Topic: focus2024

Series: Abide
Title: Abiding As God’s Special People
Text: 1 Peter 2:9-12

Our church’s focus for this year is Abide. What does it mean to abide as God’s special people?

General Questions 

1. When getting to know new people, what are some important aspects of yourself you wish they would know about you? Why are these aspects important for others to truly know you?
2. As God’s special people, we have the privilege of belonging to God. Beyond that, we also have the responsibility of living out holy lives. Sometimes we over-emphasize one at the expense of the other (privilege vs responsibility). Which do you tend to lean towards and which do you tend to neglect? 

Perspective questions 

1. What is the relationship between knowing our identity as God’s special people and living holy lives?
   
2. Why is the habit of repentance so important for believers in living as God’s people? How does abiding in Christ enable us to live a lifestyle of repentance? 

Application questions 

1. What are some rules that you can implement or maintain in your lives so that you can have a strong ‘trellis’ or support structure for your spiritual growth?
2. What are some internal victories that you are working towards, or would like to work towards? Entrust these areas to God in prayer as a lifegroup. 

Series: Focus 2024 – Disciplines for an Abiding Life
Title: Seeking God through Prayer and Fasting
Text: Joel 2:12-13, Ezra 8:21-23

In the Bible, the people of God fasted and prayed to indicate or express the inner conditions of their hearts. Today, we are not required to fast and pray. But we can still benefit from this spiritual discipline when we practise it from the heart. What is the value of sincere fasting and praying?

General Questions:

1. Share about a previous experience with fasting. Why did you choose to fast? How did it go? How did you experience God through the period of prayer and fasting?

Perspective Questions:

1. In our struggles with different sins, what might lead us to depend on our willpower and wisdom, instead of taking the fight spiritually? How does the way we deal with sin reflect our relationship with and understanding about God?
2. What hinders you from fasting (apart from medical conditions)? What do these hindrances reveal about our understanding of the purpose and impact of fasting? How has the sermon addressed these hindrances, if any?
3. Think of different ways in which you might fast. How does fasting set us in the posture to allow God to change our hearts?

Application Questions:

1. What are some steps we can take to help us practice fasting (examples given below)? How can the LG support one another in fasting?

E.g.
• • Ensure we have sufficient rest and hydration, and our other meals are proper nutritious meals
  • Adjust the timing of meals, such as planning for a slightly later breakfast and an earlier dinner, and fasting over lunch
  • Schedule a fast

Series: Focus 2024 – Abide
Title: Quality Time with God
Text: Psalms 119:33-40

What are the right attitudes we should have when we spend alone time with God so that our Quiet Time is also Quality Time?

General Questions:

1. Spending quality time with God helps us grow in intimacy with Him. What does intimacy with God mean? What does it look like? Describe a person who has a close and intimate relationship with God.
2. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the most), how would you rate your desire for intimacy with God? Why?

Perspective Questions:

1. Is intimacy with God free or does it come at a cost? What are the ‘costs’ we may need to pay in order to spend quality time with God? These may be challenges we face, or distractions we need to put aside.
2. How often do we turn to God and His Word as our first solution, rather than as the last resort? Have we lost sight of our ‘smallness’ before God? To what extent do we trust that God’s Word and ways are far better than our own or that of the world’s?

Application Questions:

1. What are some habits that you need to STOP? What are some habits that you need to START?
2. How can you spend quality time with God today?
3. How can we help each other grow in this spiritual discipline?

Series: Focus 2024 – Abide
Title: When Sin Came In
Text: Acts 5:1-8

The church is an imperfect community that is set apart for God. Yet our call to be holy is often threatened by the presence of sin within the community. How should we as a church respond to sin so that collectively, we remain holy before God?

General Questions:

1. Describe fear as an emotion. How can this be reconciled with the idea of the fear of God?

Perspective Questions:

1. Read Acts 1 – 4 (or 2:42-47 and 4:32-37). What are some characteristics of the early church? How is what Ananias and Sapphira did potentially damaging to the spiritual health and credibility of the community?
2. “My sin affects you even if you are not aware of it.” Do you think this is true? Why? How does the personal sin of someone in the community affect the community at large? Give some examples.
3. How can we reconcile removing sin from the community and welcoming sinners into it?  How should our expectations of believers and non-believers differ?

Application Questions:

1. Often, we can only help one another to be holy when we know what one another is struggling with. What hinders you from being open with your struggles to the faith community? How can you help one another to be vulnerable?
2. Sin should be dealt with swiftly before it spreads to affect others in the community. How can we approach the sins of others without compromising on either grace or holiness?

Title: When God comes in
Passage: Exodus 19:10-25

There is a right kind of fear that we should have, which is essential to fulfilling God’s call to holiness. The God who came down to dwell among us is awesomely and perfectly holy. Therefore, approaching God is a very serious matter that must take place on God’s terms.

General Questions:

1. What has been your views on holiness? From the sermon, what does it mean to be holy for God?
2. God is a personal God, but He is also a holy God. How have Jesus bridged these two aspects of God?
3. What is the relationship between abiding in Christ and having the right kind of fear for God?

Perspective Questions:

1. Consider the concept of holiness and reverence shared in this sermon. How do they challenge your perspective on living as a Christ follower in the world today?
2. How would approaching God’s presence with reverence in your daily lives impact your relationship with God?

Application Questions:

1. What are the practical ways in which we can maintain a distinct Christian identity while actively engaging with those around us? How can this impact our witness to non-believers?
2. What are the specific actions or changes you can make this coming week to be careful and serious in areas such as worship, devotions, tithing etc? How can your lifegroup journey with you and keep you accountable in these areas?

It’s easy to look for the next big thing in this fast-paced and fast-changing world. Yet amid the wars, economic uncertainty, and constant pressures of life, we can find our stay. Come and hear what God has in store for our church and personal lives as we move forward in 2024.

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.