Sunday 23rd October, 2008

If you missed the talk from this Sunday, you can listen to it by clicking here. (23 minutes)
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JOY TO THE WORLD!

• Have you always thought of joy and happiness as the same thing? What do you think now? How would you explain the difference? Could you imagine suffering but still feeling joyous, or does it seem ridiculous? What does this tell you about the source of joy?

• What encourages you when you are feeling discouraged, depressed or exhausted? Have people ever told you, “Come on, buck up!” or, “I’m sure it will all be fine, stop worrying!” How does the Bible encourage us? Read Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:16-39 and 2 Corinthians 4:6-18. If you really want to get as much as possible out of the passage try reading it slowly, out-loud or writing it out in your own words as if you were explaining it to a friend who wasn’t a Christian.

• What does the Bible tell us about how and why we should rejoice? Read Philippians 4:4-9, Luke 10:20-21 and Matthew 5:11-12. Are these things that cause you to rejoice? If not, how can you change your perspective so that you do rejoice at these things?

• We have been given the privilege of showing joy to the joyless and inviting them to experience joy for themselves. Do you think your life shows joy to others? Remember, joy and happiness aren’t the same thing. How do you think you could demonstrate joy while you are struggling and feeling unhappy?

• Read Matthew 25:31-46. If joy is found because God is near, then this passage shows us how to be around Jesus. How do you feel about this? How difficult is it to pay a cost that is very obvious, for a benefit that is unseen? (Read the righteous’ response in verses 37-39.) What could you do to help yourself grasp the difference in significance between the seen-but-temporary and the unseen-but-eternal?

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Sunday 9th November, 2008

If you missed the talk from this Sunday, you can listen to it by clicking here. (26 minutes)
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78 STEPS TO INNER PEACE

• Read the parable in Matthew 18:21-35 once again. This is Jesus’ master class on forgiveness! Is there anything new that has started to stand out to you since we’ve been going through this series?

• Put yourself into the story as the servant forgiven by the King. What point in the story are you at when you think about your relationships with certain other people?

• Think about your relationships like a web spun out from you. Are there any broken strands? How did they get broken? What responsibility do you have? What have you done about repairing them?

• Do your relationships with other people feel relevant to your relationship with God? Read Matthew 5:23-24. When you come before God to worship, how easy do you find it to think that you are bringing your whole life – not just your ‘religious’ life before him? Read Romans 12:1-2 (the meaning especially jumps out in The Message, so try to read it from there)

• Forgiveness and reconciliation, even for small everyday things, is too difficult for us to do in our own strength. It requires supernatural effort, so we need God’s help. Read Romans 12:9-21 out loud. Try writing it out in your own words, as if you were conveying the ideas to a friend who doesn’t understand all the Christian terms. Look especially at verses 17 to 19. What did Paul bear in mind when he had to forgive people? Do you do the same?

• God wants us to be his children (many Bibles use the word sons of God, but it is for men and women!) Read Luke 6:27-36 and Matthew 5:9. How would you explain the difference between keeping and making peace?

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Sunday 2nd November, 2008

If you missed the talk from this Sunday, you can listen to it by clicking here. (32 minutes)
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HOW DO I FORGIVE AND FORGET?

• Read 1 John 1:9 and Psalm 103:12. If we have acted on the first and understood the second, where is our guilty past?

• Read Acts 8:1-3 and 1 Corinthians 15:9-10. What effects might these events have had on Paul and his ministry?
  

• Read Matthew 26: 31-35 & 69-75. From the evidence of Acts and their letters, what do you think Paul and Peter did with their past? When they remembered their past mistakes what emotions do you think Paul and Peter felt? Do you feel the same way? Why?

• Read 1 Peter 5:8-9 and Ephesians 6:10-18. What are our responsibilities in terms of warding off attacks from the enemy? In what ways does the enemy activate the past?

• How can the examples of Jesus (Luke 23:24) and Stephen (Acts 7:60) help us in forgiving others?

• Romans 12:2 speaks about being ‘transformed by the renewing of your mind.’ Read 2 Corinthians 10:5 and Philippians 4:6-8. In what ways is Paul's advice helpful to us? Think of some examples of things Paul might be thinking about in Philippians 4:8?

• In his presentation of the nature of love in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says, ‘Love… keeps no record of wrongs.’ How easy is it to put this into practice? Is it possible to make this part of our lifestyle?

• What prevents us from living in our new identity?

• How would you go about helping someone who was troubled by painful memories? What would you say to them?

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