Pastor Jeremy Helmuth

Words of GRACE (James 1:19)                                                 

January 29, 2012

Be quick to listen. 

True listening doesn’t occur until each person understands the feelings that underlie the spoken words. [Proverbs 20:5]

True listening allows other people’s emotions to touch you. [John 11:33-36]

Be slow to speak.

Being slow to speak means that you have patience. [Proverbs 25:15]

Be slow to become angry.

Being slow to become angry means that you seek peace.  [Romans 14:19]

Discussion Questions

Getting Started

1.  Are you a good listener?  How would your spouse rate you?  How would your employees or employer rate you?  How would your children rate you?  How would your friends rate you as a listener?

Digging Deeper

2.  When you minister to other people, do you allow yourself to get emotionally involved in their life so that they see you care deeply about them?  Read Paul’s “parting words” to the Ephesian Church in Acts 20:13-38.  Does he give us an example?  Focus on 20:19, 31, 37.

3.  Meditate on these Proverbs and discuss what each means:

• A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly (14:29).
• A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel (15:18).
• Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city (16:32). 

Applying the Bible

4.  When is the last time you have allowed some else’s emotions to touch you to the point where you shed a tear for them?

5.  Do you need to “break a bone” in one of your relationships?  Do you have the patience to gently persuade someone to do the right thing when you see them going down a destructive path? 

6.  Will you stop engaging in the “blame game” when a conflict occurs and instead seek to restore peace in your relationships?

Pastor Jeremy Helmuth

Words of GRACE (Proverbs 15:1-4)

January 22, 2012

the POWER of a “MOUTH” [Proverbs 15:1]

    Our mouth has the power to resolve any relational conflict

    or obliterate any hope to reconcile.

a “MOUTH” full of GRACE [Proverbs 15:2-4]

    Determine the facts before opening your mouth.

    Keep your focus on God’s perspective. 

    Remember the goal of your mouth: to produce healing. 

Discussion Questions

Getting Started

1.  What “words” have impacted you the most in your life?  Whether good or bad?  Share with the group “words” that someone shared with you once that either built you up or tore you down. 

Digging Deeper

2.  Read Psalm 141:3.  Make this psalm a prayer for your entire group: for God to keep watch over the door of your lips. 

3.  Read 1 Peter 4:11.  All our words should be sacred because we should speak as if we are speaking the very words of God.  Measure your words over the next day and see how they live up to God’s standard.  Though every word may not be spiritual, how God-honoring are they? 

4.  Meditate on Matthew 12:35-37.  Discuss the importance of the words we choose in regard to judgment and what those words say about what is really in our hearts. 

Applying the Bible

5.  Make a point of spreading a good report about someone you may have been less then charitable to in the past.  Find a recent accomplishment that has been largely unnoticed by others. 

6.  Why is it hard to gather all the facts before we make a brash judgment about someone else?  What can you do to not jump to hasty decisions that cause relational conflict?

7.  Do you know of someone who needs to be healed with your words?  Have you ever thought that they might be “graceless” with their words because they have always been taught to speak harshly

Pastor Jeremy Helmuth

FREED by GRACE (Romans 3:19-26)                         

January 15, 2012

The WEIGHT of the LAW [Romans 3:19-21]

     No one is declared righteous before God by observing the Law.

The FREEDOM of JUSTIFICATION [Romans 3:22-26]

     Everyone who has faith in Jesus is justified freely by grace.

                Faith involves a self-emptying in two areas:

                     1.  Rejection of any confidence in our own righteousness.

                     2.  Reliance on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 

                What is justification?

                     1.  It is not a pardon. 

                     2.  God’s wrath has been satisfied. 

                     3.  Jesus’ blood pays for the penalty of our sin.

                     4.  Believers are forever free from any punishment.

Discussion Questions

Getting Started

1.  The rule of Sabbath keeping seemed to be the most difficult law for the Jewish person to follow (they were punished for neglecting it).  Why do you think?  Remember that the Sabbath was more than just observing Saturday as a day of rest.  It was keeping all the festivals, the Sabbath year (Lev. 25:1-7), and the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:8-55). 

Digging Deeper

2.  Read about the “wrath of God” in Ephesians 2:3 and Romans 1:18; 5:9-10.  What is this wrath like and what is the only way that we can avoid it?  Also, once we are saved, does the wrath of God ever manifest itself to us again?  

3.  “The blood of Christ,” occurs about 30x in connection with our salvation.  Read about and discuss what Jesus’ blood does for us:

• Cleanses our consciences (Hebrews 9:14).
• Purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:7).
• Allows us to enter into the presence of God (Hebrews 10:10).

4.  Read these OT passages which promise us an assurance of God’s forgiveness: Psalm 103:12; Isaiah 38:17; 43:25; 53:6; Micah 7:19. 

5.  Read Romans 5:1-2.  What does this phrase mean: “this grace which we now stand”?

Applying the Bible

6.  What do you need to do to help yourself get over the guilt of your past sins?  Do you believe that you are truly without blemish?  

7.  Are you free?  From the guilt of sin?  From the fear of future punishment?  From the idea that God is disappointed with you?

Pastor Jeremy Helmuth

STRENGTHENED by GRACE (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)             

January 8, 2011

Paul’s VISION [where did he go?]

According to Jewish thought, the 3 Heavens represented these places:

                1st Heaven: Garden of Eden

                2nd Heaven: Intermediate State

                3rd Heaven: New Heaven-New Earth 

Paul’s THORN [what kept him humble?]

The word for “thorn” means: bothersome hindrance.  

What was Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”?

                Resistance from Christians                  Sexual temptation

                Physical persecution                          Malaria

                Spiritual attack on mind                      Poor eyesight

                Ugly appearance                                Speech disorder

What is your thorn in the flesh?

The SOURCE of our Strength [weak = strong?]

                When we surrender our personal desire to Jesus Christ,

                He overshadows us with grace-filled power

                to help us cope with anything.

Discussion Questions

Getting Started

1.  In what ways do you think the 2nd Heaven (intermediate state) is different from the 3rd Heaven (New Heaven and New Earth)? 

Digging Deeper

2.  Read Isaiah 40:29-31.  This passage promises that God gives strength to the weary.  We are told that we must “hope” in the Lord in order to renew our strength.  In what ways do we “hope” in Jesus Christ?

3.  After reading Psalm 16:8-11, answer this: How does someone “set the Lord always before me”? 

4.  Read Romans 5:1-5.  Focus on these two phrases:

• “we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” 
• “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us”

Applying the Bible

5.  What is your thorn in the flesh?  What bothersome hindrance has affected your life for the past several years? 

6.  After regularly praying for your “thorn” to leave you, are you willing to embrace it in your life as a way for you to trust in Jesus Christ more deeply than if you would have never had this in your life? 

7.  In your own personal quiet time with God this week, how can you show Him that you long for His power to strengthen you?

Pastor Don Delagrange

GUIDED by GRACE  (Titus 2:1-14)                                

January 1, 2012

DISCIPLINED by GRACE

     Discipline = guides corrects, instructs (teaches)

GRACE says NO

Titus 2:1-14 (instructions for a leader)

     Correct false teachings

     Confront those who claim to know Christ, but actions deny him.   

Titus 1:16

     Construct a program of teaching.  Titus 2:1-10

     Call Christ—followers to godly living.  Titus 2:11

                The grace of God that brings salvation

                Teaches us to say NO—strong, decisive rejection:

                                To ungodliness

                                To worldly passions

GRACE GUIDES: 

                Your thoughts and speech

                Your moral standards

                Your response to challenges

                Your plans

                Your relationships

Personal or Group Study Guide

—Disciplined by Grace—

Discussion Starters

1. Share how discipline applied to your life has guided you. 

      This could be discipline that came through a parent, a fellow

      believer, or a person of influence.

2. What is your response to temptations when you picture or visualize

      Christ on the cross?

Bible Study—Observe, Interpret, and make Applications

3.  Study Romans 6:1-2

     What shall we say then (refer back to Rom. 5:18-21.  Give meaning  

     to these phrases in chapter 5.

                Justification that brings life.  v. 18

                Many were made sinners.  v. 19

                Many will be made righteous.  v. 19

                Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.  v. 20

      Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase?  v. 6:1

      By no means, we died to sin.  v. 2

      How can we live in it any longer?

Applications for Life

4. In what area(s) have you been sinning (not living up to God’s standard) and expecting God’s grace to take care of those sins?  Also, take time as a group to visualize Jesus on the cross and your sins between you and the cross. This is very personal and may need to be written on paper for your own victory and then destroyed.

5. What are some corporate (as a church or nation) sins that are committed and assumed forgiven by God?   What needs to be your attitude, in order for your sins to be forgiven?  Refer to 1 John 1:9.

6. If time, share about your spiritual life this past year and commitments for new year. Make a prayer guide for the new year.

Pastor Jeremy Helmuth

December 18, 2011

OVERWHELMED by GRACE (2 Corinthians 8-9)              

GENEROSITY [in good times and bad]

     Our socioeconomic status

     should never determine our level of generosity. 

GENEROSITY [why we give] 

     Grasping the enormity of God’s grace to us

     motivates us to show generosity to others.

GENEROSITY [measuring our hearts]

     Grace-filled people give with a spirit of hilarious joy.

     Grace-filled people give as if they cannot out give God.

Discussion Questions

Getting Started

1.  What do you think about this statement: some people remain poor because they are stingy with their money; if these people would just become more generous God would then graciously bless them.  Is this the principle of sowing and reaping?  What does this look like for someone who lives in a part of the world with severe famine and political unrest?  We must be careful with this principle. 

Digging Deeper

2.  Read Psalm 112:1-5 and discuss the spiritual blessings of being a generous person. 

3.  Read Proverbs 22:9.  Who does a generous man share his food with?  When is the last time you have helped out someone who is in need? 

4.  Read Acts 20:35.  Why is it better to give than to receive?  How do you teach your children this biblical truth at Christmas time? 

Applying the Bible

5.  We learned today that the Macedonian churches gave “even beyond their ability.”  Has that ever described you?  Have you ever given beyond your ability to the point where you do not know how you are going to make it financially unless God intercedes? 

6.  Do you have the faith that God will always pay you back for your generosity?  Do you believe that you can’t out give God?  In what ways does God return our generosity back to us? 

7.  What will you do this Christmas for someone else that will be so generous that it fills you up with hilarious joy?

SURPRISED by GRACE (Matthew 20:1-16)                      

Pastor Jeremy Helmuth

December 11, 2011

Lessons from the VINEYARD

(the illogical mathematics of grace)

Grace seems outrageously unfair

     until you realize that

     God dispenses gifts not wages.

Grace asks us this question:

     “Are you happy when God is exceedingly generous to others

     who seem to be less deserving than you?”

Grace isn’t about being first or last, it’s about not counting.

Discussion Questions

Getting Started

1.  Why is it so hard for us to accept grace?   

Digging Deeper

2.  Sometimes we think that the God of the Old Testament is solely a God of justice and holiness, but is lacking in grace and compassion.  Read these O.T. verses to gain a perspective of what the ancient Jews would have thought about God:

                Exodus 34:6          2 Kings 13:23        2 Chronicles 30:9

                Nehemiah 9:17      Psalm 103:8          Isaiah 30:18

                Joel 2:13              Jonah 4:2

3.  Psalm 116:5 gives us a complete picture of God.  On the one hand, He is gracious.  On the other hand, He is righteous.  Discuss how God balances these two characteristics.  Also, discuss how we should try to balance grace and righteousness in our own life. 

4.  Pastor Jeremy talked about how God seems to be extra generous to certain undeserving people.  He talked about how we are to respond.  Read 1 Peter 5:5-6 and discuss the confidence we should display as we allow God to deal with every situation and person in our life. 

Applying the Bible

5.  Do you have the grace in your heart to look at someone who has been given many more talents, opportunities, or even more money than you and say, “God, thank you for being generous to _________?”  And you authentically mean it? 

6.  What can you do this week to show God that you have stopped counting in regards to how much grace you or others deserve?

SAVED by GRACE (Ephesians 2:7-10)

Pastor Jeremy Helmuth

December 4, 2011

the TROPHY of GRACE [ephesians 2:7]

     Each saved sinner will be a trophy of God’s grace forever

the GIFT of GRACE [ephesians 2:8-9]

     Grace is the ultimate demonstration of God’s love

     We will never do enough to deserve this gift

     (so stop striving to win God’s approval and live by faith)

the GOOD WORKS of GRACE [ephesians 2:10]

     Before the world’s creation, God planned for you to do good works

what GRACE MEANS

     Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more,
     and there is nothing we can do to make God love us less.

Discussion Questions

Getting Started

1.  Share with the group the moment you felt God’s grace first touch your life.  What was that like?   

2.  What person has shown you the most Grace in your life?

Digging Deeper

3.  Consider this deep thought: Have you ever thought about the fact that God has already prepared the work He wants you to accomplish even before He created the world?  How important then is it for us to realize this work and be involved in it? 

4.  Read Romans 5:6-11.  What is God’s love like?  How is it unlike our love for others? 

5.  Read 2 Peter 3:18.  What does it mean to grow in grace?  What does that look like for a Christian? 

6.  Read Isaiah 64:6 and Revelation 19:7-8.  What is the balance between realizing that all of our righteous acts are worthless to God as far as salvation, but at the same time these righteous acts are meaningful to God as we enter eternal life?

Applying the Bible

7.  Discuss the meaning of this statement: “Grace doesn’t depend on what we’ve done for God, but rather what God has done for us.”

8.  What can you do this week to stop striving to win God’s approval?  How can you begin to live by faith?

This is for anyone who would like to know what the gospel is and also how they can experience salvation.   

What is the Gospel (the good news)?

¹ Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  ² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.  ³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. ⁶ After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸ and last of all he appeared to me also (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). 

The Gospel is the good news that Jesus:

1. died for our sins = Jesus paid the debt of our sin
2. was buried = Jesus literally died (it was not faked)
3. rose from the dead on the 3rd day = Jesus is alive today

The fact that hundreds of people saw Jesus after his resurrection proves that he rose from the dead!

What is the Plan of Salvation (how to be saved)?

Step #1: Admit that you’re a sinner and separated from God.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned (Romans 5:12).

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12).

Step #2: Be willing to turn from your sin (repent).

In all three of these men’s preaching ministries, they began their message with the action of repenting:

John the Baptist: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 3:2).

Jesus: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17).

Peter: “Repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:38).

When we repent, we decide to leave our life of sin, and follow Jesus Christ instead. 

Step #3: Accept God’s free gift of eternal life.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life inChrist Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life (Romans 5:8-10)!

Step #4: Proclaim that Jesus is your Savior and Leader (and believe it).

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you’ll be saved.  It’s with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it’s with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10).

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

Step #5: Find a church that will help you grow spiritually.

Pastor Don Delagrange

Preventing Life’s Sinkholes                                     

November 20,2011                                

Intro.

Sinkhole = underground currents carve out a hollow cavern under the earth’s crust, leaving it weakened.

Susceptible to life’s sinkholes [a caving in]

▪ Moses’ pressurized life.  

▪ Jethro advises Moses.  Exodus 18:13-27                                     

▪ Today’s potential sinkholes.                                           

▪ It is not good to be a workaholic.

Solutions to prevent life’s sinkholes

A courageous man or woman:  

▪ Receives and acts on good advice.

▪ Knows their limits.

▪ Delegates responsibilities.

▪ Deals with problems without being consumed.

“So What” do you do in response to the Word? 

▪ Listen to the Jethro in your life.  

▪ Discover the gifts God has given you to make the most eternal impact. 

▪ Order your public and private world so that it honors God.

▪ Be discerning of what is urgent and what is not.

▪ If you are called to leadership, learn to delegate.    

▪ Spend your life for eternal things. 

Personal or Life Group Study

Two possible themes to study and discuss which are reflected on this sheet.  Choose one or spend some time on both.

▪ Everyone has a spiritual gift to share in the church family.

▪ Respecting godly advice from others pays off.           

Getting Started

1. Share how you feel about your weekly schedule.  Is there a   

     healthy balance of work, family, rest, and serving in the local

     church?  Be open and honest with some details.

2.  Share an incident in your life when heeding the advice of some

     one else paid off.

Going Deeper in the Word

3.  Jethro gave Moses advice. What does the Bible teach us about

     taking advice from others. Rehoboam rejected the advice of the 

     elders, 1 Kings 12:1-24.  Additional text, Prov. 1:20-33

4. The importance of everyone offering their spiritual gifts to the

     church family.  1 Cor. 12

5. Church leaders are equipping ministers.  They are not to do all the serving.  Eph. 4:11-16

Growing in Spiritual Life

6. How much time should each one in the church family contribute

     weekly?

7. Consider studying the Network resource as a life group.  This five session course helps you discover your “ministry fit” through Bible study, personal assessments, and group discussion.  Pastor Don will get you started.

8. Ask the group to pray for you to act on some recent advice 

     given to you.