Getting Started:
- When you think about gathering for a church service, what things come to mind?
- What role do you play?
- Have you ever considered yourself "in" on the action?
READ: Ephesians 4:11-13 NCV
And Christ gave gifts to people—he made some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to go and tell the Good News, and some to have the work of caring for and teaching God’s people. Christ gave those gifts to prepare God’s holy people for the work of serving, to make the body of Christ stronger. This work must continue until we are all joined together in the same faith and in the same knowledge of the Son of God. We must become like a mature person, growing until we become like Christ and have his perfection.
- After listening to the message clip and reading this Scripture, rethink our initial questions:
- When you think about gathering for a church service, what things come to mind?
- What role do you play?
- Have you ever considered yourself "in" on the action?
- When you think about gathering for a church service, what things come to mind?
We gather together to grow, in fact that's what we're doing here together, right now
READ: John 16:12-15 MSG
“I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won’t draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I’ve said, ‘He takes from me and delivers to you.’"
- Jesus, in the verse we just read, tells us that truth is a process
- What is one thing that you might currently be wrong about?
- What happens when we jump the gun on "knowing" something?
- Everything that Jesus did and taught was backward from what people thought was right:
- How can being open to the Spirit's "guiding" help us grow more like Christ?
- How can interacting outside of our comfort zone, with different people help facilitate this?