Week 5: Chapter 4

Week 5: Chapter 4

Ice Breaker:

Challenge Review: (groups of 2-3)

Share your some of the things you've written down this week about what you have thanked God for and grown in your understanding of His character that you can praise Him for.

Prime the Pump:

Chapter 4 video

Discussion/Prayer

1.  Which of the following statements hurts the most?

• "Lukewarm People attend church fairly regularly.  It is what is expected of them, what they believe 'good Christians' do, so they go.
• "Lukewarm people give money to charity and to the church...as long as it doesn't impinge on their standard of living.  If they have a little extra and it is easy and safe to give, they do so."
• "Lukewarm people tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict.  They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions(like church attendance and giving) than what God thinks of their hearts and lives."
• "Lukewarm people don't really want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin.  They don't genuinely hate sin and aren't truly sorry for it; they're merely sorry because God is going to punish them.  Lukewarm people don't really believe that this new life Jesus offers is better than the old sinful one."
• "Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act. They assume such action is for extreme Christians, not average ones.  Lukewarm people call 'radical' what Jesus expected of all His followers."
• "Lukewarm people rarely share their faith with their neighbors, coworkers, or friends.  They do not want to be rejected, nor do they want to make people feel uncomfortable by talking about private issues like religion."
• "Lukewarm people gauge their morality or 'goodness' by comparing themselves to the secular world.  They feel satisfied that while they aren't as hardcore for Jesus as so and so, they are nowhere as horrible as the guy down the street. "
• "Lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed a part of their lives.  But only a part. They give Him a section of their time, their money and their thoughts, but He isn't allowed to control their lives. "
• "Lukewarm people love others but do not seek to love others as much as they 😍 themselves.  Their love of others is typically focused on those who love them in return...Their love is highly conditional and very selective, and generally comes with strings attached."
• "Lukewarm people will serve God and others, but there are limits to how far they will go or how much time, money and energy they are willing to give."
• "Lukewarm people think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven.  Daily life is mostly focused on today's to-do list, this week's schedule, and next month's vacation.  Rarely if ever do they intently consider the life to come. "
• "Lukewarm people are thankful for their luxuries and comforts, and rarely consider trying to give as much possible to the poor. "
• "Lukewarm people do whatever is necessary to keep themselves from feeling too guilty.  They want to do the bare minimum, to be good enough without it requiring too much of them."
• "Lukewarm people are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control.  This focus on safe living keeps them from sacrificing and risking for God."
• "Lukewarm people feel secure because they attend church, made a profession of faith at age twelve, were baptized, come from a Christian family, vote Republican, or live in America."
• "Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to.  They don't have to trust God if something unexpected happens they have their savings account...They don't genuinely seek out what life God would have them live they have life figured and mapped out. The truth is their lives wouldn't look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God."
• "Lukewarm people probably drink and swear less than average, but besides that, they really aren't very different from your typical unbeliever.  They equate their partially sanitized lives with holiness, but they couldn't be more wrong."

Read Luke 14:25-35

2.  How does Jesus teaching about what it takes to follow Him re-frame your initial decision to follow Jesus?

3.  How much thought did you put into following Jesus?  Why don't people put much thought into the cost of following Jesus if this decisions is truly supposed to change our lives?

4.  If you were to stop following Jesus tomorrow, how much and what would actually change in your life?

5.  How does Jesus statement in Luke 14:34-35 sit with you when you examine your faith and obedience to who you claim to have faith in?

Challenge:

Commit to praying that God would help you identify 2 professing Christian people in your life you can influence.  Share this list with those  two people this week and ask them to begin praying about joining you in meeting regularly to discuss spiritual things.