Sunday Jan 19th

1. Can you think of a movie or book or perhaps even an example from the sporting world where someone was superseded by someone younger or newer than him or her? How did the one being superseded react to this?

2. Read John 3:22-30.

3. What does it mean to surrender? What place does surrender have in the Christian life? PastorJon referred to story of Naaman (see 2 Kings 5). Why did he bring this story up in this message?

4. John the Baptist refers to the friend of the bridegroom in this passage. What significance does this reference have for understanding John the Baptist’s priority?

5. “You are not Christ.” What does this statement mean for your Christian walk?

6. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” What does this mean? What does this mean for you personally?

God Will Make A Way - Week 4

1. Pastor Bill said that the path God takes often travels through human impossibility. What are some examples of this from Scripture?

2. Read Luke 1:26-38.

3. Pastor Bill said that when God makes a way through the impossible He usually calls a person. Why do you think God works through people? Can you think of a time when God worked through you? What happened?

4. Humble origins are fine with God. Have you ever allowed your past to define you or limit what you could be? How so? Is God calling you to more?

5. What stands out for you when you reflect on Mary’s response in verse 38? How have you responded to God in the past?

6. Pastor Bill spoke about laying claim in prayer to what God has called you to do. What does this mean? Have you done this?

God Will Make A Way - Week 3

God Will Make A Way - Week 3 by Tacblogs on Mixcloud

1. What is your favourite Christmas tradition or memory from growing up?

2. Read Matthew 2.

3. Pastor Bill said that this passage is full of incredible contrasts. What are some of these contrasts? What comes to mind as you reflect on these contrasts?

4. Pastor Bill said that God makes a way through the power of His voice. How does God speak in Matthew 2? How has He spoken to you?

5. Pastor Bill said that God makes a way through humble devotion/pure hearts. Who demonstrates a pure heart in this passage? What are the marks of a pure heart?

6. Pastor Bill said that God makes a way through the power of His Word. What prophecies are fulfilled in Matthew 2?

7. God is intervening in the situations of history and of our lives. How have you personally seen this to be true? Where do you need God to intervene in your life in the present?

God Will Make A Way - Week 2

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1. Talk about a promise someone kept for you in spite of difficulty.

2. Read Matthew 1:1-17. What stands out for you most in this passage?

3. What are some of the highs and lows in the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? In what ways do  you see yourself in these men?

4. Think of David. How can a person described as he is in Acts 13:22 sink as low as he does in the Bathsheba incident? How can we protect ourselves from spiritual falls?

5. Pastor Bill said that the genealogy in Matthew 1 is a testimony to the grace of God. What did he mean by this?

6. Share one of the ways in which God has brought light out of darkness in your own life.

7. Pastor Bill said that in Christ, generational sins (anger, addiction, etc.) can be broken. Are there

any such sins in your life that need to be broken? Pray for one another for deliverance.

God Will Make A Way - Week 1

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1. Share a time when you had to wait for something and the waiting seemed almost unbearable.

2. Read 2 Peter 3.

3. “God will make a way, though the time is very long.” What did Pastor Bill mean by this?

4. What happens to human beings when they need to wait for a promise to be fulfilled? Does hope grow? Does it wane? Does it depend on what the promise is?

5. How might a Christian grow in hope and expectation in regards to the return of Christ?

6. The power of God’s Word. How has God demonstrated the power of His Word?

7. God sees time very differently than us. What practical implications does this have? Does this knowledge encourage or frustrate you?

8. Why has Christ not returned yet? How should we live in the light of God’s patience?

9. Compare the first advent of Christ with the second.

10. What are you going to do this advent season to help build your hope and joy as you wait for Christ to return?

God's Auto Correct - In Crisis

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Sermon by: Debra

1. Have you ever been trapped outdoors in a horrible storm? Share about this experience. How did you find protection? What thoughts were going through your mind?

2. Read Acts 27:13-44.

3. Pastor Debra shared that in any crisis there are physical, emotional and spiritual challenges. Define each of these challenges. Share how all three of these challenges arose in a crisis you experienced in your own life.

4. When you've been in the midst of a crisis and your trust in God has begun to waver, how have you responded? What do you do in times of doubt?

5. How can we build our confidence in God?

[i. Take God at His Word (believe Scripture), ii. Recount stories of remembrance, iii. Come out of isolation and into community] Share specific examples of how these confidence builders have personally blessed you.

6. Who in your group needs confidence in God today? Pray for one another.

God's Auto Correct - Jesus Knocking on Your Door

God's Auto Correct - Jesus Knocking on Your Door by Tacblogs on Mixcloud

Sermon by: Andrew Stuart

1. Did anything strike you in the sermon that you had never thought about before? Any new insights? Any new ways of thinking about something that you thought you “had a handle on”? Discuss.

2. A main of point of the sermon was that lukewarmness (feeling distance from God, or like God is less real) comes when we have somehow excluded Jesus in one way or another from our lives.

(a) Do you agree with this claim? Discuss how it is that excluding Jesus leads to lukewarmness. (think about who it is that we are excluding).
(b) What does this tell us about how we were made and how we are meant to live (think fellowship and intimacy with God).

3. How do you think the church of Laodicea got to the point where it had excluded Jesus? What is the relation between
(a) being wealthy, having lots of clothes, and having good medical care and
(b) excluding Christ? Are wealth, clothes, medical bad in themselves? How we they misused by the Laodicean church? Discuss.

4. Can you think of any similarities between the city of Laodicea and the city of Toronto? If we can describe the “spirit” of Laodicea as one of self-sufficiency or self-reliance, how might we describe the “spirit” of the city of Toronto?  Discuss.

(a)In the sermon it was mentioned that the church of Laodicea looked no different than the city of Laodicea - that the spirit of the city (self-reliance) had infected the church with the same spirit. What does this show us about how TAC ought to relate to the city of Toronto. What are the dangers might there be that threaten the fruitfulness of the church in such a big city? What do we need to be careful of?

5. Can you think of any other examples in the New Testament where Jesus sits down to have a meal with people? What stories come to mind? (Zacchaeus in Luke 19; the Lord’s Supper in Mat 26:17-30//Mark 14:27-31//Luke 22:7-23//John 13

(a)How might the scene in Revelation 3:20 have something to do with the Lord’s Supper? Discuss

6.At the end of the sermon, a variety of possible areas of life were suggested as potential areas where we can exclude Jesus (ex: relationships, finances, marriage, work, school, emotions). Did the Holy Spirit bring any such areas to mind for you? Any doors that Jesus was knocking on for you?

7.What are some ways we can be making sure that our doors are kept open for Christ? Any disciplines we can undertake to make sure we are not excluding Jesus?