“Wholehearted: Part 1”
Pastor Zach Bearss
April 15, 2018
Questions for Discussion
CONNECT:
What spoke to your heart this week in the sermon?
ENGAGE:
Read Matthew 22:35-38. What are being invited to do in our relationship with God? Where do we mix up our outward appearances with inward reality of being known by God?
Read the following passages: Matthew 15:8, Jeremiah 17:9, I Corinthians 2:11, Proverbs 4:23. How do these verses apply as to why we are blinded and defensive to the holes in our heart that hinders the work God wants to do in us?
How did you relate to the story of Eustace trying to pull off his own dragon skin, but it was a painful work only Aslan could do? (from “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Book 3 in the Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis, pages 88-92.)
APPLY:
Read Psalm 42:7. Ask yourself these questions: Do you want to be known by God? To welcome Him in, be fond of, to love dearly? To be made whole?
PRAY:
Pray through Psalm 139: 1-6, 17, 18. Ask the Lord for humbleness and for His Holy Spirit to work below the surface. Ask that your heart be exposed to the light with the Father first, and then with others.
OPTIONAL:
Print off the Whole Heart Assessment to pass out to your group members to read through and discuss or else be able to take home to work through personally (please see attached)
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“Wholehearted: Part 2”
Pastor Zach Bearss
April 22, 2018
Questions for Discussion
CONNECT:
What stood out to you from the sermon on Sunday?
Discuss how our hearts can look like springtime in Colorado: one minute sunny and green, the next a blizzard.
ENGAGE:
Read through Colossians 3:1-15. Contrast what God has for done for us and then what our response should be to Him because of what he has done in this passage. In verse 15, what is the result if we do these things?
Discuss the Circle of Bad:
1. My Bad: my sin. This wreaks havoc with our lives morally. (anger, impurity, worry, etc.)
2. Your Bad: what someone else has done to us. This wreaks havoc with our peace (divorce, job loss, etc.)
3. It’s Bad: the circumstances of life. This wreaks havoc with our faith. (illness, death of a loved one, persecution)
APPLY:
(as you share in your small group, remember that confidentiality is key)
What is one thing you can specifically name that you are dragging around from your past or your present today? What do you need to confess to God and to others? What can He exchange in your life to redeem your life in this area and make your heart whole?
God uses the storms in our lives to refine us. Read Romans 8:28 and Philippians 1:6. What are His promises to us for all the areas of our life?
PRAY:
Pray that the Holy Spirit will shine into your hearts and make all things new.
“My past will inform me, but it will not deform me. My past will educate me, but it will not devastate me.”
“Wholehearted: Part 3”
Pastor Zach Bearss
April 29, 2018
Questions for Discussion
| We all love a good story, whether young or old. This sermon today was from the Old Testament of Samson’s early years, before the day of Delilah in Judges 16. Your group time should be a very practical discussion this week of when anger rises up in each one of us. Thank you for your steadfastness in preparing your hearts each week for group and being willing to lead with your own examples of life–Sharon
__________________________________________________________ CONNECT How can you relate to the example from Zach’s own life about the goats in his life and then your life? ENGAGE Where do you see in these chapters anger controlling Samson’s actions? Discuss the ancronym H.E.N. in light of the emotion of anger:
APPLY Read James 1:19-20. Discuss how Jesus is our example of not having our anger turn to sin. How should our emotions only be an indicator on the dashboard that something is right or wrong and not the thing in our life that controls us? PRAY |
“Wholehearted: Part 4”
Pastor Tom Dages
May 6, 2018
Questions for Discussion
Q-What ministered to you the most during the worship service? Why?
Q-What did Jesus mean by the statement, “He who has ears to hear, let Him hear!”
Q-What did you think about demons attending church services to keep people spiritually blind and to steal the gospel?
Q-How does worry and a desire for more choke spiritual fruit?
Q-When was the last time you examined yourself for the kind of heart you have and the amount of fruit in your life?
Q-If you are not satisfied with the amount of fruit in your life, what do you do?
Q-Write down on piece of paper all the characteristics of the flesh in verses 19-21. The write down all the characteristics of walking in the Spirit in verses 22-23. Which life is more appealing to you? WHY?
Q-According to Galatians 5:16, what is necessary for us to learn in order to bear fruit? What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?
Q-Tell of a time in your life when you resisted the clear conviction of the Spirit as Pastor Tom did on the river? Did you pay a price for it and did you end up confessing sin this to God?
“Wholehearted: Part 5”
Pastor Zach Bearss
May 13, 2018
Questions for Discussion
CONNECT
What spoke to your heart the most from the sermon?
ENGAGE
Read Psalm 86 out loud together. Discuss what steps we need to take to follow God with our whole heart.
Discuss Dallas Willard’s acronym that helps us to understand what we need to do to take care of our souls and have a positive change so we can love God with our whole heart and be a blessing to others.
V-ision
I-ntention
M-eans
Our hearts are prone to wander and be divided between fear and faith. Give an example of what divides your heart either from your past or your present walk of faith.
APPLY
God is asking us to follow Him and obey Him wholeheartedly. Are you at a place in your life that needs a decision point to give it all to Him and lean into His goodness and power?
PRAY
Pray for one another that you would love God with all of your heart.
“Half measures avail us nothing”-
“Wholehearted, Part 6: Holy Spirit”
Pastor Zach Bearss
May 20, 2018
Questions for Discussion
“Unless our hearts are flooded with the Holy Spirit, we cannot have a whole heart.”
CONNECT
What is one thought or verse that resonated with you after listening to the sermon?
ENGAGE
Read Ezekiel 36:26-27. What was God’s promise to us who believe in the Old Testament?
Read Romans 5:1-8. How and when was this promise fulfilled in the New Testament? What does the Holy Spirit do in our lives in these verses?
Read John 14:16,17,26. What does the Holy Spirit do in our lives in these verses?
APPLY
Pastor Zach gave the example of obtaining a Water Certificate for his land but the pipes were constricted and the water would not flow until he tore up his property to get the pipes clear. Discuss how this compares to the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Is there a time in your life when suffering has constricted your hope or when suffering has produced endurance, character, and more hope?
PRAY
Pray for one another and ask for courage for God to reveal in your lives where the Holy Spirit and His inner working has been contricted in your lives and where can He give you renewed healing and hope.
“Wholehearted, Part 7: Using Your Gifts”
Ben Little
May 27, 2018
Questions for Discussion
“You are designed to manifest something that no one else can—when you are filled with God’s grace.”
CONNECT
What is one thought or verse that resonated with you after listening to the sermon?
ENGAGE
Read 1 Cor. 12:4-7. How does the body work together in these verses? What happens when the body fails to work together as it should?
APPLY
Ben compared our identity and growth as believers as God holding the paintbrush, stroke by stroke creating a masterpiece. Problems come when we take that paintbrush and allow others to hold it, letting them tell us who we are—or we take the paintbrush ourselves. When God holds the paintbrush and you are listening to the Holy Spirit, we understand the gifting He has placed within us. When we trust His Spirit to manifest in us, we can use our gifting to change the world.
Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to tell you who you are? If not, who is holding the paintbrush? What are they painting? You are designed to manifest something in God’s kingdom that no one else can. Are you allowing God to use you?
Two things keep us from being used by the Spirit: a feeling of uselessness or a feeling of self-sufficiency. Both are lies. Are you believing the lie that you don’t measure up, that you can’t do what God is asking? Are you a foot trying to be an eye? Or are you believing the lie that you can do everything on your own, that you don’t need God or others?
The body needs you. Where is God calling you to be part of His body?
PRAY
Pray for one another and ask for God to reveal in your lives where the Holy Spirit is working in your gifting and where He is calling you to be part of the body.
“Wholehearted, Part 8: Wholehearted Forgiveness”
Pastor Tom Dages
June 3, 2018
Questions for Discussion
1-Read Matthew 18:21-35, what strikes you most about this parable?
2-What did Pastor Tom mean by sins which have a high “cringe” factor?
3-Why doesn’t unforgiveness often possess a high cringe factor?
4-Why is unforgiveness considered such a hypocritical sin?
5-How would you define unforgiveness? And how does it express itself emotionally?
6-Tell of a time you were hurt by someone and worked through forgiveness and explain how you know forgiveness was granted?
7-Explain what an “open door” is for enemy influence when we withhold forgiveness?
8-What principle for getting out of the prison of unforgiveness do you think is most helpful?
a-Receiving the full grace of God’s amazing forgiveness
b-Learning to live in close proximity to the cross of Christ
c-Staying sensitive to the Holy Spirit in prayer
d-Staying sensitive to the existence of our torturous emotions?
9-Can you offer another principle for getting out of the prison of unforgiveness not offered by Pastor Tom?
“Wholehearted, Part 9: Wholehearted Worship”
Pastor Tom Dages
June 10, 2018
Questions for Discussion
1-Read Psalm 111, what are three ways God reveals Himself from the sermon to Praise God?
2-How would you describe whole- hearted worship(v1)?
3-What component of whole- hearted worship to you have the hardest time expressing? 1) Physical expressions 2) emotions 3) singing 4) Engaging God by listening intently to the sermon 5) Putting into practice what God teaches you during the week?
4-Is listening to God part of worship? Does it take practice?
5-What were some suggestions Pastor Tom gave for preparing for worship? What are some others? How well do you prepare for worship?
6-What is your greatest distraction in worship? How could you eliminate it?
7-What is more important to God “beautiful music” or hearts fully engaged with and expressive to Him? Is it possible to have both?
“Wholehearted, Part 10: Courage and the Father’s Heart”
Pastor Zach Bearss
June 17, 2018
“Wholehearted, Part 11: Grief and Loss”
Pastor Zach Bearss
June 24, 2018
Questions for Discussion
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CONNECT ENGAGE Read Job 3:3-4, Job 6:2-4 and Psalm 6:2-3. Discuss the honesty of Job and David expressing their sorrowful emotions to God. APPLY Have you given enough time and space before the Lord to lament and grieve a loss in your life? If not, How will you go about doing that? PRAY |
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