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Contending for Your Faith Pastor Joe Champion 3/7/2015 BIG IDEA: Are you timid in your faith? Do you allow ungodly influences creep into your life? Pastor Joe, while exploring the Book of Jude, talks "contending" for our faith; making that bold "stand", even when the consequence may result in suffering. DISCUSSION POINTS: 1. Pastor Joe spoke about how the enemy will sneak in, pervert the word of God, so that our faith will be diluted. When your faith is challenged do you stand your ground? As believers, God wants us to "show up, stand up, and speak up". In your group, talk about ways that we can strengthen our faith for those times when we must defend it. 2. Are you influenced by culture more than scriptures? Pastor Joe explains how God has empowered us to contend for our faith; we are "called", "loved", and "kept". With that in mind, why do we live like we have lost? Discuss what being empowered by God through the Holy Spirit means, and how we might use that power to stand strong in love without being argumentative. ACTION ITEMS: Using Jude 1:20-23 as a reference, Pastor Joe lists four items to help us make a stand for our faith. 1. Be Active: In order to be strong in our faith we must build ourselves up. In Romans 10:17, the Apostle Paul states, "fatih comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ". By reading our Bibles, we are able to build ourselves up to face the challenges of the enemy. Make it a point to begin a daily Bible reading plan today! 2. Be Prayful: Read Jude 1:20. By praying, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, that we would live by the power of God, not by our own power. In this way, we can respond to challenges in a Godly way, with love, patience, kindness, etc. Along with a daily Bible reading plan, a daily prayer life is essential! 3. Be In Love: God's love for us is "new every morning", Lamentations 3:22-23. Just as God's love for us is never-ending, we are called to love others. When we are in love with God, it is easier to love others. Discuss within the group how we might respond to situations and challenges in a loving manner. 4. Be Involved: Jude 1:22-23. So that we might "pull people from the fire", we have to be engaged. We are to notice, and then take action. Be encouraging, be merciful, be loving. When we invest in the lives of others, we are sharing God's love. Think about someone can impact in a positive way this week, and step out with the power of God to make it happen.
