The Day I Died

The Day I Died – Week 5

Josh’s point: Dying to my view of humanity to align with His view of humanity.

 

• Share a time either recently or in past when you were “judged” incorrectly by humanity. It can be funny (like the Amstutz Dentist story Sunday) or something more serious.

 

Read 2 Cor 5:15-16 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

 

• Imagine truly living out the verses above. What do you think your life would look like if you truly viewed no one from a worldly point of view?

 

Heavenly perspective vs Worldy perspective: God’s Longing For Them – this is His heart as He sees their redemptive potential.

 

***FYI for Leaders – Your perspective precedes your attitude. You will never have the wrong perspective and the right attitude.

 

Josh shared the story Jesus speaking to Simon Peter. The name Simon means broken reed, but Jesus chose to call him Peter which means rock. Let’s look at another person in Scripture who needed a “heavenly perspective”. Read the story of Gideon in Judges 6: 1-16

 

• (vv12-13) Comment on the “heavenly perspective” the angel of the Lord has toward Gideon and Gideon’s response to him.

 

***For Leaders – The first thing the angel does is speak to Gideon’s identity with a heavenly perspective, but Gideon doesn’t even hear it. Gideon just focuses on the terrible circumstances. He’s forgotten that he is a part of the chosen people of God.

 

• (vv14-15) When God reveals to Gideon his potential, Gideon’s reply essentially conveys, “God, your perspective of my life doesn’t align with my identity.” Reflecting on Gideon’s reaction, how can we exercise caution in our own lives when faced with a disparity between God’s heavenly perspective and our self-perceived identity?

 

***For Leaders – Gideon didn’t hear the angel in verse 12 because it did not resonate at all with his identity. Gideon reveals what he thinks is his identity in verse 15. The takeaway is our perspective precedes our attitude. You will never have the wrong perspective and the right attitude.

 

Gideon would go on to lead God’s people in a miraculous victory, but God made sure that he had established His heavenly perspective  in Gideon’s heart before sending Gideon into battle.

 

The lens of compassion vs the lens of justice: God’s Love for Them – this is His heart as He sees their brokenness.

 

Read Luke 9:51-54 (The Apostle John’s lens of justice for the Samaritans) – When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.

 

Read 8:14-17 (The Apostle John’s lens of compassion for the Samaritans) – When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had accepted God’s word, they sent Peter and John to them. Peter and John went to Samaria and prayed that the Samaritans would receive the Holy Spirit. (Before this the Holy Spirit had not come to any of the Samaritans. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit.

 

How do you imagine the Apostle John felt as he witnessed the Holy Spirit’s transformative presence among the Samaritan village? Consider the profound shift from his earlier inclination to call fire down upon them.

The Day I Died – Week 4

 

Take a deep breath and get ready for far reaching study on the heart!

 

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

 

What is the antidote for the verse above? How can a Christian avoid being deceived by their heart? (Hint: think New Testament)

 

***For Leaders – Answers will vary. Then read to Gal 5:16-17 with the Group.

 

Gal 5:16-17 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

 

First question on your way to the antidote for deception of the heart. Why is it possible in the first place for us to “walk in the Spirit”(v.16)?

 

***For Leaders – John 3:6 is the answer. It is impossible to “walk in the Spirit” unless you have been “born in the Spirit”. As New Testament Christians, we have experienced something that those who lived before Christ have not and that is being born again or being born of the spirit.

 

Second question on the way to the antidote. What is your flesh that is described in Galatians above (v.17)? And why does it war against our new spirit?

 

***For Leaders – In summary, your flesh is a remnant of something that has already died. When you are born again or born in the spirit, your old man dies only one time! Then you have a new person born in you! Our flesh is the leftovers from our old man that we have to keep suppressed through the word, prayer and walking the Spirit so it does not influence us. Our flesh will ultimately die when we physically die. There will be no more strings attached to our flesh when we go to be with Jesus!

 

Third question on the way to the antidote of knowing whether your heart is deceiving you. 1) How do I know if I am being influenced by my flesh? 2) How much are emotions involved in the “fruits of the flesh” below?

 

***For Leaders – Gather answers and then read the text below.

 

Gal 5:19-20 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;  idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

 

***For Leaders – The key word above is “obvious”. The Greek word there is phaneros which means to shine, publicly apparent. “What’s going on in my heart?” is the questions to ask yourself. The works of the flesh are obvious and will shine brightly when we honestly examine our hearts.

 

How much are my emotions involved in the “fruits of the Spirit” below? (Don’t over think it!)

 

Gal 5:22-23b But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…

 

***For Leaders – This is where we land the plane! Look at the first three fruits of love, joy and peace. Those are all emotionally based conditions. Is love only emotion? No, of course not. We act lovingly even when we don’t feel it, but that is not where love regularly resides! Love is emotional. So we land on the fact that the Bible shows us that there are flesh born emotions and Spirit born emotions. We can examine our hearts and ask ourselves with confidence, “Are these flesh born emotions that I am experiencing or are they Spirit born emotions?” Flesh born emotions are obvious…they will shine. So will Spirit born emotions…they will shine.

 

Jesus was fully human so he did all of his miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit. Can you think of moments when “Spirit born” emotions caused him to do something?

***For Leaders – Examples of Spirit born emotions below!

Matt 9:36 – When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Matt 15:32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

 

In summary for the study, Gal 5:17 warns us not to do “whatever we want” because our flesh born emotions can take us down the wrong road. However, Spirit born emotions can take us down the right road by having compassion on a rival, loving the person that nobody can stand and perfect love literally casting fear out of our lives! (1 John 4:18)

The Day I Died – Week Three

 

Read 7:21-25

Is there any way to have victory over the thing that for so long has had victory over me?

***For Leaders – Do not give sin the power it doesn’t have! Pastor Josh gave the example that 12 step programs don’t address the new identity. They take identity in continued bondage.  Focus needs to shift from beating what is tempting you to focus on following Jesus.

 

Quick study of sin! Read Psalm 51:1 and 51:9

[1] Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions…[9] Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.

 

What are some words for sin are mentioned in text? What’s the difference between them? Why does it matter?

 

***For Leaders

• [v1] Transgression (pesha in Hebrew) mean rebellion, sin, trespass. Essentially there is a line we shouldn’t step over, but we do it anyways.
• [v9] Sin (chet in Hebrew) missing the mark. It can refer to an arrow or slingshot missing the mark. It has more to do from straying from the correct path and missing our target.
• [v9] Iniquity (awon in Hebrew) bend, twist or distort the law of God and bring punishment.

 

Discuss how these are examples of how we come against the Lord and how we do it in various ways. Discuss how we sometimes run across the boundary and sometimes we wander over it.

 

What is the important piece in the discussion above?

 

***For Leaders – The most important piece is our response! Regardless of whether we wandered over the line or we ran over it. See David’s response below:

Read Psalm 51: 10-13 ^– Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. ¹¹ Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. ¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

 

Psalm 51 was written as David’s response for having Bathsheba’s husband (Uriah) purposefully killed in battle so David wouldn’t face shame for getting her pregnant while Uriah was in field fighting for Israel. How should we process David’s repentance in saying he will “teach transgressors”? Do you think it was kind of bold for David to say after he had someone killed? How does all of this fit in light of Pastor Josh’s message?

 

 

 

 

The Day I Died – Week Two

Psalm 23:1-5

 

It will be free discussion this week for Groups since there was an interview with Pastor Josh & Brian Welch of Korn. I do have a couple points from the interview that a leader can decide or not to use to discuss.

• What were your biggest takeaways of inspiration from the interview?
• What was said in the interview that may have felt conflicting?

*** For Leaders – One of the things that may cause inner conflict is when Brian shared that he felt like he was called back to the band. He made an amazing statement, “The Lord will lead us back to our enemies so we can face them.” I immediately thought of Psalm 23:1-5, with an emphasis on verse 5, so I have some thoughts for you if you decide to take your Group in this direction:

(vv.1-3) The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

• Lots of testimony in this interview on how God restored Brian’s soul and led him on a path of righteousness after he surrendered to God.

 

(v.4) Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

• Verse 3 goes from a restored soul to verse 4 which is walking in the valley of the shadow of death and fearing no evil with only God to guide and comfort on the journey. Sounds like what Brian experienced.

 

(v.5) You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

• God will ordain moments where you sit at a table with your enemies which is exactly what Brian said, “The Lord will lead us back to our enemies so we can face them.” But how does this play out you YOUR life?

Things below to remember when God puts you at table with your enemies.

• When you have turmoil, when your rivals come against you, God has a table there.
• Take a seat at that table and enter into his rest. He will keep in perfect peace the one whose mind is stayed on thee. Isa 26:3 If you’re anxious and try to make things happen in your own strength at that table, it will limit what God will do. If you rest in him, he’ll do the work.
• You have an abundant anointing at that table! In verse 5 you are anointed and your cup runs over. You have an abundance of whatever you need to sit at that table with an enemy.
• This is what Brian’s story sounds like. God gave him the abundance that he would need to go back and face old enemies.
• Always important to remember that when we talk about “facing enemies” that our enemy is not people. We wrestle not against flesh and blood…against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Eph 6:12

 

The Day I Died – Week 1

 

Eph 4:22-24 & Col 3:9

Gal 5:13, 16-17

John 3:3-4, 7-8

 

 

Read Eph 4:22-24 & Col 3:9-10

 

***For Leaders – After reading the texts above, take a poll with the participants in your Group with the following question. Do we struggle with our old man or old self after we become a Christian? Why or why not? Have each person explain their answer and tell them that we’ll answer the specific question later in the discussion.

 

 

A moment of reflection: Pastor Josh said, “Christ is not an add on to our previous life. He is the replacement of our old life.”  Have you thought about this before? What went through your mind when Pastor Josh said this to us?

 

***For Leaders – This is a moment for people to reflect on the actual process of becoming a Christian. Few of us actually think about what is happening in that moment. More about that process will be below in Jesus’ conversation below with Nicodemus.

 

 

 

Let’s check out what Jesus said to Nicodemus about becoming a Christian. Read John 3:3-4, 7-8

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”^”

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

[Jesus replied] “You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c] must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

How do the texts from Ephesians & Colossians work together with this text in John?

 

***For Leaders – The most simple answer is that after the spiritual death of your old self), there is the birth of your new self. Something old and wicked (your old self) dies and is replaced with something new and divine (your new self). Your new self literally has divine spiritual DNA because it was born of the Spirit.

 

 

 

Read Gal 5:13, 16-17

^“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love...So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[c] you want.”

 

Is our “flesh” and our “old self” the same thing? Explain your response ?

 

***For Leaders – This is an answer to the first question. Our old self and our flesh are not the same thing. Our flesh is a remnant of something that has already died. The new self that was born of the Holy Spirit resides in us now, so our old self is officially dead. Our new self will be in conflict with our “flesh” so this is why we feel a war inside of us sometimes. Our “flesh” is always going to give some push back against our new self because it still wants our old way of living.

 

 

 

(After studying the difference between the flesh and the spirit). There is an old cliché that says that you have two dogs inside you…whichever one you feed is going to win. How does that play out in your life?

 

***For Leaders – Answers will vary.