Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

WEEK 3 SERMON DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR GROUPS

For Bay County: Think different 

Introduction:

Do the people in your world know you’re FOR them? In our world today, people are often known more for what they are against than what they are for. Unfortunately, this extends even into the church. We want to reach the lost with the incredible good news of Christ, but often all they ever hear us emphasize are the behaviors and attitudes we are against. In this sermon series, we will talk about how God is FOR the people in our world. He is FOR breaking down unnecessary barriers that keep people away from experiencing His love.

Bottom Line:   

Something To Talk About:

Many people have written off the church because they believe the church has written off them. We’re here to change that. We’re here to show them that the church hasn’t written them off because God hasn’t written them off. Far from it. God goes to great lengths to save sinners.

Think Different About God:

  1. How can we help people who don’t know God or attend church think differently? Many people have written off God because they believe God has written off them. Many people have written off the church because they believe the church has written off them. For others, they tried the treadmill known as religion. They tried their hardest to be a really good person, and then they step off or fall off the treadmill. Only to get right back on in this exhausting attempt to try to earn God’s love, forgiveness, and favor. We can change that.
  2. There’s a reason to Think Different about God because something has happened. In early Bible times, however, there was a belief that if you said the name of God out loud you would be struck down by God. There was this distance between mankind and God. Jesus appeared and presented a  breakthrough, unheard of, think different moment that your Heavenly Father loves you and is FOR you. His humility, grace, and the sacrifice of His Son, His love is abundantly available. None of this happens unless Jesus endures the cross.
  3. When it comes to reaching people for Jesus, we don’t think we’re better, smarter, or have all the answers to life. We just take Jesus at His word. Because of what He has done, we can call God Father, and like any great Father, this means that our Heavenly Father is FOR us. It really comes down to this — when you experience Jesus you want those who haven’t to experience Him as well. When you come to grips with what Jesus endured on the cross for you, you want others to know He did the same for them. When you realize that Jesus is FOR you, it compels you forward. Jesus has caused us to Think Differently about who God is, and it is life-changing.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What in your mind does it mean to think differently?
  2. Does thinking differently mean you have to change your mind?
  3. The way you think determines who you are. Agree or disagree and why?
  4. Can believers and non-believers find common ground?
  5. How do we overcome the stigma that people have written off God because He has written them off? How do we overcome the stigma that the church has written them off as well?
  6. God goes to great effort to seek lost sinners and He greatly rejoices when they come to repentance. What does that mean for each one of us?
  7. God pursues sinners until He finds them. What does that mean for us? 
  8. Winning others to Christ requires presenting the gospel to lost people with a different perspective. Agree or disagree and why?
  9. Does anything in your life need to change for you to think differently? 
  10. What is your number one takeaway from this message?
  11. What would happen if we all took this message to heart?

Take One Thing Home with You

God is relentlessly searching for the lost: “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” (Luke 19:10) To seek for something means to search for the thing with the intention of finding it. You don’t stop until you have found it. This is exactly what Jesus Christ came to fulfill when He walked the earth. He pursues us every day while presenting a way of deliverance to us. Likewise, we as Christians must pursue the lost just as Christ pursues us. God gives us the grace to do this. The more we learn to love Him the easier it is for that love to rub off on us in our relationships with others. This then makes it easier for us to pursue the lost. It must be our ambition to seek the lost so that God can save them. We do not have to give up on the lost because God never gives up on us.