Topic: Church

Series: Focus 2024 – Abide
Text: John 15:1-8

It can be hard to abide in something when we live in a fast-paced, ever-changing world. We tend to abandon old things when we get tired of them and we chase after new things. Yet God calls us to abide in Christ, to remain united with Christ, and to hold onto Christ.

General Questions:

1. Do you find it a challenge to abide or remain in the same thing over time? Why or why not? What is one thing you have abided or remained in (e.g. a job, a marriage)? What makes you stay?

Perspective Questions:

1. When we abide in Christ, God prunes us so that we can grow spiritually. Describe a pruning experience you had with God. What happened, how did it feel, and how have you grown? What is an important attitude to have when we experience God’s pruning?

2. When we abide in Christ, God makes us fruitful to His glory. Knowing that fruitfulness depends on God, how do we make sense of the fruit, or the lack thereof, that we see in our lives?

Application Questions:

1. How is God wanting to prune your life today? How can you allow God to complete the pruning process?

Series: Focus 2024

In 2024, as we abide in Christ, let’s focus on holiness and harvest.

Perspective Questions:

1. As we review the resolutions we have made for the new year, how much of our resolutions have to do with growing in holiness?

Application Questions:

1. What are some steps we can take to grow in holiness?

2. By God’s grace, we are able to influence people beyond our generation, socio-economic status and ethnicity. What are some opportunities or platforms we can utilise to reach people who are different from us?

Come and hear what God has in store for our church & personal lives as we move forward to 2024.

Title: Step Out & Step Up
Series: A Brick In His House
Text: Haggai 1:1-11

Every now and then, we need to honestly reflect on our priorities. Have other responsibilities or endeavours crowd out the commitment to build God’s church?  

Perspective Questions:

1. Late Bible scholar Gordon Fee once said, “God is not just saving individuals and preparing them for heaven; rather, He is creating a people among whom He can live and who in their life together will reproduce God’s life and character.” What do you think of his quote? How does it reinforce or challenge your view of God’s purpose for His church? How would your view affect your priorities?  

2. The people in Haggai’s day chose to build their own homes instead of rebuilding God’s temple. What do you think cause them to make such a choice? What are some of their fears or concerns that you can identify with? What does God’s word have to say about them?

3. Most of us recognise the value of working hard. But being hardworking does not mean we have the right priorities. We can be working hard, but we are not producing fruit that honours God. What kind of hard work would God want to see from us? What are His promises to those who strive to honour Him?  

Application Questions:

1. What are some needs you see around you that God may want you to meet? What are some practical steps you can take to address these needs?

2. If you are feeling disillusioned or disheartened because of challenges you meet in serving, how can you bring to God all that is on your heart? How can you allow God’s word to heal or renew you?

Title: Step Out & Step In
Series: A Brick In His House
Text: Ephesians 6:10-20

Christ calls us out from our former lives to a relationship with Him and become part of His Church. Let’s explore the importance of belonging to a local church that we may be reminded of the privileges and responsibilities of belonging to a local church.

General Questions:

1. Do you belong to a local church and a life group? Why do you think it is important to be part of the local church?

Perspective Questions:

1. The church community is not perfect, and we may rub each other the wrong way. What are the challenges or hurts that you experienced in God’s community? What are the lessons that you learnt or areas that you have grown as a result? 

2. The church community does not wait for war to be ready – it is ready during peace time, it never lets its guard down. How do you think a church community can become complacent and unprepared? What does it take for a church community to be prepared?

3. The Bible warns us that we will face spiritual battles that could shake our faith and draw us away from God if we are not prepared. What are some spiritual battles that we may face? What is the danger in thinking that we can face such battles on our own? What is the advantage of facing spiritual battles with the community of God?

Application Questions:

1. How does knowing that we are supposed to watch one another’s back in spiritual warfare change the way we relate with our church community?

2. A life group is not just another social group, but one where Christ is at the centre of our relationship and the word of God is the foundation of our relationship. Besides learning the Word together, how do you think your life group be a Word-centred community?

What do charts and graphs have to do with seasons?

This Sunday morning, Pastor Daniel Wee from Church Of Our Saviour shared some statistics about the Singapore church, and what it tells us about the season that the church is in. The time is now to preach the gospel in Singapore and reach the unreached. It may seem like a daunting task, but we remember the heart of our God for His people.

And we go forth, together ❤️‍🔥

Title: Fulfil God’s Mission For The World
Series: Church On The Go
Text: Romans 15:15-22

How can we participate in God’s mission for the world?

Perspective Questions:

1. Paul saw himself as a minister of Christ who was given the “priestly duty” (Romans 5:16) of sharing the Gospel of Christ to the Gentiles. Believers are also called priests (1 Peter 2:9). How would seeing yourself as a minister change the way you make decisions or realign your priorities?

2. God’s grace powered Paul “to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles” (Romans 15:6). Jesus also equipped ordinary fishermen to be His disciples. What would help you to depend on God to do what He has called you to do?

3. Paul’s lifelong ambition was to “preach the Gospel where Christ was not known” (Romans 15:20). How is Paul’s ambition different from the ambition of those who are hungry for success or fame in the world? What can we learn from Paul’s ambition and apply it to our own goals?  

Application Questions:

1. What is holding you back from going on a Short Term Mission (STM) trip? Will you pray and fast with your mentor to ask God to guide you in exploring a STM trip in the next 12 months?

2. Take a look at the countries listed in Joshua Project’s 10/40 Window that have significant unreached people groups. Which country/countries stand out to you? Besides praying, what is one or two things we can do to advance the Gospel in these countries?

God is a global God who loves and redeems globally. Discover how can we can be a church that is readily activated to go and reach the world for Christ.

We cannot be so focused on our own spiritual walk that we neglect the spiritual health of the generation after us. How can we help the next generation to know God?

General Questions:

1. Sir Isaac Newton, the famous English scientist, once said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”  How have you benefited from the wisdom of those who came before you?  

Perspective Questions:

1. Building or investing in the youth is a familiar concept to both believers and non-believers. But what distinguishes believers from non-believers in the way we build the next generation? 

2. What are some reasons believers may be reluctant to “tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord” (v4)? 

3. Our time on earth has an expiration date. After we are gone, what do we want to leave behind for those after us?  

Application Questions:

1. Among “Build bridges, not walls”, “Role-model commitment to God” and “Influence the youths in our sphere”, what are the immediate steps you can take in the coming weeks?  What are efforts the LG can take together, especially during Hope Conference?