ARCC Sermons

Study Questions: 1. Where were you when you first hoped/believed in Christ? What was your conversion like? Looking back, can you see what God was up to in bringing you to Himself? 2. To what would you point to, in your life, as the source of your confidence in your salvation? 3. Read and meditate on Galatians 5:18-25. What sticks out the most to you in this text? What are your thoughts as you read...

Study Questions: 1. What is this “mystery” that God is now seemingly revealing? 2. What does it mean that in Christ all things will be united? 3. Read and meditate on Romans 8:18-25. What is the over-arching theme of this text? What does it mean when it says that all creation is groaning?…that we groan inwardly? What does it look like for us to wait patiently? 4. Pray for the future of our church....

Study Questions: 1. What does scripture say we were actually redeemed from? For what did Christ have to pay a ransom? 2. Read and meditate on Revelation 5. Focus specifically on verses 9-10. What is scripture saying about the purpose and effectiveness of the blood of Christ? What implications might this text have for us in terms of global missions? 3. In light of what Christ had to go through in o...

Study Questions: 1. What does the concept of adoption tell us about God’s view of us? 2. What does the picture of adoption tell us about God’s view of our salvation and redemption? 3. Read and meditate on John 5:1-17. Clearly Jesus healed one man when “multitudes” were there in need. Is God’s grace more or less glorious in this instance? Why or why not? 4. Now what? What do we do about all these k...

Study Questions: 1. Why is theology important? 2. Why would Paul bring this concept of election (being chosen) to the attention of His churches? How is this profitable for the believer? (You may want to meditate on Romans 8:28-39 and focus in on verse 33) 3. If the saints have been chosen since before the foundation of the world then what does that mean for evangelism?…prayer? Additional Scripture...

Additional Scripture References: Jonah 1:17, Habakkuk 1:5-7, 9-11, Jonah 2:5-6, Matthew 12:39-40, Matthew 12:41

Christmas Music, Reading, Children's Songs, & Message

Additional Scripture References: Phil. 1:21: Mic. 5:2; Job 14:1, 2, 5; Matt. 5:5; Luke 1:38; Mark 10:45; Gen. 41:32; Luke 22:22; Acts 17:24-27

Study Questions: 1. Is it possible for secular (non-biblical) traditions to stir our affections for Christ? Why or why not? 2. Read and meditate on 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Would Christmas look different in America / in the Church if we were able to buy in to verse 18? How do we know if we have bought in? Additional Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 15:10; Romans 1:16; Ephesians 1:11

Study Questions: 1. What do we learn about God from this text? 2. What do we learn about man from this text? 3. What are some specific areas of our life here and now that make “the fall” feel like a reality? 4. How do we, as followers of Christ, redeem the relationship that God speaks of in verses 16b and 17a? Additional Scripture References: Psalm 108

Study Questions: 1. Why did satan go to the woman and not the man? 2. What is one practical thing you can look out for in the way of satan’s temptation in your own life? 3. What tools has God given us to combat satan? How, as a small group, can you implement them? 4. Why is there a correlation between their eyes having been opened and their realization of their nakedness? Additional Scripture Refe...

Study Questions: 1. What defines rest? What can we learn from God’s creation example with regards to rest? 2. Read and meditate on Matthew 12:1-14 and Mark 2:27. How does Jesus’ view of “Sabbath” help us in our pursuit of rest? 3. What kind of rest is the writer of Hebrews speaking of in Hebrews 4:9-10? Is it different than the rest we strive for in Hebrews 4:11? 4. From a practical standpoint, wh...

Study Questions: 1. What does it mean that God made man in His image? Are we still in His image? 2. What attributes of God do we learn from chapter 2? 3. Why would God put something in the garden of “pleasure” (Eden) that man could not freely have? (The tree of the knowledge of good and evil) 4. Does your small group have someone (family or individual) either inside or outside the church to bless/...

Study Questions: 1. What attributes of God do we get from verses 1-25? 2. What does it mean when God sees His creation as good / very good? 3. What has God done in your life to show that He is a creator? In other words, what has God done in your life that makes the Bible’s version of creation believable for you? 4. What implications and/or applications come to mind with the fact that God created l...

Study Questions: 1. What is the connection between the worshippers of the beast and the “book of life”? 2. How does the “book of life” give understanding to God’s purpose for creating the universe?…for creating man? Additional Scripture References: Revelation 14:9-11; Revelation 5:5-6; Colossians 1:16; Ephesians 1:11-12; Hebrews 2:9; 1 Timothy 2:6; John 3:16; John 11:50-52; John 6:37-39; John 17:9...

Study Questions: 1. To be an “apsotle” means to be “sent out” or to be a messenger. In what ways do you believe you have been “sent out?” 2. In what ways did some of the New Testament apostles come up against resistance? In what ways did they handle it? 3. Do you believe in general local churches are as missional as they were called to be? And to expound on this rhetorical question, what are some...

Study Questions: 1. What does it mean to be a “learner” of Jesus? How do you know if you are one? 2. Is it possible to be a Christian but not a disciple of Jesus? Why or why not? 3. Read and meditate 2 Timothy 2:2. How would that play itself out today in our church?…in your life? 4. How are going to decorate your trunk for trunk or treat?? Additional Scripture References: Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:...

Study Questions: 1. How does “community” lend itself to worship? 2. Is “worship” primarily a corporate issue or an individual issue? Thoughts on this? 3. Read and meditate on Romans 12:1. Why is it necessary that Paul would insert the phrase “by the mercies of God”? How is it possible to be a “living sacrifice”?…or to live sacrificially? 4. How will the small groups in our church exemplify the con...

Study Questions: 1. What does the relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit teach us about community? 2. Read and meditate on Acts 2:42-47. Is this what the “Church” looks like today? Why or why not? What concept(s) within this text is/are most difficult for the church to carry out today? 3. In 1 Peter 2:5 what does he mean when he says we are being built up us a sp...

The only conviction of the reliability of scripture that will lead to an actual taking up of one’s cross and denying one’s self is a conviction that miraculously comes from the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ! Study Questions: 1. What does it practically mean that scripture is the final authority in the testing of all claims about what is true and right? 2. W...

So when we say that it is our desire that Christ be ultimate in the affections of the church, we mean that it is our desire that Christ would be seen as the most valuable possession, gift, relationship, reward possible for His people. Study Questions: 1. How is the concept of “faith” and the concept of “laying aside every weight and sin” connected? What is meant by the fact that it “clings so clos...

God’s divine plan of redemption didn't end with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. In some sense it had just begun. Because all authority in heaven and on earth belong to Christ He has determined that His Church should glorify Him through making disciples of Him in all nations. Additional Scripture References: Luke 24:25; Matthew 28:17; James 5:19-20; Psalm 51:13; Daniel 12:3; Malachi...

Christ destroyed death when He was raised to life on the third day. ALL OF LIFE can have purpose and meaning knowing how this story ends. The resurrection of Christ is THE REALITY that underlies the human longing for a happy ending and for good to triumph over evil. It ensures that this present age will give way to a perfect and glorious one. We WILL wait patiently for it! Additional Scripture Ref...