Week 5 Sermon Questions For Groups

The Home Run Life

Introduction:
Our goal at Northstar is to be an impactful church that loves and cares about people—their needs, their questions and their concerns. We care more about transforming lives than size. We are seeing lives changed and our prayer is that through this series, members and regular attenders will have the game plan to live a Home Run Life. Because all that matters is what God is doing in people’s lives. Transforming lives is what ultimately matters to God.

Something To Talk About:
Convinced of eternal life : Titus 1:2 says, ”in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began” To live a Home Run Life, believers must be convinced that the eventual end game is eternal life with God. Today, you may be experiencing a time of pain, or uncertainty, or a time when God seems distant or missing. It is in those times we need to remember that heaven is real and the final destination for the believer. John 14:3 says, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” We want everyone to know the joy of having their sins forgiven and the certainty of eternal life through Jesus Christ. And we want to make the most of the opportunities we have to introduce our community and the people in our lives to an eternal life spent with God.
Compelled by the word of God: Romans 9:1-4 says, “I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel.” In other words, Paul was simultaneously experiencing the overwhelming joy of the love of God, and the deep sorrow of realizing that his fellow Israelites, were doomed to die in their sins because they had rejected the Messiah. Paul was so filled with the love of God that he was willing to give up his own secure place to see people rescued. Paul’s words are convicting. It also begs a question. Has the love of God gripped us to the point that we have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in our heart of those far from the heart of God. Are we willing to make the sacrifices needed to be compelled by the love of God to evangelize the lost?
Committed as an ambassadors: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20) We are the authorized messengers or representatives of Jesus Christ. Our mission is the message of reconciliation. Being an ambassador is often associated with a country – a place, but we can be ambassadors to places where you work, play, exercise, or shop; cities, towns, or suburbs you travel to; your school or college; and anywhere else you might go: doctor’s office, police station, etc. You are Christ’s ambassador wherever you are.

Questions:

What do you believe God wants from you on a daily basis? How does eternal life impact what God wants from us on a daily basis?
Does it take faith to share your faith? Why or why not?
What does it look like to function as God’s ambassador? God wants to work through each of us to bring redemption and transformation into the lives of others?
Does the idea of running the bases backwards make sense in the area of evangelism?
Do we want God’s best? Do we want to be holy? Is there an honest desire to live a life that is well pleasing to God?

Take One Thing Home with You
I have heard this scenario repeated in all it’s variations. “I was raised in a Christian home, read the Bible, attended small groups, read books on theology and went to a Bible college and then on to seminary.” That sounds like all the ingredients for a Home Run Life, doesn’t it. But sometimes there is a pause, followed by a…: “But I was never truly transformed by the Spirit of God. I never felt a connection to God and His agenda. So after years of thinking I was following God, He took hold of my life and changed it completely.”

We can change. We can be transformed into God’s best. And what better time than now? That’s why the Bible says in Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Living the Home Run Life requires knowing the difference between conforming and transforming? To conform means “to behave in a conventional way by accepting without question the customs, traditions and prevailing opinions of others.” In other words, to conform is to fit into somebody else’s mold; it’s to do things the way everybody else does.

Conforming is something we do to ourselves. Transforming is something God does to us. Transformation is about more than just putting information in your head. It’s about living out what God is working on in you. The Bible says “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22) Our life needs to change in order to reflect God’s will. It makes sense. We cannot live a life apart from God and expect God’s best in our lives. We need to grow in Christ if we are to be transformed into the image of Christ.

It is not easy. We don’t like change. Change upsets everything. It pulls us in new directions and pushes us to do things differently. But, it is worth it to realize our full spiritual potential. I encourage you to pursue the Home Run Life by surrendering all and doing whatever it takes to draw closer and be truly transformed by God.

If you have any questions, joys or concerns on this subject, seek out your campus pastor. Their door is always open.