INWARD PRAYER

QUESTIONS

 

1. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being no faith in Jesus // 10 being Colossians 2 in action on the daily). Where are you at today? 

 

2. When have you seen your faith grow the most in your life? What were you doing? What was special?

 

3. Who in your life encourages you in your walk with Jesus? Whosefaith inspires you to follow Jesusdeeper? 

 

4. Are you good at being thankful?  Why do you think thankfulness is so important as a Christian?

 

5. Thinking back to the scale in Q1, where do you want to be this time next year? How are you going to get there?

OUTWARD PRAYER 

FOLLOWOLOGY – GROW TOGETHER 

WHAT’S THE POINT?  

Followers of Jesus continue to grow 

WORD UP: 

Colossians 2:6-7 

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 

WAKE UP 

 Share a story from your life where you have seen growth in discipleship (following Jesus) 

 WHY DO I CARE? 

 In life, we often talk about growing in faith but sometimes it’s hard to put it into words or actions. Growth is natural. We see it in nature as we look at the plants and the trees. We see it in humans as we watch a tiny baby grow into an adult. We see it in a child as their intelligence grows. We see them learning thier first words or taking their first steps. Growth is natural. Yet, when we consider our faith in Jesus, often it hard to measure. “Are we growing?” 

As followers of Jesus growth is something incredibly important. As we follow Jesus and give full control to Jesus, it’s natural that we begin to grow into the people He intended us to be. As our character becomes more like Jesus’ character, it not only affects us but those around us.  

Growth in faith is not always up and to the right. It can often be a very staggered, backwards, spun around type of growth. There are moments or markers in our life where we recall the goodness and faithfulness of God and it sparks our obedience to Jesus to go deeper… and then there are mundane moments of life that sometimes allow us to regress in our faith.  

Faith growth is a little like the housing market. It’s a bit up and down throughout the year but long-term (decades) it should steadily grow. 

Paul reminds us in Colossians 2: 

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” 

Paul gives us a glimpse into what growing in our walk with Jesus looks like. Notice it’s not just spiritual, but there is an action response to spiritual growth. 

Paul reminds us that we have received Jesus as Lord. This first line is rather crazy. We choose to receive Jesus, but we receive him as Lord. Lord in this context means Master. So, we have received Jesus as our master. This means when we chose to follow Jesus, we are giving him full and complete authority over our entire life. This is a big decision to make.  

Paul then challenges us to live our lives in him, rooted in him and built up in him. Notice that faith in Jesus is not a one-time moment. It’s not just a prayer or a decision. It is a continued action that is constantly worked out. He then says that through this, being rooted and built up in Jesus giving him complete control of our life, our faith is strengthened! It seems so obvious, but often so hard for us to do. If you want to have a strong faith in Jesus and experiencing God’s presence and goodness on the daily in your life, Jesus has to become Lord. 

And finally, Paul says that in everything we do, we are to overflow in thankfulness. That thankfulness is in response to what Jesus has done and continues to do in our lives and we are to show that to others. 

 

WHAT DO I DO? 

The first thing to do in response to this scripture is to ask yourself: “Is Jesus truly Lord of your life?” 

Secondly, you have to ask yourself, am I rooting myself in Jesus and seeing my faith grow. 

If the answer is yes, great. Continue to grow. 

If the answer is no, there are some really helpful things you can do. Sometimes we get stagnant or mundane around faith. Try opening your bible and reading it again. Trying praying for something bold with the faith that God will answer. 

Thirdly, are you overflowing with thankfulness? Notice thankfulness in the passage is not dependant on your circumstances, but on who Jesus is and what he has done for you and continues to do for you. Thankfulness is an obedient act of following Jesus. We have to practise it. 

Finally, People who grow, grow others also. As you grow in obedience to Jesus, as you follow him, root yourself in him, be built up by him and as you pour out thankfulness… that spills over to those around you. Healthy followers of Jesus grow those around them too.