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Group Guide

February 11th, 2024
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This Week's City 7:

6. Is the Bible God’s Word? Jesus proved He is God by rising from the dead and said the Old Testament was God’s Word and gave authority to the Apostles to write the words of the New Testament, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so that all the words of the Bible are God’s Word.
(Matthew 5:18; Luke 24:27, 44; John 14:25-26, 15:27, 16:12-13, 17:20; Acts 2:42; Ephesians 3:5; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21)

Discussion Questions:

  • Every person has a salvation story of some sort, whether you are a believer or not. We all have an idea of how things were supposed to be (creation), we all have some idea of how things went wrong (the fall), we have our ideas of what will fix it (redemption), and we all have a picture of how it will look when it's finally made right (restoration). In some way or another, we all look to SOMETHING to give us hope. One example of a salvation narrative Dusty shared was politics. This is where we thing OUR ideology is what is right and everyone else that disagrees with me is uninformed and are the problem with our country. But with the right candidate and platform, we can get back in power and make things right again! Then we'll win the country over to our way of thinking and have a great country with the right ideology. Other narratives we can buy into are religious systems (doing religious activities will make up for all the bad we do), money (if I could just make more, my life would be right), career (if I could just get that promotion), kids (if they can just get the grades or excel at sports). What are some of the other salvation narratives that have distracted you from your faith? How do we bring our focus back to what matters most?

  • Even as believers who know Jesus is our only hope, we can get so hyper focused on other areas of our lives (politics, career, money, our kids, etc.) that we can slide down the wrong path. Ultimately, the only salvation story that actually satisfies is the story of the Bible. In Genesis 1, we see how God created things to be (creation). In Genesis 3, we see how it all went wrong (the fall). In Genesis 12 we see God laying the foundations of the solution to the problem (redemption) and in Romans 3 the story of the hope we have in Jesus. Finally, Revelation 22 tells the story of how Jesus will make it all right (restoration). THIS is the story of the Bible. This is the only hope we have and the only promise of when and how things that are wrong will be made right. How much pressure would it take off of us if we would live like we believe this truth?

  • Dusty challenged us with three different takeaways on Sunday. First, Jesus is better! He's better than any other competing salvation narrative, better than looking to success, fitness, sex, politics or anything else that we get all wrapped up in. Is Jesus first in your life? When was the last time you just sat back and were blown away by Jesus and his love for you and all the ways he's blessed you?  When was the last time you felt genuine gratitude for all he's done?

  • The next takeaway was that God has a worldwide mission and we should join him. In Matthew 28, Jesus gave his final command... to GO and make disciples of ALL NATIONS. We are all invited! We are part of it and we get to participate in it. We should all pray about GOING to tell people about Jesus where He isn’t known. If you aren’t willing to do that, then fund and pray and support people that DO go. Support church planters globally. Jesus’ redemption and awaiting restoration is so compelling its worth giving our lives to! Jesus is worth it. He’s our only hope, but He’s the only hope of the nations. Join Him in it! Are you willing to ask God if YOU should go? If not, why not? Besides giving to The City, who supports missionaries around the world, what is something MORE you could do to support God's mission on the earth?

  • Finally, the third takeaway was that your trust in Jesus has implications for the world. It’s going to be real hard to walk in the redemption that is ours and care about God’s global mission when we are chasing redemption in politics or sex or money or kids achievement or health or whatever else. We must trust in Jesus and then join in multiplying a love for Jesus…making disciples of all nations. What is God saying to you? What next step is he leading you to take?  

Prayer Topics:

  • That you wouldn't buy into any other salvation narrative. 
  • That your life would be about making Jesus known. 
  • That you would join God in his mission on the earth.

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