Foundation Church

We will all struggle with unbelief at some point in our life. In this sermon Jesus travels back to his hometown to evangelize the people he grew up with and is met with some hostility, where does this hostility come from and how do people so close to Jesus have such a hard time believing his message? The answer is much closer to home than we might like to realize. Discipleship Questions: 1. Can you remember a time you were so familiar with someone so ordinary that you struggled to believe they were doing something amazing? Explain. 2. Why do you think the people in Nazareth were so offended by Jesus? 3. Have you faced a time in your life when people didn’t believe your message because they were so familiar with you? Explain what happened. 4. In what areas of your life do you struggle with unbelief? 5. How do Paul’s words in Romans 8:32 encourage you to put your faith in God?

Do you always look on the bright side of a situation, or do you expect life to work out poorly? How we approach different situations has serious implications for our life. We see in this passage how different people approached broken situations and how Jesus met them each in different ways, providing for us important lessons in hope and faith. Discipleship Questions: Which of the 4 categories of hope do you usually fall into? How do you think this has affected the way you see life? What can we learn from Jairus’ example of faith? What is the most amazing thing to you about how Jesus responds to the woman with the issue of blood? Is this whole narrative easy or difficult to believe? Why? How can we help one another to find Jesus as the Yes to our hope in all situations?

In our culture we tend to think that If something or someone is broken it means they cannot be used by God to achieve his purposes. Jesus has travelled many miles and been through a serious storm only to be confronted with a very broken man. What can we learn from Jesus' interaction with the demon possessed man on the shores of the Gerasenes? Discipleship Questions: Have you experienced demonic attack or seen someone who was under demonic attack? What happened? How does Jesus interaction with the demonic inform how we can stand strong while under attack? What is the significance of Jesus’ judgement on the demons? How has Jesus’ work and power restored the image of God in your life? What opportunities do you have to use the example of God’s work in your life to tell others about Jesus?

Discipleship Questions: 1. Explain a time in your life when you were in a storm, where did you turn for comfort or shelter? 2. Why do you think that Jesus is so calm during the storm? 3. What can we learn, good or bad, from the disciples actions during the storm? 4. Do you struggle to believe that Jesus can calm the storms in your life? Why? 5. What does it mean to you, to have ‘Jesus in your boat’?

What makes a church spectacular? Is it the same thing that makes a church sincere? The bible has much to say about spectacular and sincere churches that we can learn from. Discipleship Questions: Read Acts 2:42-47 in your Community Group, does your life look like the description Luke gives us of the early church? Why do you think that Paul commends sincerity over being spectacular? Where have you measured the success of our church on its ability to be spectacular rather than it’s sincerity? Of the marks of a sincere church, which one do you need to work on the most to embrace and live out? What is your current motivation to proclaim the excellencies of Jesus?

Discipleship Questions: If you were talking with a non-believer and had to explain that we're to place the light of our lives (Jesus) in the highest place to rule supreme, how would you do that? Are you inviting others into the light (to know Jesus) or are you hiding your beliefs? Has their ever been a time when you were afraid to talk about Jesus to others? In times of darkness in your life (current or past) how did you lean on Jesus? If Gods’ kingdom is not fully revealed in what ways do you see it revealed that are personal to you? Have you ever been frustrated that God's Kingdom's is not restored or been fully revealed? How did you deal with that frustration? If Mark 4:24 says; “Pay attention to what you hear" what does that look like for you? How do you hear Jesus? When reading Mark 4:24-25 how do you relate that to your current walk and how does the verse make you feel?

Jesus teaches a crowd using a style of teaching called a parable, he then explains to his disciples why he teaches in parables and what the explanation to this parable is. Who or what is the key to understanding Jesus parables? The Word. Discipleship Questions: Have you had trouble understanding the scriptures? What helped you begin to understand? Does Jesus’ explanation of why he teaches in parables v10-12, clear things up for you, or give you more questions? Explain what a parable is in easy to understand language. When have you seen the ‘seed’ (Jesus) fall on the different ‘soil's’ (hearts)? How does this parable motivate you to share the Good News of Jesus with other people?

Jesus has another confrontation with his family, this time he makes an incredibly bold statement about who he considers family and how we can become a part of his family. Discipleship Questions: Has there been a time in your life when following Jesus has caused your immediate family to question your choices? How did you respond? Are you made uneasy by Jesus telling you that to be a part of his family you will need to ‘do’ something? Where in you life might you be flirting with Anti-Nomianism, and using ‘grace’ to excuse God’s law to do what you want? Explain the relationship between the Law, the Gospel and the Holy Spirit. How does this relationship encourage you? In light of the Holy Spirit’s empowering in your life, where do you need help to follow the will of God?

Jesus’ fame has spread so much that he is now being openly opposed by the Scribes from Jerusalem, we get to see how he responds to their outrageous claims and from it we learn how we are to respond when we are attacked, falsely accused and misrepresented. Discipleship Questions: Why do you think Jesus is so heavily opposed by the religious leaders of his day? Have you been falsely accused of something? How did you respond, and how was your response different to Jesus’ response? Why is it so important to remember what Jesus has done for us when we have been misrepresented and falsely accused? When have you been guilty of either beginning a attack on someone or fueling the fire by gossiping about it? Have you repented of this sin, to God, and to the person? What is your understanding of the ‘Un-forgiveable sin’? Explain.

Jesus’ fame has spread far and wide and is now arguably one of the most famous men in Israel, he must make some changes to how he does ministry and chooses men to delegate authority and his mission to. Questions: Why do you think Jesus’ reputation spread so far, so quickly? Explain why you think Jesus silenced the evil spirits when they tried to identify him? Have you been called into Jesus’ service? How did he do this? What opposition have you faced while following Jesus? How can we bear reproach in a godly way?

Pastor Jeff Gwinn preaches a message on the importance of understanding God's intention in his law and how it can keep us from being legalistic, judgmental and critical.

In this passage Jesus explains with perfect clarity just the kind of people he has come to minister to answering the question, can anyone be a disciple of Jesus? And he shows us just how accepting he is of those who we would consider too far from God to be saved. Discipleship Questions: In light of what you know about Tax Collectors in Jesus day, can you think of the modern day equivalent in our culture? To eat with someone in Jesus time was to associate with their class, would you feel comfortable eating with the modern equivalent of Tax Collector? Why/why not? In what ways does your heart lead you to be like the scribes when looking at people living in bondage to sin? How does King David’s psalm challenge and convict you? How does understanding your need for Christ make his actions in Mark 2:13-17 impact you?

Are you a good friend? How do you know? In this passage we get to see Jesus’ response to some amazing friends who show a great faith and get to personally see Jesus' proclamation and application of his authority. Discipleship Questions: In light of a biblical understanding of friendship when have you been a good friend? Or a not so good friend? How does understanding Jesus love for us on the cross enable us to be good friends? Why do you think that Jesus responded in forgiving the paralytics sin after seeing the faith of his friends? When have you questioned God’s work in your heart? How did God convict you of that? How can we get better at glorifying God when he does amazing things in our church?

Jesus is confronted with one of the most detestable human sights of his day, a leper, he responds in love and mercy but not without some serious consequences. These confrontations and consequences are just as real for us today as it was for him almost 2000 years ago. Discipleship Questions: What was the most confrontational thing you heard in this weeks sermon? What do you consider to be the worst sin a person could commit? (e.g. To make them like a leper) Does it bother you that Jesus is willing to extend grace and cleanse someone who has committed that sin? Do you struggle to see yourself as the leper in this story? Why do you think that is? Why do we struggle to tell people about how Jesus has cleansed us from our sin?

Was Jesus ministry one of simply working wonders for all to see or was it something much more? In this passage we see Jesus prepare for and proclaim the reason for his coming to earth. What can we learn from Jesus example of prayer and his focus on proclaiming the good news. Discipleship Questions How do you understand the role of prayer in the life of the christian? Is prayer something that you find easy or difficult to do? Why do you think that is? Are you surprised that Jesus’ primary focus was preaching the good news rather than doing miracles? What was the gospel that Jesus preached? What do we need to keep central to our telling of the good news of Jesus?

Jesus heals both privately and publicly, The Kingdom of God is a major theme in Mark’s gospel and Jesus’ healing is a significant part of his ministry. How does this apply to us today? Discipleship Questions: Why does Jesus heal so many people in the gospels? Is it the way he chooses to get famous? Or is there something much more significant going on? What is so significant about Simon Peter’s mother in law’s response after she is healed? How does that apply to you today? Do you struggle with the idea that Jesus can heal? What is significant about understanding Jesus’ attitude towards healing the crowd? What do you need to bring to Jesus to be healed of?

Jesus opens his ministry in Capernaum by teaching in the local synagogue, there He brings the truth of the Kingdom of God out in word and deed. How does this event affect and equip us as christians today? Discipleship Questions: What do you think was the primary difference between Jesus’ teaching and that of the scribes? Why were those present at the synagogue so shocked by the event’s of that day? Can you relate? Have you been exposed to spiritual warfare in your time as a believer? What happened? Why is prayer so important when dealing with spiritual matters? What is the right response to seeing Jesus’ power on display?

God has called us to be faithful, but what does that mean? Are we to simply hoard what he has given us or are we to invest it? And if we invest it who guarantees the return on our investment? Foundation Church want’s to be a Faithful and Steadfast church, listen and be challenged by God’s call to Christians to invest in the church. Discipleship Questions: In the parable of the ten mina’s (Luke 19:11-27), why do you think that the master is referred to as a ‘severe man’? Paul’s exhortation in 1 Cor 15:57-58 to steadfastness is followed by a promise, what is that promise and how does it encourage you? When has God broken through in your life and blessed you for being faithful? Do you trust God with your investments of time, gifts and money? Are you currently being faithful in investing your time, gifts and money in Jesus mission through his church?