Phil Maulding
The Expansive Generosity of God
May 8, 2016 • Phil Maulding
When have you seen the work of God expand in your own context, where hope replaces despair, or joy replaces sadness, healing replaces brokenness? What do you imagine the world would look like when saturated with the glory of God? How are you living into and toward that hope today? When have you experienced a paradigm shift in your life? Where do you find social barriers in your life? Who is on the other side of the barrier you experience? Can you think of a time when your conviction about something made it difficult to be in relationship with another person? Were you able to overcome that difficulty? Why or why not? When have you read scripture and been convicted of your behavior in some way? How did you respond? In what ways do you experience the Spirit of Christ empowering you to live into his character and his will? How does your obedience to God reveal your brokenness, vs. a pride in being able to follow the rules better than those around you? When have you experienced the blessings of God and felt unworthy? What emotions did it stir in you? Peter says in vs. 35, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fear him and does what is right.” Does this give you comfort? Anxiety? What attitudes and/or behaviors do you need to change in order to create space in your life for those who are different than you and/or believe differently that you?
Sheltered in the Provision of Jesus
December 28, 2014 • Phil Maulding
Can you think of a time when you have had to flee? Where did you find shelter? How has God spoken to you? Who have you found to be your companions in desperate times? How did they express that they were with you and for you? What habits are you cultivating now so that you will recognize God's voice in difficult times? Matthew 5:45. How does this verse sit with your understanding of evil in the world? Can you think of a time when you felt God's peace on the midst of a difficult and stressful situation? What keeps you from finding shelter in Christ?