WEEK 3 - APRIL 23 & 26 LEADER INFO:
• Please be taking attendance every week through Connect22. • If group is full (25 cap for men’s and women’s groups; 26 cap for mixed groups), please send email to
[email protected]. • Please contact new people when they sign up for your group.
GROUP ANNOUNCEMENTS:
•Start Collecting Food!! Partner with us on May 14 and 17 as we come alongside Feed Northeast Florida to love our city through food donations! We also need you to serve at one of these services to help sort food. This is a great way for your whole group to serve together! Sign up at coe22.com/giveloveatry. •Beach Baptism June 7th! Sign up to serve at coe22.com/giveloveatry. •Gather Your Best Stuff!! The CoE22 Thrift Store, Hope’s Closet, is now taking clothing and shoe donations. Two donation bins are located in front of the church for dropoff at any time. •Join us in loving your community with our local mission trip! (June 8-13) The Church of Eleven22 is partnering with Builders Care, Impact Church, Jacksonville City Council and the Five Star Veterans Center to radically bless a local community. Ministry opportunities are available in construction, landscaping, evangelism, volunteer service and coordinating. This trip is open to all ages of participants in middle school and above. Scholarships are available. Daily attendance is not mandatory. Sign up under LOVE YOUR COMMUNITY at coe22.com/giveloveatry. Cost: $25-75
TEXTS: 1 John 2:1-6, Jeremiah 31:31-34, 2 Corinthians 3:1-3, Hebrews 10:5-14 ACTION STEP FOLLOW UP (5 MINUTES)
Sign up to be a Covenant Member! The next membership opportunity will be a two-class series held on May 2 & 9. It is required to attend both classes. Childcare is available by RSVP. Sign up at coe22.com/membership.
ACCOUNTABILITY QUESTION 1. Are you a Covenant Member? If not, have you signed up for the class? What is holding you back?
THE RECAP (10 MINUTES)
In week 3 of Give Love a Try, Pastor Joby taught on sanctification and how obedience matters because it reveals who is really Lord of your life. Surrendering your life to Christ is not just about saying a prayer or
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church attendance, it is trusting the Father, intimately abiding in Christ, and living by the Holy Spirit. The Truth is not a what, but it is a Who. Jesus is the Truth and when He is Lord of our life, our heart and not just our behavior is transformed. The closer you are with Christ the more you realize your own depravity and the need for the Savior. QUESTIONS (FROM THE WEEKEND SERMON) 1. What stood out to you in the sermon?
BIG IDEA: “God’s acceptance is the power that liberates us from sin, not the reward for having liberated ourselves.” - J.D. Greear
TEACHING & DIALOGUE Food for Thought: John starts the second chapter of 1 John by addressing the recipients as “my little children.” These people were not his physical offspring, but his love for them radiated out as if they were his own. In the most perfect way, our Heavenly Father speaks to His children with a pure and compassionate love. Think about this when reading the passages below. Have someone read 1 John 2:1-2. 1. What do these verses tell us about God’s character? 2. In what way is Jesus our advocate? (An advocate is someone who pleads the cause of another. Jesus has pleaded our cause in the Court of Divine Law and through His life, death, and resurrection we are ruled innocent.) God’s wrath had to be appeased because of His holy and just nature, so He sent His Son Jesus to satisfy His wrath on the cross. God demonstrated His love by being both the just (i.e., something has to be done about this situation) and the justifier (God saying I’ll take care of it all by myself). Have someone read 1 John 2:3-6 out loud. 3. What does keeping God’s commandments have to do with knowing Him? (An authentic relationship with God will result in obedience of His Word.) 4. What does our disobedience say about our walk with the Lord? (When we are disconnected from God’s character, Word, and Spirit we believe being the Lord of our own life is best.) We experience fellowship with the Lord through obedience to His Word. God is not concerned with behavior modification but rather an inner transformation that comes from being with the Father through faith in the Son and walking in the Holy Spirit. Sinning as a Christian does not change your righteousness in the eyes of God, but it does disrupt intimacy with God. When we respond to our sin struggle with repentance there is restoration and refinement through God and we are being sanctified. Have someone read Jeremiah 31:31-34 and 2 Corinthians 3:1-3 out loud. 5. Why is there emphasis on the heart in these two passages?
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It is in the heart that we believe and are saved (Romans 10:10). Once again we see that it is our relationship with the Lord that is paramount. The Bible goes so far to say that we are liars if we say we know God and are disobedient. Knowing God is different than knowing about Him. Have someone read Hebrews 10:5-14 out loud. 6. What is the importance of sanctification? (When we believe we are separated from our sins and “set apart” for God’s special use. We’re said to be set apart from what is common or ordinary. This is a present result of a past action. Christ’s one sacrifice has a lasting result that continues to work in us, making us more like Him.) 7. What is the significance of Christ “sitting down” in verse 12? (This indicates His work of atonement was perfect and “it is finished.”)
MOMENT OF TRUTH: “We believe, that the work of regeneration, conversion, sanctification and faith, is not an act of man’s free will and power, but of the mighty, efficacious and irresistible grace of God.” - Charles Spurgeon ACTION STEP: Give love a try and join us in serving our monthly local partner:
LOCAL PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: KAIROS PRISON MINISTRY
Kairos Prison Ministries cares for incarcerated men and women and their families. Kairos offers three ways to serve: Team Volunteer, Prayer Partner, and Agape notes. Visit coe22.com/missions/local-partners or stop by the Partner Booth in the lobby before and after service to find out how you can get involved! _____________________________________________________________________________________________
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