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What do you think the Bible says about why God established the Church?
When you start feeling pressure, what's your reaction? Does your view of God change in those moments?
What are 'the things you did at first' that characterized your initial growth in Jesus Christ?
What do you need to overcome in order to stay close to Christ and get the fruit from the tree of life?
Have you ever shared your faith?
Do you get nervous about sharing your faith? Do you ever feel that people might be offended by it?
Do you remember hearing the gospel the first time? Did it offend you?
Have you received Jesus as your Savior and Lord? If so, what convinced you?
If you are a believer, how has Jesus changed your life?
Do you think you could verbalize the truths of the gospel?
If someone asked you to tell them about your Christian experience, could you verbalize it? Could you give your testimony?
Who are three people you could start praying for and asking God to give you an opportunity to share your faith with? Pray for them daily.
What did the church you were raised in look like? Does it evoke emotion when you think of it?
What does this building mean to you? (FCC’s building)
When you think of a church, do you think of the building or the people first?
What visual things in a church point to Christ as Savior?
What do you think God thinks about churches that cease doing his work? If you built a building for a specific purpose, but then the purpose in that building became offensive to you, what would you do to it?
Do you think of this place as sacred? What makes it sacred? In light of last week’s message, describe what kind of work would love and honor God as well as love our neighbors and thereby make this place sacred?
If you were asked to summarize the essence of Christianity in one short sentence, what would it be?
What do some people think is the biggest rule in Christianity? Is that rule correct?
At this stage in your life, what’s the hardest temptation for you?
How do you love and honor God in your daily life?
What effort do you make to love your neighbor?
What kind of tough love have you ever had to express in your life?
Do you share the gospel much? If not, is that loving?
How would you teach a young person to love God?
Do you like to argue about religion and politics? Do you argue one more passionately than the other?
Have you ever had to defend your point of view? How well did you do?
What issues do you think are the most volatile or sensitive in the US right now?
How much do you mind having to submit to any kind of authority? If you do have trouble, what kind of authority do you have trouble submitting to? Do you ever have trouble submitting to God’s authority? Why do you think that is?
How vocal should a Christian be in society?
Which has more influence on the way you vote, your political views or your religious views?
Mark 9:30-50 – Who is the Greatest?
Are you a competitive person? Have you ever been the top dog in a group? Have you ever been at the bottom of a group? How did you feel in that position?
Why do people become territorial about their ministry niche in a church? What are the dangers of being territorial at work or in a church?
I read this in a commentary this week: “We shall be preserved by that which slays the sin that would otherwise slay us.” What sin might be working to slay you? What uncomfortable process might the Lord be trying to take you through in order to save you from it?
What ministry niche are you drawn to at this church? How involved are you in that niche?
If you’re very involved in a niche, what are you doing to try to replicate yourself in another person? If you’re not involved, who would you like to learn from so that you can be very actively involved in a niche in this church?
Have you ever been part of a church or small group that was torn apart by the actions or words of an individual? Did that individual mean to do it?
Have you ever been overly judgmental of someone who saw some aspect of scripture differently than you?
Have you ever met someone whose beliefs of Christ were definitely wrong? What did they believe that was wrong?
What would you do if you suspected someone in our church was spreading a false doctrine?
How can you be sure that you won't fall for the tricks of people or the devil?
Matthew 12:1-14 & 15:1-20
What things do others think are sins which you think aren’t?
What things do you think are sins which others think aren’t?
How should you react to or interact with another person if you find out you that the two of you don’t agree about what is a sin and what isn’t?
Are there any religious rules you used to think were very important but which now you think aren’t at all?
Did you grow up thinking God is just waiting for any reason to punish you? How would that thinking affect a person’s relationship with God?
Is there any way to accurately measure whether or not somebody is a “good” Christian? Why do you think we
feel a need to do that?
How do you please God?
In your home growing up, who were portrayed as the 'bad' people?
Have you ever spent time with them? Were they as 'bad' as you'd been told?
Would you say you're a bad person who knows you are bad, like Zacchaeus? Or are you a bad person who thinks you're good, like a Pharisee? Are you a saved and redeemed person with faith in Christ who still thinks you're bad? Do you need to redefine who you are based on the Gospel?
Are there people around you in your daily life who need Christ? Do you 'must' need to reach out to them?
What's the best way for you to earn the right to speak the truth with love to a non-Christian?
Are you willing to invite someone to sit around your table with you and let life's most important questions be raised and discussed? Who is the first person you could invite? Make a plan.
What do you know about John the Baptist?
What do you think it means to make a straight path for the Lord?
Why are people in the Kingdom of Heaven greater than John the Baptist?
What transformation needs to happen in your heart before any reformation of behavior can take place?
If you knew you were in the presence of a prophet, what theological question would you ask? What question keeps you up at night?
What things have you heard religious people argue about? Are any of those worth dividing over? Why or Why not?
Is your faith more of a mental or more of an emotional exercise for you? Do you ever see those aspects as being linked?
What biblical truth moves you to worship?
Ask God to help you worship in spirit and in truth.
Mark 11 – I planted, why didn’t you bear fruit?
Did you grow up with any kind of religious heritage?
What did you expect when you went to church as a child?
Have you ever quit or wanted to quit going to a local church? Why? How did they fail you?
What did you expect when you came here today?
What abuse of power have you seen in churches?
What do you need to do as an individual to start bearing more fruit of the Spirit?
How can you start contributing to the cultivation of this ‘garden’ so that we as a church will bear much fruit?
Please pray for the leadership of this congregation to maintain integrity.
Luke Chapter 2 – Distracted by God’s Wisdom and Glory
What religious rites of passage have you gone through? Do you feel like your faith is ‘your own’? Do you feel like you are a child of God and He’s your Father?
What’s the earliest thing you remember learning at church? Who was your Sunday School teacher?
Were you known more for knowing the answers to questions or for being mischievous?
What questions do you have now?
Have you ever gotten wrapped up in contemplating God?
How can we as a church encourage our children to contemplate Christ in their lives and grow up with an admiration for God’s Glory and wisdom?
Matthew 16 – The Foundation, The Pillars, and the Purpose
What do you think is the foundation of The Church? How about a local church/congregation?
When you think of the pillars of the church you grew up in, what names come to mind? Why were they the pillars?
What kind of elder do you look up to?
Have you ever thought of yourself as an elder? You are to somebody.
What might you need to do or change in order to start being a positive and strengthening influence in this church?
What do you think the purpose was for the church you grew up in? Was that a good cause for people to rally around?
What do you think needs to be the purpose of this church?
Are you contributing towards that goal?
