DRL Ministries - ISU

Our Life Group Scripture to reflect on this week is James 3:13-18.  Here are some discussion starters…

1.  The question posed is “Who is wise and understanding among you”?  Stop there and describe how a typical ISU student might describe what a wise and understanding person may look like. 

2.  Now what does v. 17 describe a wise person to be like?

3.  What is the connection between “meekness” and “Wisdom” (ie. what do you think, “the meekness of wisdom” means?)

4.  What does this passage tell us about bitter jealousy and selfish ambition?  Does this scare anyone else?

5.  Describe times when you have encountered wisdom from above. 

6.  Pray for one another that wisdom from God would pour down on our Life Groups and DRL through our faith in Jesus and submission to God and His word. 

Here are some questions for the Life Groups to consider from Romans 6… Please read the whole chapter…it’s not too long.

1.  Explain what Paul means by, “are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?”

2.  Why can’t Christians continue in sin? 

3.  What does it mean to be “dead to sin”?

4.  What does it mean for us to be “baptized into death”?  What is the outcome of our “death”? (v.4)

5.  Why are we no longer enslaved to sin?  (v6,7)

6.  How are we to present ourselves to God (v.13)?  What might this look like on a practical level in our lives?

7.What were we free from while we were slaves to sin? (v.20)

8.  What is the difference between the wages we earned while serving sin and the gift we get not that we are slaves of God? (v21-23)

9. What do we have a tendency to “present” ourselves to other than Jesus (v.16) …ie. relationships, material possessions, etc…

Have a great week!

This week’s passage is 1 Cor. 10:23-31.  1 Corinthians is such a great, practical book for Christian living, and this passage addresses some fundamental questions for how to live our lives for the glory of Jesus.  Here are some questions to discuss…

1.  What do you think the main question at stake in these vereses is? 

2.  What are some things that, while they are lawful, may not be helpful?

3. Why is it at times ok to do something, and at other times its not ok? (v.27-29)

4.  Can you think of some things that go against your conscience even though they don’t go against Scripture?  What are they?

5.  Paul speaks of living to ”please everyone in everyway.”  How does this fit in with living to please God rather than men (Gal. 1:10)?

6.  What is at stake in everything we do…even the little things like eating and drinking?  Discuss practical ways how we can do those little things for the glory of God.  

I read Jeremiah 9 this morning during my devotions, and stopped for a while on v. 23,24 - “Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his righes, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.  For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’”

A little reflection…

People like me try to make a name for ourselves in our own abilities, wisdom, and talents.  We market ourselves to prove our worth to others…to show them that we are SOMEBODY, right?  This is an extremely man-centered (BIG ME, little god) way of living.  It leaves you on an emotional roller-coaster as people continually change their minds about your worth to them when you fail to perform up to their expectations.  It’s a life of ups and downs, where even the ups are usually at somebody else’s expense (ie…you’re only up when somebody else is down). 

God has a solution to this hopeless way of living - find all of  your satisfaction in KNOWING HIM and DELIGHTING yourself in what DELIGHTS Him, namely love, justice, and righteousness.  God is at the center of this kind of living and loving and boasting, and that’s where I desire to be!   

Here are your Life Group questions for the week.  Acts 1:1-11 will be the focus.  This passage primarily fits into our Growth and Communication aspects of discipleship.  

1.  What can we learn about patience from verse 4?  Why might it have been difficult for the disciples to wait there in Jerusalem?  Why might God have waited to send His Spirit to the disciples, rather than send Him immediately following Jesus’ ascension?

2.  What does the question in verse 6 reveal about the disciples struggle with understanding God’s plan for them?  What does it reveal about their lack of understanding about God’s plan for the world?

3. What does verse 7 reveal to us about God?

4. What is the cause and effect in verse 8?  How was the disciple’s vision for God’s redemptive purposes inflated there in v. 8 compared with verse 6?  What questions might the disciples have had for Jesus about this statement? 

5. Jesus tells them that they will be His “witnesses” all over the world.  Share experiences of when you were a ”witness” for Jesus.

6. What is the hopeful message of verse 11? 

Jodi Lau is leading a trip to Starved Rock this coming Sunday, the 15th.  It’ll be a great time enjoying God and His creation!  Check the upcoming events for details.

OK.  I might blog a little this week with snippets from the Desiring God Conference that took place over the weekend.  Please visit the site http://www.desiringgod.org/Events/NationalConferences/Archives/2006/ and listen to and read the messages for yourself if you get a chance.  You’ll especially like Voddie Baucham, Keller, Driscoll, and Piper.

  First of all, I want to mention that 3 of the 6 speakers became Christians in college (Keller, Driscoll, and Baucham).  Piper also mentioned that he was in college at Wheaton when God clearly revealed to him that he was to go into full-time ministry.  Hearing this, I was reminded of what a crucial time of your life you all are in!  Please, please, please…don’t take this time of your life too lightly!  Huge effects can result from decisions you’ll make while you’re here at ISU! 

The other thing I want to share with you is an excerpt from Piper’s message he gave on Sunday.  He was explaining why it is that the truth that we are far, far less valuable and inferior to God is actually very good news for us -

 Enjoying God’s Superiority

“What words might the Holy Spirit use to open someone to the truth that their inferiority to God is good news? Perhaps this: What if we asked someone, “Would you want to watch a football game where all the players were no better than you? Or watch a movie where the actors could act no better than you and were no better looking than you? Or go to a museum to see pictures by painters who could paint no better than you?” Why are we willing to be exposed in all these places as utterly inferior? How can we get so much joy out of watching people magnify their superiority over us? The biblical answer is that we were made by God to get our deepest joys not from being superior ourselves but from enjoying God’s superiority. All these other experiences are parables. God’s superiority is absolute in every way, which means our joy in it may be greater than we could ever imagine.”

Hey everyone!   Jessie, Greg, Matt, Caleb, and I had an incredible time at the Desiring God Conference this past weekend.  I’ll probably post tomorrow on some of the things I came away from that with.  Today, I just want to direct you to a portion of Scripture your Life Groups might read and reflect on this week…

John 4:1-42 (a little longer this week):

1. Consider the point that Jesus was making to the woman in v.10.  What could we learn about prayer from that verse?

2. What can we learn about evangelism from the example of Jesus in this story?

3. Look at v. 20-24.  What significant shift concerning the location or geographical center of worship has taken place between the Old Testament and the coming of Jesus and His Spirit into the lives of believers?

4. What can we learn about evangelism from the example of the Samaritan woman in this story?   

5. What did Jesus mean in v. 34?  What might the connection between “food” and doing the will of God be?

Have a great time this week!

The portion of Scripture I’m encouraging the Life Groups to come around this week is Philippians 2:3-10.  Our goal for the Life Groups is that they will help us become better followers of Jesus in at least 5 specific areas - Personal Growth (Personal Spiritual Disciplines), Serving, Community, Giving, and Communicating. 

This week’s passage, as far as I can see, speaks to us mostly on 3 of these 5 - Serving, Community, and Giving.  Some simple questions:

1.  What do we learn about Jesus and the Father in this passage? 

2. What can we learn about serving, community, and giving from this passage?

3. In what ways can DRL reflect or embody this passage?

We’re planning to have our DRL fall retreat on Friday, Oct. 20.  Please keep that night open!!!