TRAIL GUIDE: Loving Your Family
The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend. We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.
EXTREME MAKEOVER, Unit 2, Section 1, Lesson 3: Loving Your Family as Christ Loves the Church
As we started this section on loving our neighbor in the family, or “Family Ties”, we focused on how, in His wisdom, God created for us a physical picture of the spiritual family He had in mind for all who would call on the name of Christ. We’ve also looked at how that earthly family, whether biological or adopted, is a training and proving ground – bettering God’s children for life with our spiritual brothers and sisters.
This week, we’ll discuss caring for our earthly family, placing priority on them, and setting them before ourselves. This is yet another mirror image of what we’ll discuss in our next section, loving your neighbor in the church… God’s family. I pray that as you prepare this week you will take time to consider the relationships you maintain with your siblings and other relatives. How is Christ reflected in those relationships? For me, these questions have been convicting, comforting, and inspiring at the same time. Hopefully you will be challenged by God’s word as well.
What do you value? Read this “Dear Abby” letter and then replace “Mom & Dad” with other family relations.
Dear Abby: I am the most heartbroken person in the world. I could always find the time to go everywhere else, but never the time to go visit Mom and Dad. They sat at home alone and loved me just the same. It’s too late now to give them those few hours of happiness. I was too selfish and too busy to give. Now when I go to their graves and see the green grass above them, I wonder if God will ever forgive me for the heartaches I must have caused them when they were still alive. I pray to God that those who still have their parents to visit, do so, and show their love and respect while there is still time, for it’s later than you think. — TOO LATE.
“Everyone should provide for his own relatives. Most of all, everyone should take care of his own family. If he doesn’t, he has left the faith. He is worse than someone who doesn’t believe.” – 1 Timothy 5:8
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Matthew 15:4-6
Matthew 25:39-40
Sunday Rewind | 2.8.2015
MUSIC & SCRIPTURE
Christ Is Enough (2 Corinthians 12:9) – Glorious Ruins by Hillsong
Open Up The Heavens (Psalm 108:4-5) – Worth It All by Meredith Andrews
Closer (Psalm 89:14-15) – Glorious Ruins by Hillsong
Always (Psalm 121:1-2) – Here For You by Kristian Stanfill (Passion)
The Lord Our God (James 1:17) – Let The Future Begin by Kristian Stanfill (Passion)
TEACHING: Depression and the Gospel
Until we see ourselves as emotionally & cognitively broken, we cannot empathize with the brokenness and suffering of others.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SERMON AUDIO
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SHEPHERD GROUPS
- What was one thing you found particularly interesting, insightful, helpful or difficult to understand from this sermon? What have you taken away from this series as a whole?
- What do you think of when you hear the word depression? Have you ever struggled with it or known someone who has? To what degree?
- What scriptures can you think of where Jesus spent time with suffering people?
- Do you tend to engage with or avoid suffering people? Why? How can you grow in this area?
- Why is prolonged isolation destructive to the Christian? Have you ever experienced this?
- “Everyone needs a friend with whom there are no secrets and with whom there is no condemnation.” Do you have such a friendship?
- “If all we turn to God for is relief from suffering, He may or may not grant that relief, for He offers far more.” How do you respond to that statement?
- “And so there is a peculiar, rich, and poignant joy that seems to come to us only through and in suffering.” (Tim Keller, Walking with God Through Pain & Suffering). How do you respond to that statement? How have you found it to be true or not in your own life?
- Spend some time praying over the members of our church body, and the members of your shepherd group, who are suffering. Ask God for strength and courage to minister to those specific people you know are suffering.
RESOURCES
For counseling info and assessment at RBC, contact our Counseling Pastor, Paul Goodnight.
For information on the Lay Counseling Institute, visit www.lciministry.org.
Take 5: When People Leave, Part 4
You can always learn from people who have valid reasons for leaving your church. Take the opportunity to consider blind spots and strengthen weaknesses in your ministry.
Take 5 is a series of videos for pastors & teachers of God’s Word. Mike Minter, teaching pastor and founder of Reston Bible Church, shares practical wisdom from over 40 years of ministry experience.
For more Take 5 videos, visit vimeo.com/channels/minter or subscribe via RSS here: blog.restonbible.org/category/resources/take-5/feed/
To suggest a topic for Pastor Mike to cover, send an email to questions@restonbible.org.
Take 5: When People Leave, Part 3
If you get the opportunity, help people think through why they’re leaving. It can help you learn from your mistakes or help them discern if their reason is valid.
Take 5 is a series of videos for pastors & teachers of God’s Word. Mike Minter, teaching pastor and founder of Reston Bible Church, shares practical wisdom from over 40 years of ministry experience.
For more Take 5 videos, visit vimeo.com/channels/minter or subscribe via RSS here: blog.restonbible.org/category/resources/take-5/feed/
To suggest a topic for Pastor Mike to cover, send an email to questions@restonbible.org.
TRAIL GUIDE: Honor Your Parents
The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend. We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.
EXTREME MAKEOVER, Unit 2, Section 1, Lesson 2: Honor Your Parents (The Bridge)
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12.
‘Honor’ is a word that has fallen out of favor in our modern western culture. This is particularly the case when it comes to the giving of honor to parents by children, whether grown or still at home. The fifth command is the first of six commands that God gives concerning our behavior towards our fellow man. It is the “bridge” between the commands about loving God and those about loving our neighbor. So it is fitting that in our study we will begin here. This week, we will look at what it means to “honor” our parents. We’ll consider how this is a picture for how children relate to their Heavenly Father. As you prepare this week take some time to consider how you “honor” your own parents, even if they may not be very “honorable.”
As you prepare your heart and mind for this week’s lesson, take a fresh look at some of these verses and make a mental note of the ways in which we can honor our parents, our elders, and everyone else. God puts much value – or weight, as the root of the Hebrew word for “honor” indicates – on age and the elderly. Scripture is clear that special deference and care must be given to our parents and elders, especially those within our own family. Consider the ancient Chinese culture, which places great value on honoring parents, and their longevity as a civilization when you read anew this “command with a promise.”
“Everyone should provide for his own relatives. Most of all, everyone should take care of his own family. If he doesn’t, he has left the faith. He is worse than someone who doesn’t believe.” – 1 Timothy 5:8
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Lev 19:3 | Eph 6:1-4 | Prov 1:8
Prov 23:22 | Matt 15:4-6
1 Tim 5:8 | Lev 19:32 | Deut 5:16
Sunday Rewind | 2.1.2015
MUSIC & SCRIPTURE
Alive In Us (Ephesians 2:4-5) – God Is Able by Hillsong
Only King Forever (1 Timothy 1:17) – Only King Forever by Elevation Worship
10,000 Reasons (Psalm 103:1) – Unrelenting Love by Nick Thurmond
Endless Light (Psalm 113:3-4) – Cornerstone by Hillsong
TEACHING: Sexuality & the Gospel, Part 3
As we engage the culture with the topics of sexuality & the gospel, it is not our place to hate or judge. The broken world is waiting to see salt & light combined with grace & truth.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SERMON AUDIO
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SHEPHERD GROUPS
- What was one thing you found particularly interesting, insightful, helpful or difficult to understand from this sermon? What have you taken away from this series as a whole?
- Why is it often so easy to judge others who are broken differently than we are?
- In regards to cultural engagement, do you tend to jump right in, or shy away? Why?
- Read Matthew 5:13-16. What do these verses tell us about human nature? What does this section tell us about God? What do they indicate about engaging with the culture around us?
- What is the significance of salt & light in these verses?
- How has God called you specifically to be salt and light in your personal spheres of influence?
- Read and discuss Matthew 7:1-5. What does this indicate about passing judgement? What is the context for proper judgement? Is there an area in your life where you need to apply this principal?
- Read and discuss Luke 18:9-14. What is Jesus telling us about sin and righteousness? How should we apply this as we engage with the culture around us?
- As you consider the topic of sexuality and the gospel, where do you need to grow in being salt & light with grace & truth? Is there someone you need to be salt & light to? Spend some time in prayer for this.
Take 5: When People Leave, Part 2
Good people can leave for bad reasons, and you’re going to take it personally when they do. Here are some ideas of how to deal with that.
Take 5 is a series of videos for pastors & teachers of God’s Word. Mike Minter, teaching pastor and founder of Reston Bible Church, shares practical wisdom from over 40 years of ministry experience.
For more Take 5 videos, visit vimeo.com/channels/minter or subscribe via RSS here: blog.restonbible.org/category/resources/take-5/feed/
To suggest a topic for Pastor Mike to cover, send an email to questions@restonbible.org.
Take 5: When People Leave, Part 1
One of the most painful experiences in ministry is when people leave your church. Here are a few reasons why they do.
Take 5 is a series of videos for pastors & teachers of God’s Word. Mike Minter, teaching pastor and founder of Reston Bible Church, shares practical wisdom from over 40 years of ministry experience.
For more Take 5 videos, visit vimeo.com/channels/minter or subscribe via RSS here: blog.restonbible.org/category/resources/take-5/feed/
To suggest a topic for Pastor Mike to cover, send an email to questions@restonbible.org.
Live Album Night | February 8
Together, next Sunday night, we will be recording our second live worship album.
The response to our first project, No Other Name, has been such an amazing blessing. We’ve heard so many great stories of how the music from that album has impacted you and given you a new avenue to worship God, along with familiar voices and arrangements, Mondays through Saturdays. Our desire continues to be putting solid, Biblical, singable, and passionate songs into your hands and hearts to extend our Sunday morning experience beyond the walls of our church. We are setting out once again to make a record because we deeply and truly love Jesus and his church – and his church needs great songs to sing for their great God.
We’ll be playing a selection of songs that really represent the journey, needs, and experiences of our church – songs that have become the anthems that resonate in our hearts for days after singing them together on Sunday mornings.
Our hope is to accurately portray our church on this record. When people visit RBC from other churches, they always tell me that we are “a singing church.” We sing a lot. And we sing loud. And we need your voices to help us paint that picture on this album.
Join us next Sunday, February 8.
Doors will open at 7:00 and we’ll get underway promptly at 7:30. CD pre-orders for the new album will be available for $10, and you’ll be able to pick those up a couple weeks before the digital release this Spring. We’ll also have copies of No Other Name that night on sale for $5.
Thanks, and we hope to see you all there!
– – –
Our last live album, No Other Name is available from the digital music vendors below, as well as on Spotify, eMusic, Rhapsody, Rdio, and iHeartRadio.
TRAIL GUIDE: God’s Family & Mine
The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend. We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.
EXTREME MAKEOVER, Unit 2, Section 1, Lesson 1: God’s Family & Mine
God uses many metaphors (parallels) in the Bible to describe how He relates to us, how He relates to the church, and how we relate to one another. One of these is the metaphor of “God’s family.” In this picture, God is the parent and we the children. Jesus is our brother, and we the church, saved by grace through faith, are the adopted brothers and sisters in this family (Ephesians 1:5, Galatians 3:26, John 1:12-13). How does the Father want us to love our family? To answer this question we must first look to how He has loved us and also how the Son, our adopted brother, has loved us. Jesus said, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” It is at the source of divine love that we must begin and end our quest.
As you prepare your heart and mind for this week’s lesson, take a fresh look at some of these verses and make mental note of the ways in which our family life parallels our life in God’s family. What can we learn about how we relate to God and what insights might we gain about how God views us as His children, through the lens of the human family? We as individuals were created in the image of God. We as families reflect that likeness to an even greater degree.
“Everyone should provide for his own relatives. Most of all, everyone should take care of his own family. If he doesn’t, he has left the faith. He is worse than someone who doesn’t believe.” – 2 Timothy 5:8
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Jn 19:25-27 | Eph.1:5| Mal 4:5-6
Galatians 3:26 | John 1:12-13
1 Tim 5:4-8 | Eph.6:1-4