Good Faith: Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman

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Good Faith: Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman March 13, 2016 David and Gabe brought many concepts and statistics for us to think about as Christians. The following are a few of these presented to you, the Life Group leader, as a guide for discussion during your group.

Irrelevance and Extremism 46% of Americans think that organized religion is a problem 42% of Americans think people of faith are a problem People don’t understand the connection between people of faith and good works. Hebrews 10:24 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” Question: Ask your group: “What could we do as individuals or as a group to change this perception in our communities and in our country?” The church today has a “superficial Christianity” problem. We need to ask ourselves, “are we living as true disciples of Jesus?” We are inundated by how we should eat, drink, love, spend our money and our time, and live our lives through TV, radio, social medial, and movies. David brought up a great point: “There are more smart phones in existence than working toilets.” Question: Ask your group: “How is your thinking informed by the world? Are you allowing yourself to be more affected by worldly things or are you affecting the world around you?”

New Moral Code There is a new Moral Code at work in today’s world. What is right and what is wrong is being distorted and confused by the enemy. 86% of Americans think that fulfillment can be found by pursuing what we desire. 76% of Christians agree. 79% of Americans think that you can believe what you want to believe as long as those beliefs don’t affect society. 89% of Americans think that people shouldn’t criticize other’s life choices. We are living in a world where irrelevance is encouraged and extremism is discouraged. We need to figure out how being both irrelevant and extreme is a good thing. The best way to change culture isn’t to speak out against it, but instead to bring new culture to the culture. We need to be the disciples of Jesus that He is calling us to be in a culture that desparately needs us. Question: Ask your group: “What “new culture” could you bring to the culture around you? What would that look like at your work or in your social groups?”

Final thoughts Three words that are important to us today: Love+Believe+Live We need to lead with love. We need to move into relationships like Christ would: love first. Beliefs and theology really do matter. The way we think about God, other people, and ourselves really does matter. If we see others as image bearers of God, this should change the way we act toward people and towards ourselves. This leads us to the last word: LIVE. We need to live our beliefs out on a daily basis. People are watching. We don’t need to be perfect. We just need to be authentic. Question: Ask your group: “What do these three words mean to you and how could they change how you live as a Christian today?”