Luke 3:15-22 What Are You Waiting For? 28/02/2010

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How easy do you find it to wait for something?

When it comes to longstanding prayers, how easy is it to still feel hopeful that they will be answered?

What does the Bible teach us about perseverance? What are the results of perseverance for our character?

Think of example(s) of where you’ve prayed and eventually seen an answer? Can you see a purpose in the process of waiting?

Who in the bible shows us good examples of perseverance?

Thinking of unanswered prayers you have.
a) Check – are you praying in line with God’s will?
b) If so, pray and ask God to reveal a new angle to pray, perhaps something specific?
c) Now listen. What is God saying? Pray along these lines, repeat the exercise again another time. It may be that by changing your line of prayer you will see a breakthrough.

Do you know anyone who is waiting for an answer to prayer for something? What can you do to help?

Ask God to bring people into your life that is in a similar situation to one that you have had. You will understand their feelings, so offer to pray with them and keep encouraging them to hang in there.

If you want to hear a good bible study on the complete passage of today’s talk go to www.tinyurl.com/yljvrrf
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Luke 3:1-14 The Opportunity of Repentance 14/02/2010

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Alternatively you can listen to the "The Opportunity of Repentance" message on your computer by clicking here (or right-click to download) (by Pete Grigorey, 34 mins).

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What does repentance mean for you? Or how is repentance more than just asking for forgiveness?

“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” – what fruit are you producing? Could someone else see this?

What branches are you hanging on to and why? What scares you about letting go? What might you be missing out on?

In what ways could God encourage you to let go?

Read James 2: 15-17 and 1 John 3:17. What do these verses say about our responsibilities to those less well off than our selves?

How do we balance being a good steward of the resources God has given us and not trusting God to provide?

Challenge: Take a risk this week, loosen your grasp a little bit and see what happens.

Luke 2:41-52 Where Is Jesus 07/02/2010

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Alternatively you can listen to the "Where Is Jesus" message on your computer by clicking here (or right-click to download) (by Chris Fox, 35 mins).

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The Past
Think back to a time/circumstances/situation when you felt you had lost Jesus. How did you find him again?

The Present
Think about present circumstances/situations in your life where you feel you may have lost Jesus, or you are uncertain of the way through or the way forward. What steps do you think you could you take to re-establish contact, get his perspective, his guidance and assistance?

The Future
Draw up your own strategy, say 3-4 points, to help you maintain closeness, intimacy with Jesus for the future and times when we need to know where he is, what he is saying.

Look down the list of 10 headings and verses and think about how some of them could be applied to your life and situation:
Peace - John 14.27
Penitence - Isaiah 30.15 -first part!
Perfection - Psalm 18.30
Perspective/problem-solving - John 8.12
Power -Isaiah 40.29-31
Praise - Psalm 42.5;
Prayer - Philippians 4.6
Presence - Matthew 28.20
Promises - Matthew 11.28-30
Provision - Philippians 4.19

If you have never found Jesus, what steps could you take to draw close to him and find the new life he promises?

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Luke 2:21-40 – Expectation 24/01/2010

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The Expectation of a Christian Life
Think back to before you decided to follow Jesus. What was your expectation of what life would be like once you became a Christian? How was it different?

When you talk to people who aren’t Christians, what expectation do you give them of what being a Christian is like? Is it accurate and balanced?

Waiting on God
Are you a patient person? How do you find waiting for something? Is there something that you are waiting for God to do? What is your attitude? Do you feel peaceful and confident or panicked and anxious?

How can we tell when we are meant to wait patiently and when we are to let something go and move on?

Waiting and Suffering
Read Romans 8:18-39. How does this passage help encourage us if we are struggling? (If you really want to get a good understanding of a passage like this from a New Testament letter, try writing it out again in your own words, avoiding any religious language – as if you were writing so it made sense to someone who had never been to church before.)

Overflowing with Hope
Do you feel like you’re overflowing with hope at the moment? If not, ask God to change this. Look for opportunities to let your hope have a positive impact on someone who doesn’t know the hope we have in Jesus.

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Luke 2:8-20 Our Church and the Good News 17/01/2010

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Alternatively you can listen to the "Our Church and the Good News" message on your computer by clicking here (or right-click to download) (by Dave Vinall, 27 mins).

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Church Isn’t For Us
Are there ways that a consumerist attitude has crept into your view of church? How do you react when there is music/a talk/activities that you don’t like? Why is this?

How can we find the balance between what is a reasonable level of sacrifice and what is ridiculous?

The Good News
What do you understand the phrase “Good News” to mean? If you had to explain to someone why Jesus is “Good News” how would you do it?

How has God been good news to you recently? Can you think of something in the last week, month or year? If you can’t, why not? How could you rediscover that God is good news? What could you be doing to see how good God is to you?

Pray and keep your eyes open for opportunities to be some form of good news to someone else this week.

Invest and Invite
Who’s on your radar as someone who hasn’t discovered that God is passionately in love with them? What are you doing to help them towards that discovery? How do you spend time with them? How do you incarnate (put flesh and blood on) the good news for them? How could you do these things better?

What could you invite them to? If there’s nothing, what could you start (big or small) that would be enjoyable and allow you to invite them so you can spend time with them?

Going Cross-Cultural
How could you help the good news go to those people who you don’t immediately have a connection with?

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Luke 1:26-38 – Sacrifice Unlocks Blessing 29/11/2009

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Luke 1:26-38
Sacrifice Unlocks Blessing

“The cause is worth the cost”
Read Philippians 2:1-18 and think about how, and why, God made so many sacrifices. What was his reason? What did he achieve? Was it worth it?

To really get the most out of the passage, try re-writing it in your own words – as if you were writing it for someone who didn’t understand any religious language. What do you see now that you didn’t see before?

“I am the Lord’s servant”
When have you made sacrifices because you knew God was asking you to? What happened? Was it worth it?

Where do you think your limits are? Are there parts of your life that are out-of-bounds to God? Why is this? Do you trust God to be good in every area of your life? What are you scared that God might ask? Do you think he ever would? Can you take that risk?

Some biographies worth checking out…
Chasing the Dragon by Jackie Pullinger
God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew
Through Gates of Splendour by Elisabeth Elliot
The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun

We have copies of all of these books available for you to borrow at The Hub. Can’t get to The Hub? Talk to Pat Marson and she can arrange for them to be brought to the Sunday service.

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Luke 1:5-25 – A Royal Priesthood 22/11/2009

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The Gospel of Luke – Luke 1:5-25
A Royal Priesthood

Read 1 Peter 2.5. Are we conscious of being ‘like living stones… being built into a spiritual house’?

Read 1 Peter 2.9. ‘A royal priesthood’ – how should this make us feel??

Read the rest of the verse. What is being entrusted to us? What does God want us to be and do? How does this work out in practice?

Is our experience of God one of coming into ‘his wonderful light’?


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Luke 1:1-4 – Two Men Who Changed The World 15/11/2009

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Alternatively you can listen to the "Two Men Who Changed The World" message on your computer by clicking here (or right-click to download) (by Dave Vinall, 41 mins).

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The Gospel of Luke – Luke 1:1-4
Two Men Who Changed The World

“I myself have carefully investigated everything.”
How important was (or is) it for you to verify the facts when you started looking into who Jesus was and what he did?

How easy is it in the church to ask questions? What things do we need to accept on faith (if anything) and what should we look into – asking questions and undertaking research?

Are there questions you have? Why haven’t you answered them? What could you do to try and find an answer? Would having an answer make a difference to your faith?

Being Generous
How easy do you find being generous? Are you generous? What areas of your life do you find generosity comes naturally? Where is it hard? Think about more than money or material possessions… what about friendship, time, energy, understanding, thinking-the-best and so on

Further Reading and Reflection
Read 1 Timothy 6:17-19. Do you think of yourself as rich? Who do you usually measure your wealth against – people who have more or less than you?

Read 2 Corinthians 9:6-12. For what reason does God make us rich? How can we be cheerfully generous? What would this look like for you? Think about how verse 12 links giving with worship.

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