Group Time | January 21

Difference Makers: What does it mean?
January 21, 201
Pastor Jonathan Falwell

 

Open:

When is the last time you saw a need in your community, and responded by helping? Can you share?

Today we are beginning a new series called “Difference Makers.”  What does it mean to be a person who makes a difference, and what does that look like? We are going to look first at the words of Jesus as He gave us instructions for our lives, and then at Nehemiah, a man whose homeland had a great need, and who knew, with God’s help, he could fix it. Pray that God will open your heart to absorb the message, making it the catalyst to committing yourself to making a difference in your neighborhood.

Focal Passage: Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:18-20; John 20:21b.

Discuss:

  1. In Acts 1:8, what are the two promises Jesus made to the believers?
  2. In Matt. 28:18-20, what are the four action verbs (or commands) Jesus told the believers to do?
  3. In John 20:21b, what is Jesus’ will for us? How do these three passages apply to us today?

BEING A DIFFERENCE MAKER

Changes our thinking

  1. Read Nehemiah 1:1-4. What was Nehemiah’s reaction to the news concerning Jerusalem? Why were his emotions so affected, as he was no longer there?
  2. What are some usual responses when a tragic situation touches our heart? What should our first response be?
  3. Why must we not allow negative thinking to quench a desire to help?

Puts others first

  1. What are some reasons we hold back from stepping up to make a difference? If we “love others more than we love ourselves” (Mark 12:33), how should we react when we have Jesus on our side?
  2. When we sit back to see if someone else steps forward, what should that warn us about our heart attitude?

Looks for ways to help

  1. Read Neh. 2:4-5. What is so significant about these verses? The king asked a question, Nehemiah prayed (“Help!”?), and then answered. Why was he ready with an answer?
  2. When is the last time you fervently sought God that you would be ready to step in if/when faced with a need? How is that the issue here?

Starts from the perspective of Christ

  1. Read Matt. 9:35-38. What was Jesus’ reaction to the needs of the people, and how was He affected in His emotions?
  2. When you see people (or things), how do you discern their needs? Why are we not easily able to “read” people?
  3. Why does our “looking” have to start with love and with prayer to be ready?

A DIFFERENCE MAKER:

Sees things and people the way Christ does; Loves people, and uses things (not the reverse!); Has a heart for the hurting;  Has a heart for the lost; Is a Christ-follower; Is one who has believed and received the Gospel story of Jesus [His birth, death, burial,   resurrection], has followed Jesus in baptism, is obeying all that Jesus taught, and is helping others do the same.

Close

Did the opening thought cause you to remember times when you’ve filled needs in your neighborhood, or did it convict you that you’ve never—or seldom—felt it your concern to act? If you find yourself in the second category, what are you going to do about it? If we’re able to stand to the side, hoping someone else steps in and takes charge, we are not fulfilling the second greatest commandment. In our church’s Mission Statement, we are to “love God and love people.” Perhaps it’s time to be truthful with ourselves: do we love God and tolerate people? Love God and love our friends, but in general ignore the world? Love God, and like some people? When is the last time, as in Neh. 1:4, that we truly were broken over the plight of someone or something, and sought God with all our heart? It’s still January…let’s make the commitment to be a Christ follower with all that the phrase implies and use the 8000+ hours that we have left in this year to be a Difference Maker. With God’s help, we can pray that at this time next year we can look back at 2018 and see we truly made a difference in our neighborhood!

Key Verses: Acts 1:8: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (NKJV)