Grand Lake Church

Thank you for joining Grand Lake UMC online today, we hope that this service will be a blessing to you and your family and pray that one day you may be able to join us in person. If you have any questions about this service or anything else we offer at Grand Lake UMC please contact the church office by email or phone. Thank you and enjoy God's word this morning!

Read Philippians 3:7-14. 1. What does it mean to leave a legacy? What kind of legacy do you want to leave? 2. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11: 1, “And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” (NLT) In what ways was he imitating Christ? In what ways do you imitate Christ (or Paul imitating Christ)? Are there areas in which you need to improve? 3. What is Paul talking about when h...

Read Acts 2:42-47. 1. The title of this week’s chapter in Chan’s book is “Profile of the Obsessed.” What does it mean to be obsessed with something/someone? To what/whom does Chan say we should be obsessed? 2. Do you think the people of the Acts 2 church were obsessed with Jesus and his church? Why/why not? 3. Pastor Mick shared another pastor’s rather cynical rewrite of today’s passage (“And sinc...

Read Hebrews 11:1-2, 13-16. 1. How does the writer of Hebrews define faith? 2. Why do you think the ancients were commended for their faith? 3. Chan says, “Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy” and, “Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers.” What do you think he means by this? When has your life exhibited this kind of craziness? When have you failed to do so?...

Read Galatians 5:13-15. 1. Paul’s letter to the Galatian church was largely precipitated by his desire to combat some of the false teachings of a missionary group known as Judaizers. Who were the Judaizers and what was wrong with their teachings? 2. Paul talks about freedom in our passage for today. What does he mean by freedom? What did the Galatians not understand about this freedom? What do we...

Read Matthew 13: 44-46. 1. This week Chan invites us to do some serious self-examination. In the workbook he says, “Most likely, this will be the most uncomfortable session.” Why do you think he says that? Why is self-examination so uncomfortable? 2. In the book this week, Chan juxtaposes the parables of Ma hew 13: 44-46 with the “lukewarm” passage from Revelation 3: 14-22. How are these texts dif...

Read James 4: 13-17. 1. Chan says, “The point of your life is to point to Him.” What does he mean by this? Do you agree? Why/why not? 2. Read Isaiah 43:7, Matthew 5:16, 1 Corinthians 10:31 and Revelation 4:11. How do these verses support Chan’s statement above? 3. What did you think about the example of being an extra in a Hollywood movie? Have you ever made yourself out to be more important than...

Read Revelation 4. 1. Why do you think Francis Chan titled his book “Crazy Love”? What is so crazy about this love? What is the significance of the arrows on the book cover? 2. How do we know that God has “Crazy Love” for us? How do we show our “Crazy Love” for God? 3. In Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus outlines some issues with the ancient churches. What are some of those issues? Does the modern church...

Go Deeper This Week Scripture and questions for study and reflection: Read Matthew 28:16-20 1. Why do you think today’s passage is commonly referred to as The Great Commission? What does it mean to be commissioned for something? 2. Pastor Mick said that in this passage, Jesus does essen ally three things: (1) reminds us He’s in charge, (2) gives us our marching orders, and (3) o ers us reassurance...

Read Mark 7:1-8. 1. In today’s passage, there are two references to “tradition of the elders.” What do you think is meant by this? Is it good, bad, or both? 2. How did the Pharisees try to use this “tradition of the elders” against Jesus? 3. Why did Jesus call the Pharisees hypocrites? 4. The Pharisees seem to have lost sight of the intent of the Law and have become focused on the letter of the La...

Today’s Message - August 22, 2021 Sermon:“Dressed for Success ” Scripture:Ephesians 6:10-18 Speaker:Pastor Mick Whistler Go Deeper This Week Scripture and questions for study and reflection: Read Ephesians 6:10-18. 1. What does it mean to “be strong in the Lord”? How is Paul’s writing this from a prison cell a good example of this? 2. In verse 12, Paul says,“our struggle is not against flesh and b...

Go Deeper This Week - Questions for study and reflection: Read Ephesians 4:25-5:2. 1. The church in Ephesus was a compilation of Jewish and Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians. How might this diversity lead to conflict in the church? What does that teach us about the church today? 2. Paul begins this section by telling the Ephesians to “put off falsehood and speak truthfully.” What might have been goi...

Read John 6:24-35. 1. Pastor Mick told a story about stray cats at his mom’s house. What point was he trying to make relative to today’s passage? 2. Do you know anyone (or have you ever been) who is a “stray cat” or a “rice Christian” as described in today’s message? What is the problem with a faith life that functions at this level? 3. In verse 27, Jesus talks about two different kinds of food. W...

Reflect… On the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. On the quote from Tex Evans, “We accept people right where they are, just the way they are.” Ask... 1. What breaks your heart, confuses your mind, makes you angry? 2. What is the Lord saying to you in your moments of silence? 3. What has God called you to before? Is He still calling you to that? 4. How are you going to build relationships? With who...

1. Read Matthew 6:25-34. 2. What do you think the significance of Jesus repeating the command “do not worry” three times refers to in this text? What kind of life do you think Jesus wants for you here on earth? 3. What do you tend to worry the most about? What affect does worry have on you mentally, physically and emotionally? 4. In verses 26 & 28 we read about an illustration of how God takes car...

Read Galatians 5:13-26. 1. What does it mean to live in freedom and how can we use that freedom to “love your neighbor as yourself”? 2. In the United States, we are proud of our freedoms. But are we using our freedoms to love our neighbor or to bite and devour each other? 3. The Fruit of the Spirit is what ends this chapter about freedom. When we follow Jesus and live inside of His freedom, then w...

Go Deeper This Week Scripture and questions for study and reflection: Read 1 Kings 19:19-21. 1. Each week throughout this sermon series there has been a new question. Zach Zehnder says this week’s question is the most challenging:“Am I willing to follow Jesus as my Lord?” What does this question mean to you? 2. Zehnder says something in this week’s session that is a version of what I first heard K...

Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-20. 1. This week’s main question for the sermon series is, “Am I known for what I’m for or what I’m against? What do you think this means? How would you answer that for the Church in America today? 2. In this week’s video, Zach Zehnder talks about honey bees. Why did he pick bees as an example? How is he comparing bees to Christians? What do you think about that? 3. Why kin...

Read 1 Samuel 17:45-47. 1. Each week throughout this sermon series there will be a new question. Today’s question is:“Am I playing offense or defense?” What does this mean to you regarding your faith? 2. Two different sports analogies were used in this week’s study:(1) prevent defense and (2) pulling the goalie (offense). What makes these strategies so different? 3. What happens when a church uses...

Scripture and questions for study and reflection: Read Ephesians 4:11-16. 1. Each week throughout this sermon series there will be a new question. Today’s question is:“Are you a contributor or a consumer?” What is your definition of “contributor and consumer”? Why do you think these words are important to this sermon series? 2. Do you think our consumer-driven culture has affected the church? If s...

Go Deeper This Week Scripture and questions for study and reflection: Read Exodus 16:1-3. 1. This sermon series and Right Now Media discipleship study are titled “Reopening Christianity.” What does the title mean to you? How might it relate to Covid? How might it be bigger than Covid? 2. The key question we’re trying to answer today is, “Am I moving forward or going backward?” What do you think is...

Scripture and questions for study and reflection: Read Romans 8:22-27. 1. Today is Pentecost Sunday. What does that mean? Why is this day significant? 2. Read Acts 2:1-13. What is going on here? What is significant about the languages/tongues of fire? What does this mean for us today? 3. Why do you think Paul uses a pregnancy metaphor in today’s passage from Romans? What is he trying to help us un...

Go Deeper This Week Scripture and questions for study and reflection: Read Titus 3:1-2. 1. Paul starts off this passage by telling Titus to “remind the people” of six different things regarding godly living. Why is this “reminding” so important for followers of Jesus? Do we still need reminders today? 2. What does Paul mean when he says, “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities,...

Go Deeper This Week Scripture and questions for study and reflection: Read Titus 2:11-15. 1. Paul uses the word “appearing” (from the Greek epaphane, the root for the English word epiphany) twice in this passage. To what is each “appearing” referring? 2. Pastor Mick defined “epiphany” as (1) manifestation of God and (2) an “aha” moment. In what way is Jesus both? 3. What does it mean to live “in t...