Be a Kid’s Champion- Wendy Vogel

Mathew 28:19-20 (MSG)

Parents Are the Primary Champions. - Kalee Rongey

When the Church and the Family Collide

It Takes a Village of Champions. - Lolly Kudryashov

1 Corinthians 12:12-13,24-27 (NLT)

We are ALL Champions! - Phil Jeansonne

For Further Discussion

If you are a Kingdom Kids Infant-5th Parent, stop by the Kingdom Kids Lobby for more information about the Parent Cue App, see what your child has been learning, and pick up additional resources designed to assist you in encouraging your child to be a Champion for Christ.

Stop by the Vineyard Café & Bookstore and check out all our Parenting Resources. You’ll get a free Specialty Coffee with any purchase of these materials.

“…the last thing I remember, I was running for the door. I had to find the passage back to the place I was before…”

- Eagles, Hotel California

“Christian worship is essentially a counter formation to those rival liturgies we are often immersed in, cultural practices that covertly capture our loves and longings, miscalibrating them, orienting us to rival versions of the good life.”

- James K. A. Smith, You Are What You Love

New practices

New loves

New story

New dream

What new practices can you employ to begin recalibrating your loves?

How would you describe the alternate dream of the good life?

What is the biggest issue when it comes to your pursuit of the good life as offered by God?

What are the implications of that for us today?

The big question: What do you want?

“Money is the greatest slave, but it is the worst Master!”

- Dave Ramsey

When the American Dream becomes a nightmare

Proverbs 22:7

Prisoners of our own device

A financial or a spiritual problem?

Deuteronomy 28:12 contrasted with Deuteronomy 28:43-44

When you check out but cannot leave…

Proverbs 22:7; Psalm 37:21; Romans 13:8; Proverbs 3:9; Matthew 6:33

James 4:13-17; Luke 12:13-21

Have you ever experienced life in the prison of debt?

Perhaps share your personal experiences with being in that prison. Discuss the underlying causes of it and the associated feelings that came with it.

How were you able to get out of prison? If not, do you have a plan for getting out of prison? Is anyone helping you and keeping you accountable?

"The insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they're evil or sinful; it is that they are unconscious. They are default settings. They are the kind of worship that you gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that is what you are doing."

- David Foster Wallace

Going too deep | Luke 12:13-15

Where excess becomes reasonable and extravagance becomes necessity

Staying down too long | Luke 12:16-21

Why won't we come up?

"It won't happen to me, I can handle this!"

Over Consumption characterizes the life of a "fool" who...

What has been your experience with "excess becoming reasonable", "extravagance becoming necessity," and "wants becoming needs"?

What is the root driver behind over consumption?

What does living life like a practical atheist look like?

How can you swim against the cultural tide of over consumption?

Beyond the obvious financial implications (Bends) of overconsumption, what are the implications for the kingdom of God?

"You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and money both."

- Jesus; Matthew 6:24 (MSG)

Things to Know

Money/wealth are not evil | 1 Timothy 6:10;17

Money/wealth can be seductive gods

We are all part of a system that feeds the Beast!

Things to Do

See the Beast | Ephesians 6:12

Break the silence

Defy the Beast

What were you feeling throughout the talk today? How were you responding both emotionally and intellectually? Why do you think you were responding in these ways?

What did you agree with? What did you disagree with? Which part, if any, just irritated you? Why?

Jesus doesn't ask us "What do you know?" He doesn't even ask, "What do you believe?" He asks, "What do you want?" This is a piercing question because we are

what we want. Discuss this statement.

"Look at that man, bloated by self-importance - full of himself but soul-empty. But the person in right standing before God through loyal and steady believing is fully alive, really alive." - Habakkuk 2:4 (MSG)

"The glory of God is a person fully alive!" - Irenaeus

"In the Bible, shalom means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight...shalom is the way things ought to be." - Cornelius Plantinga

Fully alive = shalom | Isaiah 65:17-25

Fully alive - experienced and displayed | 1 Peter 1:2-4

Fully alive experienced and displayed by grace. | Zechariah 4:1-7

Grace - the empowering, transforming presence of God within us that enables us to be who he has created us to be and to do what he has created us to do.

Read the 1 Peter passage together. Has this become more of a reality for you during this series? How has a living hope been manifested in your life?

How does today's talk relate to your struggles with any of the silent killers we discussed in the series?

What is the way forward for you? In what ways can you/we receive the grace of God to become more fully alive?

Are there any decisions to be made, goals to be set, and steps to be taken? Do you see this as an activity or a lifestyle? Why?

"When a person finally accepts the profound mystery that she is totally loved by God and there's nothing she can do about that, then she has a fighting chance at embracing her core identity as the Beloved Child of God and slowly gaining emancipation from all the fears controlling her." - Brennan Manning

As human beings, we are hardwired to fear.

In the resurrection, the fear and slavery of human existence give way to genuine, loving relationship with God, where He is known as Father and we are His children.

Romans 8:14-15

How do we combat fear and live as children of God?

Recognize the fear.

Lean into it.

Trust in the love of God. | 1 John 4:16-18

We combat what COULD happen with what we know to be TRUE.

What is the weirdest fear you have? When was the last time you felt afraid?

If you took inventory of the last week, in what ways did fear affect your thought patterns and decision making?

Read Romans 8:14-15. How does the resurrection free us from our fears to live in Christ?

How did you experience God this weekend? What songs, images, or stories impacted you?

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make

you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can

fight, and never stop fighting."

- E.E. Cummings

Envy, fundamentally, is the desire to be someone or something other than you.

Envy is a silent killer because it warps our understanding of God and others | Gen 4:2-8

People become competition and God becomes a commodity to own.

The divine response to envy is an invitation to return to our true identity as children of God, marked by His Spirit. | Gen 4:13-16

When was the last time you felt envy? From what situations did it arise?

In your opinion, what are some behaviors and atitudes that develop from the downward spiral of envy?

Read Genesis 4:2-16. How was Cain's view of his brother warped by envy? How was Cain's view of God warped by envy?

How does understanding our identity as "children of God" combat the thoughts and feelings of envy?

1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.

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7 Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

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13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

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19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!

Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

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23 Search me, God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

Something happens when we enter a person's story and see the

reality of what poverty does.

Luke 10:25-37 (NASB)

Christ calls out our identity by asking, "Who are you?"

We are to be for ALL people.

Jesus on the cross, through His resurrection, rescued us from spiritual poverty and gives us a new identity.

From this new identity our activity flows, motivating us and empowering us to see and step in, regardless of the cost!