This goes with the message that was posted on December 31 of this blog. I have included the insert for a quick review and the Message Based Discussion Questions follow. The purpose is to provide material for personal reflection or group discussion. The questions are designed to be answered in far more than one or two sentence answers.
State of the Church: Vision
Matthew 28:18-20
December 30, 2012
Connecting together to worship God 1 Cor. 12:19-25
Equipping together in grace to be more like Christ Eph. 4:11-14
Multiplying together with the gospel to reach the world Matt 28:18-20
God loves to multiply people:
Gen 1:28; 9:1,7; 17:2, 20; 22:17; 26:24; 28:3; 35:11; Ex. 32:13; Lev. 26:9; Deut. 6:3; 7:13; 8:1, 13; 28:63; 30:5, 16; Acts 6:1,7; 12:24; Heb. 6:13-14
God wants us to spiritually reproduce: 2 Tim. 2:2; John 14:12
Who is called to be a disciple-maker?
Jesus is my model for everything. He was __single___.
How were you Connected? Luke 6:12-13
· How am I currently reaching or connecting others?
How are you being Equipped? Luke 9:1-10
· How am I helping to build up others?
· How am I equipping others for ministry? (for outreach, service, discipling)
How am I Multiplying, so more will follow? Luke 10:1,17-21
· How am I helping others to grow deeper?
Jesus commanded each of us to make disciples.
How? Acts 1:8, 6-11
· Does our model facilitate 80% of the church reproducing?
· How are we developing disciple-makers?
· Will you humbly ask the Lord what His next step is for you?
Message Based Discussion Questions
1) How many children were in your family? How many children did he/she/they produce?
a) This question is designed to involve everyone in the small group and each answer will be personalized.
b) The purpose is to allow each person to sense they have something to contribute and allow them to become transparent.
Digging Deeper:
2) Where do you learn the most in Scripture about parenting? What passages come to mind?
a) Most of the parenting lessons are found in Proverbs. Most of the book is written by Solomon to his son. Many of the other portions are written by others that have direct application to parent/child relationships.
b) There are parenting stories found in the OT.
i) Isaac’s partiality with his sons Gen. 25:28; 27:6-17
ii) Samuel’s failures with his sons 1 Sam. 2:27-36; 4:10-22
iii) David’s failures with his sons 2 Sam. 12:10; 13:1-18:33
c) There are parenting principles
i) Father’s commanding his children Gen. 18:19
ii) Telling children of God’s mighty deeds Ex. 10:2
iii) Teaching children of God’s provision Ex. 12:26-27
iv) Helping children understand holiness Lev. 20:9; 23:3
v) Diligently teaching children God’s Word Deut. 4:9-10
vi) Using every opportunity to train children Deut. 6:1-24
vii) Parents will pity their children Ps. 103:13
viii) Parents will correct their children Pro. 3:12
ix) Parents will provide for children Pro. 13:22-24
x) Parents will chasten while there is hope Pro. 19:18
xi) Parents have deep love for children Is. 49:15
xii) Parents will reach a child’s heart Mal. 4:6
xiii) Parents will love Jesus more than child Matt. 10:37
xiv) Parents will not exasperate children Eph. 6:4
xv) Parents will exhort and charge children 1 Thes. 2:10-12
xvi) Elders with children must be controlled 1 Tim 3:4,5
3) How would you apply human parenting to spiritual parenting?
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Human parents
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Spiritual Parent
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Change diapers
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Deal with sin
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Give clean diaper
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Teach 1 John 1:9
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Put on clean clothes
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Teach dependence on HS
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Feed food
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Feed Word of God
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Welcome to family
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Welcome to God’s family
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Learn to speak
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Learn to pray
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Teach self-control
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Teach Fruit of Spirit
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Teach how to get along
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Help learn fellowship
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Learn to consider others
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Place others more important
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Etc.
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4) What kinds of things prevent Christians from becoming spiritual parents?
a) Distractions in the world, so they don’t study God’s Word
b) Lack of hope in life to trust God
c) Isolation in the world from other growing Christians
d) Failure to develop a quiet time to grow in Christ
e) Lack of dependence on the Holy Spirit
f) Lack of learning how God works all things for good
g) Lack of being a disciple
h) Lack of taking responsibility for one’s actions
i) Knowing what to do and not doing it
j) Being a hearer of the word and not a doer
k) Rejecting biblical authorities, like parents
l) Lack of assembling with others in church
m) Sin in life: mental attitude, verbal and overt sins
n) Pursuing the things of the world instead of God
o) Lack of being taught stages of spiritual Growth
p) Staying in a personal comfort zone and not stepping out
q) Not being more concerned about others than for self
r) Not “walking” with the Lord Jesus
s) Not growing up spiritually
Application of the message to life:
5) What are the three most difficult challenges people face about becoming spiritual parents in Indianapolis? How can we work together to overcome them?
a) Challenges:
i) Fear that they don’t have what it takes to grow up and lead
ii) Fear to look like a fool and not do the right thing
iii) Fear that others will find out they may not have a plan for helping others, so they give up before trying
iv) Pride that prevents people from becoming a disciple
v) Lacking compassion to help others grow
vi) Listening to the devil’s lie that they don’t know enough
vii) Sitting in the stands and watching rather than getting onto the field and making a difference
b) We can work to overcome:
i) By emphasizing the team instead of the person/self
ii) By humbling asking what I can do to grow
iii) By humbling asking and reading material on how to grow up to the next level
iv) By accepting that no one is perfect and keeping our eyes on the Lord rather than each other
v) By pressing forward rather than waiting
6) What kind of organization/organism/system/set-up would you devise to develop spiritual parents?
a) This is whatever the person might contribute….
b) Home groups where people are challenged, contribute and realize they are growing.
c) Home groups where people can become transparent and talk through their understandings
d) Home groups where there is accountability to keep growing
e) Home groups where I can put into practice by leading
f) Home groups where I can reach out to others and bring them into the group and have others help me encourage this person to grow spiritually
Shepherding Truth 