Boulder Creek Community Church

Small Group or Personal Devotional questions to follow up Sunday's message.

Why Do You Call Me Lord And Do Not What I Say?

Do you want to get well ? Do you want to get well John 5 – Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been an...

Do you Also Want To Leave Me Now

A Demon's Guide to the Election How C.S. Lewis Addressed National Division In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis imagines how an experienced demonic operative might advise a younger, less experienced understudy in the intricacies of counter-Christian spiritual warfare. In one passage especially relevant right now, Lewis describes how politics could be used to tempt and thwart a Christ-follower. The...

Seek to edify all! 1. Seek to edify! 19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. - Don’t make being right more important than the relationship! - What if sought to serve and encourage every person you ever met? Your greatest aim as a Christian… Is to impact and influence others! Not to be right! If you sacrifice the relationship for being right, then...

Put people before politics

Stephen Mealing

Mark 12:13-17 13 Later the leaders sent some Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested.14 “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. You teach the way of God truthfully. Now tell us—is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay them, or shouldn’t we?” Jesus saw through their...

Mark 12:13-17 13 Later the leaders sent some Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested.14 “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. You teach the way of God truthfully. Now tell us—is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay them, or shouldn’t we?” Jesus saw through their...

1 Timothy 2:1-2

The Serenity Prayer – God grant me the serenity… To accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference…. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world As it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right… If I surrender to His W...

Jesus is brought before Pilate... John 1833-19-16

We need to see politics and culture through the lens of faith... not the other way around.

Shame – comes on the heals of guilt. ** Example of Guilt and Shame at work – you blow it… tell a lie! You feel bad about doing something wrong… but deeper than that… you feel ashamed! You did something you despise in others… you thought you were better than that! You thought you were more courageous than that! Opposite of guilt… innocence! Opposite of shame… Glory! (Significance… value… worth) Wro...

2) Phantom Guilt – Like a person who has had a limb amputated. Phantom guilt can persist in a Xian’s life for sometime if not dealt with… where does it come from…? - A hypersensitive/weak conscious… - Unhealthy spiritual upbringing… - Unhealthy upbringing… o Don’t feel what you feel… feel what we tell you to feel! o Don’t show emotion! ** Don’t ever get angry! o Emotions not validated… You shouldn...

Two kinds of guilt: 1) True Guilt – A good thing! Not a good thing when someone never experiences guilt! Psalm 51:4 – 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. David has a straight edge… it’s God who sets the standard, and its God who determines sin and is 1st offended by our sin. To distinguish true a...

Matthew 4 – 18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” (Not a cheesy play on words… but a 1st century idiom… follow me and you will become like me! You will becom...

Emotional Intelligence – EQ vs. IQ… EQ is The capacity to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. ‘emotional intelligence is the key to both personal and professional success’ According to the bible we are not only emotional beings, but we are also complex creatures made up of mind, conscience, spirit & emotion...

Be good and mad

Luke 6:40 – 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. We become like the people we are around the most! Luke 10 – 38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taugh...

** So… Question: When you get mad. What are you defending? When you understand what it is you’re defending, you have the answer to what it is your heart holds most dear. Which leads us to why it is that our anger… the things that make us angry bring about so much pain, heartache and destruction in our relationships… Our basic problem is NOT anger, but that our anger is disordered. Disordered anger...

"Be angry"! Anger is love in motion… it’s a response to defend someone or something that is threatened! When your child is threatened by someone trying to hurt them or violate them, a normal healthy response is to be angry! Anger is commanded! Ephesians 4:26-27 – 26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil.” John Chrysostom (pastor in the...