CrossWay Community Church | Bristol, WI

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. If Jesus says Christians are salt of the earth and light of the world, he's indirectly saying the world is decaying, bland, and dark. Does this capture the world as you experience it? Why or why not? <br><br>2. For salt to be effective, it must not be compromised. What are ways you are tempted to compromise Christian beliefs? Or, another way to put it, are there claims/goals/aspirations in the world that you feel really drawn to but would be a compromise biblically?<br><br>3. For light to be effective, it has to be displayed. What are ways you are tempted to hide your Christian beliefs? Or, another way to put it, are there things about being a Christian or the Bible that you have a hard time being public with?<br><br>4. What is your natural tendency: to be salt (distinct life, good living) or being a light (displayed, speaking God's truth)? How can you grow in both?<br><br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. How recently have you experienced some persecution/opposition specifically because of your Christian faith?<br> <br>2. Where do you feel like you most regularly experience opposition to your Christian faith?<br> <br>3. Where does the threat of opposition most tempt you to hide your Christianity?<br> <br>Bonus Question (requires extra humility) – Have you ever been tempted to call persecution what might actually have been the result of some failure of your own doing?<br> <br>Super Bonus question – How often do you think of heaven? <br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. What does it mean in Matt 5:9 to be a son of God? <br> <br>2. What are some components of peacemaking? <br> <br>3. Why might peacemaking be complicated or challenging? <br> <br>4. Why are some reasons peacemaking important for Christians? <br> <br>5. What makes peacemaking rewarding for Christians? What reason does the text give? <br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Read Ezekiel 36:25-27 and James 4:8. There is a paradox (not contradiction!) in the Bible’s teaching about the heart. On the one hand, only God can give a new heart. On the other hand, we are called to purify our hearts. How do these truths work together in the Christian life?<br><br><br>2. Is there an area of your life where you are tolerating sin or allowing something to compete with God as your first priority? What first step can you take (with God’s help) to turn from that? What trusted Christian friend can you confess to and ask to pray for you?<br><br><br>3. What do you think it will be like to see God’s face? How does knowing that Christians can confidently hope that they will see God affect your day-to-day life until Jesus returns? How does this hope relate to your pursuit of purity of heart?<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. When you read through the character traits listed in the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-10) do you find them attractive or off-putting? Take a moment to consider what might be underneath your reaction.<br> <br>2. Along the lines of which of the character traits in these verses do you see the greatest change when you became a Christian? Along the lines of which do you most desire more change?<br> <br>3. Of the specific blessings named at the end of each of these verses, which do you have the greatest longing for? What about your life experience makes that so?<br> <br>Bonus Question – How strong is the temptation you feel to do or be these things on your own? What from this passage helps you to know God has already begun a work in you and has promised to bring it to completion?<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>The writings of C.S. Lewis have influenced countless Christians over the course of many decades, offering readers intellectually satisfying answers to life’s biggest questions and challenging them to walk in faith and obedience. <br><br>Bethlehem College & Seminary President Dr. Joe Rigney will mine popular titles such as Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and others, showing us the relevance of Lewis’ insights to our lives with God today.</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. What comes to your mind when you think of the Sermon on the Mount? What is your general impression of this extended teaching of Jesus?<br><br>2. Read Matthew 5:3, 5:10, 5:19-20, 6:10, 6:33, and 7:21. What theme do you see regularly occurring through these verses? How might knowing that these chapters set forth the way of life in the kingdom of God help you in doing what Jesus says?<br><br>3. As you look through the headings in Matthew 5-7 in your Bible do you sense that the most significant areas of your life are addressed? Is there anything you wish might have been included? What part do you feel speaks to you most directly or poignantly?<br><br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br>There are no application questions this Sunday.<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Jesus wants us to see that he is the humble king. Which part of that do you find it harder to live in light of—that he’s the king who deserves our total submission, or that he’s humble and gentle and tender with us in our weakness?<br><br>2. Jesus died to clear the barriers between us and God so that we can be reconciled to him through faith. Do you think you’re growing in your confidence that God wants you to come to him in prayer? Does anything make it hard for you to trust that?<br><br>3. What are some ways you and/or your Gospel Community can celebrate this week what Jesus has done and what he will do when he comes again?<br><br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. In which of the four stages that were laid out at the end of the sermon do you find yourself? What has been your experience of that stage? Do you believe you are experiencing the full benefits that God intends for you in the stage you’re in?<br> <br>2. Do you feel that you are steadily progressing into greater commitment to and ownership of your local church family? Is there some step of greater commitment or ownership you feel God is calling you to take?<br> <br>3. Are you absolutely convinced that God has good for you in the local church? What might be keeping you from believing that?<br><br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Looking at the passage again, how would you put in your own words the mission Jesus gave the church? What facet of that mission do you find most intimidating? Why?<br><br>2. There are at least three common challenges to Christians being actively engaged in sharing the gospel with their non-Christian friends, neighbors, and co-workers: desire, equipping (being taught what to do), and opportunity. Which of these do you think is the greatest challenge for you? What will you do to make that less of a barrier?<br><br>3. What are some practical ways your Gospel Community, or you together with other friends at CrossWay, can partner together by involving one another in your outreach to non-Christians and praying for one another in this area of your lives?<br><br>4. Prior to this, have you thought about the things you do to help other Christians grow spiritually as being part of the Great Commission? Does thinking this way motivate you to take a new step or see something you’re already doing in a new way?<br><br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

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<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. How does the idea of “glad celebration” being a part of our life together as a church sit with you? Do you feel like we do that well? Do you feel like you do that well?<br> <br>2. How important are our church gatherings to you? Do you feel like you’ve missed something special if you were not able to be with the church gathering on a Sunday?<br> <br>3. How do you feel about singing? Regardless of the quality of your voice, do you feel an impulse to lift your voice? What, if anything, might inhibit you from doing this?<br> <br>4. Have you, in the past, come to the Lord’s Supper or to our Baptism services with a posture of eager celebration? If not, what needs to change in your thinking for that to happen?<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

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<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. What is your initial gut-reaction when you read Hebrews 13:17?<br><br> 2. What has your experience of leadership in the local church been like?<br><br> 3. Is there anything in your attitude about or posture toward leaders that may be inhibiting your experience of the good God intends for you through leadership in the local church?<br><br>4. Do you pray for your leaders? If not, would you?<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Early in the message there were three challenges to truth presented: denial of truth, fuzziness, and alternative “truths”. Which of those do you encounter most often? Do you detect any of those in your own thinking?<br> <br>2. How conscious are you of your need for truth? Do you sense that truth is playing a sufficiently active role in your life when you face hard things? What about when everything is going smoothly?<br> <br>3. How active are you in your pursuit of truth? Are you connecting the dots between your need and God’s provision when you gather with your church family on Sunday mornings? How might you strengthen your purposefulness in benefitting from this gift of truth God gives?<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Audio only this week.</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. The church is a distinct people. How has your experience at CrossWay been different than other groups or communities you have/are a part of?<br><br>2. In the church, as one author put it, our acceptance is "received, not achieved." How does this impact our relationships with one another? With the world around us?<br><br>3. What is it like to live as a Christian at school, work, and life in general? <br> a. Easy<br> b. Hard<br> c. Something in between<br>Why did you answer the way you did?<br><br>4. How can being a distinct people help you faithfully follow Jesus in a disapproving society?<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Here’s the million-dollar question: What has your experience of the local church been like? Does it fit, though imperfectly, with what you now understand God intends it to be?<br> <br>2. And here’s the two-million-dollar question: How are you contributing to your local church being a place where others experience the good of being loved?<br> <br>3. Which of the three lines laid out in the sermon do you feel you most need to attend to? Caring for/about others? Encouraging others? Serving others?<br> <br>4. Along which of those lines have you most experienced being loved?<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. When you think about membership in a church do you think more about formal membership or about being part of a family?<br> <br>2. How do you feel about formal membership? Are you thinking about it in light of the spiritual reality it represents or merely as some organizational formality?<br> <br>3. How does this idea of “belonging” strike you? How important is it to you? Are you experiencing belonging to a local church family as a good gift from God to you?<br><br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. What was one thing you found helpful from this week’s sermon?<br>2. What are some strategies the world promotes for finding peace? How does God’s word give an alternate path?<br>3. What is one area of your life that you need to grow in entrusting to God? How can you do that this week?<br>4. Which of the 5 instructions would you like to grow in over the next few weeks and why?<br><br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Do you find it natural or challenging to believe that God loves you and wants to do good to you? If it’s challenging, why? What truth(s) from Psalm 86 help you to trust his love and goodness?<br>2. How would you describe in your own words “the fear of the Lord”? How would your life be changed if your heart were more characterized by the fear of God? How can you grow in fearing God?<br>3. How does Jesus’ death and resurrection reveal to us the goodness, greatness, and faithfulness of God? How can we remind ourselves of these things when we pray?<br><br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Of the three requests Jesus instructs us to make in Matthew 6:11-13 which is the most challenging for you? Why is that?<br> <br>2. What might keep you from bringing any one of these requests to God? <br> <br>3. When you bring requests like this to God do you feel like the emphasis is more on whether you’ll get what you asked for or on engaging in meaningful interaction with God about important things? What is the likely spiritual outcome of focusing on specific answers to prayer? What is the likely spiritual outcome of focusing on communion with God? <br><br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. How would you describe your prayer life? Vibrant? Sporadic? Plodding, with occasional moments of sweet communion with God? Non-existent?<br> <br>2. Do you feel you have fully grasped the reality of God as your Father? What associations are stirred up in you by the word “father”? What does Jesus (and the rest of Scripture) want to be stirred up in you by the word “father”? (You may want to read passages like Psalm 103:1-14; Matthew 7:7-11; Ephesians 3:14-21 to help you.) Do you ever feel a danger in over-emphasizing God as father and under-emphasizing his sovereignty and holiness?<br> <br>3. What is the most challenging area of your life for you to pray, “your will be done”? Think of how Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. How might that help you to pray that prayer in the difficult circumstances of your life?<br><br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Where are you encountering trouble in your life that you can’t solve on your own? Is uncertainty about some aspect of the future tempting you to worry?<br><br><br>2. What truth about God from this passage (his unlimited power, unceasing watchfulness, and unfailing protection) do you find most helpful as you seek to entrust your trouble and uncertainty to him?<br><br><br>3. Do you find mainly comforting or unsettling the truth that God doesn’t promise to protect us from all suffering but rather to use our suffering for our good and not our harm? Why?<br><br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>**There are no application questions for this Sunday. See you next Sunday!<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. How often do you make the direct connection between Christ’s birth and his death? Do you find it challenging to make that connection? If so, why?<br> <br>2. Is it hard for you to see yourself as someone in captivity and in need of ransom?<br> <br>3. Do you see anything of yourself reflected in the request of James and John in verses 35-37?<br> <br>4. In what context in your life is it most challenging for you to follow the self-giving example of Jesus? What context in your life provides the greatest opportunity for you to do so?<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Do you find it hard to believe that Jesus is, as this story shows, a “friend of sinners”? Do you find it hard to believe that he desires fellowship with you, even though you fall short? Why do you think that is? What specific truths from the Bible can help you?<br><br>2. Imagine you have a friend who is not a Christian and doesn’t see their need for Jesus; they don’t believe they’re “lost” or a “sinner.” How would you have a conversation with them to try and help them see their need for what Jesus came to do?<br><br>3. When Zacchaeus trusted in Jesus, his faith showed itself in repentance with how he used his money. Jesus transformed him. How has Jesus transformed you?<br><br>4. How can you be more attentive to the ways God is drawing people around you to himself, and how can you make yourself more available for him to use in seeking and saving the lost?<br>_____________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. When you think about the purpose of Christ being born, what are the things that come to your mind? Has this idea of him coming “to bear witness to the truth” been a significant part of your thinking?<br><br>2. Much is made of Christ’s kingship, both at this birth (see Matthew 2:1-12) and at his death (John 18:32-37; 19:19-20). How regularly do you think of Jesus as your King? What are the implications of his being your King?<br><br>3. Do you deeply believe that “the truth” Jesus speaks is the truth for all people? What pressures do you feel pushing you away from believing that? What helps you to believe that this truth is the same for all?<br>______________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. How has this series on death most affected you? Is there some truth from God’s Word that has been newly planted or that has grown stronger?<br> <br>2. What specifically about the resurrection of your body most excites you?<br> <br>3. Is there a part of Paul’s teaching on the resurrection body that is particularly difficult for you to believe? What truth about God will strengthen your belief?<br><br>______________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Paul says “to die is gain” largely because it means being with Jesus. Does the idea of actually being with Jesus capture your heart? What are the things of this life that might rival, or even undermine, your desire for Christ?<br> <br>2. Are you afraid of dying? What exactly is it about dying that frightens you? What word of truth has God spoken to allay your fears?<br><br>______________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Which of the three “weights” of the inevitability of death are you presently most aware of in your life—its temptation to meaninglessness, the uncertainty of its timing, or the gradual debilitation of your body?<br> <br>2. Is there a corresponding delight in the specific “overturning” work of God through Christ? Review I Corinthians 15:57-58, I Peter 1:3-5, and II Corinthians 4:16-18 to help you answer this question.<br> <br>3. What step might you take this week to let the good news of the gospel help you face the reality of death? Will you take that step?<br><br>______________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. What is the closest experience you’ve had with death? What did that loss teach you about the reality of death?<br> <br>2. As you observe the world around you, are there ways that you see Satan continue to minimize the threat or penalty of death?<br> <br>3. Read Hebrews 2:14-15. Do your best to describe the effect on your mind and heart of knowing that in Christ death has been defeated and is no longer something to be feared for those in Christ.<br><br>______________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Last week I asked you, how often do you think about your death? Now let me ask you, how often do you think about heaven? When you do think about heaven are your thoughts vague and fuzzy or clear and distinct, shaped by biblical truth (like I Peter 1:4)?<br> <br>2. Think about what Jesus actually accomplished in his resurrection. How closely do you identify what happened for him with what will happen to you? Consider passages like John 11:25-26; Romans 6:3-5; I Corinthians 15:17-23.<br> <br>3. Which of the three things Peter names as right responses to the truth of our “living hope” do you feel most deeply—hope (v. 13), love (v. 8) or joy (v. 8)? Why do you think that is?<br>______________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Audio only this week.</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. How often do you think about the brevity of your life and the fact of your own death? When you do think about the reality of dying is it with morbid, negative thoughts or thoughts marked by the confidence and peace gained through biblical truth?<br> <br>2. What particular truths from God’s word regarding death are especially precious to you? Are there truths you know in your head but that you want to be more functionally useful and precious to you? What can you do to make that happen?<br><br>______________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Of the three characteristics of God highlighted in I Thessalonians 5:23-24 which do you have the deepest personal grasp of? Which one means the most to you? For which do you have the least developed appreciation?<br> <br>2. Do you feel any temptation personally to “take advantage” of your justification by allowing some pattern of sin to continue in your life? What warnings does the Bible give regarding that possibility?<br><br>______________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. The definition of prophecy used was "telling something the Spirit spontaneously brings to mind." What do you think of that definition? How is it similar or different from what you've thought/experienced?<br>2. There are two ditches of poorly approaching prophecies: being overly cautious or overly consumed. Neither are best. If you did lean towards one ditch, which one would it be? Why?<br>3. When you gather together, whether on Sundays or in Gospel Community or informally, do you tend to be a consumer or contributor? What would it look like to grow in contributing?<br>4. What's a good step for you to grow in hearing the Spirit's voice? <br>5. How can you ensure that the priority of God's word and faithful teaching isn't lost while eagerly desiring the work of God's Spirit in and through you?<br>______________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>

<p>Sermon Application Questions:<br><br>1. Of the three things we’re instructed to do in I Thessalonians 5:16-18—rejoice always, pray always, give thanks always—which feels the most challenging to you? Why do you think that is?<br> <br>2. Do you feel like you truly understand, and then actually make, the connection between verses 9-10 and verses 16-18? What specifically about what God has done for you motivates you toward joy, prayer, and gratitude?<br>_________________________________________<br>Music and Lyrics Used by Permission CCLI# 1595532</p>