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AUTHENTIC CHURCH: A Discipler’s Prayer
Read 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13. Read the passage and consider the following questions. 1. An authentic church is faithful even when persecution arises. Paul is very concerned about the young believers that comprise the Thessalonian church. He learns through Timothy's report that they have doubled down on their faith; "their grip on the cross has squeezed tighter." Can you think of a time when God has allowed persecution or suffering to increase your faith and dependence on him? Is there someone in your life who is in much need of encouragement? How can you take a step to point them to hope in Jesus? 2. An authentic church comforts brothers and sisters in the faith. If Paul lived in today's society, he wouldn't run to pornography, alcohol, busyness, or Netflix to escape his problems. Instead, he was comforted by the faith he saw in believers like the Thessalonians. Where do you run to find comfort? There are many things in this world that cause us to feel sadness which often turns into self-pity. Our greatest need at this time is to be comforted by the Lord. What three scripture passages can you run to when finding yourself needing comfort? Name a way you can comfort your brothers and sisters in the faith. 3. An authentic church is prayerful. Paul has repeatedly mentioned his desire to see the Thessalonians in person. However, he submits this desire of his to the Lord. How do you deal with unmet desires of yours? Is there something you hope for, but have stopped praying for? PRAY TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY GROUP. PRAY OVER YOUR OIKOS DOCUMENT.
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AUTHENTIC CHURCH: Keeping the Gospel Central
Read 1 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5. Discuss some or all of the following questions.
PRAY TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY GROUP. PRAY OVER YOUR OIKOS DOCUMENT. AUTHENTIC CHURCH
A Discipler’s Aim Read 1 Thessalonians 2:9-12 Discuss some or all of the following questions.
Paul, Silas, & Timothy began their relationship with the Thessalonians through evangelism. They were compelled by the gospel to share the gospel—and their lives—with the Thessalonians. Finish your time together by asking God to grow you as evangelists and disciple-makers. Prayer is an essential discipline—not only to grow in our relationship with the Lord, but also to develop the habit of deliberately thinking about others’ interests. PRAY OVER YOUR OIKOS DOCUMENT AUTHENTIC CHURCH
A Discipler’s Heart Read 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8. Discuss some or all of the following questions.
READ THE FOLLOWING EXCERPT: “Disciplemaking ensures that the gospel is embedded deeply in the lives of mature believers who serve as links to the future. Discipling then is a relationship where we intentionally walk alongside a growing disciple or disciples in order to encourage, correct, and challenge them in love to grow toward maturity in Christ. There are three ingredients necessary to produce maturity in Christ.” #1 RELATIONAL VULNERABILITY: This means honest, self-disclosing and confessional relationships that give the Holy Spirit permission to remake us. #2 THE CENTRALITY OF GOD’S WORD: The centrality of truth is emphasized when people open their lives to one another around the truth of God’s Word and the Lord begins to rebuild their lives from the inside out. #3 MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY: This is authority given to others to hold us accountable to mutually agreed upon standards—“iron sharpening iron.” - Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRAY TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY GROUP Paul, Silas, & Timothy began their relationship with the Thessalonians through evangelism. They were compelled by the gospel to share the gospel—and their lives —with the Thessalonians. Finish your time together by asking God to grow you as evangelists and disciple- makers. Prayer is an essential discipline—not only to grow in our relationship with the Lord, but also to develop the habit of deliberately thinking about others’ interests. PRAY OVER YOUR OIKOS DOCUMENT AUTHENTIC CHURCH
The Gospel at Work To get the context read Acts 17:1-9 AND now focus on 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10. Discuss some or all of the following questions. 1. Re-read 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 (Focus on v.3). What’s the difference between the work that strives for God’s acceptance and the “work of faith” that strives from God’s acceptance? (Compare with Ephesians 2:8-10)
2. Can you identify at least one way that you could “labor in love” for someone in the believing community at RMCC this week? Will you commit to putting that idea into action this week?
4. Re-read 1 Thess. 1:8. What needs to change in your heart and in your life for this verse to be true of you personally? 5. Re-read 1 Thessalonians 1:9. Did the Holy Spirit reveal any false hopes/saviors through Sunday’s sermon? Explain. Consider some of the following false saviors common to all people:
PRAY OVER YOUR OIKOS DOCUMENT  PRAYING FOR GOSPEL MINISTRY
To get the context read Romans 15:14-33. Now focus on verses 30-33. Discuss some or all of the following questions.
PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER PRAY OVER YOUR OIKOS DOCUMENT PRAY OVER THE 5 REQUESTS ON THE FASTING AND PRAYER GUIDE  Read Philippians 1:1-11. Discuss some or all of the following questions.
 LIFE IN THE DESERT
LEARNING TO LAMENT Life in the desert is a theme in the Scriptures woven throughout. Moses lived in the Midian desert for 40 years as an outcast. God's people, the Israelites for 40 years as well. David runs from Saul in the desert. Jesus reenacts the desert journey by fasting for 40 days in the desert while he is tempted by the devil. Nowadays, the desert life we experience is often not physically a desert. It can be anything. A child who has left the faith, a difficult boss, consequences from your own sin. Often for us seemingly unanswered prayers are the deserts we walkthrough. God customizes each desert experience for each of us. And, The truth is that God takes everyone he loves through the desert. He did so with his own Son, Jesus, and he does the same for us. What is a desert? A desert is the gap between hope and reality. There is a way to find God in the desert. It's an old way, that is mostly forgotten. A Hebrew lament is a long-forgotten but deeply biblical way of praying! But the beauty of how God designed us for such kinds of prayers, Through lamenting...the desert becomes a window to the heart of God. A place of deep sanctification and a where we come to know, believe and experience God's rich presence. The only hope we have to live in the desert is to lament. To not lament leads to unbelief = reality wins and hope dies. A lament connects God's past promise with my present chaos HOPING FOR A BETTER FUTURE! Jesus's greatest desert was when he was hanging on the cross. He cries out and laments, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" "I thirst." and "Into your hand I commit my spirit." Jesus believes his Father can act, wants to act, and will act. There is nothing left to do and as death approaches, Jesus says, "It is finished." The Father answers the lament of Jesus with the Resurrection. Jesus is risen from the dead in a new glorified body and we are given a promise of eternal life for all who put their faith in the gospel of Christ. Lamenting works. Lamenting leads to life! Jesus is alive. By God’s grace, we too can lament and find life in the desert. READ ISAIAH 63:17 and 64:1-12
LAMENTING DOES 4 THINGS
Take some time to reflect on the current desert you may be in. How have you responded? Denial, Determination, or Despair? Have you complained to people instead of lamenting to God? If you have lamented what has that looked like? Have you invited others in to lament with you? In light of this passage and teaching on lamenting, what would it look like for you to take your problem to Him and put your faith in His character and promises? How does God want you to grow in lamenting? In what ways can your CG grow to lament together? Be prepared to share with the group. Break into gender-specific groups of men and women and pray for one another. PRAY OVER YOUR OIKOS DOCUMENT PRAY OVER THE 5 REQUESTS ON THE FASTING AND PRAYER GUIDE  LEAD US
PRAYER IS DEPENDENCE As we get to the last line of the Lord’s Prayer in Luke we’ll look at the corresponding text in Matthew 6:13 to get a better picture: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. At first glance, these final two petitions that bring The Lord’s Prayer to a close can seem counterintuitive. Why would we need to ask God to not lead us into temptation? Why would he ever lead us into temptation in the first place? This passage becomes more clear when we look at the two petitions in verse 13 together. The negative “lead us not” reinforces the positive “deliver us.” This verse can be summarized in this way: “Lead us, not into temptation, but away from it, into righteousness, into situations where, far from being tempted, we will be protected and therefore kept righteous. As the second clause of this petition expresses it, we will then be delivered from the evil one.” - D.A. Carson, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount The point of this petition is to acknowledge our dependence upon God, not just for the provision of physical needs, but for our spiritual well-being as well. The Bible makes it very clear that there is a war for souls continuously being fought. A war between good and evil. Peter exhorts us in 1 Peter 5:8 to be ready and watchful, because, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” We cannot underestimate the desire of the enemy (i.e. “the evil one”) to steer us away from obedience to God and into sin. Peter warns us of this reality because he personally experienced it. In Luke 22:31, Jesus warns Peter that the devil desires him and wants to destroy him. This was in reference to Peter’s faith and whether or not he would be able to withstand temptation. As we see from reading the rest of Peter’s story in Luke, Peter did fail. He denied Jesus because of his fear. But, he later repented and turned back, and his faith was strengthened. His exhortation for us to be ready and watchful is a heartfelt warning from a man who knows how hard it can be to withstand temptation. These two petitions should raise awareness of the battle we are in. Temptation is real and it is all around us. But, we do not and cannot face it alone. We see in other places in Scripture that we will face temptations until we are rescued ultimately from this world of sin and the sinfulness of our hearts (1 Corinthians 10:13; James 1:13—15). But, as Jesus exhorts us to pray here in Matthew 6:13, we are not in bondage to evil. Our struggle with sin is not a fight we are destined to lose. As our Father, God is involved in our struggle. He is with us in our struggle. And, he tells us to pray for deliverance. Don’t resign yourself to the lie that you will never see victories over sin in your life. No, you will never reach a state of sinless perfection here in this life. But, your life does not have to be a life of bondage. Take God at his word. Heed Jesus’ exhortation to bring God into your struggle. Pray for God to deliver you from evil and trust him to do so. READ LUKE 11:1-13 FOCUSING ON VERSE 4c
Take some time to reflect on what are your three greatest temptations that you face on a regular basis and write them below:
Now, take time to write out a prayer asking for deliverance from each one. In each prayer address these realities:
Be prepared to share one of these with the group. Break into gender-specific groups of men and women and pray for one another. PRAY OVER YOUR OIKOS DOCUMENT PRAY OVER THE 5 REQUESTS ON THE FASTING AND PRAYER GUIDE 
As a follow-up, what step(s) would God have you take toward reconciliation with this person? |
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River Market Community Church
Gathering: 140 Walnut St, Kansas City, MO 64106 Mailing: P.O. Box 411662, Kansas City, MO 64141 rmcchurchkc@gmail.com | Facebook | (816) 533-5907 |