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WEEK 1 SERMON DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR GROUPS

March 24, 2024

Called to bless

Introduction:

You have been shaped to serve God and bless others when you do. You likely have a desire to do something meaningful with your life, but may struggle to know what that is. Living with a purpose must start with knowing you are God’s unique masterpiece. There’s nobody like you in the world, and you were created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Trusting in Christ for salvation means you are a minister of the gospel, called and equipped to help others and to honor God.

Bottom Line: God shaped me to serve Him

Something To Talk About:

  1. Serving will create joy in my life:  Joy and happiness come from service. God designed you to be happiest when you are giving your life away. To have a happy heart, you must practice service and generosity daily. Jesus came to serve and give. Those two things will bring more happiness than anything else, and they define what it means to follow Jesus. If you’re not serving, if you’re not giving, then you’re not following Jesus. It’s very simple. God also wired the universe so that the more you give yourself away, the more God gives to you, the more blessed and happier you are.  Your faith compels you to offer your life as a sacrifice and to serve God by serving others. Sacrifice and serving are keys to lifelong happiness as you generously give your life away for the sake of the Gospel.
  2. Serving will improve my relationships: The key to better relationships in life is learning to serve. You must step out of your perspective and learn to serve others. Serving other people changes you, and it changes your relationships along the way. One of God’s most significant lessons He wants you to learn while on this planet is how to be unselfish. You can learn to be unselfish. How? It’s simple, really: You copy Jesus. Jesus says this: “Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28 TLB). Don’t try to be interesting; be interested. Be interested in others. If you do that, people will think you’re the greatest person in the world. 
  3. Serving will make my life meaningful: A full, rich, and authentic life is all about realizing how connected we are and how we can help one another. Our purpose in life is to love God and love others. When we truly and deeply love one another, serve one another, and give to one another, we discover the purpose and meaning of life. Looking around, we see a world full of needs, and there is only so much we can do. Serving others accomplishes just about everything God wants in us. We have the responsibility and the opportunity to show the love of Christ by serving other people. This is the secret to a deep, meaningful, and purpose-filled life.
  4. Serving will leave a legacy: Nobody who leaves a great legacy lives a selfish life. Jesus told us that it is more blessed to give than to receive. The world preaches a different message, but if you understand your eternal inheritance, you will be more generous with your earthly inheritance. Your life will be about serving others with your time, talents, and treasures. He wants us to invest in others for His and their sake. Be a blessing to others this week. The greatest legacy left on this earth started about two thousand years ago and still lives on today.  Jesus came to this earth and lived a life worthy of praise. His legacy brought freedom and redemption for all the generations to come. Your legacy can change lives, it can change the course of future events, and it can even change the world. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. Your devotion to God is illustrated, demonstrated, and authenticated by serving others.  Agree or disagree?
  2. What hurdles do you have serving others? What must you do, beginning today, to acquire the authentic heart of a servant?
  3. Take a moment today and ask yourself, when people interact with you, what do they think and feel? Are you a person of grace? Of intentionality?
  4. What is one specific way that you can serve another person today?
  5. Which relationship in your life can you improve this week as you serve the other person unselfishly?
  6. When have you experienced joy through service?
  7. What would you list as the characteristics of a lasting legacy?
  8. Read 2 Timothy 4:1-8: Spend a few minutes thinking about the legacy you would like to leave.
  9. What changes need to be made today to move you back toward a legacy of loving God and loving others?
  10. What was your main takeaway from this week’s message?

Take One Thing Home with You:

Blessings are for sharing. The ultimate calling in life is to follow Jesus. It makes us right with God.The call to follow Jesus leads to an abundant and meaningful life. This doesn’t mean that we never experience stress or difficulty. Rather, through every twist and turn of life, whether good or bad, happy or sad, we have continual fellowship with Jesus. And ultimately, that leads to greater blessings.

If you’ve said “Yes” to Jesus, you’ve already been blessed beyond anything you could ever deserve. But remember, God blesses us so that we can be a blessing. Blessings aren’t to store away but to share. The next time you’re feeling #blessed, ask God how you can use that particular blessing to become a blessing to others.