, “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.” So the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

2. Why nature is deadly.

Genesis 3: 14-15

So the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

3. When desire becomes painful to bear.

Genesis 3: 16

He said to the woman: I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children with painful effort. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you.

4. Why all relationships are messy.

Genesis 3: -19

And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”

Next Steps:

• I will run to Jesus despite my shame this week.
• I need Jesus to strike the serpent for me today.

AMOS: A voice that can’t be silenced

Amos 2:4-16

1. Ghosted God  V. 4-5

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Judah for three crimes, even four, because they have rejected the instruction of the Lord and have not kept his statutes. The lies that their ancestors followed have led them astray. Therefore, I will send fire against Judah, and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.

2. Lived in lust  V. 6-8

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Israel for three crimes, even four, because they sell a righteous person for silver and a needy person for a pair of sandals. They trample the heads of the poor on the dust of the ground and obstruct the path of the needy. A man and his father have sexual relations with the same girl, profaning my holy name. They stretch out beside every altar on garments taken as collateral, and in the house of their God they drink wine obtained through fines.

3. Rejected a relationship with Jesus   V. 9-16

Yet I destroyed the Amorite as Israel advanced; his height was like the cedars, and he was as sturdy as the oaks; I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. And I brought you from the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness in order to possess the land of the Amorite. I raised up some of your sons as prophets and some of your young men as Nazirites. Is this not the case, Israelites? This is the Lord’s declaration. But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets, “Do not prophesy.” Look, I am about to crush you in your place as a wagon crushes when full of grain. Escape will fail the swift, the strong one will not maintain his strength, and the warrior will not save his life. The archer will not stand his ground, the one who is swift of foot will not save himself, and the one riding a horse will not save his life. Even the most courageous of the warriors will flee naked on that day— this is the Lord’s declaration.

Next Steps:

• I need the Holy Spirit to give me a new heart today.
• I will kill lust tomorrow.
• I will listen to the voice of God this week.

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Big Idea:  Only the seed never planted cannot grow.

John 15:1-8

Only the seed never planted cannot grow.

1. A farmer’s sweat is the best fertilizer.

John 15:1-4 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.

2. Hope breaks up the hardest fields.

John 15: 5-8  I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.

How to prepare for FRUIT:

1. Faithfully present the gospel
2. Rely totally on the Holy Spirit
3. Understand the soil
4. Imitate Christ’s love for the lost
5. Trust God with the results

Next Steps:

• I need to be born again today.
• I will plant 1 seed this week.

Big Idea: God’s church is marching toward home. 

In the Beginning: Jacob

Genesis 33: 1-20

I. Worship is a weapon of warfare. 1-7

Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two slave women. He put the slaves and their children first, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. He himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground seven times until he approached his brother. But Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. Then they wept. When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?” He answered, “The children God has graciously given your servant.” Then the slaves and their children approached him and bowed down. Leah and her children also approached and bowed down, and then Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed down.

II. Your property is temporary. 8-11

So Esau said, “What do you mean by this whole procession I met?” “To find favor with you, my lord,” he answered. “I have enough, my brother,” Esau replied. “Keep what you have.” But Jacob said, “No, please! If I have found favor with you, take this gift from me. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing God’s face, since you have accepted me. Please take my present that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have everything I need.” So Jacob urged him until he accepted.

III. Pitch your tent before pagans. 12-20

Then Esau said, “Let’s move on, and I’ll go ahead of you.” Jacob replied, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and I have nursing flocks and herds. If they are driven hard for one day, the whole herd will die. Let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will continue on slowly, at a pace suited to the livestock and the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.” Esau said, “Let me leave some of my people with you.” But he replied, “Why do that? Please indulge me, my lord.” That day Esau started on his way back to Seir, but Jacob went to Succoth. He built a house for himself and shelters for his livestock; that is why the place was called Succoth. After Jacob came from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at Shechem in the land of Canaan and camped in front of the city. He purchased a section of the field where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver. And he set up an altar there and called it God, the God of Israel.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need to be adopted into God’s family today. 
• Become: I will live for eternity this week. 
• Be Sent: I will invite someone far from Jesus into my life.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. What is the longest you’ve ever been away from home?
2. Do you find it difficult to keep your focus on eternity? 
3. Do you believe it’s okay to build wealth and success here on earth, knowing it’s just temporary?
4. Can you have an equal hold on here and heaven simultaneously?  Explain. 
5. Christians are accused of being too much like everyone else (don’t care about heaven) - or not care at all about everyone else (don’t care about here).  How did you do on that spectrum this week?
6. Did you live out your faith before someone far from Jesus this week? If so, explain.
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you focus more on eternity tomorrow. 

You can hold on through anything when you hold on to hope.

John 8:21-29

1. Hope is  more powerful than your problems.

John 8: 21-22  Then he said to them again, “I’m going away; you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I’m going, you cannot come.” So the Jews said again, “He won’t kill himself, will he, since he says, ‘Where I’m going, you cannot come’?”

2. Hope is bigger than your battles.

John 8:23-24  “You are from below,” he told them, “I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”

3. Hope is louder than life’s lies.

John 8:25-29  “Who are you?” they questioned. “Exactly what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them. “I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the one who sent me is true, and what I have heard from him—these things I tell the world.” They did not know he was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own. But just as the Father taught me, I say these things. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.”

Next Steps

• I will listen to King Jesus rather than the lies about me this week.
• I have lost hope lately.  Pray for me.
• I need Jesus to save me from my sin for the first time.
  

Amos: A Voice That Can’t be Silenced

Amos 1:1-2 The words of Amos, who was one of the sheep breeders from Tekoa—what he saw regarding Israel in the days of King Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. He said: The Lord roars from Zion and makes his voice heard from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers.

Write this down: God gave you a voice for a reason.

Our voice must…

1. Shout against slaughter    V. 3-5

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Damascus for three crimes, even four, because they threshed Gilead with iron sledges. Therefore, I will send fire against Hazael’s palace, and it will consume Ben-hadad’s citadels. I will break down the gates of Damascus. I will cut off the ruler from the Valley of Aven, and the one who wields the scepter from Beth-eden. The people of Aram will be exiled to Kir. The Lord has spoken.

2. Cry against calloused hearts   V. 6-8

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Gaza for three crimes, even four, because they exiled a whole community, handing them over to Edom. Therefore, I will send fire against the walls of Gaza, and it will consume its citadels. I will cut off the ruler from Ashdod, and the one who wields the scepter from Ashkelon. I will also turn my hand against Ekron, and the remainder of the Philistines will perish. The Lord God has spoken.

3. Thunder against treason   V. 9-10

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Tyre for three crimes, even four, because they handed over a whole community of exiles to Edom and broke a treaty of brotherhood. Therefore, I will send fire against the walls of Tyre, and it will consume its citadels.

4. Roar against rage   V. 11-12

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Edom for three crimes, even four, because he pursued his brother with the sword. He stifled his compassion, his anger tore at him continually, and he harbored his rage incessantly. Therefore, I will send fire against Teman, and it will consume the citadels of Bozrah.

5. Exclaim for the exploited   V. 13-15

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing the Ammonites for three crimes, even four, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their territory. Therefore, I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah, and it will consume its citadels. There will be shouting on the day of battle and a violent wind on the day of the storm. Their king and his princes will go into exile together. The Lord has spoken.

6. Burn against bad leaders  V. 2:1-3

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Moab for three crimes, even four, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime. Therefore, I will send fire against Moab, and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth. Moab will die with a tumult, with shouting and the sound of the ram’s horn. I will cut off the judge from the land and kill all its officials with him. The Lord has spoken.

Next Steps:

• I need the Holy Spirit to awaken my soul
• I will listen for the Holy Spirit this week.
• I will find my voice

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Merry Christmas!  

Luke 2:10-11 "But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord."  

Big Idea- Joy and love are hand and glove in Jesus.

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Justice - Jesus = Junk

Amos 5:24 But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.

1. We are helpless without Jesus V. 1-3

Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament, house of Israel: She has fallen; Virgin Israel will never rise again. She lies abandoned on her land with no one to raise her up. For the Lord God says: The city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left in the house of Israel.

2. We should learn to hate like Jesus V. 4-17

For the Lord says to the house of Israel: Seek me and live!  Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal or journey to Beer-sheba, for Gilgal will certainly go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing. Seek the Lord and live, or he will spread like fire throughout the house of Joseph; it will consume everything with no one at Bethel to extinguish it. Those who turn justice into wormwood also throw righteousness to the ground. The one who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the water of the sea and pours it out over the surface of the earth—the Lord is his name. He brings destruction on the strong,, and it falls on the fortress. They hate the one who convicts the guilty at the city gate, and they despise the one who speaks with integrity. Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact a grain tax from him, you will never live in the houses of cut stone you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted. For I know your crimes are many and your sins innumerable. They oppress the righteous, take a bribe, and deprive the poor of justice at the city gates. Therefore, those who have insight will keep silent, at such a time, for the days are evil. Pursue good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord, the God of Armies, will be with you as you have claimed. Hate evil and love good; establish justice at the city gate. Perhaps the Lord, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. Therefore the Lord, the God of Armies, the Lord, says: There will be wailing in all the public squares; they will cry out in anguish in all the streets. The farmer will be called on to mourn, and professional mourners, to wail. There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass among you. The Lord has spoken.

3. We can’t hide from Jesus  V. 18-27

Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! What will the day of the Lord be for you? It will be darkness and not light. It will be like a man who flees from a lion only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against the wall only to have a snake bite him. Won’t the day of the Lord be darkness rather than light, even gloom without any brightness in it? I hate, I despise, your feasts! I can’t stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. Even if you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will have no regard for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle. Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream. “House of Israel, was it sacrifices and grain offerings that you presented to me during the forty years in the wilderness? But you have taken up Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, images you have made for yourselves. So I will send you into exile beyond Damascus.” The Lord, the God of Armies, is his name. He has spoken.

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Big Idea: Is “I don’t get you people” a compliment?

The Church is…part of a community, called out from sin and into transparent relationships for the purpose of making Jesus famous in their city.

I. Light and darkness can’t exist together.  Matthew 5:16

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

II. "It's not something to explain. It's something to be experienced." - Chuck Smith 2 Corinthians 5:20

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

III. A change of heart makes a Christian different from anyone else in the world. Proverbs 4:23-24

Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life. Don’t let your mouth speak dishonestly, and don’t let your lips talk deviously.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I want to become part of Jesus’s church today. 
• Become: I will live different this week. 
• Be Sent: I will shine Jesus’s glory this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. How can God’s people shine their light if they’re only around other Christians?
2. Have you ever known someone who surprised you when they said they also shared your faith?
3. What value did the church bring to your community last month?
4. How exactly was your life different from that of a non-believer last week?
5. What actions set Jesus’s people apart at work?
6. What would you say to a friend who doesn’t want to make Jesus famous in their community?
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to point you to a community need this week. 

Big Idea: Even Jesus can’t make closed eyes see.

John 12:37-50

Even Jesus can’t make closed eyes see

1. You’re blind when you chose to ignore.

John 12:37-40 Even though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said: Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said: He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they would not see with their eyes or understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.

2. You’re blind when you look in the wrong direction.

John 12:41-43  Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke about him. Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue. For they loved human praise more than praise from God.

3. You’re blind when you can’t look past the surface.

John 12:44-50  Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me. And the one who sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. I know that his command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”.

Next Steps

• I need Jesus to open my eyes for the first time today.
• I will look at my life through the eyes of faith this week.

Sermon Notes:

Amos 4:4 Come to Bethel and rebel; rebel even more at Gilgal!

1. Go ahead. I dare you!   V. 1-5

Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan who are on the hill of Samaria, women who oppress the poor and crush the needy,

who say to their husbands, “Bring us something to drink.” The Lord God has sworn by his holiness: Look, the days are coming

when you will be taken away with hooks, every last one of you with fishhooks. You will go through breaches in the wall,

each woman straight ahead, and you will be driven along toward Harmon. This is the Lord’s declaration. Come to Bethel and rebel;

rebel even more at Gilgal! Bring your sacrifices every morning,

your tenths every three days. Offer leavened bread as a thanksgiving sacrifice, and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings, for that is what you Israelites love to do! This is the declaration of the Lord God.

2. Tapped snooze too many times.   V. 6-11

I gave you absolutely nothing to eat, in all your cities, a shortage of food in all your communities, yet you did not return to me. This is the Lord’s declaration. I also withheld the rain from you while there were still three months until harvest. I sent rain on one city

but no rain on another. One field received rain while a field with no rain withered. Two or three cities staggered to another city to drink water but were not satisfied, yet you did not return to me.  This is the Lord’s declaration. I struck you with blight and mildew;

the locust devoured your many gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and olive trees, yet you did not return to me. This is the Lord’s declaration. I sent plagues like those of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I caused the stench of your camp to fill your nostrils, yet you did not return to me. This is the Lord’s declaration. I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a burning stick snatched from a fire, yet you did not return to me— This is the Lord’s declaration.

3. Are you ready to meet God?    V. 12-13

Therefore, Israel, that is what I will do to you, and since I will do that to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God! He is here: the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, the one who makes the dawn out of darkness and strides on the heights of the earth. The Lord, the God of Armies, is his name.

Action Steps:

• I’ve rebelled against God. Today, I come to him in faith.
• I’ll live like I’m ready to meet God this week.

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Contact Pastor Jeff by emailing info@2citieschurch.com

Big Idea:  Everyday you’re confronted with 2 choices…

Genesis 4: 17-26

Everyday you’re confronted with 2 choices…

1. Two societies.

Genesis 4: 15-22

Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son. Irad was born to Enoch, Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah. Adah bore Jabal; he was the first of the nomadic herdsmen. His brother was named Jubal; he was the first of all who play the lyre and the flute. Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah.

2. Two sins.

Genesis 4: 23-24

Lamech said to his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words. For I killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain is to be avenged seven times over, then for Lamech it will be seventy-seven times!

3. Two sons.

Genesis 4: 25-26

Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has given me another offspring in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” A son was born to Seth also, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.

Next Steps:

• I will choose to walk with Jesus this week.
• I need to start a walk with Jesus today.

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Big Idea: You have nothing to fear when you’re clean and clear.

Genesis 20: 1-18

1. Lies make you look over your shoulder.

Genesis 20: 1-5

‌

From there Abraham traveled to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar, Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “You are about to die because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.” Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, “Lord, would you destroy a nation even though it is innocent? Didn’t he himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I did this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”

2. God makes clean hands from a clean conscience.

Genesis 20:6-7

‌

Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience. I have also kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I have not let you touch her. Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.”

‌

3. Point your fear in the right direction. 

Genesis 20: 8-13

‌

Early in the morning Abimelech got up, called all his servants together, and personally told them all these things, and the men were terrified. Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said to him, “What have you done to us? How did I sin against you that you have brought such enormous guilt on me and on my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.” Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What made you do this?” Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘There is absolutely no fear of God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. So when God had me wander from my father’s house, I said to her: Show your loyalty to me wherever we go and say about me, ‘He’s my brother.’ 

4. God rewards faithfulness.

Genesis 20: 14-18

‌

Then Abimelech took flocks and herds and male and female slaves, gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him. Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you. Settle wherever you want.” And he said to Sarah, “Look, I am giving your brother one thousand pieces of silver. It is a verification of your honor to all who are with you. You are fully vindicated.” Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they could bear children, for the Lord had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household on account of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Next Steps:

• Believe: God wants to answer your greatest fears
• Become: Leave your fear with Jesus
• Be Sent: Pray for your haters

Discussion Questions:

1. Have you been struggling with a pressing fear lately?
2. How did you show a holy fear of God this week?
3. Read Matthew 5:43-45.
1. When was the last time you prayed for someone like this?
2. What does it look like to love your enemy this week?
3. Why does a prayer like this indicate we are God’s children?
4. Who do you need to pray for this week?  
4. Is there an area of your life where you need God to work in this week?
5. Pray for the Holy Spirit to take away your fears this week.

Big Idea:  When death comes knocking.

Genesis 3: 20-24

When death comes knocking.

1. We lost Biology.

Genesis 3: 20-21

The man named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living. The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.

2. We lost Infinity.

Genesis 3: 22

The Lord God said, “Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.”

3. We lost Eden.

Genesis 3: 23-24

So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.

Next Steps:

• I will let Jesus direct my life this week.
• I need Jesus to do a miracle in my soul today.

Big Idea: The 3 parts of an epic testimony

John 1:19-27 This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” He didn’t deny it but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” “What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?” “I am not,” he said. “Are you the Prophet?” “No,” he answered. “Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?” He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord—just as Isaiah the prophet said.” Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?” “I baptize with water,” John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know him. He is the one coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.” All this happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

1. Know the way
2. Point the way
3. Get out of the way

Next Steps:

• I need King Jesus to give me new life today (let us know by emailing info@2citieschurch.com).
• I will do step #3 of Basic Training this week.

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This week, Pastor Jeff talks specifically about reaching people in your family.

How to speak to people close to you but far from Jesus

John 7:1-9 After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee, since he did not want to travel in Judea because the Jews were trying to kill him. The Jewish Festival of Shelters was near. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see your works that you are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” (For not even his brothers believed in him.) Jesus told them, “My time has not yet arrived, but your time is always at hand. The world cannot hate you, but it does hate me because I testify about it—that its works are evil. Go up to the festival yourselves. I’m not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” After he had said these things, he stayed in Galilee.

1. Admit Your Mistakes

2. Own Your Weaknesses

3. Embrace Your Failures

Action Steps:

1. I need King Jesus to change my soul.

2. I will schedule a gospel conversation.

3. I need God’s help to restore a broken relationship in my family.

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Big Idea: Disciple = Discipline

Matthew 6: 16-18

Disciple = Discipline

1. When you fast.

Matthew 6: 16-18 “Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so that their fasting is obvious to people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting isn’t obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

2. Prayer with fasting.

Acts 13: 2-3 As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.

3. When the stomach corrects the heart.

Isaiah 58: 3-7 “Why have we fasted, but you have not seen? We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!” “Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast, and oppress all your workers. You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today, hoping to make your voice heard on high. Will the fast I choose be like this: A day for a person to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord? Isn’t this the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?

Next Steps

• I need to become a disciple of Christ for the first time.
• I will join in the 21-day church fast.

Due to technical difficulties in the live service, this is a re-recording Jeff did for you from his home. 

At Our Core- Have Fun

Big Idea: If following Jesus isn’t fun, you’re doing it wrong.

Ps 92:4  For you have made me rejoice, Lord, by what you have done; I will shout for joy because of the works of your hands.

1. Free to be yourself

Ps 92: 4 You have made me rejoice… I will shout for joy…

2.  Uncontainable goodness of God

Ps 92:5 How magnificent are your works, Lord, how profound your thoughts!

3. Never have to worry again

Ps 92:7 Though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be eternally destroyed.

Action Steps:

1. I need Jesus to make me into a new person today.
   
2. I will enjoy my relationship with Jesus this week.
   
3. I will turn my worry over to God this week.
   

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Intro/Outro music Courtesy of Ben Sound

Christmas: Live and in the Flesh

What is REAL peace?  Romans 5:1

Big Idea- God’s greatest gift is wrapped in a priceless package

Ro 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Your relationships are right

1 Ki 22:44  Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.

2. Your debts are paid

Lk 2:14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!

3. Your life is full

Is 32:17 The result of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.

4. Your future is secure

Is 9:6–7  For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.

5. Your soul is satisfied

Ps 85:10 Faithful love and truth will join together; righteousness and peace will embrace.

Action Steps:

1. I need Jesus to change my heart today.
2. I need God’s gift of peace right now.
3. I will offer the gift of peace this week.

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AMA: Should I be best friends with an unbeliever?

1. Is there room for politics in the church?

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. I did not mean the immoral people of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the world. But actually, I wrote you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister and is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside? God judges outsiders. Remove the evil person from among you.

Proverbs 22:24; 1 Corinthians 11:32; Colossians 2:20; James 4:4

2. How do I trust a boss or spouse that doesn’t follow Jesus?

Romans 13:5 Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath but also because of your conscience.

Matthew 11:28-30 ; Romans13:1-7; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

3. My husband isn’t a Christian, can I divorce him?

1 Peter 3:1-2 In the same way, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, even if some disobey the word, they may be won over without a word by the way their wives live when they observe your pure, reverent lives.

Deuteronomy 24:1-3; 1 Corinthians 7:15

4. If so, do I have the right to remarry?

1 Cor 7:15-16 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace. Wife, for all you know, you might save your husband. Husband, for all you know, you might save your wife.

Matt 19:8-12; Romans 7:2-3

5. What if my spouse or friend isn’t at the same spiritual level with me?

2 Corinthians 1:24 I do not mean that we lord it over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand firm in your faith.

Next Steps:

• I need to settle my relationship with Jesus today.
• I want to start a relationship with others this week.
• I will not settle for shallow relationships in my group.

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Big Idea: The greatest sermons are delivered at the dinner table.

Genesis 18:1-15

1. The dinner table is the best place to entertain angels. Genesis 18: 1-8

He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, bowed to the ground, and said, “My lord, if I have found favor with you, please do not go on past your servant. Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. Later, you can continue on.” “Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.” So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and make bread.” Abraham ran to the herd and got a tender, choice calf. He gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it. Then Abraham took curds and milk, as well as the calf that he had prepared, and set them before the men. He served them as they ate under the tree.

2. The dinner table is the best place to deal with doubt. Genesis 18: 9-15

“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he answered. The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him. Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?” But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’ Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.” Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid. But he replied, “No, you did laugh.”

Next Steps:

• Believe: I need Jesus to give me a new heart today.
• Become: I will share my doubts with a trusted friend. 
• Be sent: I will open my home to someone far from Jesus.

Discussion Questions:

• What was the most memorable thing you heard during a family meal?
• Read Hebrews 13:1-2:

1. Explain the connection between love and hospitality.
2. How easy is it for you to open your home to a stranger?
3. When was the last time you opened your home to an unbeliever?

• How does God feel about doubt?  Explain your answer using Scripture. 
• Is there any doubt that you’re struggling with today?
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you open your home this week.

Big Idea: Forget being blessed - focus on being a blessing. 

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 49:1-12

I. Squandered future. 1-4

Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather around, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come. Come together and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel: Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength and the firstfruits of my virility, excelling in prominence, excelling in power. Turbulent as water, you will not excel, because you got into your father’s bed and you defiled it—he got into my bed.

II. Swords of fury. 5-7

Simeon and Levi are brothers; their knives are vicious weapons. May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For in their anger they kill men, and on a whim they hamstring oxen. Their anger is cursed, for it is strong, and their fury, for it is cruel! I will disperse them throughout Jacob and scatter them throughout Israel.

III. Son of favor. 8-12

Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you. Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the kill. He crouches; he lies down like a lion or a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until he whose right it is comes and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him. He ties his donkey to a vine, and the colt of his donkey to the choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine and his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I want to be accepted into God’s family today. 
• Become: I want to live a life that blesses God this week. 
• Be Sent: I will bless someone far from Christ this week.
  

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Have you ever compared your gift with someone else’s? How did you feel after the comparison?
2. Has the Holy Spirit shown you someone He wants you to bless? If so, how?
3. How did it impact your self-perspective when someone blessed you unexpectedly?
4. Blessing someone often doesn’t require money. How can your skills or talents bless others in need?
5. Is it easy to identify someone who needs God’s blessing if you don’t feel blessed by God lately? Explain your answer.
6. What is one way you can look for someone to bless this week?
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to shift your focus to someone else this week.

Big Idea: Only God Almighty can renew families.

In the Beginning: Jacob

Genesis 35:1-15

I. Fathers, lead family repentance.   1-3

God said to Jacob, “Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his family and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes. We must get up and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to the God who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me everywhere I have gone.”

II. Fathers, usher in family worship.   4-7

Then they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and their earrings, and Jacob hid them under the oak near Shechem. When they set out, a terror from God came over the cities around them, and they did not pursue Jacob’s sons. So Jacob and all who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. Jacob built an altar there and called the place El-bethel because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

III. Fathers, set your family’s path.   8-15

Deborah, the one who had nursed and raised Rebekah, died and was buried under the oak south of Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bacuth. God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; you will no longer be named Jacob, but your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel. God also said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation, indeed an assembly of nations, will come from you, and kings will descend from you. I will give to you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. And I will give the land to your future descendants.” Then God withdrew from him at the place where he had spoken to him. Jacob set up a marker at the place where he had spoken to him—a stone marker. He poured a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I want to become part of God’s family today. 
• Become: Today, I surrender my lesser gods to God Almighty.
• Be Sent: I will demonstrate that God is my Father this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Did your family have regular home worship?
2. Was your view of God shaped by your father?
3. Is God Almighty confronting areas of your life right now?
4. Has God shown you his might recently?
5. Did your father impact your life’s course?  If so, explain.
6. Do you know a father who is struggling to lead his family?
7. Pray that the Holy Spirit will lead fathers and families this week.

Big Idea: The gospel is foolishness to nonbelievers, but to believers, it is the power of God for salvation. 

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

I. The foolishness of the gospel.

1 Corinthians 1:18-23

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent. Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached. For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.

 II. The power of the gospel.

1 Corinthians 1:24-25

Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need God to save me today.
• Become: Pray for me to live by God’s wisdom this week.
• Be Sent: I’m ready to look foolish to those who don’t share our faith.

Discussion Questions: 

1. What separates worldly wisdom from God’s wisdom? 
2. What are some practical ways to seek God's wisdom in your daily decisions?
3. In what situations have you found distinguishing between worldly and godly wisdom challenging?
4. How can we cultivate an attitude of humility that allows us to learn from others, regardless of their background or beliefs?
5. What role does prayer play in guiding us toward wise living?
6. How can we encourage one another to live by God’s wisdom?
7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom this week. 

Jesus IRL

John 3:22-30

Big idea: Someone is always getting in the way of your success!

1. Stop fighting for control of your life v.22-27

John 3:22-37 After this, Jesus and his disciples went to the Judean countryside, where he spent time with them and baptized. 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People were coming and being baptized, 24 since John had not yet been thrown into prison. 25 Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples and a Jew about purification. 26 So they came to John and told him, “Rabbi, the one you testified about, and who was with you across the Jordan, is baptizing—and everyone is going to him.” 27 John responded, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven.

2. Get out of your own way  v. 28-29

You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the groom. But the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine is complete.

3. Let someone else live your life V. 30

"He must increase, but I must decrease.”

HE > = ME <

Next Steps:

• I surrender my life to King Jesus for the first time today.
• I surrender my life to King Jesus all over again today.

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Write this down: The internal war starts after the last bullet is fired.

I. What was it all for?

Deuteronomy 20:8 The officers will continue to address the army and say, ‘Is there any man who is afraid or cowardly? Let him leave and return home, so that his brothers won’t lose heart as he did.

II. Was it worth it?

Psalm 20:7 Some take pride in chariots, and others in horses, but we take pride in the name of the Lord our God.

III. What happens next?

Matthew 24:4-8 Jesus replied to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these events are the beginning of labor pains.

Next Steps

• I need Jesus to change my soul today.
• I need to work through some things. Connect me with your military group.
• I will place my hope for the future on King Jesus, not the military or politicians.

Videos played in the sermon: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cUlWwFU_Uo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pApJ1lcs7i8

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Big Idea: Just PUSH your ROCK.

Psalm 18:1-6

I. What do you do when your deliverance is delayed…just PUSH your ROCK.

Psalm 18:1-2

I love you, Lord, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliver, my God, my rock where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

II. When you don’t feel worthy… just PUSH your ROCK.

Psalm 18:3-4

I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies. The ropes of death were wrapped around me; the torrents of destruction terrified me.

III. When life gets you down… just PUSH your ROCK

Psalm 18:5-6

The ropes of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. I called to the LORD in my distress, and I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

Next Steps:

Believe: I will push my rock this week. Become: I need to exercise my faith this week. Be Sent: I will serve others by being more obedient to God this week.

Discussion Questions:

1.    How do you respond to delay in your deliverance from a problem or situation?

2.    Have you ever felt unworthy? If so, explain.

3.    Do you have someone to call on to pray with you in a crisis?

4.    Do you consider the LORD as your ROCK? If so, explain.

5.    What are some spiritual steps you take to deal with depression and stress?

6.    Do you immediately thank GOD when your situation gets better?

7.    Do you believe God won’t put more on you than you can bear? Why or why not.

8.    Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you patience that surpasses all understanding this week.

Big Idea: Glasses can't fix chosen blindness.

John 9: 1-34

1. (Not) All sickness is the result of sin!

John 9:1-12 As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him. We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” After he said these things he spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing. His neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit begging?” Some said, “He’s the one.” Others were saying, “No, but he looks like him.” He kept saying, “I’m the one.” So they asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So when I went and washed I received my sight.” “Where is he?” they asked. “I don’t know,” he said.

2. I refuse to live in a world where everything can be explained.

John 8:12-23 They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees. The day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath. Then the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” he told them. “I washed and I can see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was a division among them. Again they asked the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes?” “He’s a prophet,” he said. The Jews did not believe this about him—that he was blind and received sight—until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight. They asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” “We know this is our son and that he was born blind,” his parents answered. “But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he’s of age. He will speak for himself.” His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews, since the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed him as the Messiah, he would be banned from the synagogue. This is why his parents said, “He’s of age; ask him.”

3. We’re all blind to our blindness.

John 9: 24-34 So a second time they summoned the man who had been blind and told him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "Whether or not he's a sinner. I don't know"I was blind and now I can see!"Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" "I already told you,” he said, “and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?” They ridiculed him: “You’re that man’s disciple, but we’re Moses’s disciples. We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man—we don’t know where he’s from.” “This is an amazing thing!” the man told them. “You don’t know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he listens to him. Throughout history no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind. If  this man were not from God, he wouldn't be able to do anything..."

Next Steps

• I’ve been blinded by sin. Today, I turn to Jesus for the first time.
• I need Jesus to open my eyes to his work around me this week.

Big Idea:  You can’t live entirely in 1 city and follow Jesus at the same time.

John 15:18-27

You can’t live entirely in 1 city and follow Jesus at the same time.

1. Love amid hatred.

John 15:18-19“If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.

2. Safety amid hostility.

John 15: 20-25 Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they don’t know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have no excuse for their sin. The one who hates me also hates my Father. If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But this happened so that the statement written in their law might be fulfilled: They hated me for no reason.3. Help amid challenges.

3. Help amid challenges.

John 15: 26-27  “When the Counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. You also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

Next Steps:

• I need to experience the hope of the Gospel for the first time today.
• I need help hanging onto my faith today.

Big Idea: Pray for God’s will and nothing more in ’24.

Jer 29:7

Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.

1. Pray for God’s heart.
2. Pray for God’s glory.
3. Pray for God’s power.

Next Steps:

• Believe: I need Jesus to give me a new heart today.
• Become: I will seek Jesus’s will and nothing more this year.
• Be Sent: I will serve my city for Jesus's glory this year.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you sleep well when you’re traveling?  
2. What are your steps to “settle” into a new home?
3. Can Christians get in the way of God’s plan for your city?  Explain. 
4. What is God’s will for your community next year?  Explain your answer from the Bible.
5. Did you pray for community leaders to thrive last week?
6. Who can you serve someone who is far from Jesus this week?
7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you God’s heart for your city this year.

Big Idea: Laughter is God’s bandage for your soul. 

Genesis 21:1-7

The Lord came to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him. Abraham named his son who was born to him—the one Sarah bore to him—Isaac. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me.” She also said, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son for him in his old age.”

1. Laugh because Jesus’s plan is always perfect.
2. Laugh because Jesus broadens your perspective.
3. Laugh because Jesus’s power is bigger than your problems.
4. Laugh because your pain isn’t permanent.

Next Steps:

• Believe:  I believe Jesus wants to heal my soul today.
• Become: I need the Holy Spirit to turn my sorrow into laughter.
• Be sent: I will give help and hope to someone hurting this month.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you know someone who has let a problem or pain of their past define them?  
2. If you had to choose only one option- would you rather God did WHAT you prayed or When you prayed? Explain your answer. 
3. Can viewing a problem from a different perspective minimize it?
4. Are you naturally an optimist or a pessimist when facing a problem?  
5. When was the last time a big problem turned out to be insignificant in the end?
6. Are you praying for someone who is hurting this holiday season?
7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you laugh at your problems this week.

Big Idea:  TGIS- Thank God it’s Saturday.

Genesis 2: 1-3

TGIS- Thank God it’s Saturday.

1. This day is different.

Genesis 2: 1-2So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

2. This day is dedicated.

Genesis 2: 3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.

Next Steps:

• I will rest in God’s goodness this week.
• I need Jesus to create a new heart in me today.

At Our Core- Reach Far

Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Big Idea- I’d dislocate my shoulder to reach someone far from Jesus.

1. Famous last words

2. A task for every Christian

3. Reason 2 Cities Church exists

Action Steps:

1. Today, I surrendered to King Jesus for the first time
2. I will finish Basic Training this month
3. I will explain the Good News to one person this year

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Get the sermon transcript HERE

Intro/Outro music Courtesy of Ben Sound

What King Jesus expects of his church in 2025: 

I. We will make any sacrifice to become disciples-makers. 

1 Cor 11:1  Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.

II. We will live life together as followers of Christ as we grow and push back darkness in our community.

Acts 2:42-47  They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

III. We will honor a wide range of cultures and styles with our music. 

Psalm 117: 1-2  Praise the LORD, all nations! Glorify him, all peoples! For his faithful love to us is great; the LORD's faithfulness endures forever. Hallelujah! 

Next Steps: 

• Believe:  I believe Jesus wants me to follow him today.
• Become: I will get in a group this month. 
• Be Sent:  I will serve in my community.

Discussion Questions: 

1. What was the topic of your last family meeting?
2. How can a family stay focused and united without a family meeting?
3. What traditions did your family have to encourage quality time together?  
4. How can you honor the differences in your family?  
5. How effective was your family at making everyone feel they were heard or valued?  
6. What strategies can you implement to keep your family close and unified?  
7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to show you where to serve this month.

Big Idea: No one wants to ride in a car with fighting children. 

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

I. We have a common family.  

1 Corinthians 1:10

Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction.

 II. We can’t allow factions.

1 Corinthians 1:11-16

For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by members of Chloe’s people, that there is rivalry among you. What I am saying is this: One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t recall if I baptized anyone else.

III. We all share the same mission

1 Corinthians 1:17

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I want to become part of the family of God today. 
• Become: I repent of spreading lies or gossip today.
• Be Sent: I will serve Christ’s mission this week.

Discussion Questions: 

1. Did your family fight a lot?  If so, over what reasons?
2. Since there is no division in the trinity, where does division among God’s children originate?
3. Do denominations honor God?  Explain your answer.
4. Who did you last argue with about faith?
5. Define gossip?  Is it a sin?  Are you guilty of gossip if you fail to stop it when you hear it?
6. What happens to the time, energy, and resources when factions develop in the church?
7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to teach you humility with other Christians. 

Big Idea: You can’t outrun guilt.  

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 42

I. We’re all guilty of something. 1-6

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you keep looking at each other? Listen,” he went on, “I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us so that we will live and not die.” So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought, “Something might happen to him.” The sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. Joseph was in charge of the country; he sold grain to all its people. His brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

II. Guilt will always catch up with you.   7-17

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied. Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies. You have come to see the weakness of the land.” “No, my lord. Your servants have come to buy food,” they said. “We are all sons of one man. We are honest; your servants are not spies.” “No,” he said to them. “You have come to see the weakness of the land.” But they replied, “We, your servants, were twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no longer living.” Then Joseph said to them, “I have spoken: ‘You are spies!’ This is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one from among you to get your brother. The rest of you will be imprisoned so that your words can be tested to see if they are true. If they are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” So Joseph imprisoned them together for three days.

III. It’s a beast when guilt comes back around.    18-26

On the third day, Joseph said to them, “I fear God—do this and you will live. If you are honest, let one of you be confined to the guardhouse, while the rest of you go and take grain to relieve the hunger of your households. Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be confirmed; then you won’t die.” And they consented to this. Then they said to each other, “Obviously, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us.” But Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to harm the boy? But you wouldn’t listen. Now we must account for his blood!” They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them. He turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes. Joseph then gave orders to fill their containers with grain, return each man’s silver to his sack, and give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out. They loaded the grain on their donkeys and left there.

IV. There’s only one person who can take away your guilt.    27-38

At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver there at the top of his bag. He said to his brothers, “My silver has been returned! It’s here in my bag.” Their hearts sank. Trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What has God done to us?” When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them: “The man who is the lord of the country spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country. But we told him, ‘We are honest and not spies. We were twelve brothers, sons of the same father. One is no longer living, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’ The man who is the lord of the country said to us, ‘This is how I will know if you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go. Bring back your youngest brother to me, and I will know that you are not spies but honest men. I will then give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the country.’ ” As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! When they and their father saw their bags of silver, they were afraid. Their father Jacob said to them, “It’s me that you make childless. Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything happens to me!” Then Reuben said to his father, “You can kill my two sons if I don’t bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him to you.” But Jacob answered, “My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. If anything happens to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.”

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need Jesus to remove my guilt today. 
• Become: I will live guilt-free this week. 
• Be Sent: I will graciously help someone find freedom this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. What is your first response when someone claims you are guilty?
2. Should we point out other’s guilt?  Explain your answer.
3. Can you make the pain of guilt worse by trying to hide it?
4. How often do you remind God of your guilt?
5. Should we try to hide our guilt from the people that we love?
6. Did you live this week like you were free from the weight of guilt?  Explain your answer. 
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to remove the burden of guilt this week. 

Big Idea: Only the Gospel creates flourishing from failure! 

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 43:13-33

I. The conditions of flourishing. 13-21

Zebulun will live by the seashore and will be a harbor for ships, and his territory will be next to Sidon. Issachar is a strong donkey lying down between the saddlebags. He saw that his resting place was good and that the land was pleasant, so he leaned his shoulder to bear a load and became a forced laborer. Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan will be a snake by the road, a viper beside the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider falls backward. I wait for your salvation, Lord. Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels. Asher’s food will be rich, and he will produce royal delicacies. Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.

II. The fruit of flourishing. 22-27

Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine beside a spring; its branches climb over the wall. The archers attacked him, shot at him, and were hostile toward him. Yet his bow remained steady, and his strong arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and the womb. The blessings of your father excel the blessings of my ancestors and the bounty of the ancient hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers. Benjamin is a wolf; he tears his prey. In the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the plunder.”

III. The length of flourishing. 28-33

These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.Then he commanded them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hethite. The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hethite as burial property. Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there, Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there, and I buried Leah there. The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hethites.” When Jacob had finished giving charges to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, took his last breath, and was gathered to his people.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need Jesus to forgive my failures this week. 
• Become: I will enjoy God’s goodness, no matter my circumstances.
• Be Sent: I will help someone flourish this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Describe the basic elements of human flourishing in your own words.
2. Who is the greatest example of flourishing that you know?
3. Does God define flourishing in the same way as the human definition?  Explain your answer. 
4. Are you flourishing if you’re not emotionally or spiritually healthy?
5. What impact do relationships have on a person's flourishing?
6. Can you flourish without contributing to someone else’s life?
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you flourish in the Gospel this week. 

Big Idea: Stories from yesterday, trusting tomorrow.

I. Testify to marvel at Jesus

Mark 5:20 So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.

II. It’s like a pillar of faith.

Joshua 4:6-7 In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ you should tell them, ‘The water of the Jordan was cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s water was cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.

 III. Testimony is loving apologetics.

1 Peter 3:15 ...but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

Next Steps: 

Believe: I need to start a relationship with Jesus today. 

Become: I will live an active faith that impacts others this week.

Be Sent: I will share my testimony with 1 person this week. 

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Has anyone helped you learn how to share your testimony?
2. Is there part of your story that all people can benefit from hearing?  Explain your answer.
3. Is it possible for another person to refute your sincere testimony?  Explain your answer.
4. Name a pillar of faith that impacted what you believe about Jesus.
5. Are all personal testimonies equally supernatural?  Explain your answer using Scripture. 
6. Is there a difference between making Christ Lord and declaring him Savior? 
7. Pray for the opportunity to share your personal story of faith with 1 person this week. 

Big Idea: Duty will either shape or shake your faith!

Luke 6:46-49

I. Worship is worthless without Lordship

Luke 6:46

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation, if you have tasted that the Lord is good.

II. Stress will test your foundation

Luke 6:47-48

I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built.

III.  There’s no safety where the ground shakes. 

Luke 6:49

But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed. And the destruction of that house was great.”

Next Steps:

• Believe: I’ve been standing on the wrong foundation. Today, I need Jesus to change my life.
• Become: I will practice my bible reading every day this week.
• Be Sent: I will show an unshakable faith this week.

Discussion Questions:

1. Did you experience any stresses that tested your faith this week?
2. What is your Bible reading habit (explain how and when you read)?
3. How did you apply your Bible study last week?
4. Did you have the chance to live out your faith today? If so, explain.
5. Have you witnessed someone whose faith collapses due to life's storms?
6. Do you know anyone claiming to love Jesus but not living by His teachings?
7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to place someone on your heart for discipleship.

Helping you go from stimulus to solid Spending

Isaiah 55:1-3

Big Idea- Spending problems are often spiritual problems

Isaiah 55:1-3 “Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the water; and you without silver, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without silver and without cost! Why do you spend silver on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. Pay attention and come to me; listen, so that you will live. I will make a permanent covenant with you on the basis of the faithful kindnesses of David.

1. Ballin’ on a budget
2. Enjoying what you have
3. Giving from the heart

Action Steps:

1. I believe Jesus wants to be King over every area of my life.
2. I will join Financial Peace University.
3. I will pray for the Holy Spirit to make me content.

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Big Idea- No one exchanges the gift of love.  

Ro 5:1–5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  Being loved by God… …teaches us how to love.   

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Big Idea:  The little questions lead to the biggest answers!

Genesis 1:6-13

God’s Word brings a moment of light from an eternity of darkness.

1. Why is the sky blue?

Genesis 1:6-8 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.

2. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Genesis 1:9-13  Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of the water he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so. The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Evening came and then morning: the third day.

Next Steps:

• I need the Holy Spirit to show me the goodness of God this week.
• I need Jesus to re-create my heart today.

Big Idea: Jesus is the good Shepherd.

John 10: 1 - 21

Jesus is the good Shepherd.

1. Learn the voice of the Good Shepherd.

John 10:1-6 "Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn't enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don't know the voice of strangers."  Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

2. The Good Shepherd protects His Sheep.

John 10:7-13 Jesus said again, "Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them. I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn't own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn't care about the sheep.

3. A Good Shepherd knows his sheep.

John 10:14-18 "I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father."

3. Don’t be tone-deaf sheep.

John 19-21 Again the Jews were divided because of these words. Many of them were saying, "He has a demon and he's crazy. Why do you listen to him?" Others were saying, "These aren't the words of someone who is demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

Next Steps

• I need to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd.
• I am tone-deaf and need prayer to recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd.
• I acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd and will follow Him alone.

Big Idea: God gets more glory when you trust Him than when you get revenge.   

In the Beginning: Jacob

Genesis 34: 1-31

I. Ignoring evil won’t make it go away.        1-10

Leah’s daughter Dinah, whom Leah bore to Jacob, went out to see some of the young women of the area. When Shechem—son of Hamor the Hivite, who was the region’s chieftain—saw her, he took her and raped her. He became infatuated with Jacob’s daughter Dinah. He loved the young girl and spoke tenderly to her. “Get me this girl as a wife,” he told his father. Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he remained silent until they returned. Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob. Jacob’s sons returned from the field when they heard about the incident. They were deeply grieved and very angry, for Shechem had committed an outrage against Israel by raping Jacob’s daughter, and such a thing should not be done. Hamor said to Jacob’s sons, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. Live with us. The land is before you. Settle here, move about, and acquire property in it.”

II. Don’t use faith as a weapon.  11-17

Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Grant me this favor, and I’ll give you whatever you say. Demand of me a high compensation and gift; I’ll give you whatever you ask me. Just give the girl to be my wife!” But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully because he had defiled their sister Dinah. “We cannot do this thing,” they said to them. “Giving our sister to an uncircumcised man is a disgrace to us. We will agree with you only on this condition: if all your males are circumcised as we are. Then we will give you our daughters, take your daughters for ourselves, live with you, and become one people. But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”

 III. Deceit is more dangerous than the sword.   18-23

Their words seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. The young man did not delay doing this, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most important in all his father’s family. So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city. “These men are peaceful toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and move about in it, for indeed, the region is large enough for them. Let’s take their daughters as our wives and give our daughters to them. But the men will agree to live with us and be one people only on this condition: if all our men are circumcised as they are. Won’t their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let’s agree with them, and they will live with us.”

IV.      Riots don’t accomplish revenge.    24-31

All the men who had come to the city gates listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and all those men were circumcised. On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and killed every male. They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went away. Jacob’s sons came to the slaughter and plundered the city because their sister had been defiled. They took their flocks, herds, donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. They captured all their possessions, dependents, and wives and plundered everything in the houses. Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me, making me odious to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.” But they answered, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need God to change my soul today. 
• Become: I will trust God to win my wars.
• Be Sent: I will engage evil in my community this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. What is your first reaction when someone breaks your trust?
2. Has your faith been tested after your salvation?  If so, did it make you question God?
3. Is there a hurt in the past that you are asking God to avenge?
4. Does it create the conditions for greater evil if we don’t address it now?  Explain your answer. 
5. How much time did you spend getting to know someone far from Jesus this week?
6. If following Jesus doesn’t prevent evil events here, then why bother?
7. Ask the Holy Spirit for strength to trust God to avenge our hurts. 

Big Idea:  When He calls me, I will answer.

Isaiah 6:1-8

When He calls me, I will answer.

1. Our Conviction. 

Isaiah 6: 1-4

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple.  Seraphim were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth. The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke. 

2. Our Cleansing. 

Isaiah 6:5-7

Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Armies. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.

3. Our Call. 

Isaiah 6: 8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: Who should I send? Who will go for us? I said: Here I am. Send me.

Next Steps:

•  I will go where I’m sent.
• Today, I will give God a return on His investment in me. 

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Big Idea:  God cares about the family tree of Mankind.

Genesis 5: 1-32

God cares about the family tree of Mankind

1. God reaffirms creation.

Genesis 5: 1-2

This is the document containing the family records of Adam. On the day that God created man, he made him in the likeness of God; he created them male and female. When they were created, he blessed them and called them mankind.

2. Roots of the tree.

Genesis 5: 3-24

Adam was 130 years old when he fathered a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.  Adam lived 800 years after he fathered Seth, and he fathered other sons and daughters.  So Adam's life lasted 930 years; then he died. [6] Seth was 105 years old when he fathered Enosh. Seth lived 807 years after he fathered Enosh, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Seth's life lasted 912 years; then he died.  Enosh was 90 years old when he fathered Kenan. Enosh lived 815 years after he fathered Kenan, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Enosh's life lasted 905 years; then he died.  Kenan was 70 years old when he fathered Mahalalel.  Kenan lived 840 years after he fathered Mahalalel, and he fathered other sons and daughters.  So Kenan's life lasted 910 years; then he died. Mahalalel was 65 years old when he fathered Jared. Mahalalel lived 830 years after he fathered Jared, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Mahalalel's life lasted 895 years; then he died. Jared was 162 years old when he fathered Enoch. Jared lived 800 years after he fathered Enoch, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Jared's life lasted 962 years; then he died. Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah. And after he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters. So Enoch's life lasted 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him.

3. Noah is tasked to save the world from itself.

Genesis 5: 25-32

Methuselah was 187 years old when he fathered Lamech. Methuselah lived 782 years after he fathered Lamech, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Methuselah's life lasted 969 years; then he died. Lamech was 182 years old when he fathered a son. And he named him Noah, saying, "This one will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands, caused by the ground the LORD has cursed." Lamech lived 595 years after he fathered Noah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. So Lamech's life lasted 777 years; then he died. Noah was 500 years old, and he fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Next Steps:

• I will honor my spiritual ancestors.
• I will live out the examples set before me this week.

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Big Idea: What do you do when a situation goes from bad to worse?

Genesis 19: 27-38

1. Don’t Panic.

Genesis 19:27-29

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Early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the LORD. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace. So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when he demolished the cities where Lot had lived.

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2. Put things in Godly perspective.

Genesis 19:30-32

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Lot departed from Zoar and lived in the mountains along with his two daughters, because he was afraid to live in Zoar. Instead, he and his two daughters lived in a cave. Then the firstborn said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us as is the custom of all the land. Come, let's get our father to drink wine so that we can sleep with him and preserve our father's line."

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3. Stand strong.

Genesis 19:33-38

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So they got their father to drink wine that night, and the firstborn came and slept with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up. The next day the firstborn said to the younger, "Look, I slept with my father last night. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight so you can go sleep with him and we can preserve our father's line." That night they again got their father to drink wine, and the younger went and slept with him; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up. So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites of today. The younger also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi. l He is the father of the Ammonites of today.

Next Steps:

• Believe: I will remain calm in chaotic situations this week.
• Become: I will seek counsel from God this week.
• Be sent: I will set a good example this week.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you panic in a crisis or pray first?
2. How do you deal with worry and anxiety?
3. Why do you think Lot chose to go to the mountains instead of going back to being with Abraham?
4. Read Judges 10:6-9.

• Why do you think the Moabites and Ammonites hated Israel?
• Why did Israel follow the gods of their neighbors?

5. Do you think all of history should be taught (good & bad) or only parts of it?

6. Pray for your efforts to touch that one person’s heart this week.

Colossians 1:16

Big Idea: Jesus is King of 2 realms

1. Angels

Matthew 26:53 Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and he will provide me here and now with more than twelve legions of angels?

-sons of God

-gods

-Holy ones

-Ministers

-Messengers

-Commander

-Host/army

-Messenger (envoy)

-Cherubim/ cherub

-Seraphim

-Watchers

-Archangel

-Glorious ones

2. Demons

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

-Evil spirits

-Unclean spirit

-Demons

-Beings that oppose God

-False prophet

-Belial

-Beelzebub (god of Ekron)

-Satyrs (hairy demon)

-Lillith (Female demon/ unclean animal)

-Azazel (Goat/ wilderness demon)

-Plague

-Flame/ firebolt

-Terror at night

-King of Terrors

-Great cold

-The Satan (accuser)

-Satan (Lucifer, serpent, dragon, beast...)

3. The Angel of the LORD

Genesis 16:9-10 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.” The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.”

4. The Lord’s messenger

James 2:25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route?

Next Steps

• Today, I need King Jesus to change my soul.
• I will be aware of the spiritual battle around me this week.

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Big Idea: The crushing weight of God’s will.

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 37:1-36

I. Joseph’s pride and dad’s joy burned his brothers.   1-5

Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. These are the family records of Jacob. At seventeen years of age, Joseph tended sheep with his brothers. The young man was working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought a bad report about them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons because Joseph was a son born to him in his old age, and he made a long-sleeved robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not bring themselves to speak peaceably to him. Then Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

II. Your dreams and God’s dreams might be wildly different.   6-11

He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the field. Suddenly my sheaf stood up, and your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” “Are you really going to reign over us?” his brothers asked him. “Are you really going to rule us?” So they hated him even more because of his dream and what he had said. Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun, moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” He told his father and brothers, and his father rebuked him. “What kind of dream is this that you have had?” he said. “Am I and your mother and your brothers really going to come and bow down to the ground before you?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

III. If evil worked the first time, does that prove it will work again?   12-20

His brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers, you know, are pasturing the flocks at Shechem. Get ready. I’m sending you to them.” “I’m ready,” Joseph replied. Then Israel said to him, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the Hebron Valley, and he went to Shechem. A man found him there, wandering in the field, and asked him, “What are you looking for?” “I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph said. “Can you tell me where they are pasturing their flocks?” “They’ve moved on from here,” the man said. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him. They said to one another, “Oh, look, here comes that dream expert! So now, come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”

IV. The dreamer tumbles down the rabbit hole.   21-36

When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from them. He said, “Let’s not take his life.” Reuben also said to them, “Don’t shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him”—intending to rescue him from them and return him to his father. When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off Joseph’s robe, the long-sleeved robe that he had on. Then they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty, without water. They sat down to eat a meal, and when they looked up, there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and resin, going down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come on, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh,” and his brothers agreed. When Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt. When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?” So they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the robe in its blood. They sent the long-sleeved robe to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it. Is it your son’s robe or not?” His father recognized it. “It is my son’s robe,” he said. “A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has been torn to pieces!” Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” And his father wept for him. Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guards.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need to start a relationship with Jesus today.
• Become: I will turn to Jesus when the world turns against me.
• Be Sent: I will speak up when I face evil this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Have you ever had a dream from God?
2. Have you ever had your dreams crushed by circumstances out of your control? If so, explain.
3. Was there a time when your family turned against you?
4. How closely do your will and God’s will align?
5. Have you ever been criticized for sharing the truth?
6. When was the last time you tried to stop something evil from happening?
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you surrender to God’s will this week.

Big Idea:  Love can only be measured on the scales of sacrifice!

John 19: 25-37

Love can only be measured on the scales of sacrifice!

1. Love is serving.

John 19: 25-27 Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

2. Love is sacrificial.

John 19: 28-30 After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was sitting there; so they fixed a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it up to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

3. Love stays until the end.

John 19: 31-37 Since it was the preparation day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special day). They requested that Pilate have the men’s legs broken and that their bodies be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with him. When they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs since they saw that he was already dead. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth. For these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken. Also, another Scripture says: They will look at the one they pierced.

Next Steps:

• I renounce my life in exchange for Jesus’s death today.
• I will reflect on God’s sacrificial love this week.

Big Idea: A selfish Christian is out of step with Christ and irrelevant to their city!

The Church is…part of a community, called out from sin and into transparent relationships for the purpose of making Jesus famous in their city.

I. The Gospel is social as well as personal. Dr. King  

Job 29:13-17

The dying blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart rejoice. I clothed myself in righteousness, and it enveloped me; my just decisions were like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I examined the case of the stranger. I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.

II. "When people say, ‘I want to engage culture,’ sometimes I want to say, ‘Guess what, too late, culture has already engaged you. You are soaking in it.’ To pretend that you are outside of it and that it’s something that you can sort of bomb in and engage piously and triumphantly is maybe not going to get you much of a hearing with people who are a part of culture." Dr. Thornbury

Acts 17:22-28

Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “People of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect. For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it—he is Lord of heaven and earth—does not live in shrines made by hands. Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things. From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’

III. "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?"  Dr. King

1 Peter 4:8-11

Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God. If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I want to start my walk with Jesus today. 
• Become: I will serve someone like Jesus this week. 
• Be Sent: I will make Jesus famous this week. 

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. What did Jesus spend the majority of his energy on during his lifetime?
2. How much time did you spend doing what Jesus did last week?
3. Would you see a doctor with all the education but never practices medicine?  Explain your answer. 
4. What practical difference did your church make in the life of someone far from Jesus this week?  Be specific. 
5. Is it okay to pray for someone in distress without attempting to help meet their needs?
6. Where did you spend the majority of your time around unbelievers? How can you make Jesus famous with this group next week?
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you someone in need tomorrow. 

A failure to plan is a plan to fail.

1. How will we serve?

1 Thessalonians 3:11  Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you.

2. What will we do?

1 Thessalonians 3:12  And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone, just as we do for you..

3. Who will we be?

1 Thessalonians 3:13  May he make your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Amen.

Next Steps

1. I need Jesus to accept me into his church.
2. I will pray for my church daily.
3. I will put the Great Commission first in my life.

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Big Idea: Why family reunions are always weird.

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 45:16-46:34

I. Every family has issues. 45:16-28

When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” Pharaoh and his servants were pleased. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and go on back to the land of Canaan. Get your father and your families, and come back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you can eat from the richness of the land.’ You are also commanded to tell them, ‘Do this: Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your dependents and your wives and bring your father here. Do not be concerned about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ” The sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had commanded, and he gave them provisions for the journey. He gave each of the brothers changes of clothes, but he gave Benjamin three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothes. He sent his father the following: ten donkeys carrying the best products of Egypt and ten female donkeys carrying grain, food, and provisions for his father on the journey. So Joseph sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving, he said to them, “Don’t argue on the way.” So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. They said, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” Jacob was stunned, for he did not believe them. But when they told Jacob all that Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. Then Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go to see him before I die.”

II. There’s no distance too far for family. 46:1-7

Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, and he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. That night God spoke to Israel in a vision: “Jacob, Jacob!” he said. And Jacob replied, “Here I am.” God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you back. Joseph will close your eyes when you die.” Jacob left Beer-sheba. The sons of Israel took their father Jacob in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him, along with their dependents and their wives. They also took their cattle and possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan. Then Jacob and all his offspring with him came to Egypt. His sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters, indeed all his offspring, he brought with him to Egypt.

III. You can’t pick your family name. 8-27

These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt—Jacob and his sons: Jacob’s firstborn: Reuben. Reuben’s sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. Simeon’s sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. Levi’s sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. Issachar’s sons: Tola, Puvah, Jashub, and Shimron. Zebulun’s sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. These were Leah’s sons born to Jacob in Paddan-aram, as well as his daughter Dinah. The total number of persons: thirty-three. Gad’s sons: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. Asher’s sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malchiel. These were the sons of Zilpah—whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah—that she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons. The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. They were born to him by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, a priest at On. Benjamin’s sons: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. These were Rachel’s sons who were born to Jacob: fourteen persons. Dan’s son: Hushim. Naphtali’s sons: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel. She bore to Jacob: seven persons. The total number of persons belonging to Jacob—his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons—who came to Egypt: sixty-six. And Joseph’s sons who were born to him in Egypt: two persons. All those of Jacob’s household who came to Egypt: seventy persons.

IV. Only one family that lasts forever. 28-34

Now Jacob had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to prepare for his arrival at Goshen. When they came to the land of Goshen, Joseph hitched the horses to his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. Joseph presented himself to him, threw his arms around him, and wept for a long time. Then Israel said to Joseph, “I’m ready to die now because I have seen your face and you are still alive!” Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s family, “I will go up and inform Pharaoh, telling him, ‘My brothers and my father’s family, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. The men are shepherds; they also raise livestock. They have brought their flocks and herds and all that they have.’ When Pharaoh addresses you and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ you are to say, ‘Your servants, both we and our ancestors, have raised livestock from our youth until now.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are detestable to Egyptians.”

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need to be adopted into God’s family today. 
• Become: I will become part of a group this week. 
• Be Sent: I will invite someone into my life this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. When was your last family reunion?  What did the shirts look like?
2. Is your family reunion worth traveling to?  Explain your answer.
3. How do you handle family conflicts during family reunions? 
4. How do you stay positive when dealing with difficult family members
5. How can you pass on family values at a reunion? Explain.
6. Is it easy to involve multiple generations at a reunion??
7. Pray for Jesus to show you someone who he wants in his family this week. 

John 1:29-39

Big Idea: Without direction in life, every road leads nowhere.

1. You don’t need to hold the map. V. 29-34

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ I didn’t know him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he rested on him. I didn’t know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on—he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

2. Whom you are following is more important than where you’re going. V.35-36

The next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

3. The journey will change you.  V.37-39

The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and noticed them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” “Come and you’ll see,” he replied. So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon.

Next Steps:

• I need to start the journey with Jesus today.
  
• I will follow the Holy Spirit today.
  

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Ps 148:1–2. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights.  Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly armies.

Write this down: “Dad loves you most.”

1. What are angels?  Are they like ghosts?

PS 103:20 Bless the Lord, all his angels of great strength, who do his word, obedient to his command.

Heb 13:2  Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.

2. Do angels have gender?

Matt 22:29-20 Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, because you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven.

Gen 6:1–4.  When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves.  And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.”  The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.

3. Do angels have the power of choice?

Jude 5-6 Now I want to remind you, although you came to know all these things once and for all, that Jesus saved a people out of Egypt and later destroyed those who did not believe; and the angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deep darkness for the judgment on the great day.

4. Are angels redeemed?

Heb 2:14-16 Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. For it is clear that he does not reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham’s offspring.

Next Steps

• Today, I need Jesus to change my soul.
• I will remember my redemption this week.

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Big Idea:  Only eternal glory is worth dying for.

John 17:1-5

Only eternal glory is worth dying for.

1. God always acts for his own glory.

John 17:1 Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,

2. Only God's glory is eternal.

John 17: 2-3 …since you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him. This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent—Jesus Christ.

3. Courage to conquer.

John 17: 4-5 I have glorified you on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with that glory I had with you before the world existed.

Next Steps:

• I have been living for my own glory.  Today, I exchange my glory for Jesus’s glory for the first time.
• I renounce my glory and live for Jesus’s glory only this week.

Big Idea: Grace requires you to declare your guilt.

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 43:1-34

I. You can’t avoid it.  1-14

Now the famine in the land was severe. When they had used up the grain they had brought back from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little food.” But Judah said to him, “The man specifically warned us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. But if you will not send him, we will not go, for the man said to us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ ” “Why have you caused me so much trouble?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man that you had another brother?” They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?” Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me. We will be on our way so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our dependents. I will be responsible for him. You can hold me personally accountable! If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, I will be guilty before you forever. If we had not delayed, we could have come back twice by now.” Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balsam and a little honey, aromatic gum and resin, pistachios and almonds. Take twice as much silver with you. Return the silver that was returned to you in the top of your bags. Perhaps it was a mistake. Take your brother also, and go back at once to the man. May God Almighty cause the man to be merciful to you so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. As for me, if I am deprived of my sons, then I am deprived.”

II. There’s no detour around it. 15-25

The men took this gift, double the amount of silver, and Benjamin. They immediately went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his steward, “Take the men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they will eat with me at noon.” The man did as Joseph had said and brought them to Joseph’s house. But the men were afraid because they were taken to Joseph’s house. They said, “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time. They intend to overpower us, seize us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.” So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the doorway of the house. They said, “My lord, we really did come down here the first time only to buy food. When we came to the place where we lodged for the night and opened our bags of grain, each one’s silver was at the top of his bag! It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us. We have brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in the bags.” Then the steward said, “May you be well. Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father must have put treasure in your bags. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. The steward brought the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet, and got feed for their donkeys. Since the men had heard that they were going to eat a meal there, they prepared their gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon.

III. Only through guilt can you get to grace. 26-34

When Joseph came home, they brought him the gift they had carried into the house, and they bowed to the ground before him. He asked if they were well, and he said, “How is your elderly father that you told me about? Is he still alive?” They answered, “Your servant our father is well. He is still alive.” And they knelt low and paid homage to him. When he looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother that you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” Joseph hurried out because he was overcome with emotion for his brother, and he was about to weep. He went into an inner room and wept there. Then he washed his face and came out. Regaining his composure, he said, “Serve the meal.” They served him by himself, his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, since that is detestable to them. They were seated before him in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest. The men looked at each other in astonishment. Portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, and Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of theirs. They drank and became drunk with Joseph.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need God’s grace for the first time today. 
• Become: I need God’s grace all over again today. 
• Be Sent: I will be an agent of grace this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Describe the last act of grace you received.  How did it make you feel?
2. Did you have to admit your guilt last week?
3. Why is grace often described as a gift?
4. Which is the stronger emotion- guilt or grace? Explain your answer. 
5. Do ongoing struggles hinder your ability to embrace God's grace fully?
6. Does God ever tire of offering his grace?  Explain your answer from Scripture. 
7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you feel free from grace this week. 

Big Idea: You were created for more than sitting and listening or standing and singing.

The Church is…part of a community, called out from sin and into transparent relationships for the purpose of making Jesus famous in their city.

I. “The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.”   

Philemon 1-2 

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother: To Philemon our dear friend and coworker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your home.

II. An intimate relationship with God can be enhanced through small groups. 

Hebrews 10:23-25

Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful. And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

III. “The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more will everything else between us recede, the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only thing that is vital between us. We have one another only through Christ, but through Christ, we do have one another, wholly, and for all eternity.”

From Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together

Acts 2:42-47 

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I want to become part of God’s family today. 
• Become: I will join a group this week. 
• Be Sent: I will invite someone to my group this week. 

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. What does intimacy mean to you, and how do you express it in your relationships?
2. When did you last share intimate details about your life in a church service context?
3. When was the last time someone from church directly challenged you about your faith or lifestyle?
4. How do you build and maintain emotional intimacy with church people?
5. How comfortable are you with vulnerability in your relationships, and how do you navigate it?
6. In what ways do you affirm intimacy with other church people?
7. Pray for God to help you go deeper with a small group this week. 

Week 2 of a series on managing money from Pastor Jeff Struecker  

Action Steps: 

1. Today, I surrendered everything to King Jesus 

2. I've listened to money more than the Holy Spirit lately. 

3. I will not let my net worth become my idol.  

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Big Idea: They don’t erect statues to the critics. 

In the Beginning: Jacob

Genesis 31: 22-55

I. You don’t have to defend yourself when you’re living for Jesus 22-30

On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. So he took his relatives with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night. “Watch yourself!” God warned him. “Don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” When Laban overtook Jacob, Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his relatives also pitched their tents in the hill country of Gilead. Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and taken my daughters away like prisoners of war! Why did you secretly flee from me, deceive me, and not tell me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and lyres, but you didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters. You have acted foolishly. I could do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Watch yourself! Don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s family—but why have you stolen my gods?”

II. Turn the relationship over to Jesus 31-42

Jacob answered, “I was afraid, for I thought you would take your daughters from me by force. If you find your gods with anyone here, he will not live! Before our relatives, point out anything that is yours and take it.” Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols. So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, Leah’s tent, and the tents of the two concubines, but he found nothing. When he left Leah’s tent, he went into Rachel’s tent. Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of the camel, and sat on them. Laban searched the whole tent but found nothing. She said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I am having my period.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols. Then Jacob became incensed and brought charges against Laban. “What is my crime?” he said to Laban. “What is my sin, that you have pursued me? You’ve searched all my possessions! Have you found anything of yours? Put it here before my relatives and yours, and let them decide between the two of us. I’ve been with you these twenty years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams from your flock. I did not bring you any of the flock torn by wild beasts; I myself bore the loss. You demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or by night. There I was—the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes. For twenty years in your household I served you—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times! If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, certainly now you would have sent me off empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and my hard work, and he issued his verdict last night.”

III. Let God be the Judge 43-55

Then Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters; the children, my children; and the flocks, my flocks! Everything you see is mine! But what can I do today for these daughters of mine or for the children they have borne? Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I. Let it be a witness between the two of us.” So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a marker. Then Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a mound, then ate there by the mound. Laban named the mound Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed. Then Laban said, “This mound is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore the place was called Galeed and also Mizpah, for he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are out of each other’s sight. If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, though no one is with us, understand that God will be a witness between you and me.” Laban also said to Jacob, “Look at this mound and the marker I have set up between you and me. This mound is a witness and the marker is a witness that I will not pass beyond this mound to you, and you will not pass beyond this mound and this marker to do me harm. The God of Abraham, and the gods of Nahor—the gods of their father—will judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. So they ate a meal and spent the night on the mountain. Laban got up early in the morning, kissed his grandchildren and daughters, and blessed them. Then Laban left to return home.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need Jesus to change my heart today
• Become: I need the Holy Spirit to help me overcome a critical spirit.
• Be Sent: I will live out my faith for others to see (and criticize) this week.

Growth Group Questions: 

1. What percentage of your speech is positive this week?  What percentage was negative? 

2. Would your family agree with your percentages?

3. Why does criticism from a close relationship hurt more than from a stranger?

4. Read Numbers 16:41-50.  

A. Why was God angry when people criticized Moses and Aaron?

B. Would you act so quickly to spare the people who criticized you?

C. What does 14,700 dead say about how seriously God takes our critical attitude?

5. Why is it easy to give ourselves grace for the same things we criticize of others?

6. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give us words that represent the heart of Jesus toward others this week.

John 5:17-30

Big idea: Only after you’ve learned you can do NOTHING, can you do ANYTHING for God.

1) A faithful child’s…

John 5:17-18 Jesus responded to them, “My Father is still working, and I am working also.” This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him: Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.

2)... full submission…

John 5:19-23 Jesus replied, "Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son likewise does these things. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater works than these so that you will be amazed. And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants. The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him."

3)… perfectly accomplishes the Father’s will.

John 5:24-30 "Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life. Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself. And he has granted him the right to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation. I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me."

Next Steps

How to find joy in the Father’s will:

1. Seek the Father’s will
   
2. Struggle to live for God’s glory
   
3. Submit your desires to the Holy Spirit
   
4. Substitute your toil for his joy
   

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The true meaning of Easter

Hebrews 11:17-19

Easter has the power to change Bad Bunny and rotten eggs. 

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and yet he was offering his one and only son, the one to whom it had been said, Your offspring will be traced through Isaac. He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking.

I.        Forget yesterday’s hurt     V. 17

II.       Free up today’s heavy load    V. 18

III       Find hope for tomorrow     V.19

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need Jesus to bring my dead heart to life.
• Become: I need Jesus’s help with my struggles.  
• Be Sent: I will help someone learn about Jesus this week

Group Questions: 

1. What is your favorite Easter tradition?  Why?

2. What do you want your grave marker to say about you?

3. How would you explain Easter eggs or bunnies to a new Christian?

4. What sacrifice is God asking you to give to offer him?

5. What burden do you need Jesus to help you carry today?

7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you Easter hope throughout the week. 

John 5:31-47

1. John the Baptist

John 5:31-34  “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. I don’t receive human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. John was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

2. God the Father

John 5:36-40  “But I have a greater testimony than John’s because of the works that the Father has given me to accomplish. These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent me. The Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven’t seen his form. You don’t have his word residing in you, because you don’t believe the one he sent. You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me. But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

3. Moses the Lawgiver

John 5:41-47  “I do not accept glory from people, but I know you—that you have no love for God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and yet you don’t accept me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe, since you accept glory from one another but don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. But if you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe my words?”

Next Steps

• Today, I need Jesus to change my soul.
• I will follow the Truth this week.

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AMA: Building awesome bonds requires bearing awkward burdens.

John 1:16-17 

Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 

1. Sanctity of life.

Leviticus 18:21 “You are not to sacrifice any of your children in the fire to Molech. Do not profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.

Genesis 9:6; Exodus 21:12; 20:13; Psalms 139:13-16; Psalm 127:3-5; Jeremiah 1:4-5; John 8:7; Romans 12:19.

2. Sexual ethics.

Leviticus 18:22 You are not to sleep with a man as with a woman; it is detestable.

Genesis 2:24–25; 19:1-11, Leviticus 18:22; 20:13, Romans 1:24–27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 12-20; Galatians 5:13-26; 1 Timothy 1:8-11.

3. Social Justice.

Matt 25:40 “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matt 25:40

Luke 10:37; 1 Corinthians 13; James 2:8

Next Steps:

• I need to settle my relationship with Jesus today.
• I want to start a relationship with others this week.
• I will not settle for shallow relationships in my group.

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Big Idea:  Anyone moving forward might stumble.

John 18:25-27

Anyone moving forward might stumble.

5 responses after you stumble:

1. Lie to yourself
2. Lighten it
3. Like it didn’t happen
4. Live in it
5. Learn from it

John 18: 25-27Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” Peter denied it again. Immediately a rooster crowed.

Next Steps:

• I need Jesus to rescue me for the first time.
• I will run to Jesus when I stumbled this week.

Big Idea: No one can love you- or hurt you- like family.

In the Beginning: Jacob

Genesis 29:13-35

I. When your home isn’t a safe space. 13-20

When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him, hugged him, and kissed him. Then he took him to his house, and Jacob told him all that had happened. Laban said to him, “Yes, you are my own flesh and blood.” After Jacob had stayed with him a month, Laban said to him, “Just because you’re my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.” Now Laban had two daughters: the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel. Leah had tender eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful. Jacob loved Rachel, so he answered Laban, “I’ll work for you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay with me.” So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

II. Who can you trust, if not family?   21-30

Then Jacob said to Laban, “Since my time is complete, give me my wife, so I can sleep with her.” So Laban invited all the men of the place and sponsored a feast. That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her. And Laban gave his slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her slave. When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What have you done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?” Laban answered, “It is not the custom in our country to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn. Complete this week of wedding celebration, and we will also give you this younger one in return for working yet another seven years for me.” And Jacob did just that. He finished the week of celebration, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. And Laban gave his slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave. Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban for another seven years.

III. Families should fight for, not against, each other.  31-35

When the Lord saw that Leah was neglected, he opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to conceive. Leah conceived, gave birth to a son, and named him Reuben, for she said, “The Lord has seen my affliction; surely my husband will love me now.” She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “The Lord heard that I am neglected and has given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “At last, my husband will become attached to me because I have borne three sons for him.” Therefore he was named Levi. And she conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then Leah stopped having children.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need to be adopted into God’s family today.
• Become: I need Jesus to heal my broken family.
• Be Sent: I will invite my family to join God’s family.

Growth Group Questions: 

1. On a scale of 1-10, how emotionally healthy is your immediate family?

2. Have you ever experienced any hurt or betrayal from a family member?

3. If so, where did you turn after the pain?

4. Have you ever confronted a family member about the pain they caused you?  How did they respond?

5. How do you respond when a trusted friend or family member lies?

6. What would it be if you could change anything about your family today?

7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you heal broken families. 

Big Idea:  Follow the Signs.

John 20:19-31

Follow the Signs.

1. The Great Commission.

John 20: 19-23 When it was evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, "Peace be with you." Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you." After saying this, he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

2. Move from unbeliever to believer.

John 20: 24-29 But Thomas (called "Twin"), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were telling him, "We've seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "If I don't see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe." A week later his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don't be faithless, but believe." Thomas responded to him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said, "Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."

3. Signs that lead the way.

John 20: 30-31 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Next Steps:

• I need the Holy Spirit to help me follow the signs that lead to salvation.
• I believe Jesus has power on earth as well as in heaven.

Big Idea: Your thirst for more ______ can only be satisfied in Jesus.

1. The Holy Spirit satisfies.

John 7:37-39  On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

2. He convinces about King Jesus.

John 7:40-44  When some from the crowd heard these words, they said, “This truly is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some said, “Surely the Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Messiah comes from David’s offspring and from the town of Bethlehem, where David lived?” So the crowd was divided because of him. Some of them wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.

3. He sets the rules.

John 7:45-52  Then the servants came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?” The servants answered, “No man ever spoke like this!” Then the Pharisees responded to them, “Are you fooled too? Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which doesn’t know the law, is accursed.” Nicodemus—the one who came to him previously and who was one of them—said to them, “Our law doesn’t judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it?” “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you?” they replied. “Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

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Big Idea:  Jesus is praying for you today.

John 17:6-19

Jesus is praying for you today.

1. Jesus prays for your faithfulness.

John 17:6-8 “I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, because I have given them the words you gave me. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.

2. Jesus prays for your effectiveness.

John 17: 9-12“I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they are yours. Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled.

3. Jesus prays for your joyfulness.

John 17: 13-16 Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in them. I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

4. Jesus prays for your holiness.

John 17: 17-19 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Next Steps:

• I prayed for Jesus to touch my soul for the first time today.
• When life gets difficult, I will trust God’s truth this week.

Big Idea: It takes less sweat to prevent a mess than to clean it up later.

Genesis 21:8-21

1. You can’t scrub away your past.

Genesis 21:8-10

The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son mocking—the one Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham. So she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a coheir with my son Isaac!”

2. Don’t blame someone else for your own mess.

Genesis 21: 11-13

This was very distressing to Abraham because of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and about your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your offspring will be traced through Isaac, and I will also make a nation of the slave’s son because he is your offspring.”

3. God hears the prayers of a messy heart. 

Genesis 21: 14-21

Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her and the boy away. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes and went and sat at a distance, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” While she sat at a distance, she wept loudly. God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the boy crying from the place where he is. Get up, help the boy up, and grasp his hand, for I will make him a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well. So she went and filled the waterskin and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy, and he grew; he settled in the wilderness and became an archer. He settled in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Next Steps:

• Believe:  I need Jesus to clean my messy heart today.
• Become: I will trust Jesus for strength to avoid sin this week.
• Be sent: I will carefully step into someone’s mess this week.

Discussion Questions:

1. Have you ever asked God to clean up your mess for you?  
2. Why is it so easy to pass the blame for our own mess?
3. What was the last personal mess you made?
4. Why couldn’t Sarah live with both boys at the same time?
5. Why did God choose Isaac and not Ismael?  What does this say about our relationship with God the Father?
6. Did Abraham get off easy in this mistake?  Explain your answer.
7. Pray for God’s grace despite our mess this week.

Big Idea: Mom’s love can turn finger painting into a fine work of art.

1 Samuel 1: 1 - 28

Mom’s love can turn finger painting into a fine work of art.

1. Mom is passionate.

Samuel 1: 1-8 There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives, the first named Hannah and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless. This man would go up from his town every year to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Armies at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were the Lord’s priests. Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters. But he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved her even though the Lord had kept her from conceiving. Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the Lord had kept Hannah from conceiving. Year after year, when she went up to the Lord’s house, her rival taunted her in this way. Hannah would weep and would not eat. “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband, Elkanah, would ask. “Why won’t you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

2. Mom prays.

John 13: 9-16  On one occasion, Hannah got up after they ate and drank at Shiloh. The priest Eli was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple. Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears. Making a vow, she pleaded, “Lord of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.” While she continued praying in the Lord’s presence, Eli watched her mouth. Hannah was praying silently, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, “How long are you going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine!” “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my heart before the Lord. Don’t think of me as a wicked woman; I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.”

3. Mom is present.

John 13: 17-22  Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request you’ve made of him.” “May your servant find favor with you,” she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent. The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to worship before the Lord. Afterward, they returned home to Ramah. Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, “I requested him from the Lord.” When Elkanah and all his household went up to make the annual sacrifice and his vow offering to the Lord, Hannah did not go and explained to her husband, “After the child is weaned, I’ll take him to appear in the Lord’s presence and to stay there permanently.”

4. Mom keeps her promises.

John 13: 23-28 Her husband, Elkanah, replied, “Do what you think is best, and stay here until you’ve weaned him. May the Lord confirm your word.” So Hannah stayed there and nursed her son until she weaned him. When she had weaned him, she took him with her to Shiloh, as well as a three-year-old bull, half a bushel of flour, and a clay jar of wine. Though the boy was still young, she took him to..."

Next Step:

I will make Hannah’s vow tomorrow.

This week, Pastor Jeff preaches the third in a short series on angels and demons. 

Also in this episode, Army veteran and country music singer, Keni Thomas, premiers a song he and Billy Montana wrote about being an angel to others.

Which came first, evil or Lucifer?

Luke 10:18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

1. When were angels created?

Job 38:4-7 Where were you when I established the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? What supports its foundations? Or who laid its cornerstone while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

2. Is God still creating angels?

Genesis 2:1 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.

3. How many angels exist?

Revelation 5:11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands.

4. When did Satan fall?

1 John 3:8 The one who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works.

Next Steps

• I need the Gospel to make me pure today.
• I need the Gospel to keep me pure this week.

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Big Idea: Only Jesus can create a life brighter on the inside than the outside.

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 47:1-12

I. Life is more than a nice home. 1-4

So Joseph went and informed Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen.” He took five of his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh asked his brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants, both we and our ancestors, are shepherds.” And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to stay in the land for a while because there is no grazing land for your servants’ sheep, since the famine in the land of Canaan has been severe. So now, please let your servants settle in the land of Goshen.”

II. Life is more than a great job. 5-6

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have come to you, the land of Egypt is open before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They can live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

 III. Life is more than health and old age. 7-10

Joseph then brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many years have you lived?” Jacob said to Pharaoh, “My pilgrimage has lasted 130 years. My years have been few and hard, and they have not reached the years of my ancestors during their pilgrimages.” So Jacob blessed Pharaoh and departed from Pharaoh’s presence.

IV. Life is more than food on the table. 11-12

Then Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s family with food for their dependents.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need Jesus to give me new life today. 
• Become: I will live for Jesus’s glory this week. 
• Be Sent: I will offer someone life this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. What is the ultimate goal of your life?
2. How closely do your efforts today match the goal of your life?
3. Do you know someone who has regretted how they lived their life?
4. Can any career serve your ultimate goal in life? Explain. 
5. What does age have to do with fulfilling your ultimate goal in life?
6. If life is more than just possessions and providing the necessities, why do we spend so much time and energy on these two areas?
7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you the power to live for Jesus’s glory this week. 

Big Idea:  The greatest freedom is won through the greatest fight.

Genesis 4: 1-16

The greatest freedom is won through the greatest fight.

1. A fight between self and sin.

Genesis 4: 1-7

The man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.” She also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but he did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

2. A fight between brothers.

Genesis 4:8

Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

3. A fight between God and man.

Genesis 4: 9-12

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?” Then he said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! So now you are cursed, alienated from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood you have shed. If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

4. A fight between man and neighbor.

Genesis 4:13-16

But Cain answered the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear! Since you are banishing me today from the face of the earth, and I must hide from your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me.”. Then the Lord replied to him, “In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” And he placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Next Steps:

• I will rule over my sin this week.
• I need Jesus to wash me clean for the first time today.

2 Cor 4:3-4 But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Write this down: Satan still serves God!

1.  How did Lucifer have the choice to rebel against God with pride?

1 Timothy 3:6-7 He must not be a new convert, or he might become conceited and incur the same condemnation as the devil. Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he does not fall into disgrace and the devil’s trap.

2. If Satan is not omnipresent, is it more likely the work of demons that brings about our temptation?

Matthew 4:8-11 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.

3. When I stub my toe after doing something bad, and my mom says, “The devil made you do it,” is that true?

James 1:13-14 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire.

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Big Idea:  Moving back home empty-handed!

John 21:1-14

Moving back home empty-handed!

1. Back in black.

John 21: 1-6 After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called “Twin”), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples were together. “I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them. “We’re coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus. “Friends,” Jesus called to them, “you don’t have any fish, do you?” “No,” they answered. “Cast the net on the right side of the boat,” he told them, “and you’ll find some.” So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish. The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”

2. Bringing home the bacon.

John 21: 7-11 When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him (for he had taken it off) and plunged into the sea. Since they were not far from land (about a hundred yards away), the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them. So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish—153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.

3. Breakfast on the beach.

John 21:12-14 “Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Next Steps:

• I need Jesus to turn my life around today.
• I will turn my disappointments over to Jesus this week.

Big Idea: Covering your eyes doesn’t make the truth go away.

John 9: 35-41

1. I once was blind, but now I see!

John 9:35-38 Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” “Who is he, Sir, that I may believe in him?” he asked. Jesus answered, “You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped him.

2. Is spiritual blindness God’s fault?

John 8:39-41 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.” Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?” “If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

Next Steps:

• I need God to open my eyes for the first time today.
• I need Jesus to help me see my need for Jesus again today.

Big Idea:  We were made to rule and fellowship with God.

Genesis 1:26-31

We were made to rule and fellowship with God.

1. We were never meant to do life alone.

Genesis 1:26-28 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female. God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth."

2. We were made to represent God on earth.

Genesis 1:29-31 God also said, "Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth everything having the breath of life in it I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

Next Steps:

• I will show leadership for and in God.
• I need the Holy Spirit to assist me as a representative of God.

Big Idea: Our son will serve as our brother and become our Father.

Isaiah 9:6

For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

I. Our Son, the source

II. Our Brother, the sample

III. Our Father, the savior

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need Jesus to save me from my sins today.
• Become: I will spend a few minutes focusing on my relationship with Jesus each morning. 
• Be Sent: I will serve someone like Jesus served this Christmas.

Discussion Questions: 

1. What is the most important Christmas tradition your family passed on to you?
2. How will you focus your thoughts and your family on Christ this Christmas?
3. In what way did you model your life after Christ yesterday? 
4. What area of your relationship with Christ would you like to work on this week? 
5. What influenced God to give you his greatest gift on the first Christmas?
6. How can you let your community know about the love of Jesus this week?
7. Pray for your relationship with Jesus to grow deeper this Christmas season. 

Write this down: You are a son or daughter, not a servant, of the King!

1. Do people have guardian angels?

Psalm 91:11 For he will give his angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all your ways.

Matthew 18:10 See to it that you don’t despise one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of my Father in heaven.

2. Do angels carry our spirits to Heaven?

Jude 9 Yet when Michael the archangel was disputing with the devil in an argument about Moses’s body, he did not dare utter a slanderous condemnation against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Luke 16:22-23 One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.

3. Do nations have their own angels?

Daniel 10:12 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me after I had been left there with the kings of Persia.

Daniel 12:1 At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time. But at that time all your people who are found written in the book will escape.

4. What is the nature of our relationship to angels?

Acts 7:53 You received the law under the direction of angels and yet have not kept it. (See also Hebrews 2:2-3)

Luke 22:27-30 For who is greater, the one at the table or the one serving? Isn’t it the one at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves. You are those who stood by me in my trials. I bestow on you a kingdom, just as my Father bestowed one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. And you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (See also 1 Corinthians 6:3)

Next Steps

• Today, God’s angel has convinced me of my helplessness and my need for Jesus to save me.
• I will only let The Father determine my worth this week!

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Amos Chapter 8

Write this down: Nothing speaks louder about a relationship than silence!

Amos 8:11 Look, the days are coming— this is the declaration of the Lord God— when I will send a famine through the land: not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.

1. Get honest V. 1-6

The Lord God showed me this: a basket of summer fruit. He asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” The Lord said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel; I will no longer spare them. In that day the temple songs will become wailing”—this is the Lord God’s declaration. “Many dead bodies, thrown everywhere! Silence!”

2. Show compassion V. 4-10

Hear this, you who trample on the needy and do away with the poor of the land, asking, “When will the New Moon be over so we may sell grain, and the Sabbath, so we may market wheat? We can reduce the measure while increasing the price and cheat with dishonest scales. We can buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and even sell the chaff!” The Lord has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: I will never forget all their deeds. Because of this, won’t the land quake and all who dwell in it mourn? All of it will rise like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt. And in that day— this is the declaration of the Lord God— I will make the sun go down at noon; I will darken the land in the daytime. I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make that grief like mourning for an only son and its outcome like a bitter day.

3. Listen carefully          V. 11-14

Look, the days are coming— this is the declaration of the Lord God— when I will send a famine through the land: not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east seeking the word of the Lord, but they will not find it. In that day the beautiful young women, the young men also, will faint from thirst. Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, “As your god lives, Dan,” or, “As the way of Beer-sheba lives”— they will fall, never to rise again.

Action Steps:

• I need God to speak to my dead soul today.
  
• Pray for me. I haven’t heard from God in a while.
  
• I will spend time listening to Jesus each day.
  

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Big Idea:  Soli Deo Gloria

John 13:31-38

Soli Deo Gloria

1. Letting his glory shine.

John 13:31-32 When he had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.

2. Led by his glory.

John 13: 33  Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so now I tell you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

3. Loving for his glory.

John 13: 34-35 “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

4. Living for his glory.

John 13: 36-38 “Lord,” Simon Peter said to him, “where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.” “Lord,” Peter asked, “why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus replied, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly I tell you, a rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.

Next Steps

• I’ve lived for my glory.  I need God to change my heart for the first time today.
• I will put God’s glory above my glory this week.

Write this down: One step forward makes a world of difference!

Amos 6:12 Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does anyone plow there with oxen?

1. Not me!  It’s not my problem.   V. 1-7

Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and to those who feel secure on the hill of Samaria— the notable people in this first of the nations, those the house of Israel comes to. Cross over to Calneh and see; go from there to great Hamath; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours? You dismiss any thought of the evil day and bring in a reign of violence. They lie on beds inlaid with ivory, sprawled out on their couches, and dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. They improvise songs to the sound of the harp and invent their own musical instruments like David. They drink wine by the bowlful and anoint themselves with the finest oils but do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. Therefore, they will now go into exile as the first of the captives, and the feasting of those who sprawl out will come to an end.

2. Who me?  It’s not my fault!    V. 8-14

The Lord God has sworn by himself—this is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Armies: I loathe Jacob’s pride and hate his citadels, so I will hand over the city and everything in it. And if there are ten men left in one house, they will die. A close relative and burner will remove his corpse from the house. He will call to someone in the inner recesses of the house, “Any more with you?” That person will reply, “None.” Then he will say, “Silence, because the Lord’s name must not be invoked.” For the Lord commands: The large house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble. Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does anyone plow there with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood— you who rejoice over Lo-debar and say, “Didn’t we capture Karnaim for ourselves by our own strength?” But look, I am raising up a nation against you, house of Israel— this is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Armies— and they will oppress you from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.

Action Steps:

• I need the Holy Spirit to make me alive in Christ.
• I will allow the Holy Spirit to work through me this week.

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Vision Sunday: Where we're headed in 2021

Big Idea- No amount of darkness can overpower one small light.

John 1:4–5 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it

1. Push for change
2. Back to reality
3. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness”

Action Steps:

1. Today, I saw “the light” and Jesus saved me
2. I will push back darkness this year

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Big Idea: Doubt creates mountains- Faith moves them.

Genesis 15:7-21

1. Don’t doubt that God can. Genesis 15: 7-8

He also said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “Lord God, how can I know that I will possess it?”

2. Don’t doubt that God cares. Genesis 15: 9-12

He said to him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” So he brought all these to him, cut them in half, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds in half. Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the sun was setting, a deep sleep came over Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.

3. Don’t doubt God’s covenant. Genesis 15: 13-21

Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed. However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions. But you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring, from the Brook of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River: the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hethites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

Next Steps:

• BELIEVE: Today, I surrender to God’s blood covenant over me.
• BECOME: I will hold on to hope, even when my situation looks hopeless.
• BE SENT: I will share my hope in Jesus with someone facing doubt this week.

Discussion Questions:

1. When was the last time you were tempted to doubt God? Why?
2. Does it help you handle challenges when you see others overcome hardships? Explain.
3. Where do those who are far from Jesus place their hope?
4. Does fellowship with other Christians make your difficulties easier to bear?  Explain. 
5. Why do some people hold on to hope when others lose hope in the same circumstances?
6. Does it feel like God doesn’t notice or doesn’t care when evil happens to you?  Explain.
7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to make your faith stronger than your doubts this week.

1. Too close

John 7:1-5   After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee, since he did not want to travel in Judea because the Jews were trying to kill him. The Jewish Festival of Shelters was near. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see your works that you are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” (For not even his brothers believed in him.)

2. Too far

John 7: 6-9  Jesus told them, “My time has not yet arrived, but your time is always at hand. The world cannot hate you, but it does hate me because I testify about it—that its works are evil. Go up to the festival yourselves. I’m not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” After he had said these things, he stayed in Galilee.

Obstacles to faith:

1. Not popular
2. Didn’t get your wish
3. Not for your glory
4. Might be painful
5. Delayed reward

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Big Idea:  Today is your 2nd chance for a better yesterday.

Genesis 9: 1-17

Today is your 2nd chance for a better yesterday.

1. Sin infected everything.

Genesis 9: 1-7

Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth. All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it. “And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image. Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.”

2. God washed it all away. 

Genesis 9: 8-11

Then God told Noah and his sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”

3. Jesus offers a new chance. 

Genesis 9: 12-17

Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”

Next Steps:

• I will spread Jesus’s glory this week.
• I need Jesus to wash me clean today.

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Big Idea:  WHY? Is the best and worst question you can ask in hard times.

Genesis 12:10-20

WHY? Is the best and worst question you can ask in hard times.

1. Why Famine is confusing. 

Genesis 12: 10

Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a time, because the famine was severe in the land.

2. Why Fear is dangerous.

Genesis 12: 11-16

It came about, when he was approaching Egypt, that he said to his wife Sarai, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well for me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.” Now it came about, when Abram entered Egypt, that the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. Therefore he treated Abram well for her sake; and he gave him sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

3. Why Falsehood is a sin. 

Genesis 12: 17-20

But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for myself as a wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her and go!” And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.

Next Steps:

• I will meet Jesus in the middle of my problems this week.
• I need to start a walk with Jesus today.

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Big Idea: The resurrection and eternal life are represented in Jesus Christ.

John 11: 1-21

The resurrection and eternal life are represented in Jesus Christ.

1. Delay doesn’t mean denial.

John 11: 1-6 Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.” When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was.

2. Courage under fire.

John 11: 7-15 Then after that, he said to the disciples, "Let's go to Judea again." "Rabbi," the disciples told him, "just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you're going there again?" "Aren't there twelve hours in a day?" Jesus answered. "If anyone walks during the day, he doesn't stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him.'' He said this, and then he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I'm on my way to wake him up." Then the disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well." Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep. So Jesus then told them plainly, "Lazarus has died. I'm glad for you that I wasn't there so that you may believe. But let's go to him."

3. If only…

John 11: 16-21 Then Thomas (called "Twin") said to his fellow disciples, "Let's go too so that we may die with him." When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem (less than two miles away). Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.

Next Steps

- I need strength while I wait for a response from God.

- I need the Holy Spirit to comfort me in my storm.

- I will trust God more this week.