Growth Group Discussion Guide for Week of Feb 24

Digging In the Word 

Paul’s concern for the disciples at Colossae was that they would continue in the faith. How does the Apostle encourage them – and us – to preserve as Christians? Let’s take a closer look at what we read here and what we learned on Sunday.

• Let’s read Colossians 1:15-23. 

1. What point is Paul trying to make to the Colossians in 1:13-14 and 15-20? What does this have to do with “the “hope of the Gospel” (compare verse 23 and 27!)? 
2. In verse 23, Paul urges the Colossians to persevere in their faith and not allow themselves to be constantly shifting from the hope of the Gospel. How do you think believers today are tempted to “shift away from the hope of the Gospel”? What are we taught here to do instead? What does that look like?
3. Pastor Josh pointed out the difference between the “outputs” of a Christian lifestyle and the “outcomes” of Gospel transformation. What do you think the difference is between outputs and outcomes?
4. We should expect to see certain outcomes over time as a result of true Gospel transformation in the life of the truly converted. What Gospel transformation outcomes can we find in Colossians [see 1:23; 2:6-7, 19; 3:5-4:6]? 
5. What do we learn in Colossians that can help us pursue Gospel transformation together? 

Applying the Truth 

• Pastor Josh shared this quote from the late Dr. Howard Hendricks: “Many of us want a word from God, but we don’t want the Word of God. We know enough to own a Bible but not enough for the Bible to own us. We pay the Bible lip service, but we fail to give it ‘life service’.” Do you agree with Dr. Hendricks? How is this problem manifested in your life? In your marriage? In your friendships? In your family? 
• How do you you think God is challenging you to persevere in your faith toward greater Gospel transformation? 
• How would you like to have others pray for you? Break into groups of men and women to share your answers and to pray for one another. 

Missiology 102: What Is the Most Crucial Issue In Missions?

I am continuing my weekly series of posts from Piper's "Let the Nations Be Glad". In case you missed it, read the first post "Missiology 101: Why Missions Is Not The Ultimate Goal of the Church".

Growth Group Discussion Guide for the Week of Feb 17

OPENING UP

• What do you think of when you hear the word “disciple” or “discipleship”?
• On Sunday, Pastor Josh provided the following definition of discipleship based on Luke 9:18-26: “A disciple is someone who confesses Christ as Savior, followers Christ as Lord, and loves Christ as greatest treasure.” How is this definition helpful? What do you think requires more explanation? 

Pastor Josh also presented us with the diagram here on the right. It pictures the 3-fold strategy for making disciples found in throughout the New Testament:

• How does this diagram help us to think about discipleship?

 DIGGING IN THE WORD

Let’s read Colossians 1:3-14.

1. How had Paul and Epaphras been intentional in their pursuit of others with the Gospel (see 1:5-8)?
2. What do we learn about Epaphras as a disciple-maker in 1:5-8 and 4:12-13?
3. The closing greetings in 4:7-18 provide a unique glimpse into the lives of the men and women of this community in Colossae. What can we learn from this? How should this encourage us?

APPLYING THE TRUTH

We learned on Sunday that “…for effective discipleship to take place, there must be disciples committed to intentionally reach out to one another for the purpose of spiritual maturity.”

• How do you see that happening here in the context of our Growth Group? In what ways could we be more intentional in our pursuit of one another for the purpose of spiritual maturity?
• How do you you think God is challenging you to pursue others intentionally for the purpose of spiritual maturity?
• How would you like to have others pray for you? Break into groups of men and women to share your answers and to pray for one another.

Missiology 101: Why Missions Is Not the Ultimate Goal of the Church

My own philosophy of missions has been greatly impacted by John Piper's writings. In particular, I have found no better biblical theology of missions than what I have read in his book "Let the Nations Be Glad". Last year I gave a copy of this book to every member of our mission committee. As we prepare at our church for our annual Missions Week, I am posting a series of excerpts from this book in the hopes that your mind and heart will be stimulated by the supremacy of God in missions.

"Beside Ourselves": An Excerpt from Gifts of Grace

I am in the process of writing a special devotional for our church to use as we begin our march toward missions week. My desire is to help our people prepare for what is almost always a time of revival and renewal. Here is an except from the devotional:

Growth Group Discussion Guide for Week of 2/10/13

**DOWNLOAD THE PRINTED GUIDE**

OPENING UP

• What stood out to you about the India Trip presentation on Sunday? What did you find to be most encouraging about the report?
• Can you see yourself going on a trip like that? Does the idea of short-term foreign mission trips excite you? Would you rather stay closer to home and do more local missions? Why?
• How has the Lord gifted you or given you experience that you think might be useful on the foreign field?

DIGGING IN THE WORD

• Let’s read 1 Pet. 3:1-7 together

Pastor Josh said on Sunday that this wasn’t a typical “missions passage”. But it was relevant in that he was able to see God use the Scripture in an incredible way during their trip. Let’s take a closer look at the passage and then how God used it on the mission field:

1. What issue of Christian living is Peter addressing in this letter? (see 1:6-7, 2:21, 3:17-18, 4:1, and 4:12-13)
2. Why does Peter speak to slaves and women in particular? What cultural similarities are there between the first century Roman culture of Peter’s day and the culture of India?
3. What does God say to wives who live in pagan marriages (3:1-6)? Read the explanatory note below. What is your response to this?
4. How is God’s message to women about submission in these types of situations very different from what our culture (or Indian culture) reinforces?
5. What is God’s message to husbands? (3:7) How does this shatter cultural expectations here in the West as well as around the world?
6. What do you remember about the impact that this passage had on the pastors in training there in India? What should that tell us about the power of God’s Word as it confronts cultural, religious, political, and racial barriers?
7. How does all of this encourage you as you participate in missions through our church?

Explanation of 1 Pet. 3:1-6: Pastor Josh mentioned on Sunday that women who are abused are liable to respond to their suffering by either resisting or manipulating. When women respond to suffering by resisting, they allow the suffering to change their attitudes and outlook. They become bitter, angry, and resentful wives. God tells them that this won’t lead to their husbands’ conversion (3:1-2).When women respond to suffering by manipulation, they use sex to gain love, respect, and responsiveness from their husbands. God doesn’t want women to lower themselves to become sexual objects in order to get what they want (3:3-4). God wants Christian wives to grow strong in their character and devotion to the Lord. Like Sarah, they are to trust the Lord and love their husbands (5-6a). They are to follow their husbands as far as their faith in and loyalty to Christ will permit. They are not to give into intimidation from their unbelieving husbands (6b).
APPLYING THE TRUTH

• How do you think God is leading you to live according to the instruction given in 1 Peter 3:1-7?
• How do you you think God is challenging you to participate in the work of missions in and through Immanuel?
• How would you like to have others pray for you? Break into groups of men and women to share your answers and to pray for one another.

How to Stop Church-Killing Gossip – Justin Taylor

How to Stop Church-Killing Gossip – Justin Taylor:

'via Blog this'

There Is No Force On the Planet Like It

There is no force on earth which has the power to shape men and women into the creatures God intended them to be like the force unleashed in prayer.

On this, our last day in Delhi, I was privileged to speak once again to the flock at Bible Bhavan. The church is nearing the end of their annual 40 days of prayer and fasting which begins on the first day of every new year. The text I spoke from this Sunday was Daniel 9:1-19. I was so blessed in my personal study of this passage to see just how the mighty force of prayer had shaped Daniel! Of prayer's power to mold us, E.M. Bounds wrote:

"Never did the cause of God need perfect illustrations of the possibilities of prayer more than in this age. No age, no person, will be examples of the gospel power except the ages or persons of deep and earnest prayer. A prayerless age will have but scant models of divine power. Prayerless hearts will never rise to these Alpine heights… It is prayer-force which makes saints. Holy characters are formed by the power of real praying. The more of true saints, the more of praying; the more of praying, the more of true saints."

The Exceeding Sinfulness of Sin

“I do not think, in the nature of things, that mortal man can at all realize the exceeding sinfulness of sin in the sight of that holy and perfect One with whom we have to do. On the one hand, God is that eternal Being who ‘chargeth His angels with folly’ and in whose sight the very ‘heavens are not clean.’ He is One who reads thoughts and motives as well as actions and requires ‘truth in the inward parts’ (Job 4:18; 15:15; Ps. 51:6). We, on the other hand – poor blind creatures, here today and gone tomorrow, born in sin, surrounded by sinners, living in a constant atmosphere of weakness, infirmity and imperfection – can form none but the most inadequate conceptions of the hideousness of evil. We have no line to fathom it and no measure by which to gauge it. The blind man can see no difference between a masterpiece of Titian or Raphael and the queen’s head on a village signboard. The deaf man cannot distinguish between a penny whistle and a cathedral organ. The very animals whose smell is most offensive to us have no idea that they are offensive and are not offensive to one another. Fallen men and women, I believe, can have no just idea what a vile thing sin is in the sight of that God whose handiwork is absolutely perfect – perfect whether we look through telescope or microscope; perfect in the formation of a mighty planet like Jupiter, with his satellites, keeping time to a second as he rolls round the sun; perfect in the formation of the smallest insect that crawls over a foot of ground.”

J.C. Ryle, Holiness

India in a Word

"India is a functioning anarchy."

— J.K. Galbraith (US Ambassador to India, 1962)

Sightseeing in Delhi

Take a Glimpse Inside a DBI Sewing Centre