Somewhere to Belong
September 6-7, 2008
Fall 2008 Small Group Fair
Author: Tom Quaid
- Introduction
- Somewhere to Belong (Colossians 3:1-17)
- Background
- The first step in finding somewhere to belong is to properly understand who you are. (Colossians 3:1-4)
- Its not about you.
- God’s plan is now our plan.
- Romans 12:1-8 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
- The second step in finding somewhere to belong is to decide to leave the place that Satan has set up for you. (Colossians 3:5-10)
- Many people want a Savior but not a Lord.
- Small Groups are like spiritual halfway houses.
- The third step in finding somewhere to belong is to commit to being part of Christ’s body, the Church. (Colossians 3:11-14)
- John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
- The result of finding somewhere to belong will be the Kingdom of Heaven will be brought to earth for the world to know that Jesus is Lord. (Colossians 3:15-17)
- 1 John 3:16-20 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
- Conclusion
- John 17:20-23 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
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