Grace Community Church-loveland Co

Main Point: Continue to grow to be like Jesus and help others to do the same.Questions:1. What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you?2. Read Hebrews 12:14-17. What words and ideas stick out to you in these verses? Do you have any questions? What is the writer of these verses saying?3. Read Hebrews 12:14. What does it mean to make every effort to live in peace with everyone? What keeps us from being at peace with others? What does living in peace with everyone look like in your life? (See Romans 12:17-18.)4. If Christians are declared holy by faith in Jesus, what does it mean to make every effort to be holy? Why is a pursuit of holiness so important to our spiritual growth? (See 1 Peter 1:13-16 and Matthew 5:58.)5. Read Hebrews 12:15. What does it meant of fall short of the grace of God? How might people miss the grace of God? How do we know we have received God’s grace?6. Read Deuteronomy 29:18. How does this help us understand the bitter root that the author of Heb

Main Point: Don’t give up. Live fully for God.Questions:What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you? Why is encouragement so important to make it through the hardships of life?Think of a time when you were encouraged during a hardship. What happened? How did it make you feel? How can encouragement change a person’s perspective on a situation?Read Hebrews 12:12. What is the “therefore” there for? (Read Hebrews 12:11 for context.) In a race what does it mean when runners drop their hands and their knees get weak? What does this tell us about the situation that the people in the book of Hebrews are facing?In this verse, the author of Hebrews is referring to Isaiah 35:3-4. Read these verses. How do these verses help us better understand Hebrews 12:12?Why is it important to be encouraged personally and encourage others with the truth? How does knowing that God is working even in hardships encourage us to keep persevering?Read Hebrews 12:13. The author of Hebrews starts by

Main Point: God’s loving discipline trains us to be like Him.Questions:What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you? What did you learn about the connection between God’s love and His discipline?What are the desired outcomes when parents discipline their children? How does a child’s willingness to received discipline affect their ability to grow and learn?Read Hebrews 12:4-6. What is the author’s point in these verses? Why does the writer warn his readers not to “make light of the Lord’s discipline”?What does the Lord’s discipline tell us about our relationship with Him? Why does his discipline His children?Read Hebrews 12:7-10. What is the benefit of enduring hardship as discipline? What does it mean that God disciplines His children for their own good?The apostle Peter instructs Christians to be holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:16). How does God’s discipline help to make us holy?Read Hebrews 12:11. What perspective does this verse provide about discipline? Though it i

Main Point: Perspective fuels endurance.Questions:1. What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you? What did you learn about perspective and endurance?2. How does the example of a race help Christians to understand the way we live out our faith during the difficulties of life?3. Read Hebrews 12:1. What is the “Therefore” there for? How the writer of Hebrews connect this verse to the previous section? What does it mean that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses?4. What is the difference between getting rid of things in our lives that hinder faith, and sin that trips us up? Are there things that distract you from what is truly important in life?5. Read Hebrews 12:2. Human examples are important, but Jesus is our ultimate example. What does it mean that He is the pioneer and perfecter of faith?6. What does it mean that Jesus scorned the shame of the cross? What is the basis of Jesus’ joy that allowed him to endure the cross? How does this provide an example for

Main Point: God’s design is for us to grow in a missional community.Questions:What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you? How did the message impact your understanding of spiritual growth?What does it mean that Christians are a missional community? Have you experienced church that way? What are some of the barriers to living life together in community?Read John 17:20-23. What is the context of these verses? Who is Jesus praying for? What is his prayer?Why does Jesus stress the importance of unity in his prayer? How is Christian unity a witness to the world?Read Acts 2:42-47. What do you notice about the community in these verses? What did they focus on when they gathered? Why were these elements central to Christian gatherings?In addition to meeting for worship, how often did these Christians meet? What does this suggest about the importance of being together for a Christian community?Read Hebrews 10:23-25. What words stick out to you in this passage? What are Chris

Main Point: We grow in faith as we trust in God and are transformed by His truth.Questions:1. What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you? How did the message impact your understanding of spiritual growth?2. What do you remember from last week? What does it mean, “What we behold we become”?3. How are love and trust related? Can you have one without the other? How is believing that God loves you related to your ability to trust God’s transforming work in your life?4. Read Colossians 3:1-11. What words and ideas stick out to you in these verses? How do these verses relate to spiritual growth and transformation?5. Read Colossians 3:1-4. What does Paul mean that Christians have been “raised with Christ”? What does he mean that Christians have “died”? How does being saved change the heart and mind’s orientation?6. How does a Christian progressively change the orientation of the heart and the mind from earthly things to things above?7. Read Colossians 3:5-11. What practice

Main Point: God’s desire is to redeem, restore, and transform people into the image of Jesus.Questions:What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you? How did the message impact your understanding of spiritual growth?What things have helped you grow in Christlikeness during different seasons of your life? What things are helping you become more like Jesus now?Read Romans 8:28-30. What words and ideas stick out to you in these verses? What is the purpose of God saving people? What does it mean to be “conformed to the image of his Son”?The Apostle Paul is describing a process of becoming like Jesus. This is often called the process of sanctification. What does it look like to become more like Jesus? What is necessary for that transformation to happen?Read 2 Corinthians 3:18. Take this verse word-by-word. What words do you have questions about? What is Paul communicating?The word “transformed” is important to this verse. What does it mean? What does “being transformed into

Every person will face confusing hardship at some point in their life. Our gracious God knows this and has given us the gift of lament to help us as we face these things. Lament is praying to God, being honest about the difficulties of life, and renewing trust in His unchanging character.

We acknowledge our dependence and trust in our Savior when we pray. Jesus goes on to say; “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

We need God’s help with situations where we are vulnerable and have the opportunity to sin. God is faithful, compassionate and trustworthy-we can depend on Him to give a way out whenever temptations come our way. Overcome with us Sunday as we grow in our understanding of what we are asking when we pray this portion of Jesus’ prayer.  Prepare for the message by reading Matthew 6:13 with James 1:13-15; Hebrews 4:14-16; and 1 Corinthians 10:13

Forgiveness is such a gift to receive yet so very hard to give. Paul reminds us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. “ The psalmist declares; “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered, whose sin the Lord does not count against him!” Jesus said in Luke 7; “He who is forgiven much loves much, but he who is forgiven little loves little.”  

Daily bread means just that – the provision we need each and every day. God cares about these things and desires us to look to Him for each day’s need, one day at a time.

In his opening words on prayer, Jesus gives a contrast example from the way the Pharisees and Gentiles pray. (Matthew 6:5-8)  Over the next few weeks we will see how the Lord’s Prayer is different beginning with an understanding of Who we are praying to – our Father in heaven!  

In this next portion of Jesus’ prayer, He is inviting us join God in His renewal work on earth. Aligning our prayers, heart and actions in advancing His kingdom and in seeing His will done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus modeled this tangibly for us as Spurgeon states; “He that taught us this prayer used it himself in the most unrestricted sense. When the bloody sweat stood on his face, and all the fear and trembling of a man in anguish were upon him, he did not dispute the decree of the Father, but bowed his head and cried, ‘Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.’”

On a mountain in Galilee, Jesus teaches his disciples in the hearing of the multitude what is known as the Sermon on the Mount. This is not a message to fill our heads with information but to guide us in our habits, customs, and behavior. To assist us in cultivating the practice of prayer, we will spend the next few weeks studying Jesus’ words on the subject in his sermon.  

What exactly is prayer? What difference does it make if we pray regularly or rarely? At the start of this new year, what would you like to cultivate more of in your prayer life?