Message Tool

Resurrection

noreply@blogger.com (Open Door) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:15:00 +0000

July 25, 2009 Message by Steve Wiens

Practice:
Reflect on the following two questions, either in prayer, or with a trusted friend.

• What needs to come to life in or around you right now?
• What do you feel invited to let go of right now?

Experience:
Gather some friends and watch Rob Bell’s four-minute film, Resurrection (one of the resources Steve used for the weekend message), at www.robbell.com/resurrection (it’s free). After you’re done watching it, talk about your reactions, questions, and ideas.

Questions:
1. If death and life were two opposite ends of a spectrum, where would you plot yourself along that line right now & why?

2. Which specific areas in your life does it feel like nothing will ever change?

3. How might you invite Jesus into those areas?

4. What is one thing that you feel you need to let go of, and what could that process look like?

5. Steve mentioned that many times, when we get the offer to let go of that which is killing us, in order to embrace life, we decide to do it tomorrow. In what ways have you found that to be true for you?

Resurrection (PDF)

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Saved From or Saved For?

noreply@blogger.com (Open Door) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:35:00 +0000

July 18, 2009 Message by Steve Wiens

Practice:
At the end of every day this week, spend some time answering these two questions:

• What did I feel like God was withholding from me today?
• What did I feel like God gave me today?

If you are honest with your answers, at the end of the week, a picture of how you actually see God will emerge. Compare it with the picture of God found in Colossians 2:13-15 and Ephesians 2:4-10.

Experience:
Let someone off the hook that owes you something this week. It might be money, or time or some other kind of resource. Whatever it is, it should have some cost to you associated with it. Then, notice what rises up in you as you do it. It might be love, anxiety, regret or even anger. Whatever your response, notice it and then bring it to God.

Questions:
1. How did you understand the message of salvation when you were growing up?

2. When you are “dead in your sins,” who are you more likely to look like – the younger brother, full of rebellion, or the older brother, full of self-righteousness?

3. In what ways do you think the legal transaction understanding of salvation has affected your relationship with God?

4. When is it that you most feel, or have felt, “alive with Christ?”

5. Why do you think many Christians feel dead in their sins, even though the Scriptures would say that God has made them alive with Christ?

Saved From or Saved For? (PDF)

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The Vulnerability of God

noreply@blogger.com (Open Door) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:12:00 +0000

July 11, 2009 Message by Stefan Van Voorst

Practice:
Spend some time reading and reflecting on John 21:1-25, trying as hard as you can to read it through the lens of a tremendously vulnerable Jesus.

• How does this change your perspective of Jesus?
• How does this change your perspective of your relationship with Jesus?
• What would you like to say to Jesus in response?

Experience:
Spend some time this week with someone who does not play by the rules of competition (small children, the poor and the mentally-challenged are good examples). When you’re with them, try to notice what it is that rises up in you, as you realize that all of the things you normally use to impress others don’t work with them. Try to simply be with them, face-to-face, in vulnerability.

Questions:
1. What words or feelings would you use to describe someone who is vulnerable?

2. Stefan said, “When you really love someone, you open yourself up to tremendous rejection and loss.” In what ways have you experienced this?

3. If God is love, then God must be the most vulnerable being in the universe. What thoughts or questions does this statement raise for you?

4. Regarding the church, Stefan said, “Why are we still trying to win? Because in all of our effort to win, we’ve lost our ability to love.” What is your response to that statement?

5. Stefan ended his talk with a challenge that the church of the future will need to move from a community who sits side-by-side to a community who goes face-to-face. How do you think that will happen?

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The Power of Relationship

noreply@blogger.com (Open Door) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:54:00 +0000

June 27, 2009 Message by Stefan Van Voorst

Practice:

• Pray to God to bring a younger person into your life who you can listen to, ask questions of, and not judge.
• Pray to God to bring an older person into your life who can listen to you, ask you questions, and not judge you.

If these people are already present in your life, pray those prayers for someone in your life who does not have them.

Experience:
If you have young kids, duplicate what Stefan and Meredith did with their kids: Every night this week, read the story of the Lost Sheep found in Luke 15 with your kids. Prior to the reading, hide a little toy sheep. Then, after the reading, search for it, and when you find it, celebrate like crazy.

If you don’t have kids, gather some people together to throw a party for someone in your life who has wandered off, but come home. Be as extravagant as you can. Celebrate their life in every way possible.

Questions:
1. What stirred in you as you listened to Stefan speak this week?

2. What kinds of experiences did you have as a teenager in church? What topics were teenagers going through that the church didn’t talk about?

3. What hopes and dreams do you have for today’s adolescents?

4. What worries you about today’s adolescents?

5. How do you think the church needs to help adolescents?

Please Note: There will be no Message Tool offered next week.

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We Need Each Other

noreply@blogger.com (Open Door) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:09:00 +0000

June 20, 2009 Message by Al Schuck

Practice:
With a paper clip in hand, remember Al’s challenge to “notice the children around you.” Think of a child in your life, and pray for them every day this week, that their path would be clear to run
to Jesus.

Experience:
Spend some time this week with a child, using everything in your power to help them see that they are treasured, valued and loved. When you’re with them, as much as possible, try to play like they play, and follow their lead. You might learn a lot about living in
the moment!

Questions:
1. Who were the adults who “cleared a path” for you to get to Jesus when you were a kid? If there weren’t any, what did you do?

2. What have you learned about the kingdom of God from children?

3. Al challenged us that becoming like children doesn’t mean becoming childish. What is the difference to you?

4. Al said that like paper clips, many children simply fall to the floor and get swept away with the trash. What rises in you when you hear that?

5. What is one way that you could use your strength in a new way to clear the way for children to get to Jesus?

We Need Each Other (PDF)

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Two Words That Change Everthing

noreply@blogger.com (Open Door) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:10:00 +0000

June 13, 2009 Message by David Johnson & Steve Wiens

Practice:
At the end of the week, reflect on the following two questions as
a way to gauge where your heart is regarding “casting your bread
in the water” for the coming generations:

• Where did I cast my bread in the water this week for the coming generations?
• Where was I too busy doing my own thing?

Experience:
Spend some time with someone younger than you this week. It doesn’t have to be anything huge or extravagant, just try to encourage them in some way by a word spoken or an act
of selflessness.

Questions:
1. What one thing grabbed you as you listened to this week’s message?

2. Are there any younger people in your life right now who are standing at the mouth of freedom? What do you think they need?

3. What kind of inheritance were you given from the generations before you?

4. What kind of inheritance would you like to give to the generations after you?

5. What do you need from God so that they life of Jesus really is what you pass on to the coming generations?

Two Words That Change Everything (PDF)

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