This Week's Reflection
Five Questions for Prayer, Conversation, and Discernment
Use these questions to reflect on obedience, the stories that shape us, faith's victory in Christ, and the family resemblance of God becoming visible through steady growth.
Reflect John writes in 1 John 5 that God's commandments are not burdensome, yet the sermon acknowledges that obedience often costs something real -- what act of obedience have you been resisting, and what does that resistance reveal about where you are placing your trust?
Reflect The sermon describes the world as a system of stories that tells us who we are based on what we own, achieve, or have experienced -- what false story about yourself have you been believing, and what would it look like to let faith in Christ speak louder than that story?
Reflect John closes the passage by saying that the victory which overcomes the world is our faith, and that this faith is rooted entirely in who Jesus is -- in what area of your life do you most need to stop trying to overcome in your own strength and instead rest in what Christ has already accomplished?
Reflect The sermon describes the family resemblance of God as faith, love, obedience, and victory growing together rather than as separate achievements -- which of these four do you sense is most underdeveloped in your life right now, and what might it look like to lean into that area?
Reflect The pastor reflected that slow growth is still growth when it comes to becoming more like the Father -- what evidence, however small, do you see in your own life that the family resemblance of God is becoming more visible in you over time?