Crossbridge Weekend Messages

Anger has the power to seethe within us and completely destroy us. The three simple words of intimacy, reconciliation, and grace can shape how we deal with anger and remove anger's hold on us.

Religion tends to offer external practices to build a better filter. Jesus offers us a path to inward transformation that leads to the change we seek.

Discussion Questions:

What does it sound like (internally) when you’re listening to the “boss” you mentioned from the previous question? What is an early indicator that you are about to hand over control to that particular emotion?

What regularly happens in your life that triggers that emotion? Instead of being bossed by the emotion, describe how you would ideally like to handle things when that situation occurs.

When we hit the wall, it's easy to lose heart. We can find hope when we fight back against the devil's schemes with Scripture's truth.

Discussion Questions:

2. Would my behavior and beliefs identify me as a solitary sufferer or as a child of God?

3. How might God be using my suffering to bring about good in my life?

Shame and guilt are detrimental to connection. Finding our way past the wall happens when we say goodbye to the disconnecting power of shame.

Discussion Questions:

Do you struggle with feelings of guilt and shame frequently? Why do you think that is?

God’s Word promises us that we are God’s children (Galatians 4) and that there is absolutely no condemnation for those of us who place our faith in Jesus (Romans 8). How can you better hinge your conscience to those promises? 

Connection to others is important, but in a culture that celebrates personal freedom as the highest value, connection is now falling by the wayside. The Bible's greatest story of friendship shows us some ideas on how we can form relationships that help us up and over the wall.

Discussion Questions:

1. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your friendships? Do you feel close to people or a little more isolated?

2. If your friendships don't feel close, why do you think that is? And if they are close, what do you think is contributing to your friendship success?

3. One of the things that characterized David and Jonathan's friendship was that they constantly reminded each other of their love for the other. Who needs that affirmation from you and how will you provide it?

Time alone with God is critical to move past the wall. Solitude and fasting amp up our ability to hear from God and break through spiritually stuck times. 

One of our greatest enemies at the wall is our own mind. A lifestyle that is committed to study will root itself in God and experience the transformation that comes with an inner being renewed by God's truth. 

Discussion Questions:

Resources Kane referred to in the message:

Commentaries:

The Classics:

The neo-Classics:

Books that focus on Apologetics, Science, and Creation:

Fiction:

Personal recommendations:

Part of the reason we end up at the wall is because our way of doing life spiritually is imperfect and destined to lead us to walls. Arriving at the wall is nothing to be ashamed of, but we'll continue to stay there unless and until we repent and allow Jesus to change the ways in which we follow him.

Discussion Questions:

2. The early years of Asa’s reign were marked by reliance on God, but he got proud and complacent, eventually turning away from God. How have you seen complacency attack your walk with God?

3. Wes said, “Your system is perfectly designed to produce the results you are getting.” What part(s) of your system do you think could need to change in order to produce a different result?

Waiting isn't an isolated experience, it's part of what it means to know God. Waiting is where God does some of his best work. 

Discussion Questions:

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your confidence in God? Why?

Describe a time in your life when you were in the “wait room.” What did you learn there or what habits and practices did you adopt (good or bad) to help you through that season?

David finished this psalm by telling people to be strong, take heart, and wait on the Lord. What are ways to be strong and take heart?

We hate stopping. It feels unproductive and wasteful. The story of one man shows us that sometimes it's only by stopping that God can begin to show us what carried us to the wall in the first place. (It's almost never something that he asked us to carry.)

Discussion questions:

Describe a time when you found yourself taking responsibility for the output, when all you could actually control was the input. How did you learn to eventually release control for the outcome?

Where do you think you might be owning or doing something that God never asked you to own or to do in the first place?