Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life

Jesus taught about the ways of his kingdom as he traveled from place to place with his disciples. One of his most famous sermons, “The Sermon on the Mount,” begins with a series of statements that start with “Blessed are…” Known collectively as “The Beatitudes,” these teachings of Jesus hold profound meaning for us as disciples today. Join us as we discuss the context and setting of Jesus’ Beatitudes and their connection to the Old Testament with our guest, Dr. Danny Daley. We’ll gain a deeper understanding of the purpose and meaning of this list of blessings and how they serve as a guide to a kingdom lifestyle on our journey of discipleship with Jesus. 

The life of faith is a journey, and it’s natural to have questions along the way. Does God truly care for us as individuals? What is my role in my walk with God? How do we overcome sinful habits of the flesh and find deeper freedom as we walk along with God? How do we make sense of suffering? Can I trust God’s mysterious grace and timing? God invites us to bring him both our joys and our laments, our confidence and our questions. Dig into Scripture with us and discover answers to these questions about God’s care, discipleship, suffering, and God’s timing. 

It is natural to feel a little confusion about the Christian belief in the Holy Trinity. The whole concept of one God who is comprised of three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—requires some acceptance of mystery. To answer your questions, let’s examine the scriptural foundation for this belief and gain a deeper understanding of the nature of our Triune God and the relationships between the persons of the Trinity. Then we’ll delve into a particularly challenging Bible passage to see how our belief in the Triune God influences our worship and the sacrament of baptism.

We are part of a communal and generational faith. Ever since the days of the apostles, Christians have been sharing the stories of Jesus and God’s work in their lives with the generations of Christians that followed. Whether it’s our children or Christians younger in their faith, God has entrusted us with the responsibility to pass on our faith through our actions and words. Thankfully, he gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us. Join us as we continue celebrating Groundwork’s 15th anniversary by exploring what it means to live our legacy of faith every day and pass our faith to the next generation.

The earliest stories about God demonstrate his continuing faithfulness to his people, from one generation to the next, and the Bible instructs us to be intentional about sharing and passing on our faith. Explore the Scriptures that teach us the importance of cultivating legacies of faith. Along the way, we’ll celebrate Groundwork’s 15th anniversary as we reflect on God’s continued faithfulness. 

We encounter many unexpected situations in life that can have a profound impact on our faith, such as the death of loved ones, a bad diagnosis, serious injury, natural disasters, or job loss. How do we respond with faith when we suffer? How can we be sure that trauma, grief, pain, frustration, and anger won’t shatter our faith? Join us as we study the scriptures together and receive assurance that God cares about all our experiences and emotions, good and bad. Find out what the Bible says it takes, and what God provides, to stay the course of discipleship in the midst of life’s tragedies. 

Sometimes, our actions are out of sync with the faith we profess as disciples of Jesus Christ. We make mistakes and consequently experience setbacks in our discipleship journey. These seasons of stagnation in our spiritual growth are not necessarily evidence of weak faith. Even the Apostle Peter experienced setbacks in his journey of discipleship. Scripture is clear that God is with us even during these seasons, guiding us, helping us understand what he expects of us, and reminding us what his Holy Spirit is doing for us. Join us as we study the scriptures to better understand repentance and the ready abundance of God’s grace and forgiveness for reinvigorating our discipleship growth. 

We should expect to grow and mature as disciples of Jesus Christ. What does that growth look like? What is this “solid food” the Apostle Paul talks about for mature followers of Jesus? How can we be sure that we are maturing? Thankfully, we don’t need to figure it all out on our own. God gives us his Holy Spirit to guide, teach, and supply us with everything we need for spiritual growth. Find out how to live as a maturing disciple of Jesus and discover the signs of dynamic discipleship already apparent in your own life. 

So you’ve accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, now what? While Jesus Christ has done the heavy lifting of salvation for us, that doesn’t mean we are fully formed disciples of Christ at conversion. In fact, our discipleship journey is a lifelong one. So, what do Christians mean by the term discipleship? When does discipleship begin?  What does it look like? The Apostle Paul talks about spiritual milk, what is that?  Explore these questions with Groundwork as we look to scripture to help us understand what it means to live as disciples of Christ today and as we explore the importance of community in our discipleship journey.

When we pray, “Your kingdom come…on earth as in heaven,” we demonstrate our trust in what we cannot see. We cannot fully see God’s kingdom around us yet, but our prayer is also our calling to reflect God’s reign in our daily lives. His kingdom is already here, and by studying Scripture, we discover what it means to live faithfully in the kingdom now.