"Gospel Cause: Influence" - Daniel 1 (March 22, 2015)

1. Have someone read the passage aloud.
2. Ryan mentioned three ways that Christians can limit their influence (victimization, domination, fortification). Take a moment and describe each posture. Which do you find yourself tempted to embrace? Why?
3. How do we see Daniel resisting all three of these?
4. Take a moment and think about those who have have been influential in your life. Who were they? What made them influential? Were they well known?
5. How does Daniel exert influence in this passage?
6. Where are the places that you have been positioned to be influential? How can you be influential for Christ in those places?


Sermon Outline:
1. Reconsider ways we limit Christian influence
   a. Victimization
   b. Domination
   c. Fortification

2. Recommit to ways we seek Christian influence
   a. Invested lives
   b. Distinct lives

"Gospel Community Changes Us" - Ephesians 6:1-16 (March 8, 2015)

1. Have someone read the passage aloud.
2. Share your history with the church; good, bad, hurts, rejoicings, etc.
3. Despite the difficulties we may have faced in the church, we are called to stick to together. Where in this passage is this pointed out? How do we do this?
4. What motivates us to be a community that listens well to each other?
5. Where in this passage is the community part of the church emphasized and where is the individual aspect emphasized?
6. How can we work and grow together as the church?

Sermon Outline:
1. Stick Together
   A. Thinking less of ourselves
   B. Thinking less of other's faults
2. Work Together
   A. Gifted by Jesus
   B. Equipped by teachers
3. Grow Together

"Gospel Community Connects Us" - Philippians 2:19-30 (March 1, 2015)

1. Have someone read the passage.
2. Our sin causes us to be alienated from God, how do we try to cure our alienation?
3. How do we see God dealing with our alienation from him?
4. In this passage, how is God meeting Paul's need for friendship?
5. Why is friendship an important part of our following God? What is hindering you from forming friendships in Christ?
6. What are ways that we as the church can make the church a place where people are known and a place they will call "home"?


Sermon Outline:
1. Loneliness: More serious than we think
   A. Alienation from God
   B. Isolation from others

2. Friendships: More sweet than we realize
   A. Our need for friendships
   B. Our capacity for friendships

"Gospel Community Sets Us Free" - Galatians 2:11-21 (February 22, 2015)

1. Have someone read the passage.
2. Ryan quoted another pastor when he said, "Paul knew we could unsay with our church culture what we say with our doctrine." What does this quote indicate about our lives and doctrine?
3. What are some of the reasons that it's difficult for our practice to come in line with our doctrine?
4. Where does this passage address the need for right practice and doctrine?
5. Peter's actions are driven by the fear of others, where have you seen fear to drive your actions?
6. How does Christ's righteousness free us to be honest? Honest with what and with whom?
7. Ryan said that we should desire for "our church to be a place where sinners are welcome." Why is this hard for us? How does it challenge us in our practices, ethos, attitudes, etc?


Sermon Outline:
1. Our Fear of Gospel Community
   A. Fear of what people might think about us (vv. 11-16)
   B. Fear of what people might do without us (vv. 17-18)

2. Our Freedom in Gospel Community
   A. From hypocrisy to honesty (vv. 15-16)
   B. From duty to delight (vv. 20-21)

"Gospel Celebration" - Revelation 5 (February 15, 2015)

1. Have someone read the passage.
2. What were characteristics that we see in this passage that inform our worship?
3. What is the significance of the images of the Lion and the Lamb in this passage?
4. Ryan said that we can often approach worship as either inspirational or instructional, what is a better way to think of worship?
5. Why is worship necessary for us?
6. What is hindering you from approaching worship as celebration?


Outline:
MP 1: The pattern of worship
   A. Reflects the whole counsel of God
   B. Tells the whole story
   C. Engages the whole person
   D. Involves the whole family
MP 2: The person of worship
   A. The Lion
   B. The Lamb
MP 3: The purpose of worship
   A. Reorient praise
   B. Restore perspective
   C. Remember identity
   D. Reinvigorate mission

"Deep Roots. Wide Reach." - Genesis 12:1-3 (February 8, 2015)

1. Have someone read the passage.
2. What is the word that is used over and over again throughout these verses?
3. What are the ways that God has blessed us and how are we to be responsible with these blessings?
4. This vision helps us resist a life that is too shallow and too narrow. Where are places in scripture where God's people fall victim to a shallow or narrow life?
5. How can you deepen your faith and broaden your reach?
6. How does knowing the end of the story help us to live today?

Sermon Outline:
1. An Unoriginal Vision
   A. Blessed
   B. To be a blessing
2. An Unbalanced Life
   A. Too Shallow
   B. Too Narrow
3. An Unfolding Story

"Good News for Hagar" - Genesis 16 (February 1, 2015)

1. Have someone in the group read the passage.
2. Where in the passage do we see rejection and the response to rejection?
3. Think for a moment about the times when you've been rejected, why do these times in our life stand out so much?
4. Where in the passage do we see acceptance and who is the one providing the acceptance?
5. Ryan talked about how God hears the afflicted. Why is this hard for us to believe and why is this comforting?
6. Which voice had more power in this passage, the voice of rejection or the voice of gospel acceptance? How does this change how we move into the hard places of our life?

Sermon outline:
1. The Pain of Rejection
   a. Arrogance
   b. Abuse
   c. Abandonment
2. The Power of Acceptance
   a. God wants the discarded
   b. God hears the afflicted
   c. God sees the unnoticed