Written in Heaven

Recently, I have seen my time with God really be ratcheted up a notch or two. I’ve seen this happening across the board in the lives of the staff here, as well as ministry leaders. It’s awesome to be part of a church where intentional personal growth is emphasized and where people jump in and see the fruit.

In recent days, I’ve also been reminded of how difficult leadership can be. Fortunately it hasn’t been through personal experience, but watching other leaders go through it from a distance. It’s during those times that you see a leader’s true colors and what they’re about.

This has always been the case, even with Old Testament leaders from literally thousands of years ago. In 2 Chronicles 33, the author is detailing the life of Manasseh King of Judah. Most kings fall into one of two categories when it comes to biblical description: good or evil. Manasseh unfortunately fell into the category of evil. This was as unfortunate for him as it was for the people he was leading.

One verse in chapter 33 that jumped out at me was verse 10: “The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.” Wow, what an indictment! You can probably guess the rest of the story; it wasn’t pretty. Ultimately because of his evil, Manasseh led his people down some terrible roads. In those terrible times Manasseh remembered God and turned back to him, but not before he went through some terrible pain.

When I read verse 10, I thought, “I wonder how many times God has been speaking to me and I paid no attention?” It’s really scary to think about, but even scarier to think how easily we can miss it. Paying attention requires time, effort, and intentionality. We have to be intentional to hear the voice of God. We have to spend time listening for God to speak. The really good news is that through that effort we will hear him!

Maybe today you really need a word from God. Maybe you feel like you’re hanging by a thread and if you don’t hear from God today you don’t know what you’re going to do. Keep paying attention; keep listening. God will give you exactly what you need when you need it.

LIFEGROUP Questions

3/28/10

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Spark: Week 2

1. What are some of your favorite Easter memories from when you were a kid, or from more recent years?

2. In the story we heard Sunday, Matthew left everything on the spot and followed Jesus. What does that tell you about Matthew? What does that tell you about Jesus? What would be the most difficult thing(s) for us to abandon to follow Jesus like that?

3. When it comes to igniting a movement of God, what kind of investments do we need to make to see that happen? Give an example of how you’ve seen one of those investments play out in a positive way.

4. What examples have you seen where someone who follows Jesus treats people with hostility and not healing? What does it look like to treat people with healing rather than hostility?

5. Who initially invited you to BridgeWay/church? How has your life changed since you started coming? Who do you know that needs to experience what you have?

6. With Easter coming up, let’s make a list of people that we are going to invite and as a group pray for them every day from now until Easter, that they would come to our Easter services at BridgeWay.

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

LIFEGROUP Questions

3/21/10

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Spark: Week 1

1. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Do you still desire to do that?

2. What regular occurrences take place in your life that would fall into the category of ‘mundane’ or ‘every day?”

3. Sunday we talked about how Jesus calls the ‘not-good-enoughs.’ What’s your first reaction when you hear that? Do you believe it? Would you consider yourself a ‘not-good-enough?’ Why or why not?

4. For those of you who follow Jesus, what’s been the difference He’s made in your life when it comes to your purpose and having life and having it to the full?

5. We see in Luke 5 that people walk away from everything to follow Jesus and through that sacrifice they see the spark. What areas in our lives do we need to walk away from so that Jesus can do that work in our lives?

6. With Easter coming up, let’s make a list of people that we are going to invite and as a group pray for them every day from now until Easter, that they would come to our Easter services at BridgeWay.

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

LIFEGROUP Questions

3/14/10

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Healer: Week 2

1. If you could be any character on TV, who would you be and why?

2. This week we heard a story from Chris about his brother who passed away after a battle with leukemia. Who have you known that’s passed away that left a significant positive legacy that affected you? What was their legacy and why was it so meaningful to you?

3. Many people believe in Jesus, some people hope in Jesus, but discovering our Healer means we learn to trust in Jesus. What does it mean to ‘trust’ in Jesus? What does that look like?

4. We know that the tongue has the power of life and death. When was a time when someone spoke words of ‘death’ to you? When was a time someone spoke words of ‘life’ to you? Do you have the tendency to speak more words of life or more words of death? Why?

5. The Bible tells us to carry each other’s burdens and in this way we fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). As a group, who is someone we know that is going through a difficult time that as a group we can help to carry their burdens?

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.

In 1 Kings 20, there’s a story that’s always grabbed my attention and has shaped my understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. Ahab is the current king of Israel and a prophet comes to him and tells him that the Lord is giving Ahab’s enemies into his hands that very day. Ahab responds with, “And who will start the battle?” The prophet answered, “You will.” (1 Kings 20:14)

The Old Testament is filled with battle scenes, kings, prophets and all kinds of stuff that would be rated R if it were turned into a feature Hollywood film. The New Testament is the story of Jesus physically on earth, and His message of peace, hope, and love. We can err in this way of thinking sometimes in going too far. We assume that Jesus wasn’t really in the Old Testament (though He does make many appearances) so the Old Testament is basically irrelevant to our lives today. If we follow this logic, we end up with a picture of Jesus that makes Him look like a folk singer from the 70’s, always happy and wouldn’t even consider the possibility of becoming angry at anyone for anything.

The truth of the matter though, is that what we face daily is spiritual warfare. I recently heard a teacher talk about how in the Hebrew language, there’s no word for ‘spiritual.’ Meaning that if you asked someone “how’s your spiritual life?” they wouldn’t know what you’re referring to because in their culture, everything was part of your spiritual life.

Jesus is definitely about love and peace and all of those things, but He is also a mighty warrior that calls us to fight with Him. So many Christians walk around acting beat down when we should be the one’s doing the beating. God told Ahab that He has already given these enemies into Ahab’s hands and all Ahab has to do is follow what God tells Him to do – namely, start the battle.

In the same way, Jesus ultimately defeated all the enemies we face today. Whatever it is that you’re dealing with today, the cross of Christ is sufficient to deal with that struggle, hurt, brokenness, worry, etc.

So start the battle! Find your hope in Jesus Christ. Focus on Him, not on your problem. Surround yourself with people who love Jesus and will support you through this time. Jesus wants to see you through to victory. Keep battling. Keep fighting. The victory is found in Jesus!

LIFEGROUP Questions

3/7/10

***Remember that we always start LIFEGROUPS reminding the group that the purpose of LIFEGROUPS is to ‘belong and become.’ To find a group of people we can connect to and build friendships, and become more like Jesus each day.

***Also reinforce the ‘Vegas Rule’ – what happens in LIFEGROUP, stays in LIFEGROUP.

Healer: Week 1

1. What’s the most miraculous ‘healing’ you’ve ever seen, been a part of, or experienced personally?

2. Craig’s testimony was about being diagnosed with cancer and given 2 months to live. How do you think you’d react if you were put in that situation? What impact would that have on you spiritually?

3. Craig talked about how God’s presence was with him especially in His darkest times. Has there been a moment in your life when you could sense God’s presence with you? Can you describe that time?

4. In Philippians 3:10, Paul talks about identifying with Christ in His suffering. Have you ever felt like you were ‘suffering’? Do you have a desire like Paul to suffer in order to know Christ more? Why or why not? If you knew the only way you could grow in your relationship with Jesus was through suffering, would you suffer? Why or why not?

5. What needs do we see in our friends and families that we need to pray for God to heal? What needs do we have in our own lives that we need to ask God to heal?

***Always close your group with a time of prayer. As a leader, you can lead this or you can all share in the requests praying for one another. You need to know where your group is at to determine what would be most comfortable in that setting. i.e. don’t ask people to pray in the group if you’re not sure they’re ready to.