Sermon Series:  God With Us #3 – December 21 – Marc Sundstrom

Sermon Title:  Kingdom Come

Key Scripture:  Isaiah 9:7

 

 

Isaiah 9:2, 6-7

 

Of the INCREASE of His GOVERNMENT (rule/dominion) and PEACE (Shalom) there will be no end!

 

Jesus announced His kingdom 2,000 years ago and it has never stopped expanding!

                       

ESVSB: “The empire of grace will forever expand, and every moment will be better than the last.”

 

Is His government (rule/dominion) & peace (shalom/wholeness/welfare) EVER expanding in your life?

           

Just because you found God doesn’t mean you should stop seeking Him!  Wise men…

 

What do you need?  A Wonderful Counselor?  A Mighty God?  An Everlasting Father?  A Prince of Peace?

 

Do you realize what’s been offered to you in Christ at Christmas?  What you’ve received?

           

 

Sermon Series: God With Us

Sermon Title: What Do You Need?

Key Scripture: Isaiah 9:6

Bottom Line: Jesus was, is and will always be everything you need.

Is. 9:6, Hebrews 1:3

Isaiah prophecied the birth of Christ 700 years before the event took place. 

Jesus was fully God and fully man. 

Immanuel was a gift given to humanity. 

Wonderful Counselor- Exceptional, distinguished, and without peer when it comes to giving advice and guidance. 

Proverbs 3:5-6

Yada- intimate knowing

Mighty God- Jesus has the power to change your situation, to overcome your difficult situations, to quiet your doubts and fears, and to strengthen you to continue when you don’t think you can.

Everlasting Father- If you want something eternal you must trust Jesus for it. 

Prince of Peace- No God, No Peace, Know God, Know Peace

Shalom- contentment, completeness, wholeness, well-being, harmony

Bottom Line: Jesus was, is and will always be everything you need.

 

Sermon Series:  God With Us

Sermon Title:  Light In The Darkness

Key Scriptures:  Isaiah 9:2

Bottom Line:  God’s light shines IN the darkness, not just into the darkness.

 

 

Isaiah 7:14 - Jesus is God… God is WITH us… God is with US

 

 

Bottom Line:  God’s light shines IN the darkness, not just into the darkness.

 

God is light – John 8:12, 1 John 1:5, Ps 36:9

 

You are the light of the world – Mt. 5:14, Eph. 5:8, Phil. 2:15, 1 Pet. 2:9

 

The Apostles Were Sent – Acts 26:17-18

 

We are Sent – Mt. 28:18-20, Acts 1:8

 

God is With Us, is He with You? 

 

Take a few moments to share your initial thoughts and reactions to this weekend’s service and to this series as a whole.

What one thing challenged, interested or stood out to you the most?

Are you usually able to learn from the wisdom of others or does it seem like you can only learn from your own mistakes?

How has your tendency in this regard impact the amount of suffering and adversity in your life?

Review 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 in the NIV, NLT and at least one other version.  What differences do you notice between the different versions?

What is the connection in this passage between praising God in the midst of suffering and being able to comfort others?

Does that connection sound too good to be true?  Why or why not?

Talk about a time when you were comforted by someone who had experienced circumstances similar to your own. 

How did you benefit from that person’s perspective? 

Have you ever been in the position to comfort someone because of something similar you had experienced?

How was that experience life-giving for the person you were able to comfort?

How was it life-giving for you?

In the message, Pastor Marc said, “Our capacity to comfort is determined by the degree to which we have suffered.”  In what ways is that thought helpful?

In what ways is it a little scary or uncomfortable?

What can you do to begin to receive your past, present, and future adversities as gifts from God that can be leveraged to comfort others?

Discussion Questions:

 

Take a few moments to share your initial thoughts and reactions to this weekend’s service.

What one thing challenged, interested or stood out to you the most?

Review 1 Peter 1:3-12 in the NIV, NLT and at least one other version.  What differences do you notice between the different versions?

Have you ever struggled with the “If God is good…” question or line of thinking? 

How did you get through it?

Pastor Marc’s sermon encouraged us to do three things: to look back to something (The Cross, v7 & 10-11), look ahead to something (Our Heavenly Inheritance, v3-4), and to look into something (The Power of the Gospel, v8-9 & 12).  Which of these insights impacted you the most?

In verse 6, Peter says, “now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”  What do you see in verses 3-9 that does or could encourage you in the midst of trials or challenging circumstances?

How does the future, as Peter describes it in this passage, encourage you and offer you hope in your circumstances?

The Bottom Line this week is, “God defines good in the meantime…”  How could shifting our perspective to fully embrace that God is so good that He literally defines what is good by His actions help us through our Meantime moments?

Pastor Marc closed by connecting the single worst event in the history of the world to the single greatest event in the history of the world, because both took place in the single event of the Cross of Christ.  How does this realization impact your view of God’s Sovereignty and Goodness?

Wednesday Series: Bible 101 / Week 13

Sermon Series:  In The Meantime, #3 – November 16 – Marc Sundstrom

Sermon Title:  Believe It Or Not

Key Scriptures:  James 1:1-8

Bottom Line:  You Must Endure to Mature in the meantime…

Discussion/Study Questions:

Take a few moments to share your initial thoughts and reactions to this weekend’s service.

What one thing challenged, interested or stood out to you the most?

Review James 1:1-8.  If this is a familiar passage to you, what was new or fresh for you this time?

Talk about a time in your own life or the life of someone you know when good eventually came from adversity.

How did that influence your faith?

Do you struggle with the idea that we should actually “consider it pure joy” when we go through difficult times?

How could this perspective change your relationship with God?

How could it change the way you deal with your circumstances?

The Bottom Line this week is, “You must endure to mature in the meantime…”  Can you think of a time when you did not endure and may have missed out on some maturity and growth?

Do you agree with the idea that spiritual maturity has less to do with what you know and more to do with how you trust God and persevere in the face of adversity?  Why or why not?

As you think about the adversity you are facing right now, what is one thing you can do to “let perseverance finish its work”?

If you choose to “endure to mature,” how might your circumstances grow your faith?

Recite the prayer from the bookmark that was given in the services, “Heavenly Father, I believe you will use this until you choose to remove this.  Give me the wisdom to see as you see and the strength to do as you say.”

Sermon Series:  In The Meantime, #2 – November 9 – Marc Sundstrom

Sermon Title:  A Purpose and A Promise

Key Scriptures:  2 Corinthians 12:7b-10

Bottom Line:  God’s power can be perfected in the meantime…

Study/Discussion Questions:

Take a few moments to share your initial thoughts and reactions to this weekend’s service.

What one thing challenged, interested or stood out to you the most?

Review 2 Corinthians 12:7b-10.  If this is a familiar story to you, what was new or fresh for you this time?

If this was the first time you recall studying this passage, why do you think this has been such a popular passage for sermons and devotionals.

Why do you think people often assume that enough faith in God will remove adversity from life?  Have you ever made this assumption?

If so, how did it influence your relationship with God?

Share about a time when you or someone you knew faced difficult circumstances and God seemed to be silent.  How did that experience affect your/their faith during that season and shortly after? 

Did that experience have a different affect on your/their faith when given a longer perspective?

Is it difficult for you to accept that challenging circumstances can come from the hand of your loving heavenly Father?  Why or why not? 

What would it look like for you to “delight in your weakness” for the sake of Christ’s glory and honor?

How would it change the way you respond to adversity?

What is the “thorn in your flesh,” the ongoing struggle that you can’t change and about which you need to accept God’s grace in order to move forward?

What can you do to begin to view that “thorn” as a gift that comes with a purpose and a promise from your loving heavenly Father?

How can this group pray for you and support you in the meantime?

Wednesday Series: Bible 101 / Week 12

Sermon Series:  In The Meantime, #1 – November 2 – Marc Sundstrom

Sermon Title:  The New Normal

Key Scriptures:  Matthew 11:1-6

Bottom Line:  God is not absent, apathetic, or angry in the meantime…

Discussion Questions:

 

1. Take a few moments to share your initial thoughts and reactions to this weekend’s service. 

     a. What one thing encouraged, interested or stood out to you the most? 

2. Have you ever seen someone demonstrate great faith in God despite difficult circumstances? If so, how did that person’s faith influence your own?

3. Read Matthew 11:1-6 out loud.  What surprised you or intrigued you about this story and the way Matthew tells it? 

     a. When have you faced a difficult event or season in life that caused you to feel you’d never be happy again or that no good could come from what you were experiencing?

4.During the message, Pastor Marc asserted that God loves you regardless of whether or not it feels like He loves you.  How would your life be different if you lived as though you fully believed that truth?

5.Talk about a time when you felt God was absent from your life, apathetic about what you were going through, or angry with you.  How did it influence your relationship with Him? What did you do?

6.If you’re currently in the middle of difficult circumstances or when you are in the future, what are some practical things you can do to remind yourself that God hasn’t abandoned you?

     a.What role can your LifeGroup and/or Christian Community play in shoring up your faith when God is silent?