Sermon Title: BOLD, an Uncharted Journey, week 1
Reno Campus
Pastor Dave Pretlove
Carson Campus
Pastor Dusty Braun
Campus Announcements / Service Moments
Reno Campus
Carson Campus
Sermon Title: BOLD, an Uncharted Journey, week 1
Passage: Nehemiah 1:1-4
- A bold vision gives us something greater to live for.
- A bold vision comes when I look beyond me and mine and the here and now.
- A bold vision comes when God’s heart for people and problems becomes my heart for people and problems.
- A bold vision will dictate the flow of my resources.
GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- What does your heart break for? What drives you?
- What is a calling and a vision, and what does it mean for the life of those who place their faith in God?
- Have you ever felt like you had a vision or dream so big it required you to depend on others or God himself to see it come to pass?
- What was Nehemiah’s unique calling and vision?
- What is the vision God has given us as the people of LifeChurch NV?
- How does LifeChurch’s vision to have an unprecedented impact beyond ourselves break your heart and impassion you in this season of your life?
- Pastor Dave shared that your time, energy, and resources flow towards your vision for your life. Based upon the expression of your life vision, does your life vision align with what God desires from you?
- Where do you find yourself on this Uncharted journey? Are you new to the journey On the journey and weary? On the journey and keeping up nicely? On the journey and complacent? Share with your group as vulnerably and honestly as you are able.
- If it doesn’t matter for eternity, it doesn’t matter. What are the implications of this on your life and your response to the vision God has given you personally and given us as a church family?
PERSONAL REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
- When you think about your life, what vision has God placed on your heart that goes beyond the here and now?
- In what areas of your life do you need to shift your time, energy, or resources to align more closely with God’s vision for you?
- How does knowing that your vision can impact eternity influence the choices you are making today?
SCRIPTURES TO MEDITATE ON:
RESOURCES:
- ARTICLE | JON BLOOM | LORD, MAKE ME MORE BOLD
- BOOK | THE RESEARCHER’S LIBRARY OF ANCIENT TEXTS V5.
- SERMON | JOHN PIPER | WE HAD BOLDNESS IN OUR GOD
MONTHLY SPIRITUAL PRACTICE TO TRY: Meditation
In the practice of Christian meditation, we cultivate a purposeful focus on God. Our daily lives often operate in chaos and fragmentation, leading us to become addicted to distraction and driven by the tyranny of the urgent. But when we meditate, we confront our minds, hearts, and souls with the glory of God.
Meditation is the intentional practice of slowing down the pace of our fragmented day to center our focus on God—on His presence, His power, His glory. It shifts our attention from the temporary to the eternal.
This week, as you explore the discipline of meditation, think often of God and embrace the truth Moses declared to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 31:6: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
He will never leave you. Meditate on His presence and His promise to be with you always.
Meditative Exercise for This Week:
Take time to reflect deeply on this statement from the Heidelberg Catechism:
Question: What is your only comfort in life and in death?
Answer: That I belong, body and soul, in life and in death, not to myself, but to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who at the cost of His own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:
As I have journeyed with Jesus over the years it has become apparent that comfort kills my faith. What I mean by that is the tendency to be comfortable and not stretch myself leads to complacency. In the seasons where I have stretched out and taken big bold steps, I have experienced a closeness with God and a dependency that is unlike any other faith moments. It is at the end our myself that real faith begins and takes root. Galatians 2:20 discusses this idea. ‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ‘
As we embark on this series. I hope you take a few moments to be real and authentic with yourself and ask, What needs to be set down in order to develop a bold faith? I promise you, that you will not regret the journey or the faith God works out in you.
Rob Hans | Spiritual Formation and Connections Pastor