Have you had seasons where you felt spiritually asleep? Describe what that season looked like and how God awakened you out of it. Or if you are still in that season, how might God awaken you out of it? What good works has God given you to do in the context of our local church? What ministry team do you currently serve on? If you aren’t consistently serving on one yet, what team will you join? How has sacrificially serving been a means of keeping you spiritually strong? What kind of season of life are you currently in (e.g. [...]

In what areas of your life do you most struggle to receive the corrective judgment of the word? How might you become more humble and responsive to correction from the word of God?  Have you experienced tension or conflict from the world because of your views of sex and marriage? How does this subject in general give you opportunity for witnessing the gospel? How have you experienced mercy in accountability, confession, and repentance of sin within your local church?  How has fellowship with God proven to better than companionship with the world? Do you struggle to embrace your new [...]

What kind of pressure from the world have you had to endure for the sake of the gospel? If none why do you think that is? What things are you most afraid of losing? How does the gospel free you to let these things go for the sake of the gospel? While it’s unlikely in our context that we would face the threat of death for being a Christian, how should the truth that the worst thing, death, leads to the best thing, life, with Christ embolden us to be better gospel witnesses? In what situations are you tempted to [...]

Jesus praises the church in Ephesus for their hard work, perseverance as they witness, and pure doctrine. Where do you see these praiseworthy things in your church?  What things in your life, even good things, could be taking priority over and above genuine love for Jesus and others? What would it look like for you to remember your “first” love for Jesus and others? What would repentance from the things that may have stolen your love for Jesus and others look like? What things can you do that you once did to cultivate love for Jesus and others? Jesus [...]

Are there situations where you are not standing for truth and speaking clearly about Jesus because you fear the consequences and others more than you fear Jesus? What are they? How would reverent worship cause spirit filled courage? Why is it good news Jesus is more scary than your scariest problem? How does reverent worship help us to see this? How does the resurrection alleviate your worst case ruminations? How does worship free you from worry? What attribute of Jesus do you need to consider the most? (eternal wisdom, all knowing purity, immovable righteousness, piercing justice, roaring word, sovereign [...]