January 21 – 27

Weekly Reading for January 21 – 27

Preparing for Next Week’s Message

Sermon Series: Who Am I? Embracing Who You Were Created to Be!
Sermon Title: Calling from Above, Not My Worldly Status!

This reading plan will get your heart and mind set for the next message on January 28, 2024:


Reflecting on the Most Recent Sermon

Sermon Series: Who Am I? Embracing Who You Were Created to Be!
Sermon Title: Future Glory, Not My Past Mistakes!
Delivered On: January 21, 2024

VIEW SERMON NOTES

Memorize and Reflect

1 Timothy 1:15 (Written by Paul, years after His conversion)
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.


Prayer Direction

Thank God for sending Jesus to cleanse you of past sins and lead you into a new future! Confess sins that you need to surrender to His grace and Lordship. Ask for the eyes of Jesus to help you see the amazing potential God has placed in you and in the people around you.


“Live It!” Challenge

Let It Go - Take time to humbly pray in the coming week. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you identify past sins that you still seem to let fill you with guilt and shame. Pray for a deeper and fuller awareness of the truth that Jesus has done away with these sins and that you can walk confidently because He has fully paid the price.

If you want to go one step deeper, identify where you are still holding hurt and judgment toward other believers who have wronged you in the past. How can you extend grace and forgiveness to them, like Jesus has done for you?


Small Group Discussion

  1. What are ways that our culture holds people’s past wrongs against them? What are some of the ways that Christians fall into these same patterns of unforgiveness?

  2. Read: Acts 7:54-8:3. What was Saul like before he became a follower of Jesus and before he became Paul, the apostle?

  3. If you had met Saul back then, what hope would you have had to see him become a Christian and a leader in the early church? How might people have viewed you before you became a Christian?

  4. Read: John 4:1-30 This is a longer passage but it is a powerful story. Read it slowly and catch the drama that unfolds. What was this woman like before she met Jesus and how do you think the “religious” people in her community viewed her? What do you learn about the heart of God as you read this passage?

  5. As this woman went into her own hometown and told everyone that Jesus knew “Everything she ever did,” what do you think went through their minds? Why do you think Jesus called this woman to be his first evangelist in Samaria?

  6. What are ways that our culture tires to cancel people and shut them up? How does Jesus cancel our past sins and wrongs and call us to speak up?

  7. What are ways that the world makes people feel they are unforgivable? What has Jesus done to show us that we can be fully forgiven of all our sins?

  8. How is the world based on a Quid Pro Quo mindset of us always having to pay for the wrong we have done? How does Jesus love us, call us, and work through us even though we have done nothing to deserve this grace?

  9. What is one surprising way God is using you to serve Him and bring Him glory? Or, what is one way you believe Jesus wants to work through you, and how can your group members pray for you and cheer you on as you seek to serve Jesus in some new way?