Know Grow Show

Ultimate Questions - The God of Jericho

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Wesleyan Church, North Gower, Ontario
www.wearecornerstone.ca
 
 
Know
What do you think about the Pyeonchang Olympic stadium being used 4 times and then being torn down? Would you do anything differently if it was your call?
Grow
Do you wish you could cut parts out of the Bible, like Thomas Jefferson? If so, which parts do you wish were not there?
Stuart Briscoe was quoted as saying “There are some answers as to why God acted in the ways that trouble us”. How do you usually handle difficult parts of the Bible: do you ignore them? Wrestle with them? Write them off as God working in His mysterious ways? Something else?
God’s plan for creation was not war but shalom (which means the webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfilment, and delight): where do you see shalom in this world? Where do you see it lacking?
Why is inaccurate to say that the Canaan conquest was genocide or ethnic cleansing?
Language like ‘wiped out’ or ‘kill everyone’ is considered by Biblical scholars to be ‘trash talk’ or war language. It’s a kind of exaggeration that was commonly used across the ancient world. Does this make the Bible seem more or less reliable to you? Explain your answer.
Dan said that God’s goal is not for us to take every word in the Bible literally, but to take every word in the Bible seriously. What is the difference between the two terms?
Knowing what you now know, if your non-Christian friend came up to you and said “I don’t believe in God because He’s vengeful and bloodthirsty. Just look at Jericho”, how would you respond?
Show
Hopefully you’ve already decided what your show project is going to be this season. Keep on getting those details down. Please tell Dan or Stacey what you are planning to do so they can be praying for you. You can email Dan at dan.james.wallis@gmail.com

Inheritance - Joshua 5.13-6.27

 
Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Wesleyan Church, North Gower, Ontario
www.wearecornerstone.ca
 
Joshua 5:13-6:27
Don’t hide from God. Seek Him.
Know
Did anything stand out to you or strike you about today’s message? What did you feel that God was drawing your attention to?
Grow
Who do you think the Commander of the Lord’s army was (end of chapter 5)?
Joshua asked the Commander are you for us or for our enemies and he answered “Neither”. Compare this with Romans 8:31. Do these verses contradict each other?
Why is the detail included in the Bible that the commander had his sword drawn (end of chapter 5)?
In what way were the people in Jericho hiding from God?
In what was were the Israelites seeking God?
How do you think Rahab’s accommodation was spared when the walls fell? How might this have actually taken place?
Dan said that Rahab is evidence that what happened to Jericho didn’t need to happen: if she, a hider from God from God became a seeker of God, then other people could have as well and the city could have been spared. Do you agree with Dan – why or why not? What other examples can you think of in the Bible where God has pronounced judgment but then relents because the people repent?
Are you a seeker of God or a hider from God? What evidence do you have to back up your answer?
Read Joshua 6:21. What questions do you have as you read this verse?
Read Joshua 6:26. What do you think this curse was pronounced on Jericho? How was this curse fulfilled (read 1 Kings 16:34)?
Show
Start thinking more definitely about your show project. Fill in some of the details and decide when you’re going to do it. Give yourself a goal / deadline.

Inheritance - Joshua 5.1-12

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Wesleyan Church, North Gower, Ontario
www.wearecornerstone.ca
 
 
 
Know
Was there any tradition that you observed as a child (either religious or not) that made sense at the time but now has you scratching your head?
Grow
Dan’s main theme was we need to back up in order to go on. What did he mean by that?
If God instituted circumcision as an everlasting covenant (Genesis 17:13), why do we not practice it today in the Christian church?
How would you explain the concept of Biblical covenant?
Why do you think the Israelites neglected both circumcision and the Passover during the 40 years in the desert?
What did God mean when He said “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you”? What’s the connection with circumcision?
In what ways has circumcision been replaced by baptism? How is baptism ‘better’ than circumcision?
In what ways has celebrating the Passover been replaced with Communion? How is communion ‘better’ than the Passover?
Dan said that in Jesus we are no longer to be identified as ‘ex-slaves’ but instead as a new creation (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). What does this new identity mean to you?
Consider these two verses
1 Corinthians 7:19: Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts.  
Galatians 5: For in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Take a couple of minutes to discuss what they mean.
Dan talked about the great reversal
Slaves – Passover – Cross the water – Wilderness – Cross the Water – Passover – Freedom
Has Jesus done a great reversal in your life? What does that look like?
Show
What can we do this season as a growgroup for a show project? Start thinking about it.

Inheritance - Joshua 3.1-4.24

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Wesleyan Church, North Gower, Ontario
www.wearecornerstone.ca
 
Growgroup questions
Know
Did anything stand out to you or strike you about today’s message? What did you feel that God was drawing your attention to?
Grow
Have you ever considered the fact that you will most likely be forgotten in 2 generations? How does this make you feel?
Dan summed up Joshua chapters 3 and 4 in this statement: “We give God our trust. He gives us our story”. What did he mean by God giving us a story?
Dan shared 3 steps from our passage on Sunday that leads to God giving us a story. Do you remember what they were? (If no one remembers: 1) Prepare 2) Participate 3) Promote)
Why is pursuing holiness such an important part of preparing ourselves (3:5)?
Read 3:9 and 3:11. Discuss the importance of these two truths we learn about God in these verses: a) the Living God is among you and b) the Lord of all the earth will go ahead of you? What emotions do these truths bring out in you?
Why do you think Joshua built two altars – one in the middle of the Jordan (4:9) and the other at Gilgal where the people camped on their first night (4:20)?
Think of someone who ‘oozes Jesus’ that you can intentionally spend time with this week or next week just to be with them and listen to their stories.
Who can you connect with who needs hope in their life, who needs someone who oozes Jesus, who needs you?
Show
What are you going to add in or take away this Lent season (starting Feb 14)?

Ultimate Questions - Worldview

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Wesleyan Church, North Gower, Ontario
www.wearecornerstone.ca
 
Know
In your own words, try to explain what a worldview is.
Grow
Try to describe what a matterist is (also known as an atheist). Think about the metaphor of the painter and painting.
Do the same for mindist (pantheist)
Do the same for Godist (theist)
Describe a situation in which you discovered that your worldview was very different from the worldview of someone else.
With the differing worldviews, do you think that Christians just mind their own business and stop trying to convert people? Why or why not?
Read Genesis 1:1. According to Dan, why is the miracle of creation so important in how we view or address the rest of the Bible?
In Canada, do you think we live in a largely matterist, mindist or Godist society? Explain your answer.
Read Romans 1:20-22 – using the ideas of Godist, matterist and mindist, describe what we’re seeing in these verses.
What were the consequences according to verse 24 and 25?

Inheritance - Joshua 2.1-24

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Wesleyan Church, North Gower, Ontario
www.wearecornerstone.ca
 
 
Know
How does your faith compare to Rahab’s?
Grow
Was Rahab right to lie to the local officials when God’s people are strictly prohibited from lying?
How was there more to Rahab’s faith than just belief in doctrines about God?
How can we communicate the seriousness of the coming judgment to our family and friends without turning them away?
What purpose does Rahab serve in God’s plan of salvation? What do we learn from her about God’s concern for the nations?
Who in your family do you wish God to rescue along with you? What can you do to share the good news with them?
Show
Think of some imaginative ways that we as a church could use the Show Room to show Jesus’ love to others.

Inheritance - Joshua 1.1-18

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Wesleyan Church, North Gower, Ontario
www.wearecornerstone.ca
 
Know
Why is the phrase “Be strong and courageous” repeated so many times in this chapter?
Grow
Like the generation of Israelites who died in the desert, have you ever experienced missing out on something you believed was God’s plan for you because of fear or disobedience? What did you learn through this experience?
What do you think it means when the author wrote that ‘God has given us the land of our experience for an eternal inheritance’?
Why is it important that it was the Israelites telling Joshua to be strong and courageous in verse 18?
If the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh did not settle on the other side of the Jordan, do you think they ‘entered the Promised Land’? Why or why not?
Why is the order of this ‘route to success’ so important?
Knowing God -> Trust -> Obedience -> Courage -> Success.
Show
If knowing God is so important and reading the Bible is the main way to do this, how can we improve in reading the Bible?

Inheritance - Joshua Overview

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Wesleyan Church, North Gower, Ontario
www.wearecornerstone.ca
This is the first sermon in the series on Joshua. Read the book, one chapter a day (it'll take you less than a month). Any questions / thoughts / queries / concerns that come to the surface as you read, email dan.james.wallis@gmail.com and let him know!

An X Plan for 2018 (Psalm 90:12-17)

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Wesleyan Church, North Gower, Ontario
www.wearecornerstone.ca
 
4 short prayers we can pray in 2018
Teach us to number our days so we may be wise
Satisfy us with your unfailing love that we may rejoice
Show us your work and your power
Favour us and establish the work of our hands
12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.13 Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.16 Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.17 Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!
Psalm 90:12-17 ESV

White Noise (Joy to the World) - Advent 05

Weekly Podcast from Cornerstone Wesleyan Church, North Gower, Ontario
www.wearecornerstone.ca