This Week's Reflection
Five Questions for Prayer, Conversation, and Discernment
Use these questions to reflect on keeping Christ at the center, surrendering your heart in genuine faith, living in resurrection hope, and serving from the pleasure God has already declared over you in Christ.
Reflect The sermon describes how subtle distractions like a job promotion or a new relationship can slowly move Jesus from the center of our lives to the periphery -- what specific patterns or tendencies in your own life have you noticed that quietly compete with your devotion to Christ?
Reflect Cain and Abel both attended worship, both had godly vocations, and both brought offerings to God, yet only one acted in genuine faith -- in what ways might outward religious activity mask an inward heart that has not truly surrendered to Christ?
Reflect The sermon suggests that when God puts his finger on an area of our lives where we have been acting as Lord, a person of genuine faith will increasingly want to surrender that area to him -- what does it look like practically to open those resistant places in your heart to God rather than stiff-arming his grace?
Reflect Enoch's story in Genesis 5 stands out against a relentless refrain of death, pointing forward to the resurrection promise fulfilled in Jesus -- how does a deep conviction that death does not have the final word actually change the way you make decisions and set priorities in your daily life?
Reflect The sermon draws a sharp distinction between working to earn God's pleasure and working from the pleasure God has already declared over those who are in Christ -- which posture more accurately describes how you tend to approach your service, and what difference does it make in how you relate to God?