group leader podcast – Page 2

[Podcast] What it Means to Follow Jesus

In the church, we talk a lot about “following Jesus,” or being a “Christ-follower.” But I fear that this is one of those terms we can hear so much that we become numb to what it actually means, or we assume we know what it means when we haven’t really thought much about it at all. When you look closely at what Jesus said, you might find that following him means something different than you thought.

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(Episode length: 18 mins)

Show Notes

Main idea: A disciple is one who responds in faith and obedience to the gracious call to follow Jesus Christ. Following Jesus is a lifelong process of dying to self while allowing Jesus Christ to come alive in us.

What “following Jesus” really means

The word “disciple” literally means learner, but in Jesus’ day that meant something closer to apprentice

A disciple responds in faith and obedience

Responding in faith to Christ, then, means we are assured, we are confident, in his promises of salvation, restoration, and eternal life
But responding to Christ’s call to follow him is not merely about faith – it’s also about obedience, or doing what Jesus tells us to do
If we have truly put our faith in Christ, then our inward transformation will have outward results

The gracious call to follow Jesus

We accept a gift that we graciously given to us by God through Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection (Eph. 2:1-10)

Following Jesus is a lifelong process

Following Jesus is a decision to enter into a pattern of recreating our lives to look more like his
God will see the work He began in us to completion (Phil. 1:6)

Dying to self while allowing Jesus to come alive in us

Jesus calls us to say no to ourselves so we can say yes to him
As we deny ourselves, we make more and more room for Jesus to take up residence in our hearts and minds

Download full transcript

This is part of a podcast I do for group leaders at my church. Browse the archives for more.

[Podcast] The Most Important Thing You Can Do for Your Group Members

As a group leader, does it feel like you give the same advice to the same people and nothing ever changes? Maybe you’re doing a lot of good things, but not the most important thing. Listen to this week’s episode to find out what that is.

(Episode length: 17 mins)

Show Notes

Main idea: The most important thing you can do for your group members is pray for them.

Only God has the power to change the human heart

Ezekiel 37: Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of bones

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church

Difference between knowing and tasting
1. You can read about a relationship with Jesus in a book without actually tasting what that relationship is like
2. Lives are not changed when people know about a relationship with Jesus; lives are changed when people taste a relationship with Jesus
Paul prays for the Ephesians to have the eyes of their hearts enlightened to the taste of three flavors of a relationship with Christ…
1. The hope to which God has called them. If people get that they will spend eternity with Jesus and that he came not only to redeem their future but to redeem their present, they will live differently.
2. The riches of God’s inheritance in the saints. Paul prayed that the believers would know the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints. God’s inheritance is the people who believe in Him (the “saints”).
3. Knowing that God is giddy to spend eternity with you changes how you live and think.
The immeasurable greatness of God’s power towards those who believe
1. The power God gives to each believer is the same power that raised Christ from the dead, and the same power that ascended Christ into heaven and seated him at the right hand of God

Download a full transcript of this episode.

This is part of a podcast I do for group leaders at my church. Browse the archives for more.