![]() Jon gave a quote from Jeff Cook that said, “Pride is not thinking too much of myself, it is thinking of myself far too much.” What do you think are the key differences between these two things and how does that connect to having “spiritual bankruptcy?” How do you think we as the church can balance both accepting people for who they are (a sign of humility) while also protecting the culture of God’s kingdom?Ģ. God’s heart is to create an environment where people can flourish, but pride is toxic and can corrupt the kingdom of Heaven. What words catch your attention? What does "disorder and evil practices" look like on earth, and what can we do in response?ġ. Have someone read aloud James 3:14-16, one of the passages Jon references. Which of the Signs of Pride stuck out to you? (Pictures of the list are included for leaders to reference) Before hearing the sermon, how did you interpret being “poor in spirit?”Ģ. Who is someone – either fictional or real – who you think exemplifies being poor in spirit or having humility?ġ. Let’s anchor our community in shared perseverence and practice. ![]() ![]() Whether it’s once this season, once a month, or one meal a week. Prayer and Fasting: I’d encourage you to set a prayer and fasting goal as a group this season. This week spend some time meditating on and memorizing Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Scripture Memorization: Verse by verse we’ll be memorizing the beatitudes together. Download the YouVersion app and select to do this plan “with friends.” Once you invite members from your group to join you, you can all track together with the plan and save notes, questions, and comments on passages. Scripture Reading: Here is a 90 day reading plan through all four Gospels. We’re introducing practices for your Group to adopt as you study the life and teachings of Jesus: We must become humbled and poor in spirit in order to become truly blessed in God's kingdom. To continue looking upward at his grace, we must choose humility every day rather than our self-preservation. Jesus said that our pride will exclude us from the kingdom of God, and we must come with empty hands in order to open up the doors to everything the kingdom has to offer. This narrative makes every aspect of our lives about us instead of God. ![]() The result of this phenomenon can be seen in our society today, where we suffer from a collective narcissism. Prosperity leads to pride, and pride serves as the source of all other sin. The inevitable self-righteous path we follow shifts the focus away from God's grace and we begin to believe we have single-handedly earned all of our wealth. In our everyday lives, we often allow material abundance to feed into our pride, obstructing our acknowledgement of our spiritual bankruptcy. This past Sunday, Pastor Jon brought the concept of poverty of spirit to light and how that allows us to continue building a strong foundation in our faith.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |