Acts: Building His Kingdom
The Neverending Story
May 22, 2022 • Brandon Rose • Acts
1.) What is your story? Can you or have you ever shared your God story: who you were before Jesus, how and why did you come to place your faith in Jesus, and what and how He is active and changing your life now? If you haven’t, maybe consider practicing it! Write it out and share your story with someone! 2.) Have you ever tried to “kick against the goads”, i.e. try to oppose or resist or deny God? What was that like? Did it work? How did it make you feel and impact your life? And how do you think God feels about you, if you did resist Him? 3.) What does it mean to you, that we are to be presenting ourselves as “living sacrifices”? And how can we be holy and acceptable to God? Does that depend on us? Does it matter how we live out our story to the world around us? Why?
The Right Materials
May 15, 2022 • Brandon Rose
1.) What are the idols in culture today that people worship? Why do people seek idols over God? What are the idols competing with God for the center of your heart? If we as Christ-followers know better than non-Christians, then why do we still struggle with this? 2.) Do we actually accomplish Romans 12: 2 and resist the current flow of culture and yet still be out in the culture and living the gospel outwardly and inwardly? How do we practically work on the renewal of our minds? Does it mean that we have to give up doing the things we love or stop working on improving ourselves or seeking financial stability? 3.) If someone today were to ask you to genuinely explain why you believe in Jesus, why you think He is real and alive and God, how would you do it? And if you are unsure about how to go about it, are you willing to put some effort into learning how to do it?
Mother's Day: The Royalty of Women
May 8, 2022 • Brandon Rose
1.) Who are the women in your life that have impacted you the most? What did they do to influence you so greatly? And how has their lives changed yours and affected the way you live? 2.) What do you think it means that our identity is a “royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession”? Do you think of yourselves in those terms? What gets in the way of finding our identity in Jesus like this? What can we do to remember who we are in Christ and live more freely in who He calls us to be? 3.) God often calls us into unexpected places and to unusual circumstances and people. Where is God calling you to live out His gospel and who is He leading you to speak into for the cause of Christ? If those circumstances and people are far outside of our comfort zone, how then do we muster up the courage to follow Jesus in His call to live the gospel fully?
Doors of Persecution
May 1, 2022 • Brandon Rose • Acts 5, 1 Peter 1, Romans 8
1.) How would you define persecution? Is it just people disagreeing with us or attacking us because of our faith or could persecution be on a larger scale, such as anytime you are going through something difficult that is causing your hardship with your faith and life? Why? 2.) Have you ever felt “persecuted” for your faith? What happened? How did you respond? Is it easy or difficult to go through persecution with rejoicing? How do we do that? 3.) How does the testing of our faith result in praise, honor, and glory? How does experiencing suffering, like Jesus, help the kingdom to grow? How can we as brothers and sisters in Christ, help each other as we go through hardship, so that the Kingdom will grow and our faith will become stronger?
Holy Spirit Foundation
April 24, 2022 • Brandon Rose • John 16:12–15, 1 Corinthians 2:6–16, Acts 2:41, Acts 1:1–5, John 14:15–17
Here are a few questions to think on and process this week! 1.) Who and what is the Church? What is the role and function of the Church? What part do you play in the Church? 2.) What and how do you think of the Holy Spirit? Is He a Helper and Counselor or Advocate for you? What do you need Him to help or counsel you through or advocate on your behalf? 3.) How is your relationship with God right now? Do you hear from Him clearly or is there something that is getting in the way of that and distracting you? What is God trying to say to you? And how can you act upon that this week?