Week 5 Sermon Questions For Groups

Family: A Better Way: How To Build A Remarkable Life

Introduction:

We all want to build a remarkable life, but there’s more to getting success than just wanting it. When we commit to doing the same small things over and over again, we can work towards the lasting impact that comes with it. Are you willing to do the work?

Bottom Line:

Something To Talk About:

To be remarkable, I must be respectful to everyone: Respect is the foundation of a remarkable life. Respecting others shows reverence for God, it shows in the way you relate to other people. The definition of respect or to be respectful means to appreciate the uniqueness, value the worth, and affirm the dignity of everyone because God made them. If you want God’s blessing on your business, on your career, on your family, on your friendships, on your relationships, or whatever you want God to bless, you need to be respectful in every area of your life. It’s the foundation. Matthew 23:12, “But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
To be remarkable, I must be reliable: If you’re not reliable, nobody is going to trust you. And if nobody trusts you, you can’t do business with them, you can’t lead them, you can’t have any impact on their life. The Bible uses the word trustworthy. Another word that the Bible uses for reliability is the word faithful, and the Bible talks about being a faithful friend, being a faithful spouse, being a faithful leader, and being faithful to God, being faithful to your church and your family, and your friends and on, and on. Reliability means being dependable, trustworthy, honest, and loyal. The Bible says in Proverbs 20:6, “Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is truly reliable?” In other words, it’s rare. It’s remarkable when you find somebody that you can totally trust. People you can count on.
To be remarkable, I must be resourceful: Companies pay top dollar for people who are resourceful. They are people who figure out solutions to problems. They are resourceful in that they look for ways to do a workaround, and create a solution. They’re figuring out ways to solve problems. Resourcefulness is making the most of what I have and finding solutions to problems that others have overlooked. You need resourcefulness in your finances because you’re never going to have unlimited finances. You need resourcefulness in your time, you’re never going to have unlimited time. You’re never going to have perfect circumstances for anything. Nothing in your life will ever have perfect circumstances. There always will be something wrong with it. That’s why you need to learn to be resourceful where you do the workarounds with the problems, with the weather, with the lack of this resource or whatever, whatever we need. One of the great examples of resourcefulness would be Paul. In Philippians 4:12, he says this, the Apostle Paul, says, “I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.” What’s he saying? I’m resourceful. And people who are resourceful, who don’t have to have everything just right are the people who get ahead in life. They’re the people who change the world.
To be remarkable, I must be resilient: That means you don’t give up when you stumble when you fall when you make a mistake, you get up, you dust yourself off and you move ahead. You’re resilient, you bounce back. You don’t fall apart when things fall apart. Let me give you a couple of verses. Proverbs 24:16, “The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.” The King James version says, “though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again.” Even righteous people mess up. Even righteous people stumble right? Even righteous people make bad decisions and mistakes. Failure is never final, failure is never fatal. Failure is how you learn what doesn’t work. You don’t ever call it a failure, call it an experiment because that’s how you learn what doesn’t work. It requires a learning mentality. Don’t be afraid to fail, it’s how you learn to be a success.

Discussion Questions:

How would you define a remarkable life? What components need to present for you to consider a life remarkable?
In what ways is the world getting more disrespectful? What practices can guide individuals to being more respectful?
In Proverbs 20:6, we are told it is “hard to find someone who is truly reliable.” In studies, it has been shown the number one reason people don’t get promoted in their jobs is that they are unreliable. How does one develop reliability in themselves and in others, such as their children?
When circumstances change we may consider making modifications to commitments we have made. What does this verse tell us we should do on those occasions, and how others will react when we keep our obligations in difficult situations?
“I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or an empty one, with plenty or with little.” (Philippians 4:12) How would you rate your resourcefulness? What about your children? How can we model resourcefulness for our children?
How would you define resiliency in your life? How have you bounced back from a failure, loss, or disappointment? How did God help?
How can learning resilience cause a person to confidently and boldly help others?
How might God use your weakness, brokenness, or failures to bring hope or strength to others?
Of the four areas of living a remarkable life, what are one or two truths God revealed you want to hold onto and remember?
What are the one or two attitudes or behaviors you feel the Holy Spirit is guiding you to transform?

Take one thing home with you:

Catherine Hamlin was a remarkable Australian surgeon, who with her husband established the world’s only hospital dedicated to curing women of the devastating physical and emotional trauma of obstetric fistulas, a common injury in the developing world that can occur during childbirth.

Still operating at the hospital when she was ninety-two years old, and still beginning each day with a cup of tea and Bible study, Hamlin told curious questioners that she was an ordinary believer in Jesus who was simply doing the job God had given her to do.

Her remarkable life exemplified for me Scripture’s encouragement to believers to live our lives in such a way that even people who actively reject God “…may see your good deeds and glorify God…” (1 Peter 2:12).