Seeking the Family of God
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Am I In Christ?7 Digging Deeper
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Digging Deeper
- There is nothing wrong with asking the questions, “Am I in Christ?” or “Am I really saved?” 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says, “Test everything; hold fast what is good.” Why would you think it is healthy for us to ask these questions?
- Have you ever felt doubtful of your relationship with Christ? Did you feel like your doubt was due to your inability to properly obey God or God’s inability or lack of love towards you?
- What are some of the blessings we can enjoy when we are in Christ? Do you have any personal experiences with these blessings that you can share with your group?
- What must we do to come into a relationship with Christ?
- What does it mean to “Follow Jesus”? How does the idea of commitment relate to this?
- At what point does our relationship with Jesus start and we begin to enjoy the blessings in Christ?
- Is it possible to know for certain if we are in Christ? Why or why not?
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What is the Kingdom of God?3 Digging Deeper
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Digging Deeper
- Just as there are different countries or kingdoms with different cultures and practices, what makes the Kingdom of God different than the rest of the world?
- What is the goal and purpose of the Kingdom of God?
- If those who are in Christ do not belong in this world, where do they belong and where is their home?
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What is the Church?5 Digging Deeper
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Digging Deeper
- What will happen to Christians who try to remain faithful to God by themselves?
- Why do you believe God desires Christians to come together as a family?
- The church is made up of many different races, ethnicities, and social classes. Despite these differences, what unites the church?
- What blessings come from being a part of God’s family? Do you have any personal examples?
- How would you define God’s church?
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Why Are There So Many Different Christian Religions?6 Digging Deeper
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Digging Deeper
- What are some things people look for when searching for a new church home? Are these necessarily bad things? Are they good things?
- After watching this video, what mindset must we have when searching for a church home? What should be the determining factor when selecting a church home?
- Jesus, the apostles, and the early Christians emphasized unity and oneness when discussing the church. Where is this unity based and how is it achieved?
- Do you believe this unity is possible? Why or why not?
- Why is it important for Jesus’ church to remain unified? What happens when the church stops being “one” (see Ephesians 4:4-6)?
- Do you believe it is possible to discover the church Jesus established among all the religious organizations in the world? How would the apostles and early Christians respond to this same question?
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How Can I Know the Will of God?4 Digging Deeper
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Digging Deeper
- In your experience, what are some things that hinder or make it difficult to fully know God’s will?
- In John 1:1, Jesus is referred to as the Word. John 14:5-6 confirms truth is in Christ Jesus. How does this prove we can definitively know truth and God’s will? How do we gain access to it?
- Do you believe absolute truth is attainable? Why or why not?
- What can protect us from being deceived by Satan?
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How Do I Pray?5 Digging Deeper
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Digging Deeper
- Many people view prayer like making a wish. Why is this an unhealthy approach to God in prayer?
- The narrator in the video stated prayer is “about us being conformed to God’s will for us and asking for His help to accomplish this.” How might this effect the way we talk to our all-powerful God and Father who wants an intimate relationship with us?
- What is the difference between demanding things from God verses being dependent upon God when praying for what we need?
- What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name?
- Why is it important to recognize who God is and his will for us as we pray to him?
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What is Worship?6 Digging Deeper
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Digging Deeper
- After watching this video, how would you define worship to God?
- What has God done in your life that moves you to worship him?
- What does worship to God look like in a church that worships like the believers did in New Testament times according to the teachings and pattern established by Jesus and his apostles?
- What does our personal spiritual worship to God look like when one follows the standard set in the New Testament?
- How does worshiping with our church family effect our continual daily spiritual worship to God?
- Why should we worship God? Why should we participate in worship services with our church family? Why should we be in constant spiritual worship to God?
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What is the Significance of the Lord’s Supper?5 Digging Deeper
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Digging Deeper
- What makes the Lord’s Supper more significant than an ordinary meal? Jesus commands us to remember his body as we eat of the bread. Why does Jesus want us to remember his body?
- Jesus commands us to remember his blood as we drink of the grape juice. What is the significance of Jesus’ blood?
- In what way is baptism connected to the Lord’s Supper?
- Why does Paul command us to examine ourselves before we take the Lord’s Supper?
- What should we be reminded of as we partake of the Lord’s Supper? How should this reminder impact the way we conduct ourselves throughout the week?
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How Do I Become Like Christ?6 Digging Deeper
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Digging Deeper
- What led you to become a Christian or to want to learn more about Christ?
- Since the beginning of your journey to becoming like Christ, would you consider it an instant transformation or a gradual one? Why?
- Rather than measuring the power of our conversion story based upon our degree of sinfulness before we became a Christian, we should base it upon the cost Jesus paid to bring us back to God. How should this understanding impact the way we view our conversion story in comparison with others?
- What has God provided that enables us to become like Christ?
- How do we know when we are being led by the Holy Spirit?
- At what point do we begin being led by the Holy Spirit?
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What if there is no New Testament Church Near Me?5 Digging Deeper
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Digging Deeper
- What do you believe is the most important thing to consider when seeking a church home?
- According to the New Testament, how did first century Christians respond to the Great Commission? What challenges did they face and how did they overcome them? Was this something only church leaders had to follow?
- "A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation": How will you specifically respond to these truths from God?
- What does it mean for the church to be its own unique culture or society?
- How is it that the Lord’s church can exist under any government or within any culture?
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Group Progress
Group Progress
In your experience, what are some things that hinder or make it difficult to fully know God’s will?
What if we do not know where to find God’s will: is it in the Bible, the church, the books and writings of scholars, the religion of our parents and other respected persons or our own reason? Many voices are speaking to us. Do we know which one we should follow? Each voice claims to be “the truth.”
If our faith is in religion or the church, whose church is right? There are thousands of denominations teaching conflicting views. What one, if any, is right?
If our faith is in the Bible, which interpretation is right? There may be but “one faith,” but there are many different views and interpretations of the Bible. How can I know the truth or which one to believe?
It’s also difficult to know the truth because we are prone to follow what we like and to reject what we dislike. Thus, we become our own authority and we do what is right in our own eyes. We make God in our own image and create our own beliefs.
Another reason it is difficult to know the truth is because we do not like change. We tend to follow the comfortable views of our upbringing and the way things have always been for us.
One problem some have is that they are searching for God’s will on matters where he has not revealed himself or for specific details where he has only given general principles. For example, God has given us principles about his will for marriage, how husbands and wives should treat each other and how we should do honest work and provide for our family. However, God has not told us specifically whom we should marry, where we should get married, what kind of wedding we should have, where we should go on a honeymoon, where we should live, what work or career we should enter and how many children we should have. God’s will is that we serve him and obey him in our lives but he has not given us specific instructions on all the details of our lives. He leads us through his revealed word but there are many matters he has not revealed. In these, we must consider the options and prayerfully make the best decisions as we understand them.
Where God has revealed himself, we can be certain of his will. We are to obey his will as it applies to us. Where he has not revealed himself, we should not speculate or speak with certainty. Where God has spoken, we should speak; where he has not spoken, we should be silent. It would be well for us to remember what Moses said to the people of Israel: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).