If you missed Sunday's broadcast, please catch up by following the link below. (For the foreseeable future, we will be running our Sunday morning services digitally. Please go to our website on Sundays at 10:30 to join in)
Each Wednesday, we take a break from our usual devotional series so that we can ask this question: “‘Father, what are you speaking to me about at the moment’?”
i) Pray and position yourself
Take a moment to pray that the Father would speak to you today.
Position yourself in a mindset of expectation by meditating on and praying out of the words of Luke 5.
‘“Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’” (Luke 5:5)
I was struck by the words ‘because you say so’ in this text. Doing what Jesus says is the key to all good things. Having a lifestyle of listening is surely something that Jesus wants for us.
ii) What is God speaking to you about?
Write down what the Father is speaking to you about: something you’ve read in the bible, some teaching you’ve heard, the experiences that you are going through…
iii) What are you going to do in response?
Write down any response that you are going to take. The response can be a new attitude, new action, new habit, new direction, new decision…
COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY – ADVANCING THE GOSPEL
Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
Opener/Ice-breaker (Please could we all do this, this week)
Who were influential in your becoming a Christian and what good lessons could we all learn from them?
Introduction - please share in your group
God is advancing the gospel in the world. His plans to take the gospel to the ends of the earth are unstoppable because they are God's plans! God uses us as he used the Apostle Paul.
'Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.' (Philippians 1:12-13)
Paul was imprisoned in Rome. Paul’s life is full of great difficulty as he sought to follow Jesus and spread the message of the gospel. Paul saw the difficulties of his life as a means by which God advances the gospel.
What difficulties do you have that you might see as barriers to sharing the gospel?
How could you view or approach your challenges differently so as turn them into opportunities to share the love of Jesus?
'And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.' (Philippians 2:14)
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