We exist to lead common people into uncommon life in Jesus.

Transcription

1 We exist to lead common people into uncommon life in Jesus.

2 The Dwell Alignment Study The Dwell Alignment study is a study not aligned to a sermon series or an idea. The Dwell Study is a foundational look at who we are as Grace Point and a reminder of what we are called to as believers and followers of Christ. It is a look at our Mission as Grace Point, our individual roles in fulfilling the Great Commission and the expression of who we are as believers as manifested in the G5 at Grace Point. To Dwell is to be immersed in the presence of God, to Dwell in Him and to allow the Holy Spirit to Dwell in us. At Grace Point, Dwell encompasses Worship It is our vertical alignment to daily seeking to know and understand God. To know His voice, to hear His voice and to be obedient to His voice in our lives. Unity We are to seek Unity amidst the diversity found across Grace Point and across our broader Community of San Antonio. Embracing unity across cultural and racial divides. Engagement It is Engaging with others in all our spheres of influence. It is sharing our story and the message of the Gospel courageously and with boldness. Family It is loving pursuit of the one another's within our biological families. It is strong marriages and healthy home environments where kids experience what it means to follow Jesus not just learn about it. It is the broader faith family and our willingness to love one another as an expression of God s love for us. Fellowship, Discipleship, Accountability, and Care. In this study we will look at the G5 through the lens of this idea of Dwelling on God. It is this manifestation of the Holy Spirit in us that allows us to hear from God and to hear God. It is knowing God to embrace His Grace and to grab hold of our Identity, Grace Identity. It is the doing, the outward expression our love for God and gratefulness to God for the benefit of others. Doing for God because of what He has done for us. Together we will look at the G5 as an expression of who we are as believers and followers of Christ. Hearing Which means we need to be sensitive to how God is speaking to us. Knowing We must understand our Grace Identity and learn to live as forgiven people. Doing The G5 must be an expression of who we are in Christ not to make us who we are in Christ. I am excited that you are joining us on this journey and pray you will begin to experience Jesus in a fresh way as you allow Him to work in you and through you to experience all that He has for you. Bob

3 Life Group Rhythm for this Study Fellowship: Day by day continuing with one mind they went from house to house taking meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart. Purpose: Whether over a meal or just dessert this is a time of getting to know one another and to know each other minutes Worship (Vertical alignment): Begin each Life Group time with 1-3 Worship songs. (You can find worship music with lyrics on YouTube) Purpose: We all come from a day, some good, some bad, some busy or empty. This is to align us to the One who holds all our days regardless of the circumstance minutes Read: Acts 2:42 47 Purpose: Reminds us of why Community. The importance of Sunday gathering and celebration and the importance of Life Group and living out the one another's in Life Group where we can know and can be known and share as anyone has need. 5 minutes Study: Hearing, Knowing and Doing the G5 Purpose: As Christ followers we are called to live out the life of a disciple of Jesus. At Grace Point we have identified 5 attributes of being a Christian (Christ-Follower), we call them the G5. The G5 is not to be thought of as a to-do list to spiritual maturity but as a reflection of our growing relationship with Christ in an Uncommon Life. Dwell: This is a time of 45 minutes Story (Where we have seen God working?) Experience (How have we personally experienced Jesus?) Sharing (Where are we struggling?) Accountability (Are we sharing our faith with others?) Prayer (Asking God to invite us into his work in our lives and all around us.) Listen (What is Jesus calling us to do?) 30 minutes

4 Sessions Outline Session One: To Dwell Who is Grace Point? Vision Frame Who does Grace Point desire us to be? Believers who live out Grace, Growth, Gifts, Give, Go Take the G5 Assessment Session Two: Grace Grace Identity, Grace Life Style The Story Tool Session Three: Grow Beliefs, Practices, Virtues Session Four: Give Systematic, Sacrificial, Proportionate Session Five: Gifts Know your gifts, Use your Gifts Spiritual Gifts Test Session Six: Go Go Local, Go Global Review G5 assessment

5 Session One Our Story Grace Point began in the mind of God before the foundation of the world, but our more recent history begins in Grace Point was started by Castle Hills First Baptist Church as Castle Hills Church Northwest. Castle Hills Church Northwest became autonomous in 2000 and changed the name to Grace Point. God has done some incredible things over the past 25 years, but the desire of our hearts has always centered around one thing: leading common people into uncommon life in Jesus. Much has changed, but the heartbeat of our church has remained the same as we strive to be a church that exalts Jesus and leads others to do the same. Our Mission We exist to lead common people into uncommon life in Jesus. What does it mean to lead common people into uncommon life in Jesus? We believe that the only unique, wonderful, amazing and truly uncommon person is Jesus. We believe Jesus in His work in the Gospel has given us righteousness, has pardoned us of sin, and has given us victory over Satan, sin and death. Jesus is truly the only uncommon person to ever have existed. And we, as a church, desperately desire for our people and our city to be a part of something truly uncommon; we want to know and become more and more like Jesus. Everyone, at the end of the day, is common, because we all desperately need a Savior. Jesus is that Savior we all need, and we strive to be a place where we are leading anyone and everyone into an uncommon life in Jesus.

6

7 Session One continued Understanding the Vision Frame The Vision Frame is a map that guides our direction as a church. Who is the Church? The church is the body of Christ and it refers to all of us who attend Grace Point. Together, Grace Point is a church that desires to see the city of San Antonio changed, lives restored by the truth of God s grace and love in the Gospel of Jesus Christ by being a community centered on the mission of Jesus to make disciples or as we say leading common people into uncommon life in Jesus. Mission As stated, Grace Point exists to lead common people into uncommon life in Jesus. Strategy We do this by connecting people to Jesus and to the church, by engaging in community, and by empowering people to pursue their calling. At Grace Point we strive to make Jesus and His Gospel our main focus by loving God, loving others, and loving our city and the world. Connection Connect to Jesus and the Church Community Engage in Community Calling Pursue your Calling CORE Values COMMITMENT Fully present, fully embodied. Everyone is in need of repentance on some level all of the time. OWNERSHIP This is home, Go the extra mile RELATIONSHIP Mind the gap, People over process ENCOURAGEMENT Progress not perfection, Celebrate the win! G5 As believers and followers of Jesus we have a new Grace Identity. Then as we begin to live out of our identity we become people with a new way of living or uncommon life. Uncommon Life is not about doing things for God but rather it is about experiencing all God has for us because of what Jesus did for us. Like baptism is the expression of our faith in Jesus, the outward reflection of our spiritual health and ongoing pursuit of uncommon life is found in the G5. Grace Grace Identity, Grace Lifestyle Growth Beliefs, Practices and Virtues Gifts Know them, Use the Give Systematic, Sacrificial, Proportionate Go Go Local, Go Global

8 Session One continued At Grace Point? Before we talk about the what of the practices, we need to be clear about where we practice. As we consider how the Bible articulates gathering with believers, like in Acts 2:42 47, it appears to articulate three places : the church gathered corporately to worship with one another, met frequently to share life with one another in smaller communities, and each person was living a life of radical obedience. At Grace Point, there are three primary places where these values and practices are lived out: Corporate Body Hearing We gather together weekly to proclaim Jesus and share in our common identity in Jesus. It is a reminder to us that we are part of something bigger than ourselves and that we can accomplish far more together as the body than we can as individuals. It is a place where we as Christians can learn and affirm what we believe and where those searching can experience the body of Christ, find hope and hear the gospel. Life Group Knowing Life Groups are dedicated to the pursuit of uncommon life in Jesus together throughout the week. It is really the church at the molecular level. This is where we can know one another more intimately and can be known. This is where we can spur one another on, care for one another and challenge one another on to the fullness of Uncommon life. In Life Groups we can experience Jesus at another level, beyond that which we experience with a large crowd on Sundays. Personal Doing Living out the G5 in your everyday life is a way of expressing your gratitude to God for what He has already done for you. It is not done to earn His favor, or the favor of the church, or of man.

9 Session One - Questions Often the only time we hear about the Vision Frame are in Discovery or Mission Partner Workshop. When was the first time and when was the last time you spent time hearing about the Grace Point Vision Frame and the G5? Do you think it is important to review this regularly? Why or why not? Read Jesus commands in Matt. 28:18-20 and Acts 1: Does the vision frame and the mission of Grace Point make sense and does it align with what Jesus calls us to at the end of Matthew 28 or in Acts 1? Why or why not? Take time to take the G5 assessment. Discuss any questions you have as you are taking the assessment. Be honest with yourself and with your Life group with areas you need help with or struggle with. What do you hope to get out of the next 5 weeks of understanding the G5 and being in the Life Group together? Home Work If you don t already have it check out/ download the YouVersion Bible App for your phone or tablet. Search Reading Plans and find Who am I? Devotions on our Identity in Christ and ID Your Destiny Revealed Discuss as a group which reading plan you will do together for your discussion next week on Grace. Read One: Training Handbook in this workbook to help develop your story. Be prepared to give a 3-minute version of your story for next week. If you don t already, begin a daily habit of being in God s word.

10

11 Writing Your Story The foundation of who we are today in Christ begins with our story. Our capacity to know our story of Christ s transformation in our lives and to effectively share it with others is the launch pad for God working in and through us. Consider the below two stories from John Burke s book Soul Revolution as examples of how to drill down your story to the absolute simplicity of the following formula: I was...now I am. Complete the following page with your story, assuming that you have only 30 seconds to share the most important transformational facts of your exchanged life. My neighbor friend came to faith after getting to know some of the women in our neighborhood. She wanted her husband to find faith too, but he was a very stoic, skeptical intellectual. For months and months, our husbands would try to grapple with his deep questions as they dialogued about faith, but nothing could convince him, it seemed. One day I was in my garden, praying for him as I knew it was his birthday. As I prayed for him, I felt prompted to pick a red rose to give to him with a birthday card. I was actually quite intimidated by him, so I took the rose early in the morning and taped it to his front door with a card that simply said, Love you, and so does God. Shortly after that, he became a Christ-follower, and they started coming to church. Later, I was talking to him and he said, You don t know this, but the reason I opened my heart to Christ was because of the rose you left me on my birthday I d never been given a flower before in my life, and for some reason, God s love for me struck my heart for the first time when I got that rose. It was the factor that opened me to faith. I was awestruck at how God works in ways so unique to individuals in ways beyond worlds and imagination. He was controlled by his intellectual skepticism now he has fully put his faith in Christ because of God s love he experienced through other people. I have had struggles for a long time now. Since mom s death, I started drinking a bottle of wine a night, then a bottle of wine plus a six-pack, then I started taking painkillers. For more than two years, I faked being hurt to supply myself with painkillers. I also took them for others. I m so sorry for being selfish and deceitful. I hope people can forgive me and learn to trust me again. My friend s drug-related death was my awakening. I realized I ve been living a lie. I am just as selfish, weak, deceitful, and unhealthy as my friend, and headed for the same fate. I checked myself into a rehab clinic several years ago. I ve been honest about this with my husband, daughter, my church and my work. I truly am a new person in Christ, and I m very thankful. I have times of real struggle and times that I ve fallen off the path. They are most always little trips as I m willing to come to God and those I love right away in order to prevent a spiral back into the hell I once lived in. She was living a destructive life, killing her emotional pain with alcohol and drugs now she finds her healing and peace in Christ.

12 My ONE Story List bullet points from your 15-minute Life Group story (coffee shop version): I was... now I am Write a 2 3-minute story (water cooler version): I was... now I am Write your own story in one sentence. I was...now I am.

13 Purpose We are therefore Christ s ambassador, as though God were making His appeal through us. 2 Corinthians 5:20 God s unique PURPOSE for each of our lives is catalyzed by our individual Exchanged Life Story and the uniqueness of Who We Are In Christ. When these truths intersect with the People and Places unique to our daily world and the unique divine appointments God has set in our daily world, we experience the fullness of God living in and through us in a way that brings significance, joy and eternal purpose. Take an inventory: Who are the People and Places in your life that you have capacity to influence toward Christ? List three people and places As you reflect and pray today, what one person and one place are you being led to focus on and ask God to use you to help lead them to salvation in 2018? Write a prayer. Which two people and places are most unique to you and your interests and passions? IMPORTANT: Share this with the group to hold you accountable.

14 The 3 Circles of ONE are: My Story, My Identity, My Purpose Grace Lifestyle is a Spirit-led lifestyle that comes from the intersection of My Story, My Identity in Christ and My Purpose. Grace Lifestyle is the natural flow of living out who I am (Knowing) not what I do (Doing). It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. (Gal. 2:20)