09-20-2020
09-20-2020
Dr. E. Dale Locke and Pastor Efrain Silva
Sermon Series: Five Things to Grow Your Faith
Week 6: Personal Ministry
English PDF file for printing.
Para imprimir el archivo PDF en Español.
Each week, our Sermon Discussion Questions are here to help the sermon go deeper into your life. You can think these through on your own, or discuss them with your spouse, family, or small group.
Our memory verse for this series is 2 Thessalonians 1:3: We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.
1. Faith isn’t just knowing things. Faith is about trusting God. In this sermon series, we’ve looked at how practical teaching, providential relationships, private disciplines and pivotal circumstances can help our faith grow. Today, in our final sermon of this series, we’re talking about how personal ministry can grow our faith.
Share how your own experience of participating in Christian service (such as a missions trip, serving at our Food Distribution, being part of our Guest Services, Kids of Hope or other Teams, etc.) has helped you grow spiritually.
2. God uses what we offer to him in terms of “our time, our talent, and our treasure” not only to grow his Kingdom, but to also grow His Kingdom in us. Talk about what it means to give each of these three areas of your life over to God’s control, and how that step impacts a person’s life.
3. Read Matthew 14:13-21:
When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
4. Note that this took place right after Jesus had heard that his cousin and ministry colleague, John the Baptist, had been beheaded in a gruesome, cruel death. So Jesus naturally felt a need to be alone and deal with his grief, yet people came to him needing healing and help, so he ministered to them. Knowing this, the disciples urged Jesus to just tell people to fend for themselves for food. If you’ve ever been in a similar situation, where you were worn out and just didn’t feel like helping anyone else, share what that was like.
5. Sometimes it really is necessary to focus for a season on our own healing rather than focusing on serving others. But if that season goes on for too long, it becomes unhealthy. If you’ve experienced this, what helped you begin to be willing to minister to others again?
6. A powerful principle that we see in this passage is: “You bring what you have, God brings what He has.” What do we mean by that?
7. Sometimes we see a need and feel a nudge to show compassion and help. But if we believe it’s all on us, the problem may seem too big, and we may decide to do nothing. We call this “Compassion fatigue.” Since we have so much information about tragedies and needs from all over the world these days, we can easily get compassion fatigue. If you’ve ever felt that, talk about what that’s like.
8. “You do what you can do; God does what only He can do.” What would the disciples have missed out on, if they had let their own limited resources and energy cause them not to do anything at all? How have you experienced this principle in your own life?
9. Note (v.19-21) that Jesus had the disciples participate in handing out the food and picking up the leftovers. Why do you think Jesus wanted the disciples to be actively involved in this miracle?
10. Part of God’s purpose behind inviting us to serve alongside him is to help us to learn total trust in God as we see him do above and beyond anything we could have imagined. Share about a time when your trust in God grew as you served alongside him, doing things you didn’t think you could do.
11. Look at the next story in Matthew’s gospel where Jesus and Peter both miraculously walk on the water, and note Matthew 14:28: “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” What do you notice in Peter’s words here?
12. Share about how you have put these principles into play as a parent, a boss, or a leader.
13. What has been the most helpful idea for you personally from this entire sermon series? How have you lived out ideas from this series?
Ready for your next step?
If you would like to take a next step in your faith journey, such as trusting your life to Christ or getting baptized, text the word “Next” to 561-264-6079 and follow the steps there, and we’ll contact you to help you do that.
News and Announcements:
· If you’re new to Community of Hope, text “Hello” to 561-264-6079 so we know who you are.
· The Community of Hope App is our new Connect Folder. Download it to watch our services, get sermon notes, register for events, and stay connected with what’s going on in our church.
· Reopening: We’re excited to reopen for in-person services beginning Sunday, September 27! At our West Campus, we’ll have 2 identical services at 9am and 11am. At our East Campus, we’ll offer an English service at 9am and an Español service at 11am. If you don’t feel ready yet for an in-person service, continue to join us online; and we would love to help you have some fellowship online right after the service. For more information go to: https://communityofhope.church/coronavirus
· Kids of Hope is reopening on both campuses, on Sunday, October 4. Be sure to register your kids each week online to save them a spot. Only one adult will be able to drop & pick up kids. Find out about our safety protocols and procedures and our new check-in process at https://communityofhope.church/kids
· Pumpkin Patch is coming on October 5th at West and October 7 at East. There will be no Punkin’ Chunkin this year, but you can support our Students Ministry by purchasing pumpkins and baked goods, and it’s a great place to take some fall pictures!
· Financial Peace University starts October 7 and will meet Wednesdays at 8pm online. This practical course has changed the lives of hundreds of people in our church, helping them live debt-free and plan for their future. The course fee of $129 per family includes a full year of access to videos and online financial tools. As always, you can try before you buy - attending the first week for free before you purchase your materials. Register at fpu.com/1124805.
· 2 New Online Women’s Groups: Starting September 21st, Marge Keller is leading a 12-week study designed to help you understand the Old Testament, called “Epic of Eden” by Sandra Richter. If you’re ready to go deep in Scripture, this is the group for you! Mondays at 7 p.m.
Beginning September 30th, Susan Hineman will lead a 6-week study from Lysa Terkeurst called “It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way” Wednesday mornings at 10 a.m. to get God’s perspective in these challenging times. Join us for either group on Zoom from the comfort of your own home! Register at https://communityofhope.church/groups/
· Thank you for your financial support, which makes it possible for us to minister to our community! To give to Community of Hope, go to https://communityofhope.church/give.