40 Days 2023 - Discussion Questions - Week 6
Be sure to join us this week for Consume! Consume is our Good Friday Worship Service.
April 7 at 6:30 pm at the Orange City location.
Consume is a family-friendly service, so no Journey Kids.
When Jesus calls us to follow Him, He knows that if we are going to follow, we must focus on where He is leading us. He invites us not to just look at what is happening in the moment but to look ahead to where He is ultimately leading us. This week we will discuss how we will reign with Jesus Christ because we have been called out for eternal hope.
This week’s memory verse: “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13–14 NIV
1. Last week’s memory verse was Mark 8:35-37; who can recite it?
2. What stood out to you in Pastor James’ message this week?
3. As you read through the 40 Days devotional this week, what encouraged or challenged you?
4. Read Mark 8:37. "Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?" What would you say if Jesus asked you the following question: “If you had the opportunity to have everything there is to have right now in this world, but it would cost you your life in the next life would it be worth it?
5. Read Mark 8:38. “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Jesus uses the word ashamed because He knows that fear is what keeps us from living boldly in following Jesus Christ. At some point, following Jesus will cost you. What gives you the courage and resolve to trust Jesus in difficult times?
6. Read Philippians 2:10–11. One day “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." In your own words, what is Paul saying here? Why is this so important for Christ followers?
7. Read Philippians 3:13-14. How does focusing on what is eternal help you to live for what is essential today? How have you experienced this in your own life?
Flip your focus on what is eternal so you can live for what is essential.
8. Focusing on the eternal Establishes Courage. Read Romans 8:31-32. "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" Paul asks two questions in these verses. The first question is rhetorical, so we would all answer, “no one.” Regarding the second question, why do we often struggle with the idea that God WILL graciously give us all things?
9. If something is more powerful than you, you will fear it. There is nothing more powerful than Jesus. How can we have a relationship with Jesus and not fear him?
10. Focusing on the eternal Empowers Endurance. Read James 4:14. "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." Why do you think the Holy Spirit prompted James to point this out? How does that change your perspective of life?
11. Focusing on the eternal Encourages Faith. Read 1 Corinthians 9:24-25. “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.” What is our eternal prize? Discipleship is really just helping other people train to get the eternal prize. What’s holding you back from helping others train?
12. Read Ephesians 6:8. “You know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do” While your faith in Jesus determines your eternal destination, your actions determine your eternal rewards. What can you imagine to be your greatest reward?
13. Read 2 Corinthians 5:10. “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” How do you feel about the idea of appearing before the judgment seat? What would you need to change in your life so that you would look forward to it?
14. Read Romans 2:6 “God will repay each person according to what they have done.” When the focus of eternity becomes our hope, it becomes one of the greatest motivating factors in our lives. How does this help us to take radical risks for the sake of the kingdom?
15. Who are you personally inviting to Easter Services? Take time as a group to pray that God will move and fill every seat in every location.
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot.