FEATURED MESSAGES

God created man for the enjoyment of a walking relationship that involves talking, listening, friendship, intimacy, joint decision-making, having fun and shared responsibility. In this message, you will be reminded that God longs to walk with you. He wants to establish an intimate friendship with you that is walked out through our everyday lives. DISCUSSION and ACTIVATION: 1. How do you “walk” with God? 2. How important is this in your life and do you consciously try to walk with Him? 3. What are some other important factors we need to consider in order to walk intimately with God? 4. Can you think of a time when you actually felt like you were literally walking with God? 5. Spend time in prayer specifically asking God to deepen your walk with Him and to stir up a desire to experience this closeness daily.

Many Christians want to know God and encounter a deeper relationship with Him. But few are aware of the pathway of rest, stillness and quiet trust that leads there. In this message, you will be encouraged to slow down, live from a place of rest and experience lasting soul restoration. DISCUSSION and ACTIVATION: 1 . Read Exodus 33:7. Do you think if Moses hadn’t gone to be with the Lord in the Tent of Meeting the Lord would have come to him? 2. Read Luke 10:38-42. Which person do you most relate to, Martha or Mary? Explain why. 3. How can you balance a life of dwelling in the presence of God while also fulfilling the things that need to get done? 4. What is God’s promise to you in James 4:8? What can hinder this connection? What can you do this week that will draw you into a deeper encounter with God’s presence? 5. Read John 15:1-11. How did the Father love Jesus? With that in mind, how does Jesus love you? What does Jesus ask us to do according to this passage? 6. If possible, put on soft instrumental worship music, grab a pillow and lie down. Ask God to empower your rest and what He wants to give you during this soaking time.

Your heart plays a major role in the way you hear God. When deeply connected to God, that central part of who you are can go further than a head full of knowledge ever can. In this message, we delve into the reality of your heart acting like a filter which shapes the words you hear God speak. DISCUSSION and ACTIVATION: 1. Read 2 Peter 2:15. What was the sin that Peter was referring to here? How can you avoid the same errors? 2. Can you identify a time when you had an idol in your heart? How did it affect your actions? 3. Read Luke 5:16 and Exodus 33:7-9. What similarities do you see in these two Scriptures? Why the need for solitude? How can you increase this in your own life? 4. How does "withdrawing" from the pace of life increase your capacity to hear from God clearly and purely? 5. Ask the Father to reveal a practical time to meet with Him in this season of your life. Set time aside and practice journaling, writing down what He is saying to you.

To hear God’s voice is our birthright as His sons and daughters. God is speaking, but are we listening? In this message, part 1 in the series “Finding Home in the Father’s Heart”, you will be empowered to hear God’s voice and apply wisdom to what you have heard. ACTIVATION: 1. Read Isaiah 6:1-7. What picture do you see in this Scripture? Explain how you feel that the same God in this Scripture is also close enough to speak to you. 2. Ask Jesus what He values most about your relationship with Him. As you listen to what He says, write down what you hear. Share with your group. 3. Read John 16:13-15. What does Jesus reveal as one of the Holy Spirit’s primary jobs? How do you think the Holy Spirit does this? 4. Ask Jesus to speak to you about His plans for your relationship with Him and Father God. Ask Him what your role should be in this season. 5. Discuss some obstacles that get in the way of hearing God’s voice. How can you overcome them? 6. Why is hearing what God has to say so important? Discuss the difference between "Logos" and "Rhema" concerning a word from God.

We are all on a journey home. A home where we know who we are, where we belong and why we exist. But the problem is, many are walking on the wrong path, the path away from Father God’s heart of love. In this message, the introduction to this series, you will get an overview of the foundational truths about your identity and the central motivation of Jesus’ ministry. SUGGESTED QUESTIONS AND ACTIVATION EXERCISE: Spend time together going through this exercise that will help you to see how the orphan mindset can easily shape your daily life without you even realising it. Pay attention to your FIRST and immediate response. There are two different responses to each category: The first will be how someone living like an ORPHAN responds and the second will be how a SON or DAUGHTER of God responds. • THE IMAGE OF GOD: Do you see God as a Master to obey OR a Father to love? • YOUR DEPENDENCY: Are you independent and self-reliant OR interdependent and acknowledge your need for God? • THEOLOGY: Do you live by the religious laws of God OR live by God’s law of Love? • SECURITY: Are you insecure, lacking peace OR do you live from a place of rest and peace? • NEED FOR APPROVAL: Do you strive for praise, approval and acceptance from people OR live as one who is totally accepted in God’s love and justified by grace? • MOTIVE FOR SERVICE: Do you need personal achievement to make you feel good about yourself and to impress God OR do you serve from a motivation of deep gratitude because you know you are unconditionally loved and accepted by God before doing anything? • VIEW OF AUTHORITY: Do you see authority as a source of pain and you find it hard to trust people OR are you respectful, honouring and giving room for God to use leaders to love and lead you? • VIEW OF CORRECTION: Do you find it hard to receive correction or admit you are wrong and get your feelings hurt easily OR do you see correction as a blessing that exposes your weaknesses and empowers you to live higher? • EXPRESSION OF LOVE: Are you guarded and see love as conditional that is based on performance, yours and others OR are you open, patient and able to express love where you lay down your own agenda to meet the needs of others? • SENSE OF GOD’S PRESENCE: Do you feel that God is distant and cannot be known intimately OR is God close and personal? • THE CHRISTIAN LIFE: Is walking with Jesus hard, laboured and difficult OR is walking with Jesus joyful, easy and light? • YOUR POSITION: Do you interact with God like a Servant and a Slave OR as a Child who has the rights of His family? • VISION: Do you strive with spiritual ambition, seek achievements to be known and desire to be treated as someone special OR is your daily experience lived from the Father’s unconditional love and see your life as a joyful representation of Him to the world around you? • FUTURE: Do you fight hard to get what you want OR do you live like someone who knows by experience what it means to live in your inheritance from God? Optional Questions to consider: 1. Why is your IDENTITY such an important aspect of your response to life, to God and to others? 2. What does the word “HOME” mean to you? How does it differ from the Home that God is offering you? 3. Why do many Christians struggle to know God as a Father? What gets in the way? 4. Read Romans 8:15-16. Why do some people interact with God like fearful slaves? What does it mean to approach Him as sons/daughters (i.e. what access does it give you)? 5. What part does Jesus have in your understanding of God as a Father? What part does Holy Spirit have in affirming this truth? 6. Read John 1:12. What does it mean that Jesus gave us THE RIGHT to become children of God? What difference does this make in how you pray? Worship? See your spiritual inheritance?

So much of our journey can be lived in the wrong direction. Looking back and reminiscing about the good old days, will keep us from our destiny. God is moving forward, but are we? In this message, you will be encouraged to leave the past where it belongs and embrace the faith needed to move into all that God has for you. SUGGESTED QUESTIONS & CONVO POINTS: 1. What are you longing for in the past? Why can the past be so attractive to us? 2. What is God asking you to let go of so that you can move forward? 3. What is keeping you stuck in your past? List various mindsets, beliefs or experiences that have held you back. 4. What promises has God given you about your future? 5. What is God asking you to step into that lies ahead?

For centuries, Jesus has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. His Master Plan of building a Church (Ekklesia) is so grand and earth-shaking, but if we're honest, we haven't always got it right. In this message, we go back to Jesus' original intended meaning of how He is building His Church and challenged to adjust our part in making His purpose fulfilled. SUGGESTED QUESTIONS and CONVERSATION POINTS: 1. Read Matthew 16:15-19. What was the declaration that Peter made that would be the foundation on which Jesus would build His Church? Why is that so important? 2. What else can we "build” the Church upon that can push against what Jesus intends? (Be sure to not fall into criticism) 3. Discuss the definition of how the Romans viewed an "Ekklesia" and why Jesus used the same term to describe the Ekklesia He is building. (Note: The Purpose of Ekklesia, according to the Romans, was to change government, the social structure, the language, the education system and the fabric of society, until the people talked, thought, acted like, and considered themselves Romans.) 4. Continue to unpack Matthew 16:18-19. How can we be assured that the gates (government) of the devil will not prevail against the Church? 5. Discuss what you believe Jesus meant when He spoke about the "keys of the Kingdom" and how we are to forbid and permit what is in heaven here on earth. 6. How do you understand the AUTHORITY given to us by Jesus? For what purpose do we have it?

At the end of each year, it is good to reflect on what was and thank God for His goodness, but also to look ahead and seek God for an insight into the year to come. In this message, you will be encouraged to approach the coming year with a single-minded focus that will empower you to live above the atmosphere of the world around you and be a person on whom God's presence rests. SUGGESTED QUESTIONS AND CONVERSATION POINTS: Spend time in personal reflection and take time to journal your thoughts with these prompts: END OF YEAR JOURNAL PROMPTS: 1. Did you see any dreams or goals achieved this year? 2. What were some lessons that you learned? 3. What are you grateful for this year? 4. What is something you discovered about yourself this year? 5. What is something you discovered about God this year? 6. What is one word you would use to describe this year? 7. What was your most memorable moment? 8. What is God saying to you about the year ahead? OPTIONAL Group Discussion: 1. Moses gave us a great example to follow on how to host the presence of God well. Read and reflect on Exodus 33:7-23. a. How can you practically create your own 'Tent of Meeting”' outside of your familiar routine of life? b. What can you do to make your time with God fresh and renew a hunger to prioritize intimacy with God? c. What does speaking to God 'face-to-face' look like to you? d. What changes do you need to make so that God is the first one you run to when you need wisdom and breakthrough? 2. Take time to pray for each other so that the year ahead will be marked by having ONE DESIRE for Jesus. Ask for the Holy Spirit to inspire fresh ideas on how to connect with God.