May 2, 2021
Change: Getting Unstuck
Stories that change the World and your heart.
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Luke 8:4-15
Message Questions:
- Do you have any experience with gardening/farming? If so, what is most rewarding for you and what is most frustrating about gardening?
- Describe a long-term goal you set for yourself (exercising, reading a long book series, earning a degree). How did you fare in the working and waiting of reaching that goal?
- Jesus takes time to unpack the failure of growth in three of the soils: “Satan snatches,” “have no root,” and “choked out by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures… they don’t mature.” Can you relate to these situations? Where have you seen these in your own life?
- The purpose of gardening is to grow things! That’s the point of Jesus’ message: (1) Hear the word, (2) retain it, and (3) by persevering produce a crop. What do those three steps look like in your life right now?
- Where does our LORD have you “throwing seed” these days? Have you grown discouraged or unconvinced in that assignment? Share with the group your discouragement OR your plan to stay on task with the job of sowing seeds.
Extend your small group discussion with the expanded guide for today’s message. It includes more questions and soul training practices for you and your small group.
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Recent Sermons
Colossians 3:18-4:1 -Paul closes his letter by showing how following Jesus transforms our everyday relationships—with spouses, children, parents, employees, and employers—and calls us to care for one another with kindness.
Colossians 3:12-17-Sometimes Christianity gets known for what we don’t do. But Paul points us toward something better: how we live, love, and treat one another. What marks a genuine Christian community? It all starts with who God is and how deeply He loves us.
Colossians 3:5-11-Paul points to two areas that reveal who we are at the deepest level: sex and speech. The path to health and freedom isn’t harsh rules or self-focus, but staying close to Jesus, knowing him and growing in him. Christianity isn’t harsh rules; it’s a vibrant friendship.
Colossians 2:20-3:4 - Religious baggage can pull us in all kinds of directions—from expecting God to fit our preferences to trying to earn His approval. Paul’s message to the Colossians was simple: stop guessing what God wants and get back to the core of Christianity—Jesus.
Colossians 2:13-19 - Humans have a problem that we can’t save ourselves from—not through secular programs or religious systems. The good news of Jesus is that on the cross, Jesus dealt with it all. In him we are alive, forgiven, and free!
Colossians 2:8-12 - Paul warns the Colossian church not to trade the freedom found in Christ for religion or spiritual experiences. Jesus is more than enough.
