September 4, 2022 – Pastor Mark Albrecht
Hebrews 10:19-25
Message Big Idea – The church is a God-designed community that promotes relational connectivity and spiritual engagement. It is the context that promotes a faith that is vibrant and enduring. The church is a community that teaches you how to love, brings out your very best, gives you the courage to endure, and reminds you that you are really needed.
Lean In:
- Take some time and share with each other: What are you grateful for today? What are you struggling with today?
- How would you say you are a part of a church without using the words “I am a part of a church?”
Look Down:
- Read Hebrews 10:19-25 (Read twice – ESV and either NLT or Message)
- Go around the group and briefly retell the passage in your own words.
- What word or phrase “jumped off the page” and intrigued you the most? Why?
Look Out:
- Life with Jesus is superior to a life without Jesus. This must be believed in order to draw near to God. What stumbling blocks does the world place in the path of those who might believe? Which of these is most convincing? What doubts exist in your heart?
- Disappointment erodes admiration. In a world full of frustration God calls us to hold fast to what is true. In other words, admire the truth. Jesus is to be admired above all. Jesus is true. What is in the church that emphasizes this to the world?
Look In:
- Once you lose hold of the truth it is in some ways hard to regain a grip of it in your life. What habits or practices do you have in your life that reinforce your grip on what is true? What is your devotional routine to stay connected with Jesus? Was there ever a time when your routine was compromised, and you lost your way for a season? Was despair or discouragement more present in this season?
- Growing in Jesus doesn’t happen in isolation. A church home or family is required for growth. What are some of the temptations or internal arguments that naturally exist against this truth within you? Being in a church community however pushes us, stirs us, or spurs us in a good way. What are some of the ways this is true for you?
- Love is the defining mark of the disciple of Jesus. You can’t learn how to love alone. The church places us in situations where we learn how to love. In church, we are in a community of people with different backgrounds, different preferences, and different needs than we have. What types of situations can you recall experiencing in church that taught you how to love?
Live It Out:
- Find someone to help you move forward in your spiritual engagement. Left to our own we move towards apathy and complacency. Invite someone to partner with you, to coach you, into a season of growth this fall.
- Find a place to serve so that you are a part of a group that teaches you how to love others. Start here https://northbridgechurch.org/serve/#serve
- Reach out to someone you notice hasn’t been at church in person regularly lately. Invite them back, to sit with you and your family. Express your need for their participation in your life.
- Take the spiritual assessment found here to find your next steps at Northbridge.