Weekly Challenge -Grace

During Life Group, we focused on Ephesians 2: 4-7.  This is a passage that ties together the reasoning and argument of Paul when he started the letter to Ephesus.  We are adopted and get the full inheritance.  We were worshiping the god of this world, but now worship the one true God.  We have been saved, raised up, and seated next to Jesus. 
Why?   To demonstrate His mercy, love, grace, and kindness to us and to everyone in the future. 

Grace is what separates Christianity from other religions.  The notion of God's love being free and with not strings attached, goes against our human instinct.  The Buddhist 8-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the Jewish covenant, and the Muslim code of law, offers a way to earn approval.  Only Christianity says done instead of do.

My challenge for the week is to spend time researching the key differences between the religions.  Compare Christianity to Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientology, etc.

Be intentional.
Travis

Weekly Challenge -Ephesians 2:1-3

Big thanks to Madison Lyle for teaching this lesson. 
His summary was that the unbelievers nature is to sin.  So as a new creation in Jesus Christ, we are no longer a slave to sin.
The challenge is to give grace and understanding to future Christians and win them over with our love. 
Who can you affect by your relationship with God and others?

Be intentional.
Travis

Weekly Challenge: Isaac

We had to cover a lot of ground in Genesis on Saturday.  Started in chapter 11 with Terah having a son (Abam) and ended in chapter 35 with Isaac dying at 180 years old. It is a fascinating part of history when God makes promises and has a relationship with his creation.  No matter how many times we take timing and matters into our own hands (Sarai telling Abram to have a child with Hagar), God keeps his promise.  No matter how many times we get scared and lie or act deceitful (Abraham lying about Sarah being his sister and not his wife), God still protects his plans and promises.
However, our sin does affect generations.  Isaac lied about his wife to Abimelech.  Jacob and Rebekah deceived Isaac.  Laban deceived Jacob.  Jacob's boys lied about their brother Joseph.  And we do the same.
We understand that all these family members had a choice.  They were not forced to follow a pattern of sin through their heritage.  But our actions, good and bad, help shape our future generations.  

Challenge:
Have your parents shaped or influenced your life?
How are you shaping and influencing the lives of your children?
What one sin from your parents would you like help in eliminating from your life?
What are some virtues that are currently a part of your life that you need to pass on to your children, grandchildren, and others in your life?

Weekly Challenge: Abraham

That was a great life group on Saturday.  We had fun using a Kahoot to learn about Abraham and we had great discussions on faith and trust.
I liked the definition which stated "faith is not believing in spite of evidence; faith is obeying in spite of consequence".
Abraham obeying in spite of consequence of losing his promised son.
Daniel and friends obeying in spite of consequence of losing their lives to Nebuchadnezzar.
Mary obeying in spite of consequence of losing her husband and family.  She said "I am the Lords servant.  May it be to me as you have said".

Abraham was not perfect in his faith.  He was commanded to leave his family yet he took his dad, his wife, and his nephew Lot.  He did not trust God's timeline and took matters into his own control and slept with Hagar to have a son.  He lied about his wife.  He failed occasionally as we all do.  But the general trend of his life was marked by faithful obedience.

Here is the weekly challenge:
1.  Read the Faith hall of fame in Hebrews 11.
2. Ask God how you can obey in spite of the consequence. Then talk it over with your family during dinner.

Be intentional.
Travis

Life Group weekly challenge: Lucifer

Our new series started with a study of Adam and Eve.  On Saturday we studied Lucifer. 

As a continuation of what Jamie started last week, we know that spiritual warfare is real.  It can be easy to state and sometimes even comforting to believe.  But we still have a difficult time when talking about Satan.  Why??  Maybe Verbal Kint is correct when in The Usual Suspects he says the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing a world that he doesn’t exist.   Or maybe our culture has created a pitchfork carrying character similar to a Santa Claus. 

So we took time in Life Group to go through the bible and list the names used to describe or talk about Lucifer.  Here is a partial list:

Accuser, adversary, lion, Beelzebul, ruler of demons, Belial, Leviathan, twisted serpent, devil, father of lies, dragon, serpent, satan, evil spirit, ruler of this world, prince of the power of the air, tempter, god of this world, Lucifer, angel of light, the enemy, Angel of the abyss, Abaddon, Apollyon

Then we made a list of the attributes or characteristics of Satan:

Was the anointed cherub, is limited spatially, and not omnipresent.

He is a liar, an oppressor, and an imitator.

He came to kill, steal, and destroy.

He will tempt, he plans, he schemes, he fights, he loses.

My challenge for you this week involves watching this clip of Bishop Ron Archer testimony.

Then I want you to stand with your family outside of your house and tell Satan that he is not welcome in your home.  Tell him that in the power of the name of Jesus, that you forbid him to work in your home.  Then pray a blessing on your house and family.

Be intentional this week.

Travis 

Weekly Challenge: Philippians 4:1-17

Life Group,
After Paul told us to stand firm, be unified, pursue Christ, grow through the journey, and imitate Paul's example, he tells us to:

• Rejoice in the Lord
• Share your patience and gentleness with everyone
• Do not be anxious about anything
• Accept the peace of God as you pray about everything.

Jesus spoke about anxiety in Matthew 6 where he stated the most common causes of anxiety: physical attributes, clothing, food and drink, and the future.  Our list we made during Life Group probably could be lumped in those categories. 

But when we learn to trust God, to worry about nothing, to get along with others.....  The result is inexplicable peace. 

My challenge to you this week is to make a list of what makes you anxious.  What are you worrying about?  Then spend time with God every day rejoicing in the Lord.  And give it all to Him.

Be intentional.
Travis

Weekly Challenge -Philippians 3:15-21

Life Group,
Paul told the early Christians (and us) to:
1. Continue maturing (pursue God the Son)
2. Watch Paul, imitate Paul, and follow the example of other growing believers
3. Avoid the practices of the enemies of the cross
4. Live as citizens of Heaven

Can people listen to you talk and know that you are a citizen of Heaven? 
Can they observe your actions and recognize that "you are not from around here"?
Reminds me of the clip we discussed in LG...  How Ya Doin'.  Everyone in the bar knew that guy was not from around here!

Challenge: Identify who is watching you (your children, spouse, other family members, co-workers, younger believers, etc.) and adjust your living so you they can imitate you.

Be intentional this week.
Travis

Weekly Challenge: Philippians 3:1-14

Life Group Family and Friends:

Many people ask me what I like about our life group.  I tell them 2 things: 1. We are very real and don't hide behind masks of what we want others to see.  2. We have great discussion during LG. 

Saturday evening was no different.  Thank you for the great discussion. 

Paul was very real in describing the Judaizers.  Dogs, evil, mutilators.  (Tell us how you really feel Paul!).  But he did not want "works salvation" to muddy the water and force people to lose joy of a true free gift.  Remember how he compared all of his great works, which use to matter so much, as garbage, rubbish, dung, bodily excrement, dog poop, etc.  (might have used the Message version in there somewhere).

Paul is telling us not to be dumpster divers.  But to focus on "knowing Jesus".   During discussion we used the following to describe "knowing": learning, studying, journey, on going, pursue, what Travis D. said, closeness, relationship, confidence, intimate, and oneness. 

My challenge to you this week is to focus on KNOWING your savior.  Do something different this week, talk to your spouse about what it means to know Jesus, pursue Jesus and enjoy the journey. 

Be intentional.
Travis

Weekly Challenge: Philippians 2:19-30

Life Group Family & Friends:

Thank you for stepping up to read during LG and for the great discussion we had. 
After we went through the background story of the church formation in Philippi, we looked at the examples of Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus.
We discussed servant-leadership, why we should use the expression "Lord willing", and honoring spiritual role models. 

My challenge to you this week is:
1. take time to find a way to honor your spiritual role model through prayer, phone call, or a note.
2. Maybe it is time for you to become somebody's spiritual role model.  Step out and work with someone.  Grab a coffee.

Be intentional.
Travis

Weekly Challenge: Identify the Real Enemy

Life Group Community,
We ended the Spring bible study series with 1 Peter 5:1-11.  In the first 7 verses,

• Peter reminds us (spiritual leaders, elders, pastors, etc.) that we have a responsibility to shepherd, guide, & protect.
• We need to serve out of desire, not obligation.  
• We, and the young leaders are encouraged to seek counsel and be humble. 
• We must give our anxieties and worries completely to God.  Because worry constitutes pride since it denies the care of a sovereign God. 

But wait, there's more!

We have all heard about Satan prowling around like a lion waiting to devour someone (verse 8).  But it is more than just imagery.  It is real.  The name Satan, means adversary.  He is our enemy.  He was given limited power (Job 1:8-12), but his mission is to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10).  He will do this through lies (John 8:44).
We must identify the real enemy.  It is not your spouse.  It is not your family.  It is not your church community.  It is not your job.  It IS Satan, the great deceiver.

My challenge to you this week is to spend time getting to know your adversary.  Know his names, his attributes, his methods, his characteristics.  I suspect that you will begin to see that he is real, but he is not original.  Once you identify the enemy and the simple tactics, you can begin to prepare to fight the enemy with the power of God.

Verbal Kent, from The Usual Suspects, had a great line when he said "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he does not exist".

Be intentional.
Travis

Weekly Challenge

Life Group Community:

We are ending our Spring series with several lessons on end times and being ready for judgment. 

We can be certain that judgment will occur for believers and for non-believers.  There are only 2 destinies for humans; one is to be with God forever and the other is to be forever separated from God.  This fact is our motivation for telling others about the good news, whatever the cost. 

This is the application from the lesson.  Are we doing everything possible to inform and challenge people to receive Christ before it is too late?

Who are you going to tell the good news to this week?  Start by asking God to show you and provide for you open doors of opportunities.  And ask Him to help you see those open doors. 

It may start with “Praise God for the rain” or “We had a great message at church this week”.  Or maybe it is praying for a member in your family or asking a co-worker if it is ok for you to pray for them.

We are on the winning team and we have an exciting message to tell in joy, not in fear.

Be intentional this week.
Travis

Weekly Challenge: Are we Immature?

Life Group family and friends:

We studied 1Corinthians 3:1-4 and Hebrews 5:11-14 during LG on Saturday.  Many Christians were not growing.  Paul called them immature and still babies in the faith.  They were jealous, lazy, selfish, living in fear, not teaching others, and not applying what they have learned.  Other Christians were being intentional and growing.

During LG, we came up with these words to describe the maturing Christian:

Connection, training, authenticity, bible studies, self-discipline, sacrifice, action, community, mentors, and choosing to be intentional.

We read a paragraph from For the Love of God, by D. A. Carson written in 1999.  This is the excerpt:

People do not drift toward holiness.  Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord.  We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith.  We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.

 

My challenge to you this week is to read this excerpt every day.  Make it your call to action and maturity.  We will not drift into Christian maturity.  We must make a decision.  It will take an effort on your part.  We have to be intentional.  

 

Travis

Weekly Challenge: Information + Application = Transformation

Life Group Community:

Great discussion on Saturday.  The theme was Information + Application = Transformation

Our study was on Proverbs 3:1-2.  Every two verses, we are told to do something (or not to do something) followed by a promise.  It is useful for us to read the bible, but we have to be intentional about applying the information we have learned.

My challenge to you this week is to finish the handout we started in LG.  List the exhortation and the promise.  Then complete the application and the steps you will take. 

 

Verses	Exhortation	Promise	Application	Steps
v. 1-2	Don’t forget God’s teaching and keep his commandments in your heart.	Long life and prosperity	God promises me long life and prosperity if I make his teaching and commands a part of my life.	1.     I will practice a personal Bible study and prayer time daily. 2.     I will make my Life Group and Growth Group a top priority.
v. 3-4
v. 5-6
v. 7-8
v. 9-10
v. 11-12

 

Weekly Challenge -What does it mean to produce Fruit as a Christian?

Life Group family and friends:

The question we worked through on Saturday was "Are you producing fruit?".  We also read through Mark 4 where Jesus was talking about seed falling on the path, on rocky soil, on thorny soil, and on good soil which produced 30x, 60x, and 100x multiples.

But what does all that mean for us?

As believers, the result of a spirit filled life should be fruit.  If you put it in context with Galatians 5, we should be producing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
But when you look at the Mark 4 parable, several questions come to our attention. 
The rocky soil example are believers who hear the good news, believe, but don't have the strong roots or maturity.  They drop out when trouble or persecution arise demanding suffering and sacrifice.
The thorny soil example are believers who get choked out by worry, wealth, and materialism and fall away from their commitment to follow Jesus and grow. 

How are you tending to your soil?  Are you growing roots and going deep?  Are you removing the weeds that choke you out or distract you? 

And finally, what fruit are you producing?  The apple tree does not produce fruit for its own benefit.  The fruit is for other people. 

How are you using the fruit of the spirit to benefit your family, your co-workers, your Life Group community, and for unbelievers?



Be intentional this week.
Travis

Weekly Challenge -Security through the Trinity

LG family and friends:
You have been chosen, redeemed, and sealed!  Amen.  In our study of Ephesians 1:3-14, we learned:

• God the Father chose you
• God the Son redeemed you
• God the Spirit sealed you

Your salvation is a done deal.  God's desire now is that you participate with Him.  He wants you to live a holy and blameless life, be intentional, and make a difference for Him today.  This goes back to our challenge last week regarding Ephesians 4.

The challenge this week is talk to someone this week about the security you have because of what the Trinity has done for you.  Describe the hope, joy, and peace you have and how your life is different. 

People are naturally seeking.  As the news story we read in LG, some people will believe in Jediism to give them some type of higher power.  But they will not find security.

Be intentional.

Travis

Happy New Year Life Group!!!

As we start a new year and a new series, it is time to review the purpose of our Life Group.
There are several phrases we like to use in our LG such as:

• Be intentional
• Community of Unity
• Be authentic
• Relationships are messy
• Grow and help others grow

These phrases all came from Ephesians 4.  As we read each verse, Andi wrote the words or phrases which Paul used for the new believers in Ephesus. 

This is a beautiful picture of what we are as a community of believers.  We can live this way because of Jesus. 
In our lesson, we learned that Jesus told all his followers that they will fail.  They said they would not.  But they all deserted him. 
Jesus knew this of them and of us, yet He still died for all of us.  We will fail, but God will redeem. 

Challenge:   Pick a couple of the words/phrases below and meditate and pray on them this week.  For you, in your family, and in our LG.

Be intentional.

Travis

Weekly Challenge -Isaiah 63:7-14

Great discussion in LG on Saturday.  So glad that we have a LG where people talk about real issues and have a desire to participate in the discussions.

Isaiah started this passage by telling others, or praising God.  We used his list and added our own praises to get the following:

Provision, Kindness, Blessings, Protection, Hope, Steadfast Love, Compassion, Strength, Peace, Grace, Faithfulness, Goodness, Mercy, and Love. 

Just as the Israelites praised God when they remembered the Good Old Days, we should take time to talk to each other and tell stories to our kids about what God has done for us. 

Challenge:    Remember what He has done and then praise Him.


Be intentional.
Travis

Weekly Challenge: Be Like Joe

LG Family and Friends:
Our passage of study last week was Isaiah 61:1-9.  We read how God the Son was stating He was Anointed (Hebrew -Messiah, Greek -Christ) by God the Spirit and will bring good news to the poor, bind and heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, release the prisoners of darkness, comfort mourners, etc.

It is a great passage of hope and encouragement.

This is the same passage Jesus read in church as described in Luke 4:14-21.  Someone handed Him a scroll to read, he read this passage out of Isaiah (of His own words), and then told the audience that He read about Himself!  Awesome.

We ended with a story about a guy named Joe who lived a very hard life.  Then he decided to follow Jesus, changed his life, had a new purpose, and began serving others.  The people he served did not know Jesus.  But they knew Joe and they saw how he changed and they wanted to be like Joe. 

My challenge to you this week is to be like Joe.  When you are around your family, friends, and enemies during Thanksgiving, be like Joe.  Help people see Jesus through you.

Be intentional.
Travis

Weekly Challenge -Isaiah 45

Life Group community:

Quick summary of the last few weeks:

Chapter 43 –God says you are my redeemed.  You are my witnesses.  Gave us a message of comfort, protection, hope, steadfastness.  We will be tested, but God will remain faithful.

·         The question to you is, are you a good witness for God?
·         If you were on trial, would you be convicted of being a Christian?

Chapter 44 –Idolatry is a lie.   Recognize that God is the Creator, and that He has not left His creation to determine its own path.  God is continually working within creation. Though the events, powers, and strategies of the world may hide God’s work, God has made promises to His chosen people Israel to remind them that God has not abandoned them.

Chapter 45 starts off with a big intro to Cyrus.  He was mentioned in 41 but now we see more detail.  The surprise to the Israelites is that Cyrus is called the Lords shepherd and his anointed.  For Cyrus himself was a pagan idolater!  God may disapprove of idolatry but use an idolater for some good purpose. The fact that he uses someone in a specific way does not mean that he approves of that person’s total lifestyle.   That is great news for me.  It means that He can still use me even though I have idols in my life!

In Isaiah 45, God is explaining why idols get in the way of allegiance to Him.  So my challenge to you this week is to repeat the challenge from last week.  Spend time identifying what you place more importance than your Creator.  Where is your security?  Where is your control?  What can you not live without?  Where, what, or who do you go to for rest, hope, security, etc.?

Be intentional.

Travis

Weekly Challenge -Isaiah 43

Life Group family:
Those were comforting words from God to the Israelites, and us, in chapter 43.  Words of protection, love, steadfastness, comfort, control, holiness, etc.

Those words were for a group in captivity (Israelites) back then, and are for groups in captivity today such as the 30 million people involved in human trafficking today.  80% of them are female.  50% of them are children.  God can deliver them as he delivered the Israelites. 

I enjoyed the discussion on the trial imagery that God and Isaiah brought in this chapter.  We are His witnesses and must tell others about God.  We can do this by the way we live, but that has to be combined with us telling people how God loves us and how we have been changed by living for Him.

We can also do this by how we live and act while being tested by the water and fire (as Isaiah described in verse 2).  We should have hope, living for the eternal, and still finding ways to love and help others.

My challenge to you this week is to spend some quiet time and ask God to show you the worries (water/fire) which you need to give away to your sovereign Lord.  Then share with your spouse and family.

Be intentional.
Travis