​Life-Sharing

1. What has God been teaching you through last week’s message – “Now I will Arise” – from ISAIAH 33:1-12? Read the texts once more and discern what the holy Spirit is desiring to say through it.

 
1 Ah, you destroyer, who yourself have not been destroyed, you traitor, whom none has betrayed! When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed; and when you have finished betraying, they will betray you.
 

1. [v.1] The Assyrians were merciless destroyers and betrayers at every level, yet what will the LORD do when they think their destructive military campaign is finished?
2. Like what happened to the Assyrians, what will the LORD do if we keep destroying and betraying His work in our lives (read also Matthew 7:12)?
3. In the face of overwhelming and uncontrollable times, when have you said, “It’s over… I’m toast… It’s finished” while God came through to prove, “Until I say it is, it’s not finished yet”?
4. As God delivered His people from their greatest fear (the Assyrians), what is He delivering you from today? Do we have reason to fear?

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2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble. 3 At the tumultuous noise peoples flee; when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered, 4 and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; as locusts leap, it is leapt upon. 5 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, 6 and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure.
 

1. [v.2-6] When we humble ourselves to call on the Lord’s grace and wait for Him, what happens?
2. Like a father who raises his child on his shoulders to see higher and farther, how does exalting in the LORD raise us to see Him as our stability, salvation, wisdom, knowledge, and treasure?

 
7 Behold, their heroes cry in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly. 8 The highways lie waste; the traveler ceases. Covenants are broken; cities are despised; there is no regard for man.
 
9 The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
 

1. [v.7-9] God’s people at the time trusted in their heroes, envoys of peace, covenants, cities, and beauty of their land. What ultimately happened to all of these?
2. How is the LORD removing your heroes, highways, earthly covenants and beauty? Why must He do this?

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10 “Now I will arise,” says the Lord, “now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted. 11 You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble; your breath is a fire that will consume you. 12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”
 

1. [v.10-12] When the lives of God’s people give birth to nothing more than what is useless like chaff or stubble, what will the LORD do?
2. When we think we have come to the end of ourselves, what will the LORD do?
3. The central truth of this word was – When does God arise to move in our lives? At times, we are fooled to think that the LORD is sitting idly by while life progresses. Yet God is always on the move. Although we may come to an end, until God says it is, it’s not finished yet! The LORD arises to get the last word – not what destroys nor betrays you. For God to rise up, you must go down – humble yourself in His arm and wait for His grace. Until all heroes and highways are put away, God cannot arise as our Hero and Way. With nothing more you can do, God can now arise to do. Jesus, who lives in and through you, arises daily to show His unfading glory and work. Now will you arise with Him? – *How is the LORD arising to move in your life?
4. *How has your walk with the LORD been this past week? What areas of spiritual health have been nourished? What areas are still in need of growth that we can treat together with the Word and Spirit?

Life-Praying
Pray for one another. Give credit and glory to God for answered requests. Wait on the LORD for unanswered requests. Turn away from closed doors and where the Spirit prompts to go another way. Take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, and pray for one another.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18)
…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7)

Life-Sharing

1. What has God been teaching you through last Friday’s “Built Up” Praise & Prayer Night from 1 PETER 2:1-10, and the messages from previous weeks – “A King will Reign in Righteousness” and “Hear My Voice, You Complacent” from ISAIAH chapter 32? Read the texts once more and discern what the holy Spirit is desiring to say through it.

KEY VERSES:
1 PETER 2:2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation-- 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…… 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
 

1. [1 Peter 2] How am I becoming a living stone instead of a stumbling stone? How am I being built up into God’s spiritual house?
2. What were some convictions the Spirit of God gave you through last Friday’s praise & prayer night?

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 ISAIAH 32:1 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice. 2 Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land. 3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will give attention. 4 The heart of the hasty will understand and know, and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.
 

1. [v.1-4] Who are we next to King Jesus, and what will happen when we live into this new identity?
2. How are you growing beyond being forgiven into being a prince/princess/ruler with King Jesus?

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     9 Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. 10 In little more than a year you will shudder, you complacent women; for the grape harvest fails, the fruit harvest will not come. 11 Tremble, you women who are at ease, shudder, you complacent ones; strip, and make yourselves bare, and tie sackcloth around your waist. 12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine,
13 for the soil of my people growing up in thorns and briers,
yes, for all the joyous houses in the exultant city. 14 For the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks;
 

1. [v. 9-14] What was the problem with the women of Judah? What should they have been doing?

 
 

1. When has complacency – the feeling that you’re just fine where you are, you’ve done enough, don’t want to be disturbed – entered your walk with God? Are you hearing the Lord’s voice to “rise up!”?

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15 until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
 

1. [v.15] What happens when the Spirit is poured out?
2. The Spirit wants to pour – not drip – out. How can we let the Spirit pour – do more than we can ever ask or imagine, in our lives and in this church?

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16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. 17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. 18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
19 And it will hail when the forest falls down, and the city will be utterly laid low. 20 Happy are you who sow beside all waters, who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.
 

1. [v.16-20] What are the effects of God pouring out His Spirit?
2. What are the undeniable effects of the Spirit’s pouring in your life?

The central truth of this word was – Do you hear the LORD’s voice to rise up today? Let us not settle with where we are, complacent to what should be uneasy within us, as is uneasy on God’s mind. Learn holy discontentment, to be uneasy and grieve first at our own sins, and then at the brokenness around us. The gift of God’s Spirit has already been poured out through Jesus Christ. Let us not just take sips and drips of Him, but walk and move with Him in godliness and wisdom, showing all the effect of what the Spirit is doing through us for one another – restoring, reviving, reconciling, resting in the dwelling of being fully content – not in ourselves – but in pursuing more and more of Jesus Christ alone. – *How must you “rise up” today?

1. *How has your walk with the LORD been this past week? What areas of spiritual health have been nourished? What areas are still in need of growth that we can treat together with the Word and Spirit?

Life-Praying
Pray for one another. Give credit and glory to God for answered requests. Wait on the LORD for unanswered requests. Turn away from closed doors and where the Spirit prompts to go another way. Take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, and pray for one another.
 
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18)
…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7)

I Lift My Eyes Up
by Vineyard Worship

I lift my eyes up to the mountains
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from You
Maker of heaven
Creator of the earth
 
     O, how I need You, Lord
     You are my only hope
     You’re my only prayer
     So I will wait for You
     To come and rescue me
     Come and give me life
 


All to Jesus
by Judson W. Van De Venter (1896)/
Vineyard Worship
 
Verse 1
All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
 
     I surrender all, I surrender all;
     All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
     I surrender all.
 
Verse 2
All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.
 
Verse 3
All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me.

​Life-Sharing

1. What has God been teaching you through the message “Do Not Rely on Horses and Chariots” from ISAIAH 31:1-9 last week? Read the text once more and discern what the holy Spirit is desiring to say through it.

 
           1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!

           2 And yet he is wise and brings disaster; he does not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers and against the helpers of those who work iniquity. 3 The Egyptians are man, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall, and they will all perish together. 4 For thus the Lord said to me, “As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey, and when a band of shepherds is called out against him he is not terrified by their shouting or daunted at their noise, so the Lord of hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill. 5 Like birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts will protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it; he will spare and rescue it.”
 
           6 Turn to him from whom people have deeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7 For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you. 8 “And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man; and a sword, not of man, shall devour him; and he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be put to forced labor. 9 His rock shall pass away in terror, and his officers desert the standard in panic,” declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

1. [Matthew 14] The disciple Peter was able to walk on water to where Jesus was – right next to Him – yet what caused Peter to begin sinking?
2. What causes “sinking” in your life?
3. In the days of Isaiah, how were God’s people building their life on a “sinking” foundation?
4. [v.1] What were God’s people seeking as their source of help that grieved God’s heart?
5. What are you seeking that is “many” and “strong” that is not a provision of the LORD?
   
6. [v. 2-5] In order to help us, what does the LORD do when He “stretches out His hand”?
7. How has the LORD destroyed the help and helpers around you so that you might turn to Him?
8. How has what is of “man” appear to be like a “god” in your life?
9. What does God need to remove in order to give what is on His heart?
10. [v.6-9] Who creates the idols of our life, and what must we do to them when we turn to the LORD?
11. What “horses and chariots” have you made for yourself? How do you need to let them go today?
12. The central truth of this word was – We all need help at all times. Where are you finding yours? What appears many and strong – is it really from the LORD? May the LORD stretch out His hand to be the destroyer of your helpers/helps apart from Him. May our secret help and weapon not be what is sinfully made for ourselves but in the helpless cry of surrender that turns our face towards Jesus Christ by the power of His Spirit, who alone is our Defender and our Keeper! – *Where are you seeking your help? What secret weapon (horse/chariot) is destroying you and others around you?
13. *What stood out to you most through these words of the LORD?
14. *How has your walk with the LORD been this past week? What areas of spiritual health have been nourished? What areas are still in need of growth that we can treat together with the Word and Spirit?

 
Life-Praying

1. What requests of prayer are still left unanswered, where God has said “no” or “wait”?
2. What requests of prayer have been answered by God, where we can give praise to Him?
3. Read the following Scriptures about prayer. Take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, and pray for one another.

 
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18)
 
…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7)

When I Survey
by Isaac Watts/Vineyard Worship
 
Verse 1
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride
 
Verse 2
Forbid it Lord that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ my God
All the vain things that charm me most
I sacrifice them to His blood
 
Verse 3
See from His head, His hands, His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did ere such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown
 
Verse 4
Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were an offering far too small
Love so amazing so divine
Demands my soul,
Shall have my soul
Shall have my soul
My life, my all

​
Pour Out My Heart
by Vineyard Worship/Brenton Brown
 
Here I am once again
I pour out my heart
For I know that You hear
Every cry
You are listening
No matter what state my heart is in
You are faithful to answer
With words that are true
And a hope that is real
As I feel Your touch
You bring a freedom to all that’s within
 
       In the safety of this place
       I’m longing to . . .
 
          Pour out my heart, to say that I love You
          Pour out my heart, to say that I need You
          Pour out my heart, to say that I’m thankful
          Pour out my heart,
          to say that You’re wonderful!

Life-Sharing

1. What has God been teaching you through the message “Living Counter-Culturally Together” from GENESIS 1:26-28 and ROMANS 12:1-2 last week? Read the text once more and discern what the holy Spirit is desiring to say through it.

 
GENESIS 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
 
ROMANS 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
 

1. What are the different meanings for “radical”?
2. How are we to understand “radical” as Jesus demonstrated it?
3. What was Jesus’ radical message, radical calling, and radical commission? What is the radical response to all of this?
4. [Genesis 1:26-28] From creation, how has God created humankind to engage the culture of creation surrounding them?
5. “Culture” is defined as shared beliefs, values, practices, customs, traditions, behaviors transferred from one generation to another via influence, education. It shapes the way people perceive the world around them and how we interact with others. What is the problem with “culture”? How has sin affected culture?
6. How are we to live in the world, yet be “not of the world” (JOHN 17:14-16)?
7. **Concerning out attitude towards the world, how have we fallen into dualism – separating spheres of private/public, spiritual/physical, inside/outside church?
8. [Romans 12:1-2] The gospel calls us to bring these two spheres together and engage the world as ambassadors of another world/Kingdom belonging to Christ. How does this happen?
9. *Counter-cultural realm #1 – What is your lifelong mission statement?
10. *Counter-cultural realm #2 – How do you view godly stewardship of work, money, and sacred giving? What are some “radical” examples?
11. We are all called by God to step into becoming radical. How can we do this radical counter-cultural living together as a community?
12. *How has your walk with the LORD been this past week? What areas of spiritual health have been nourished? What areas are still in need of growth that we can treat together with the Word and Spirit?

Life-Praying

1. What requests of prayer are still left unanswered, where God has said “no” or “wait”?
2. What requests of prayer have been answered by God, where we can give praise to Him?
3. Read the following Scriptures about prayer. Take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, and pray for one another.

 
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18)
 
…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7)