Week 6, Day 6

Celebrate Community Church

Week 6, Day 6

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Finn reaches a point in our movie where he is now truly part of the Resistance. He is waking up to the unseen force. He has owned his past and is redeeming his future, and he’s now running toward what matters most.

So often, we lose perspective on what really matters. It’s not until we lose something like our marriage, a friend, our integrity, that what matters most becomes crystal clear. Finn now understands exactly what matters most, and he’s living out this lesson. The Resistance matters. The lives of people in the galaxy matter. Peace and justice matter. Rey matters, and so it’s time to Run Toward what Matters Most. That’s the final and life-changing decision and action.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

Hebrews 12:1

Therefore, let’s run toward faith, not away from it. Run toward goodness, not away from it. Run toward selflessness; run toward making your marriage work; run toward telling the truth; run toward forgiving others; run toward sobriety; run toward financial responsibility; run toward discipline, not away from it. Run toward helping others for good, not away from it. Be a force for the good God created you to do. From the beginning of God’s creation, He intended us to join Him in His good work. And though the world has been undone by sin and death, God is redeeming the world to Himself. And while we are here, we run toward the good we can do, not away from it.

Read Hebrews 10:25, Philippians 3:13-14, John 13:35, Colossians 3:12

-As you look at your life, what really matters to you? What is God calling you to run toward?

Week 7 Discussion Guide

It’s important that God’s Word continues after the message. At Celebrate, we find that you will talk over this week’s message long after our experience is over. That’s because God has lasting impact. The Sermon Discussion Guide is designed to help you continue the conversation all week.

Week 7, Day 6

The Church is not for perfect people. It’s for imperfect people who are working together to become fully mature in Jesus Christ. It’s the place where we rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. So for Riley, joy and sadness come together to the emotional headquarters and join fear, anger, and disgust. Riley’s emotions keep maturing with her growing self-control. “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.” Proverbs 16:32 Read Proverbs 16 As you grow a stronger emotional control center, authentic emotions will work together. Sadness and joy are blended into honest emotions. When our emotions work together, we grow in our emotional health and relational health. -What is one way you can mature through your emotions instead of running away from them?

Week 7, Day 5

Throughout the movie, we see the operations console that controls Riley. By the end of the movie, she is upgraded to a bigger emotional control center. Let’s go back to one of the verses we have meditated on this week. “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7 Read Galatians 5 (Again) God tells us that a life fully surrendered to Him will produce the great benefit of self-control. We can’t win at emotional maturity by our own efforts; it takes God to help us build a bigger control center. -How are you doing in your life at becoming a safe place for your emotions to mature?