Small group discussion questions for the week of November 15, 2009, based on the sermon “The Great Commission” from the What, Why, & How series.

Theme: The church exists to proclaim the Gospel in order to bring God glory.  Therefore, our mission is the great commission.

Introduction:

• List some things the church is to do.
• Discuss whether any of these things should be top priority. If so, what?
• Read John 20:19-21, Matt 28:16-21, Luke 24:44-49 and Acts 1:8, in that order. Try to imagine you are hearing/reading these words for the first time.

Questions:

1. What do each of the above passages reveal about the great commission? (note how each passage builds on the one previous).

2. What do you think of this quote?

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church.  Worship is.  Missions exists because worship doesn’t.  Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.  When this age is over, & the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more.  It is a temporary necessity.”

~John Piper in “Let the Nations be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions”

3. The entirety of history is flowing toward Revelation 7:9 – are you/we participating in this stream or standing on the sidelines?

4. We are called to be faithful to the Gospel Message while adapting to be faithful Gospel messengers in our context (1 Cor 9:19-23) – what specifically might that mean here in Hillsboro?

5. How does the Gospel itself empower us to proclaim the Gospel?

6. Imagine you have been called to a foreign country to share the Gospel and ask yourself these questions:

• How would you approach secular employment?
• What standard of living would you expect as pioneer missionaries?
• What would you spend your time doing?
• What opportunities would you be looking for?
• What would your prayers be like?
• What would you be trying to do with your friends?
• What kind of team would you want around you?

7. Recall the two kinds of military chaplains Mike mentioned in his message – which chaplain do you think had the most effective ministry among the Marines and why?  Which chaplain best describes us?

Questions & sermon prepared by Mike Hanafee.

I was asked after today’s message from Psalm 91 if I could make the application points available for further meditation and study.  I did rush through them pretty quickly, which I regret, so I’ve posted the four high-level points below.  I encourage you to ask God to grow your confidence in Him by applying these Gospel truths to your fears:

• Christ faced His most fearful day with unfailing confidence so we would prevail over our struggles, doubts and fears

• Christ was abandoned in His darkest hour so we would never be abandoned

• Christ received the undiluted, red-hot wrath of God so we would never receive God’s punishment

• Christ conquered Satan and death when He rose on day 3 so we would never be under the power of sin or the grave

May these points continue to encourage your hearts and renew your God-confidence, as they are doing for me!
Josh

P.S.  Also, if you’re interested in more reading on Christ in the Psalms, I highly recommend the small paperback The Messiah and the Psalms: Preaching Christ from All the Psalms by Richard Belcher.

June 7, 2009: “The Good-bye Speech of a Gospel-Centered Man” from Acts 20:17-38

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Paul gathered the Ephesian elders together to say good-bye in an emotional speech that fully displayed his heart for the gospel. If you were to give a good-bye speech, would you be able to give a gospel-centered message that faithfully represented your life?

Without being moralistic, the Bible sets forth examples to be either avoided or emulated. Paul recounted to the elders that his example of service to the Lord was with humility, with passion, with perseverance, teaching the whole counsel of God and seeking all people, with a willingness to pay the ultimate price.

The greatest risk-takers for the gospel will experience the greatest joy in the gospel. Don’t go to glory filled with regret—live a life of radical service for the Lord. Most of us won’t give a good-bye speech at the end of our lives, but what may not be spoken verbally will be communicated clearly by how we have lived.

Will you leave a gospel legacy—or something less?