Kettlebrook West Bend

Questions for Discussion:

1. What do you take for granted in life? What do you take for granted spiritually in your relationship with Jesus? How could taking for granted the spiritual the spiritual benefits you have in Jesus distract you from following Jesus and helping others follow Jesus?

2. List at least 5 things that are true of you because of relationship with Jesus. Thank God for those each day this week.

3. Where are you pressing in life, thinking it is up to you? What does this reveal that you believe about yourself? God?

4. How could pressing distract you from following Jesus and helping others follow Jesus? How could you exchange pressing with praying?

5. Read Hebrews 12:2 – how do we fix our eyes on Jesus? (Think about what Jesus did to fix his eyes on the Father) What could you do this week to replace over-connected with technology with connectedness with Jesus. What technology would need to be limited and replaced with time with Jesus?

Questions for Reflection/Discussion:

1. If you had to describe the vision you have for your life, how would you describe it? In other words what are you doing and why are you doing it? How does this vision align with God’s vision for your life?

2. When do you find yourself the most distracted? The least distracted? Why?

3. What are you mixed fixed on in life? Why do you think this is the case?

4. Read Hebrews 12:1-3. What are the hindrances in your life that you need to either lay aside or throw off?

5. What is the/are the sin(s) that so easily entangle you? Why do you think this is the case?

6. If you are following Jesus, when have you found yourself growing weary or losing heart? What is that like for you? In what ways would fixing your eyes on Jesus help?

7. What might you be able to do specifically and practically this week to fix your eyes on Jesus? Who might you be able to do this with?

Questions for discussion:

1. How have you seen followers of Jesus experience persecution in your life? Talk about that with your group.

2. Have you ever personally experienced persecution of any kind in my life? What was that like?

3. Read John 15:18-21. What are some things that stand out to you from Jesus’ words in this passage? What do you notice?

4. If you have not experienced any kind of persecution, why do you think that might be?

5. If you were to experience any kind of opposition or persecution because of Jesus, how do you think you would respond?

6. Do you live with an awareness of the fact that most of the followers of Jesus throughout history and around the world have experienced and undergone persecution of some sort? How does that affect and influence your own walk with Jesus?

Questions for Reflection/Discussion:

1. Have you ever been vacuuming or using something with an extension cord and gone so far from the outlet that it popped out? What do we usually feel when the this happens, and why is that?

2. How is this similar to our relationship with Jesus Christ?

3. What would say is one of your greatest accomplishments in life? What would you say is one of your greatest spiritual accomplishments? What’s the difference between the two?

4. Read John 15:5-17. Revisiting the questions we asked on Sunday: What are some things in your life right now that you might be trying to do apart from Christ? What fruit is that producing (or not producing?)

5. How would you describe the spiritual fruit of your life? How is this fruit impossible without Jesus?

What does it mean to love to love others as Jesus loved us?

6. If you were honest, where do you look to for the sources of love in your life?

7. Who in your life is hard to love like Jesus loved you, and why?

8. In what ways is God calling you personally and specifically to “Go” and “bear fruit”? How might you respond to this calling this week?

Questions for Reflection/Discussion:

1. Take a moment or two for silence, and then lead in with a prayer asking the Lord to work through each of you during this time together.

2. Share some stories of successes or failures you’ve had with gardening. Are there any good lessons or tips you learned? How is our faith and our following Christ similar to plants and gardening?

3. What are some of the ‘tools’ God uses on your heart to draw you near to Him, to prepare your heart, and to help you bear fruit?

4. Share some experiences where you’ve seen Jesus come alive in scripture and you were able to ‘abide & remain’ with Him. What are some tips and tricks you’ve learned for how to remain in God’s Word?

5. Share a story of a joyful or difficult time when you saw Jesus working through other believers (His Body) and you were able to ‘abide & remain’ with Him through that. What are some of the benefits of remaining plugged in the Church body? What are some of the difficulties when we don’t remain plugged in to the Church body?

6. Share a time when God did some pruning in your life. What was that like? Was it difficult at the time? How do you look back on that now?

7. Take a moment to think through some areas where God may want to prune either sideways energy, or negative fruit, from your life. Share with the group and pray for one another.

Questions for Reflection & Discussion

1. What, if any, was your understanding of the Holy Spirit growing up? What did you learn about him? How did you come to know what you have learned?

2. Why do you think we don’t talk about the Holy Spirit as much as we do Jesus or God the Father? What might be our reluctance?

3. In John 16:7 Jesus says that it is good that he is going away. Why is that a good thing? Have you experienced that to be a good thing in your life?

4. Read John 16:5-15. Make a list of all the things Jesus says the Holy Spirit will do. How have you seen any of these in your life?

5. What is one ministry of the Holy Spirit (which Jesus describes in these verses) that you would like to see in your life?

6. Think of a scenario in your life that you would like to see the Holy Spirit address. What would that scenario look like if the Holy Spirit intervened? What do you think he would do?

7. Ask God in prayer to do that in your life right now. Share this with your group if you can.

Questions for Reflection/Discussion:

1. Have you ever had a time(s) in your life when you have experienced God’s presence? If yes, how would you describe it? What was that like?

2. If you answered no to the above question, how might you imagine God’s presence to be?

3. In John 14:15-18 Jesus promises the Holy Spirit. What are some things we discover about the Holy Spirit from Jesus’ words there?

4. Honestly, how well do you believe you are loving God? Obeying his commands? How can the Holy Spirit help with these things?

5. Francis Chan was quoted saying, “I don’t want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn’t be doing this by my own power.” When people look at your life, would they come to this conclusion? Why or why not?

6. What do you think might be keeping you from experiencing God’s presence? Perhaps living in comfort and not needing God? Perhaps not creating space to listen? Others? Why do you think this is the case?

7. How might you specifically respond to these words of Jesus this week?

Questions for Discussion

1. What are some of your (if any) memories of the season of Lent growing up? What were some traditions you may have observed? Do you know why you did what you did?

2. Why do you think that historically followers of Jesus take a season to prepare for Resurrection Sunday (Easter)? Do you think that is appropriate? Why or why not?

3. What do you hope to get out of this season of Lent? What would you like God to do in your life or spirit?

4. Read John 14:1-4. This is Jesus’ farewell speech to his followers (chapters 14-17); what do you think those words meant to his disciples? What do they mean for you today?

5. In John 14:6 Jesus makes an astounding claim. How do you interpret his statement? Do you believe him when he says this? Why or why not? What questions might still remain for you?

6. In question 3 we asked what we would like God to do for us this Lenten season. What do you think might be one thing God might be asking of us? Are you willing to do that? Why or why not?