PPart One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five
A close up look at the global Jesus movement.
Part One
Viral movements can be either healthy or unhealthy. We can be impacted by healthy things the same as we can be impacted by unhealthy things. For something to go viral it is indiscriminate, it impacts everyone. All of us who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour have a mandate to virally share our faith.
Discover
Read Exodus 33:7-11. To help get a good understanding of the passage, try to describe what is happening or being said in your own words. Take a moment to reflect and note down what stands out as important, significant or meaningful to you. What does this passage tell us about God? What does this passage tell us about people? How does this passage change how we live?
Discuss
1. Have you had the privilege of being mentored or of mentoring somebody in any area of your life? Discuss.
2. Why did Jesus allow Peter, James and John to be in His inner circle of friends on many occasions? Mt. of transfiguration, garden of Gethsemane etc.
3. Why did Joshua stay back at the tent of meeting after Moses had left? (Exodus 33:11)
4. What is the significance of God changing Hoshea’s name? (Numbers 13:16)
5. As part of Moses discipling process he asked Joshua to exercise responsibility and prerogative. Is this a good or risky learning tool? Discuss.
6. Why did God want Moses to write down what had happened in the battle and to make sure that Joshua heard about it? Why? (Exodus 17:14)
Respond
What skills, experiences and capacity has God given to you that you can pass on to somebody else. Even a small investment can be life-changing for someone. Ask God to give you the courage to respond when the opportunity comes.
Part Two
As we respond to Christ’s call to make disciples “as we go” about our daily lives, we discover that it is a call to multiply what is in us – our gifts, experiences, character and skills – into the people around us. We are meant to be channels and conduits of God’s grace to others, not just “buckets” collecting good things from Him for ourselves.
Discover
Read Philippians 2:19-22. To help get a good understanding of the passage, try to describe what is happening or being said in your own words. Take a moment to reflect and note down what stands out as important, significant or meaningful to you. What does this passage tell us about God? What does this passage tell us about people? How does this passage change how we live?
Discuss
1. We multiply what we are. How does that make you feel?
2. What are some of your most distinctive character traits, which you know you would pass on to someone who walked closely with you? (1 Corinthians 4:17)
3. Have you ever trained for something that was beyond you when you started? e.g., a marathon, a presentation, a recital… How did you start? How did you progress? (1 Timothy 4:7b-8)
4. Acts 16:1-3. Paul circumcised Timothy because he had a Greek father and therefore was not circumcised. For Paul, nothing was to undermine the spread of the gospel both to the Jews and Gentiles, no matter what the cost. Is there something in your life just now that you sense God may want to remove to allow you to have more missional impact with your network?
5. Is time management the thing that is stopping you sharing Jesus? How does the concept of “as you go” change that hurdle?
6. Is there any inconsistency between your private life and your public life? Discuss.
Respond
A practical reality of being disciples that multiply is that we need time to devote to people. With this in mind, take some time to reflect and then discuss together what one thing you can remove from your calendar to create the margin to take a step forward in multiplying yourself. Then share one activity you can put into your schedule to move forward.
Part Three
God persistently grows us through Christian community. He wants this community, His church, to grow virally to bring His light and His salvation to all nations. He gives us the privilege and responsibility of playing a part in this, by discipling and being discipled. Paul and Barnabas show us how.
Discover
Read Acts 11:19-26. To help get a good understanding of the passage, try to describe what is happening or being said in your own words. Take a moment to reflect and note down what stands out as important, significant or meaningful to you. What does this passage tell us about God? What does this passage tell us about people? How does this passage change how we live?
Discuss
1. When you took your first steps in following Jesus, how did you engage with Christian community? Discuss.
2. Apprehension about Saul entering the believers community would be justified. What is or would be your reaction to a “Saul” being introduced to your network? (Acts 9:26-27) Discuss.
3. Saul quickly took over the leadership in this team of Saul and Barnabas, how often do we inhibit the potential of another person by our own jealousy of their gifting or our own insecurity? Discuss.
4. Read Acts 13:1-3. How is the Holy Spirit moving in your church and your Life Group? Is there someone that you can invest into and cheer on and support, who could not get ahead without your support? Discuss.
5. Read Acts 15:36-40. Compare the motivations of Paul (formerly Saul) and Barnabas in this sharp disagreement about Mark. What could God be saying to you here?
6. Is there someone that God has put on your heart that you may have written off, but God sees potential in?
Respond
Discuss the people in your life who have invested in you and have helped shape your character and faith. What qualities did they have? What investments did they make in you? How have you been blessed? Then talk about the people in your world – family, neighbours, colleagues, classmates – who you can, in turn, invest in. What has God done in your life that you can pass on to others? Pray that you’ll take the opportunities that come to you this week to multiply your life .
Part Four
Study notes weren’t produced for this session. You can view the full message here.
Part Five
We see symbols all around us which immediately cause us to understand what something is. Examples include things like the “golden arches”, wifi and wedding rings. Jesus gave us the symbol of baptism to help us understand and communicate what we are doing when we put our trust in Him. We are identifying with both the death of Jesus (as we go under the water) and the resurrection of Jesus (as we come back up out of the water).
Discover
Read Acts 2:36-41. To help get a good understanding of the passage, try to describe what is happening or being said in your own words. Take a moment to reflect and note down what stands out as important, significant or meaningful to you. What does this passage tell us about God? What does this passage tell us about people? How does this passage change how we live?
Discuss
1. Share with others in your group your experience of baptism.
2. Read Romans 6:3-5. Discuss how the symbolism of baptism relates to the spiritual activity which has taken place in your heart.
3. Have you ever thought of baptism as being an act of obedience to something that Jesus actually modelled for us, or do you think of it as a religious institution? (Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22)
4. Why do we often think baptism is something that we have to work towards as we “clean” up our life, rather than step one in response to God?
5. At Jesus’ baptism, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit came down on Him in the form of a dove (see Luke 3:22). Discuss the significance and importance of this event.
Respond
If you have never been baptised before, it is an immediate response to putting your faith in Jesus. It is a great way to share symbolically with your friends and family exactly what you have done. Perhaps it is time to take that step of obedience. Perhaps it is time to challenge some of our friends or family to get baptised.
Watch full sermons – Going Viral