Kingdom Advancement in Crazy Times

The most powerful gift we can give our (and the ) is to be a believing (or ).

| Exodus 2:1-2 | Deuteronomy 6:6-7 | Proverbs 22:6 | Hebrews 12:11 |

Sometimes the best thing we can do to advance God’s Kingdom is to make the best “.”

| Exodus 2:3-6 | Proverbs 3:5-6 | Philippians 4:6-7 | James 1:5 | 2 Timothy 3:16-17 |

There comes a point when the best way to advance God’s Kingdom is to .

| Exodus 2:7-10 | Isaiah 43:18-19 | Hebrews 12:1-2 |

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS

Take some time to discuss what you want to do to celebrate the end of Small Groups next week. No Small Group discussion questions will be provided.

What Do You Think? 

From Sunday’s message, what particular point stood out to you, challenged you, or raised a question for you?

The Story of Your Life

1. Do you think we are facing the craziest times in human history today? Explain why or why not.
2. On Sunday, Pastor Kyle said that there are times when we have to make the best “bad choice” in front of us. Tell about a time in your life when you had to do this (or something similar to it).

Digging Deeper in God’s Word

1. Author Dale Stoll once explained God’s Kingdom like this: “A kingdom is defined as a sphere of influence in which a king rules. Therefore, wherever God rules we find an expression of the Kingdom of God.” By that definition, the advancing of God’s Kingdom in our lives implies the increasing surrender of our hearts, minds, and actions to God. In the greatest sermon ever preached, Jesus gave us profoundly countercultural insight into God’s Kingdom. Read Matthew 5:2-12 and answer the following questions.
   1. How does Jesus defy common logic of what it means to be blessed in these verses?
   2. What insights can we glean from these verses about how to advance God’s Kingdom in our crazy times today?
2. In the book of Revelation, Jesus warned seven churches about certain dangers that might make them more focused on this earthly kingdom than God’s heavenly Kingdom. One place where we clearly see how easy it is to drift towards the earthly kingdom is found in Revelation 2:1-5. Read it out loud together and answer the following prompts.
   1. Have a few members of the group recap the main points in these verses.
   2. What does this tell us about God? A kingdom-minded Christian? People?
   3. In light of this, is there anything you need to do differently?
3. Another warning from Jesus about how to drift towards the earthly kingdom is found in Revelation 3:1-3 and 3:15-19. Read those verses and answer the following prompts.
   1. Have a few members of the group recap the main points in these verses.
   2. What does this tell us about God? A kingdom-minded Christian? People?
   3. How do you gauge whether you’re heading towards lukewarmness?
   4. In light of this, is there anything you need to do differently?

Personal Reflection and Application

1) Have everyone share one thing someone else said in this discussion that stood out to you.2) Pray for one another.