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Courage Crossing Homework/Study Sheet

IT’S TIME TO GROW UP

Ephesians 4:14

GETTING TO KNOW YOU…
1. What happened this week to show you that God is working in your life? How can… should… will this impact your spiritual growth?
2. Sunday morning Dave began the final message in his series on ‘Trinity’s Values’, called ‘It’s Time To Grow Up’. Can you think of some areas in your life, that you would be willing to share, that you need to grow spiritually in?

DIGGING DEEPER
1. In The First Place, spiritual growth is a Choice… It is Intentional. Peter says (I Peter 2:1-2 NIV); ‘Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.’

a. What is available to us in our Christian Life to help us Identify the things in our life (IE.. malice, deceit, hypocrisy, etc.) that we need to be ‘rid of’ to allow us to spiritually grow unhindered?
b. The ‘pure spiritual milk’ Peter speaks of is the Word of God. What is your habit in reading the Word of God and how can you change that to get you the spiritual food you need.?

2. Intentional Spiritual Growth involves making Commitments. Dave listed some of the commitments: Conversion
‘Except a man be born again, he shall not see the kingdom of God.’ John 3:3 (KJV)
Baptism
‘Those who accepted his message were baptized..’ Acts 2:41 (NIV)
Membership
‘.. And the same day there were added unto them 3,000 souls..’ Acts 2:41 (NIV)
Ministry
‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’ Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)
Maturity
‘Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.’ 2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)

a. What do you think of these commitments.?
b. If you are comfortable, discuss where you are in making these commitments and what may or may not be hindering you from making any or all of them.
c. Is there anything the other members of the group can do to help you make any of these commitments?

3. Spiritual Growth is also a process, that is outlined in Acts Chapter 2:
‘Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.’ Acts 2:41-41, 46-47

a. How are you involved in helping others going through this process?

4. We believe that there are 5 purposes of the local church… all of which are found in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission..

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Mark 12:30-31

‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’ Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

a. How have these purposes impacted your personal life and growth in the Lord?
b. Once again, how can your involvement in furthering these purposes impact someone else’s spiritual experience/growth?

TAKING IT HOME

This Message Gives us a lot to think about. In What Area/Areas do you see spiritual growth in your life? In what areas do you need to grow in Spiritually? Remember, Paul’s words; ‘Our greatest wish and prayer is that you will become mature Christians.’ (2 Cor.13:9 LB) What can you do to increase your spiritual growth?

PRAYER TIME

Prayer is an important part of the Christian life, which is why we always want to take time during Courage Crossing to make prayer a priority. As You Take time for personal prayer requests, remember that good group prayer often takes effort, so here are some guidelines to help make your Courage Crossing Prayer Time more effective:

WE PRAY FOR ONE TOPIC AT A TIME- Anyone in the group is free to introduce a prayer request either before prayer begins or during the prayer time. Once a topic is introduced, the group focuses on that request alone. Once it’s covered, the group moves on to the next topic

EACH PERSON PRAYS MORE THAN ONCE. Because the group is focused on one topic at a time, each person is encouraged to pray several times during the prayer time for those topics they feel most led to pray about.

WE KEEP OUR PRAYERS SHORT AND SIMPLE- Group prayer goes better when members keep their prayers short and to the point. When someone prays for a long time, it’s hard for the other members to stay focused and long prayers tend to intimidate those who are just learning to pray out loud in the group.