Know Grow Show

Looks Like Love - 1 John 5.18-21

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Church, North Gower, Ontario. 
www.knowgrowshow.ca
 
To listen on your favourite podcast provider (Spotify, Stitcher, Apple or Google) visit knowgrowshow.ca and click on the podcast tab. 

Looks Like Love - 1 John 5.13-17

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Church, North Gower, Ontario. 
www.knowgrowshow.ca
 
To listen on your favourite podcast provider (Spotify, Stitcher, Apple or Google) visit knowgrowshow.ca and click on the podcast tab. 

Looks Like Love - 1 John 5.6-12

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Church, North Gower, Ontario. 
www.knowgrowshow.ca
 
To listen on your favourite podcast provider (Spotify, Stitcher, Apple or Google) visit knowgrowshow.ca and click on the podcast tab. 
 
Passage: 1 John 5:6-12
 
The One Thing: Brand Spanking New Story

Looks Like Love - 1 John 5:1-5

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Church, North Gower, Ontario. 
www.knowgrowshow.ca
 
To listen on your favourite podcast provider (Spotify, Stitcher, Apple or Google) visit knowgrowshow.ca and click on the podcast tab. 
The Passage: 1 John 5:1-5
The One Thing: Brand Spanking New Life
Know
K1 According to 1 John 4:15 – God lives in us, and we live in God. Bit confusing, isn’t it? How can this be? How can we use this as an encouragement?
Grow
G1 Read verse 1: “…everyone who loves the father loves his child as well”. Does this refer to Jesus (God’s child) or us (God’s children)? Look at what comes before and after to help you figure this out. Do you think it matters?
G2 Being “born again” is a bit of a tired and worn phrase. Why is being “born again” such an important Biblical concept? And why has it become such a cliché? Think of ways we can inject fresh life and meaning into it.
G3 Dan said “If Satan was to do a paternity test on you it would come back 100% that you are God’s. In other words, in God’s kingdom, there are no bastards”. Should we reclaim slightly dodgy terms like “bastard” or do you think it does more harm than good?
G4 Verse 2 says that we know we love God’s children by (a) loving God and (b) carrying out his commands? How can these two acts lead to confidence that we are loving each other right? Why isn’t it enough simply to say “I know I love God’s children because I love God’s children?”. What do we make of verse 3 where love is actually defined as keeping God’s commands?
G5 Verse 3-4: Have you ever felt that God’s commands are burdensome? If so, what do you make of verse 3? What is the connection between obedience and overcoming in v 3-4?
Show
S1 Dan said that
Right belief (verse 1a) leads to
Right relationship (verse 1b) leads to
Right affection (for God and others) (verse 2)
Right action (or obedience) (verse 3) which leads to
Right outcome (verse 4 and 5)
Why is it not wise to start with “right action”? What is one area of your life that you need to start developing some “right belief” about?

Looks Like Love - 1 John 4.7-21

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Church, North Gower, Ontario. 
www.knowgrowshow.ca
 
To listen on your favourite podcast provider (Spotify, Stitcher, Apple or Google) visit knowgrowshow.ca and click on the podcast tab. 
The Passage: 1 John 4:7-21
The One Thing: Brand spanking new love.
Growgroup questions
Know
K1 Any embarrassing dancing stories?
Grow
G1 1 John 4:10. Why prompts John to say that our love for God is not love?
G2 Dan likened our love for God with Kraft Processed Cheese Singles compared to the cheese board of God’s love for us. Think of other “over the top” pictures / comparisons that might help you explain God’s love to someone else. Here’s an example: “If our love for God is like a black and white 1950s TV, then God’s love for us is like the IMAX”
G3 What did you think of Sheldon’s phrase “Penny, you’ve not given me a gift. You’ve given me an obligation”. How is the message of Christmas different to this? How does 1 John 4:10 show us the uniqueness of the gospel message compared to other world religions / systems of thought?
G4 Consider Dan’s analogy of life with God being like a dance, where He leads and you follow. How might this analogy give you a different way of approaching or interacting with the other Christians in your life? How might it apply to the not-yet-Christians in your life?
G5 People have a misconception that God the Father is angry with them and Jesus stands in the way. How does the overall tone of our passage today dispel that myth? What picture of God the Father is painted in our verses this week?
G7 Spend a minute in quiet thinking of this phrase “God is love” (verse 8). What are the different ways we can internalize this simple, yet profound phrase?
Show
S1 Your Show Project: how it going? Any final plans need to be made? If you’ve not set a date, now’s your chance to do it.

O Cannabis! (Legalization in Canada - a conversation)

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Church, North Gower, Ontario. 
www.knowgrowshow.ca
 
To listen on your favourite podcast provider (Spotify, Stitcher, Apple or Google) visit knowgrowshow.ca and click on the podcast tab. 
The Passage
2 Timothy 3:15-17, 1 Corinthians 6:12, Ephesians 5:15-19
The One Thing
O Cannabis! Legalization in Canada: a conversation.
Growgroup questions
Know
K1 When you were growing up, how were you raised to think about cannabis or marijuana?
Grow
G1 What do you think of the idea that the cannabis plant was part of God’s good creation?
G2 How would you respond to someone who says that “because God created it, it’s obviously good for us to use recreationally. Toke away!”
G3 From scripture and your own understanding, should there be a differentiation between recreational and medicinal use of cannabis? Explain your reasoning.
G4 Share your response to the conversation with Cody. Was there anything he said that surprised you, made you think or encouraged you? Did he change at all your view of cannabis?
G5 Read 1 Corinthians 6:12 - how can we apply the two conclusions of this text to recreational cannabis usage?
G6 Ephesians 5:15-19. What are we putting at risk when we indulge in intoxicating / addictive habits? What is the connection between “not getting drunk” and “worship and gratitude”?
G6 In what ways can we speak Jesus’ good news, truth and wisdom into the lives of the children who are growing up in a world of legal cannabis?
Show
S1 growgroups wrap up this season on 8th What is your Fall show project? It’s time to git ‘er done!

Looks Like Love - 1 John 4:1-6

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Church, North Gower, Ontario. 
www.knowgrowshow.ca
 
To listen on your favourite podcast provider (Spotify, Stitcher, Apple or Google) visit knowgrowshow.ca and click on the podcast tab. 
The Passage
1 John 4:1-6
The One Thing
Everything is worship.
Growgroup questions
Know
K1 Dan talked about skiing. Do you have any stories about skiing or another winter sport?
Grow
G1 The Gnostic (Gnosis = knowledge) teachers taught that we are divine sparks trapped inside sinful matter; that our true self is our soul, not our body. Where do you see this kind of thinking in our culture today?
G3 Have you ever had a moment where your spirit it troubled at something you’ve read or heard from a Christian teacher? How could you tell this feeling was from God or just yourself? What did you do?
G4 Read 4:2. Why is the incarnation of Jesus Christ THE test by which we can know true teachers from false teachers? How can we apply this test to, for example, what we’re reading or what we’re listening to?
G4 3:20 tells us that God is greater than our hearts. 4:4 tells us that God is greater than the one who is in the world. Try to draw a line between these two truths. How can reminding ourselves of them be a source of strength?
G5 Read 4:5-6. How could these verses be abused / misused in the local church setting? How would you respond to someone who says “Well, that’s just typical Christian circular reasoning”?
G6 Our circumstances are the landscape. God is the snow, covering our circumstances. Worship is skiing. What part of your current landscape do you need to remind yourself that God is there, and worship is possible? This week choose to put on your skis.
Show
S1 Where is your Christmas show project going to be? Who’s going to be doing what? This week, the gg coordinator should email Dan with a summary of the plan.

Looks Like Love - 1 John 3.11-24

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Church, North Gower, Ontario. 
www.knowgrowshow.ca
 
To listen on your favourite podcast provider (Spotify, Stitcher, Apple or Google) visit knowgrowshow.ca and click on the podcast tab. 
The Passage
1 John 3:11-24
The One Thing
God is greater than your heart
Know
K1 Share your funniest / most frustrating customer service experience.
Grow
G1 How is the view of the heart in Jeremiah 17:9 at odds with how today’s culture views the heart? In light of verse 9, Is verse 10 a comforting or troubling verse to you?
G2 “God is greater than our hearts”. The Greek word for greater in this verse is “mega”. Brainstorm different words in English that have the word “mega” in them. How do these words help us to grasp how much greater God is than our hearts?
G3 Read verse 20 + 21. Look at the phrases: “if our hearts do / do not condemn us”. What is our source of confidence (verse 19) is each case? How can 1 John 2:1-2 shed further light on these verses?
G4 Read 1 John 3:15. Try to explain / describe the hatred being referenced in this verse. What does it look like? Compare with 1 John 2:9-11. What does it mean that John included this statement (3:15) in a letter to the church?
G5 Both 1 John 2:28 and 1 John 3:21 talk about confidence in God. What is the source of this confidence? Do you have this confidence? What does it take to actually have this confidence as a daily reality?
G6 Verse 16, verse 19 and verse 24 all use the phrase “This is how we know…”. According to these verses, what can the ordinary Christian know and what is the source of that knowledge?
Show
S1 As we start to move towards Christmas, take time to firm up the show project you can do to live out 1 John 3:17-18. Choose a point person and decide the when, where, who and how.

Looks Like Love - 1 John 2.28-3.10

The Passage
1 John 2:28-3:10
The One Thing
God grace lets you launch out, hang tight, aim true.
Know
K1 Take a couple of minutes: each person grab a piece of paper and make a paper aeroplane. See whose flies the farthest. The winner wins the title of Grace Glider 2019.
Grow
G1 Are you more a law-lover or a freedom junkie? How is being a grace-glider a better, and more biblical alternative?
G2 What does grace-gliding mean to you? How can we glide through life on God’s grace?
G3 3:5 and 3:8 give different reasons why Christ appeared. What are they? How are they different? What connects them?
G3 According to Dan, what is each member of the Trinity’s role in helping us grace-glide?
G5 Compare the Christ appeared (verses 3:5 and 3:8) with the future tense of “when Christ appears” (3:2). How can this encourage us in living for Jesus?
G6 This might seem like a redundant exercise, but have someone read 3:1 up till “That is what we are” over and over again, emphasizing different words (See what great love the Father has lavished…see what great love the Father has lavished…see what great love the Father has lavished). What word spoke most clearly to your heart? Share with the group some of your thoughts about what God is showing you through this.
Show
S1 Take time this week in your time alone with God, to imagine the reality that you are buoyed up on the grace thermals of God. Feel them around you. Allow the Holy Spirit to keep directing you into God’s grace, when you are tempted to steer away.

Safe Church Action Plan (Training Session October 2019)

Cornerstone believes that childhood innocence is a gift from God. Children are naturally trusting. They readily place their faith in adults who care for them. It is Cornerstone’s responsibility to safeguard that trust. Cornerstone commits to: implementing procedures to provide a safe environment for children and other vulnerable persons; and adopting a zero tolerance policy for abuse in any form. 
If you missed the October 2019 training session, you can listen to the entire 90 minute audio.