Gifted to Serve

Why Should I Serve?

1. Because God HAS DONE SO MUCH FOR ME . (Rom 12:1)



2. Because God WANTS ME TO GROW . (Rom 12:2)



3. Because God HAS GIFTED ME . (Rom 12:3-8)


God has gifted me with the ability/abilities to:

Guest Speaker - Laylor Brown

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
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Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Romans 12:1-8

1. Do you see examples of conforming to the world in your own life? How can you fight against these things and work to renew your mind?
    
2. Which do you struggle with more: thinking too highly of yourself or thinking far too lowly of yourself? Why are both of these harmful and destructive?
    
3. What spiritual gifts has God given to you? How can you use those gifts to serve at Harvest and help others around you?

Breakout Questions:

Pray for one another and the development of each person's spiritual gifts.

Deadly Disobedience

Five Lessons of Deadly Disobedience:

1. Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-2) -



2. Achan (Joshua 7:19-26) -



3. Uzzah (2 Samuel 6:6) -



4. Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) -



5. Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22) -

Without Severe Consequences...

1. DISOBEDIENCE would appear profitable.



2. The Holy Spirit would appear to have been DECEIVED .



3. God would appear to tolerate hypocrisy and DEFEAT / DECEPTION .

Jay Knauer - HBCPN Elder

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
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Small Group Questions (Whole Group):

1. As we see in the Biblical examples of Nadab and Abihu, Achan, Uzzah, Ananias and Sapphira, disobedience brought tragic, physical death. Does God's Word say there is something worse? If so, what?
    
2. Warfare is constant on a spiritual level, even to Christians. We try to be obedient to God, but fail quite often and sin. What truths do you find in the Bible give us hope when we sin?

Breakout Questions:

Give one example of an act of disobedience that caused wounds in your life. Have those wounds healed, even partially? If yes, share some details around how they were healed. If no, God has the power to heal. Go to Him right now and lift up any hurting brother or sister in prayer.

Controlling the Fire: Honoring God with our Speech

Some Types of Sinful Speech:

BOASTING

COMPLAINING

SLANDER (GOSSIP/BACKBITING)

PROFANITY

CARELESS WORDS / EMPTY CHATTER

LYING


Truths from the text to help control the fire:

1. We are ACCOUNTABLE for how we use our TONGUE. (Titus 3:1-2)


2. Control the TONGUE, control the BODY. (Titus 3:2-5)


3. Recognize that the TONGUE DEFILES us. (Titus 3:6)


4. Our TONGUE can be used for GOOD and EVIL . (Titus 3:9-10)


5. We are POWERLESS to tame the TONGUE without Christ. (Titus 3:7-8)

Mark Ort - HBCPN Elder

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
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Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read 1 Timothy 3:11 and Titus 3:2

1. What does it mean to malign someone? Gossip and slander is vicious and damaging. How do you prevent this kind of evil communication from damaging your life and the lives of others?
    
2. What is profanity? Does the culture dictate what words we consider profane? What words or phrases should we stop using, and why?
    
3. If there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1), will Christians really be held accountable for every careless or idle word (Matthew 12:36). How do you reconcile these two passages?
    
4. Reviewing 2 Peter 1:3-11, discuss "God's part" and "our part" in controlling the tongue.

  
Breakout Questions:

Have you been encouraging/exhorting other in their walk with Christ this week? In what circumstances? Pray for one another.

Everyday Evangelism

To be involved in the Kingdom of God, we must do Kingdom work.
To be effective in the Kingdom, we need the proper view of these two things:

1. COMPASSION - God is all about the heart (Matthew 9:36)


2. The COMMISSION - God brings purpose in life (Matthew 28:18-20)

- How do we see this lived out in the New Testament Church?
- What can we expect?

Three things that will show up while being at work in the Kingdom:

1. TENSION


2. TURNING


3. TRANSFORMATION

Acts 16
Lydia and the Bible Study
Tension (Acts 16:6)
Turning (Acts 16:14)
Transformation (Acts 16:15)

The Possessed Girl
Tension (Acts 16:16-18a)
Turning (Acts 16:18b)
Transformation (Acts 16:18c-19)

The Jailer
Tension (Acts 16:20-24)
Turning (Acts 16:25-26)
Transformation (Acts 16:26-34)

The Gospel reaches us no matter where we are...

Take home: We will have tension, when we trust God He will bring a turning and then a transformation.

Tom Lemmon - WORD FM Program Director

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
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Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Acts 16


Breakout Questions:

Pray for one another.

Let The Children Come: A Lesson On Child-like Faith

Jesus and the Children (Mk 10:13-14)


The Joshua Parallel (Mk 10:15)


Child-Like Faith Is:
Not trying to OVER-INTELLECTUALIZE the things of God.

HUMBLING yourself.

Taking God at His WORD.


Jesus Blesses the Children (Mk 10:16)

Guest Speaker - Levi Keller

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
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Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Mark 10:13-16

1. What is it about children and their faith that make them a prime example for Jesus to use when talking about the type of faith we must have to enter the Kingdom of God?
    
2. Why don't adults have the same type of faith that as children do?
    
3. What is an area or situation in your life in which you have not had a child-like faith?What attribute(s) of child-like faith can you grow in to improve in this area?

Breakout Questions:
Pray for childlike faith in your group!