DISCIPLESHIP CONTENT
1.1 Loved by God
"So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it
brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 1:6
brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 1:6
Christ Connection
Before we could show Gospel Care for one another, God first loved us.
Through Jesus, we have been loved, chosen, rescued, and made God's people, so that his love now overflows through us as love in action.
Through Jesus, we have been loved, chosen, rescued, and made God's people, so that his love now overflows through us as love in action.
BIG IDEA
Gospel care begins by recognising and rejoicing in God's work in one another.
Discipleship Questions
Before you begin, share with the group what stood out to you from the passage or content? What did the Spirit stir in you?
🔆 What does God's love for the Thessalonian believers reveal about the way he relates to his people?
✝ What has God done through Jesus to make us his loved and chosen people?
❤️ Who are we because God has loved and chosen us through the gospel? How does that empower us to "Care" for others?
🤍 How can gratitude for God's grace become love in action toward the people around me?
✝ What has God done through Jesus to make us his loved and chosen people?
❤️ Who are we because God has loved and chosen us through the gospel? How does that empower us to "Care" for others?
🤍 How can gratitude for God's grace become love in action toward the people around me?
Expanded Discipleship Questions
🔆 Who is God & What Has He Done?
🔆 What does God's love for the Thessalonian believers reveal about the way he relates to his people?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: God's love always comes first. He loved, chose, and called a people to belong to himself, and his work in them became visible through faith, love, and hope. The gospel didn't simply change individuals; it created a people who reflected his work together.
✝ What has God done through Jesus to make us his loved and chosen people?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Jesus loved us enough to give himself for us so that we could be redeemed, forgiven, and brought into God's family. Through the Holy Spirit, the gospel comes with power as people place their trust in Christ and belong to him.
Follow-Up Questions:
- Why does Paul begin by reminding these believers that they are loved and chosen by God?
- What does this chapter reveal about the way God works through the gospel and the Holy Spirit?
- How does Paul's thankfulness help us recognise God's work in other believers?
INSIGHT: God's love always comes first. He loved, chose, and called a people to belong to himself, and his work in them became visible through faith, love, and hope. The gospel didn't simply change individuals; it created a people who reflected his work together.
✝ What has God done through Jesus to make us his loved and chosen people?
Follow-Up Questions:
- What does the cross show us about the depth of God's love?
- How does the Holy Spirit help people receive the gospel with full assurance?
- Why is God's love the beginning of all genuine gospel care?
INSIGHT: Jesus loved us enough to give himself for us so that we could be redeemed, forgiven, and brought into God's family. Through the Holy Spirit, the gospel comes with power as people place their trust in Christ and belong to him.
Who Am I? Who are We?
❤️ Who are we because God has loved and chosen us through the gospel? How does that empower us to "Care" for others?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Before believers can care for one another, they must first know they are deeply loved by God. As we become more secure in his love towards us, we become increasingly free to recognise, rejoice in, and encourage his grace at work in others. Gospel care grows from hearts that have first been cared for by Jesus.
REPENT & BELIEVE: Repent of living as though God's love depends on your performance, and believe that because you are already loved, chosen, and secure in Christ, you are free to rejoice in God's grace at work in others and let your care overflow from gratitude.
Follow-Up Questions:
- Who am I apart from remembering God's initiating love for me?
- How does forgetting that I have first been loved, chosen, and rescued by God shape the way I relate to the people around me?
- How does knowing that I belong to God, have peace with him, and have been brought into his family free me to rejoice in his work in others instead of becoming critical, distant, or self-focused?
- If the gospel doesn't simply save individuals but creates a people, what kind of church culture should naturally grow among us? Where are we already seeing God's grace at work in one another, and where is there room to grow?
INSIGHT: Before believers can care for one another, they must first know they are deeply loved by God. As we become more secure in his love towards us, we become increasingly free to recognise, rejoice in, and encourage his grace at work in others. Gospel care grows from hearts that have first been cared for by Jesus.
REPENT & BELIEVE: Repent of living as though God's love depends on your performance, and believe that because you are already loved, chosen, and secure in Christ, you are free to rejoice in God's grace at work in others and let your care overflow from gratitude.
What Should I Do in Light of the Gospel?
🤍 How can gratitude for God's grace become love in action toward the people around me?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: As we recognise what God is doing in one another, gratitude naturally overflows into encouragement. Gospel care grows as God's people celebrate his grace and help one another keep following Jesus.
Follow-Up Questions:
- What would it look like this week for gratitude to shape the way I care for someone else?
- Who have I seen God's grace at work in recently, and how could I encourage them this week?
- How could I become more intentional about noticing the work of the Holy Spirit in those I share life with?
- What would it look like for encouragement to become one of the ways I regularly show gospel care?
INSIGHT: As we recognise what God is doing in one another, gratitude naturally overflows into encouragement. Gospel care grows as God's people celebrate his grace and help one another keep following Jesus.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for loving us, choosing us, and making us your people through Jesus. Thank you for the grace and peace that are ours because of him. Lord Jesus, thank you for rescuing us and bringing us into your family. Holy Spirit, help us to keep trusting the gospel with full assurance. Teach us to recognise your work in one another, to rejoice in your grace, and to become people who encourage before we criticise. Shape us into a church whose love is seen in action, so that everything we do points people to Christ and brings glory to your name. Amen.
1.2 Sharing Our Lives
"We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too."
1 Thessalonians 2:8
1 Thessalonians 2:8
Christ Connection
Jesus first shared His life with us, loving us and welcoming us into His family. As we look to Him, He grows our love for His people,
and through His Spirit empowers us to share our lives with one another as we seek to please God above all else.
and through His Spirit empowers us to share our lives with one another as we seek to please God above all else.
BIG IDEA
The gospel creates a people who gladly share their lives together.
Discipleship Questions
Before you begin, share with the group what stood out to you from the passage or content? What did the Spirit stir in you?
🔆 What do Paul's example and his reminder that God examines our motives reveal about the kind of God we are called to know and follow?
✝ What has Jesus done to make it possible for us to share our lives with one another in genuine love?
❤️ Where do you find yourself resisting the invitation to share your life with others, and what might that reveal about what your heart is holding onto?
🤍 What is one ordinary part of your life that you could intentionally begin sharing with someone else this week?
✝ What has Jesus done to make it possible for us to share our lives with one another in genuine love?
❤️ Where do you find yourself resisting the invitation to share your life with others, and what might that reveal about what your heart is holding onto?
🤍 What is one ordinary part of your life that you could intentionally begin sharing with someone else this week?
Expanded Discipleship Questions
🔆 Who is God & What Has He Done?
🔆 What do Paul's example and his reminder that God examines our motives reveal about the kind of God we are called to know and follow?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: God is the One who lovingly moved to save us when we could not save ourselves, and He is worthy of our wholehearted devotion. Rather than seeking the approval of others, we are invited to live before the God who knows our hearts and calls us to love His people from genuine motives.
✝ What has Jesus done to make it possible for us to share our lives with one another in genuine love?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Jesus has not simply called us to love one another—He has first loved us, shared His life with us, and welcomed us into His family. As we look to Him, the Holy Spirit pours God's love into our hearts and empowers us to love His people in the same costly, life-sharing way.
Follow-Up Questions:
- How does remembering your own story of salvation help you see God's grace more clearly and relate to others with greater humility?
- (Read 1 Thessalonians 2:1–2)
- Why does it matter that God looks beyond our actions and examines the motives of our hearts? (Read 1 Thessalonians 2:4–6)
- How does living to please God, rather than people, reshape the way we care for those around us? (Read 1 Thessalonians 2:4–6)
INSIGHT: God is the One who lovingly moved to save us when we could not save ourselves, and He is worthy of our wholehearted devotion. Rather than seeking the approval of others, we are invited to live before the God who knows our hearts and calls us to love His people from genuine motives.
✝ What has Jesus done to make it possible for us to share our lives with one another in genuine love?
Follow-Up Questions:
- Why does it matter that Jesus first shared His life with us before calling us to share our lives with others?
- How does remembering how deeply Jesus loves His people reshape the way you view those around you?
- The sermon says that loving others this way is a supernatural task. How does depending on the Holy Spirit change the way we think about caring for others?
INSIGHT: Jesus has not simply called us to love one another—He has first loved us, shared His life with us, and welcomed us into His family. As we look to Him, the Holy Spirit pours God's love into our hearts and empowers us to love His people in the same costly, life-sharing way.
Who Am I? Who are We?
❤️ Where do you find yourself resisting the invitation to share your life with others, and what might that reveal about what your heart is holding onto?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Sharing our lives is costly because it asks us to loosen our grip on comfort, convenience, and self-protection. Yet Jesus has welcomed us into His family and loves His people deeply. As we remember His love for us and for one another, He grows our love and shapes us into a people who gladly share our lives together.
REPENT & BELIEVE: Repent of protecting your life from others, and believe that Jesus will grow your love for His people as you look to Him and depend on His Spirit.
Follow-Up Questions:
- Which of these hesitations do you most identify with, and why do you think that one feels costly for you?
- (Busyness, introversion, needing "me time", vulnerability, your home, your children, money, keeping church and everyday life separate, being known, sharing your struggles.)
- How does remembering how deeply Jesus loves His people help reshape the way you see the people around you?
- What kind of church community is created when people willingly share not only the gospel, but their ordinary lives together?
INSIGHT: Sharing our lives is costly because it asks us to loosen our grip on comfort, convenience, and self-protection. Yet Jesus has welcomed us into His family and loves His people deeply. As we remember His love for us and for one another, He grows our love and shapes us into a people who gladly share our lives together.
REPENT & BELIEVE: Repent of protecting your life from others, and believe that Jesus will grow your love for His people as you look to Him and depend on His Spirit.
What Should I Do in Light of the Gospel?
🤍 What is one ordinary part of your life that you could intentionally begin sharing with someone else this week?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Sharing our lives rarely begins with doing something extraordinary. It begins by inviting others into the ordinary rhythms of everyday life. As we keep our eyes on Christ and the people He loves, we are freed to invest in what will last for eternity.
Follow-Up Questions:
- Which regular rhythm of your week could become an opportunity to be present with someone rather than simply doing it alone?
- Is there someone in your church family you could get to know better by inviting them into an ordinary part of your life?
- How does keeping your eyes on Christ's return and the lasting value of God's people encourage you to love others more intentionally today?
INSIGHT: Sharing our lives rarely begins with doing something extraordinary. It begins by inviting others into the ordinary rhythms of everyday life. As we keep our eyes on Christ and the people He loves, we are freed to invest in what will last for eternity.
PRAYER: Father, thank You for loving us first and calling us into Your family. Thank You for showing us, through Jesus, what it looks like to share Your life with others in love. Please forgive us for the ways we protect our comfort or keep others at a distance. By Your Holy Spirit, pour Your love into our hearts and help us to genuinely love the people You have placed around us. Give us willing hearts to share our ordinary lives with one another, seeking to please You above all else. Fix our eyes on the day when Jesus returns, and help us to invest in what will last forever as we encourage and care for one another. In Jesus' name, Amen.
1.3 Standing Fast Together
“And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows.”
1 Thessalonians 3:12
1 Thessalonians 3:12
Christ Connection
Jesus is the overflowing love of God made visible. Through His perfect life, sacrificial death and victorious resurrection, our hope rests not in what we have done, but in what He has done for us. His love now continues overflowing through His people as they strengthen, encourage and pray for one another.
BIG IDEA
Gospel care strengthens believers to keep standing firm in Christ.
Discipleship Questions
Before you begin, share with the group what stood out to you from the passage or content? What did the Spirit stir in you?
🔆 What does this passage reveal about God's heart to "CARE" for His people when they face hardship and struggle?
✝ What has God done through Jesus to make it possible for His love to overflow through His people?
❤️ Where have I underestimated the way God wants to strengthen both me and others through His people?
🤍 How might God be inviting you to intentionally strengthen, encourage or pray for someone so that together you continue standing firm in Christ?
✝ What has God done through Jesus to make it possible for His love to overflow through His people?
❤️ Where have I underestimated the way God wants to strengthen both me and others through His people?
🤍 How might God be inviting you to intentionally strengthen, encourage or pray for someone so that together you continue standing firm in Christ?
Expanded Discipleship Questions
🔆 Who is God & What Has He Done?
🔆 What does this passage reveal about God's heart to "CARE" for His people when they face hardship and struggle?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: God does not abandon His people when life becomes difficult. Throughout this chapter we see His love in action as He strengthens, encourages and cares for His people so that they continue standing firm in Christ. Again and again, He chooses to do that through ordinary believers who intentionally move towards one another in love.
✝ What has God done through Jesus to make it possible for His love to overflow through His people?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: The overflowing love of God is made visible in and through Jesus Christ. Through His perfect life, sacrificial death and victorious resurrection, He has made us His own. Our hope rests not in how tightly we hold on to Him, but in what He has done for us. Secure in Christ, His love now continues flowing through His people as they strengthen, encourage and pray for one another.
Follow-Up Questions:
- Paul sent Timothy to strengthen and encourage the Thessalonian believers. What does that reveal about the way God cares for His people?
- Throughout this chapter, what purpose keeps appearing behind Paul's encouragement, prayers and concern for the church?
- Why do you think God chooses to strengthen His people through relationships with other believers rather than leaving them to stand alone?
INSIGHT: God does not abandon His people when life becomes difficult. Throughout this chapter we see His love in action as He strengthens, encourages and cares for His people so that they continue standing firm in Christ. Again and again, He chooses to do that through ordinary believers who intentionally move towards one another in love.
✝ What has God done through Jesus to make it possible for His love to overflow through His people?
Follow-Up Questions:
- Jesus is the overflowing love of God made visible. How does His life, death and resurrection help you better understand God's care for you?
- Why is it important that our hope, holiness and blamelessness are grounded in what Jesus has done rather than how well we are doing?
- How does knowing that your hope rests in what Jesus has done, rather than what you have done, shape the way you strengthen and encourage one another?
INSIGHT: The overflowing love of God is made visible in and through Jesus Christ. Through His perfect life, sacrificial death and victorious resurrection, He has made us His own. Our hope rests not in how tightly we hold on to Him, but in what He has done for us. Secure in Christ, His love now continues flowing through His people as they strengthen, encourage and pray for one another.
Who Am I? Who are We?
❤️ Where have I underestimated the way God wants to strengthen both me and others through His people?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: God doesn't only strengthen His people directly; He also delights to strengthen them through one another. As His love continues flowing through His people, He encourages, supports and strengthens His church so that we keep following Jesus together.
REPENT & BELIEVE: Repent of trying to follow Jesus in isolation, and believe that God strengthens His people as they intentionally move towards one another in love.
Follow-Up Questions:
- What might make it difficult to believe that God wants to strengthen you through other believers, rather than simply by yourself?
- The sermon described ordinary ways of moving towards people—checking in, encouraging, praying and helping one another keep following Jesus. Which of those do you find easiest, and which do you tend to overlook?
- How would our church be different if God's love consistently overflowed through each of us in these ordinary ways?
INSIGHT: God doesn't only strengthen His people directly; He also delights to strengthen them through one another. As His love continues flowing through His people, He encourages, supports and strengthens His church so that we keep following Jesus together.
REPENT & BELIEVE: Repent of trying to follow Jesus in isolation, and believe that God strengthens His people as they intentionally move towards one another in love.
What Should I Do in Light of the Gospel?
🤍 How might God be inviting you to intentionally strengthen, encourage or pray for someone so that together you keep following Jesus?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: God graciously invites us to participate in the way He cares for His people. As His love continues to overflow through us, He uses ordinary acts of encouragement, prayer and intentional care to strengthen His church and help one another keep following Jesus.
Follow-Up Questions:
- What is one simple way you could move towards someone this week?
- Prayer appears throughout this chapter. How could praying more intentionally for someone become an expression of gospel care rather than simply another task to complete?
- Who has God used to strengthen your faith, and how might thanking Him for that encourage you to become that kind of person for someone else?
INSIGHT: God graciously invites us to participate in the way He cares for His people. As His love continues to overflow through us, He uses ordinary acts of encouragement, prayer and intentional care to strengthen His church and help one another keep following Jesus.
PRAYER: Father, thank You for loving us so deeply that You never leave us to walk alone. Thank You for sending Your Son, the overflowing love of God made visible, so that our hope rests not in what we have done but in what Jesus has done for us. Lord Jesus, thank You that You continue to strengthen and sustain Your people, and that You have welcomed us into Your family by Your grace. Holy Spirit, help us to become people through whom Your love overflows each day. Give us eyes to notice those who need encouragement, hearts that delight to pray, and a willingness to move towards others in love. Strengthen our faith together, keep us standing firm in Christ, and make us increasingly reflect Your love as we await His return. Amen.
1.4 Live to Please God
"Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you.
You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. "
1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. "
1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
Christ Connection
Through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we have been redeemed and forgiven and brought into relationship with God.
Jesus does not simply call His people to holiness; He gives Himself to us and, by His Spirit, continues reshaping us to become more like Him.
Jesus does not simply call His people to holiness; He gives Himself to us and, by His Spirit, continues reshaping us to become more like Him.
BIG IDEA
Keep walking with Jesus as He reshapes every part of life.
Discipleship Questions
Before you begin, share with the group what stood out to you from the passage or content? What did the Spirit stir in you?
🔆 How does knowing that God lovingly calls us to holiness change the way we hear His invitation to keep growing?
✝ What has Jesus done to make it possible for us to belong to God, please Him, and increasingly become more like Him?
❤️ Where am I relying on my own willpower to change, rather than trusting that God is still at work in me by His Spirit?
🤍 Where is Jesus inviting me to keep going and keep growing as I seek to please Him in the ordinary parts of my life?
✝ What has Jesus done to make it possible for us to belong to God, please Him, and increasingly become more like Him?
❤️ Where am I relying on my own willpower to change, rather than trusting that God is still at work in me by His Spirit?
🤍 Where is Jesus inviting me to keep going and keep growing as I seek to please Him in the ordinary parts of my life?
Expanded Discipleship Questions
🔆 Who is God & What Has He Done?
🔆 How does knowing that God lovingly calls us to holiness change the way we hear His invitation to keep growing?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: God’s call to holiness flows from His own heart and character. He calls His people to a life that increasingly reflects Him, while graciously giving His Spirit rather than leaving us to manufacture that change through our own strength.
✝ What has Jesus done to make it possible for us to belong to God, please Him, and increasingly become more like Him?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Through Christ we belong to God and can truly live lives that please Him. His life, death and resurrection have opened the way for us to be redeemed and forgiven, and He continues His work in us by His Spirit so that our lives increasingly become like His.
Follow-Up Questions:
- What does God’s desire for His people to be holy reveal about the kind of people He is shaping us to become?
- Why does God’s holiness matter for both our relationship with Him and the way we care for the people around us?
- What encouragement do you find in knowing that the God who calls us to holiness also gives us His Holy Spirit?
INSIGHT: God’s call to holiness flows from His own heart and character. He calls His people to a life that increasingly reflects Him, while graciously giving His Spirit rather than leaving us to manufacture that change through our own strength.
✝ What has Jesus done to make it possible for us to belong to God, please Him, and increasingly become more like Him?
Follow-Up Questions:
- How does knowing that Jesus has already loved and rescued us change our motivation for wanting to please God?
- What difference does it make that Jesus does not simply command His people to become holy, but gives Himself to His people so that they might become holy?
- How does Jesus putting our good ahead of Himself reshape the way we think about holiness and loving others?
INSIGHT: Through Christ we belong to God and can truly live lives that please Him. His life, death and resurrection have opened the way for us to be redeemed and forgiven, and He continues His work in us by His Spirit so that our lives increasingly become like His.
Who Am I? Who are We?
❤️ Where am I relying on my own willpower to change, rather than trusting that God is still at work in me by His Spirit?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: We still have places where we need to grow, desires that need surrendering and areas that do not yet fully reflect Jesus. Yet the God who called us is still at work in us, patiently continuing what He has already begun as we keep walking with Him.
REPENT & BELIEVE: Repent of relying on my own willpower or living according to what I want, and believe that Jesus has already loved and rescued me and is still at work in me by His Spirit.
Follow-Up Questions:
- Where do I still find myself instinctively asking what I want, rather than asking what would please God?
- What changes when I remember that I am not trying to earn God’s love, but learning to please the One who has already loved and rescued me?
- How might remembering that God is still patiently at work in each of us shape the way we encourage one another to keep walking and keep growing?
INSIGHT: We still have places where we need to grow, desires that need surrendering and areas that do not yet fully reflect Jesus. Yet the God who called us is still at work in us, patiently continuing what He has already begun as we keep walking with Him.
REPENT & BELIEVE: Repent of relying on my own willpower or living according to what I want, and believe that Jesus has already loved and rescued me and is still at work in me by His Spirit.
What Should I Do in Light of the Gospel?
🤍 Where is Jesus inviting me to keep going and keep growing as I seek to please Him in the ordinary parts of my life?
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Following Jesus is lived out largely in ordinary faithfulness. As we continue walking with Him, the gospel increasingly shapes our desires, relationships, decisions and everyday responsibilities so that even the ordinary parts of life can honour Christ and quietly bless those around us.
Follow-Up Questions:
- What is a present area of my character, desires, relationships or decisions where Jesus is continuing to reshape me to become more like Him?
- What could loving others even more look like as Christ’s love continues to work through me?
- How can I faithfully honour Jesus in the ordinary responsibilities He has entrusted to me?
INSIGHT: Following Jesus is lived out largely in ordinary faithfulness. As we continue walking with Him, the gospel increasingly shapes our desires, relationships, decisions and everyday responsibilities so that even the ordinary parts of life can honour Christ and quietly bless those around us.
PRAYER: Father, thank You that You have called us to belong to You and that Your desire is to keep shaping us to reflect Your character. Jesus, thank You that through Your life, death and resurrection we can be redeemed and forgiven, and that You have loved and rescued us rather than leaving us to change ourselves. Holy Spirit, thank You that You are at work within us, giving us what we need to become more like Jesus. Help us to surrender the places that still need reshaping and to increasingly ask what pleases You. Grow us in holiness and love, and help us to honour You through the ordinary responsibilities You have entrusted to us. May Your love continue to flow through us as we keep walking with Jesus together. Amen.
1.5a Encourage One Another
"...we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:13
1 Thessalonians 4:13
Christ Connection
Jesus died and was raised, stripping death of its final power. When he returns, believers who have fallen asleep will rise, and together all who belong to him will be with the Lord forever.
BIG IDEA
The heart of care in the face of death is GOSPEL HOPE
Discipleship Questions
Before you begin, share with the group what stood out to you from the passage or content? What did the Spirit stir in you?
🔆 What does gospel hope - that Jesus will return for those who belong to him - reveal about God’s heart for his people in the face of death? (Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17)
❤️ What does it mean that we once belonged to darkness, but are now "children of the day"? (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:4–5)
🤍 Paul encourages us to not waste our lives with restless obsession or foolish apathy toward Jesus' return. In what ways can you be more 'ready' for Jesus' return, without being restless?
🤲🏻 If you have grief you need care for, share (what you are comfortable sharing) with the group and let them lovingly speak gospel hope into it.
❤️ What does it mean that we once belonged to darkness, but are now "children of the day"? (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:4–5)
🤍 Paul encourages us to not waste our lives with restless obsession or foolish apathy toward Jesus' return. In what ways can you be more 'ready' for Jesus' return, without being restless?
🤲🏻 If you have grief you need care for, share (what you are comfortable sharing) with the group and let them lovingly speak gospel hope into it.
Expanded Discipleship Questions
🔆 Who is God & What Has He Done?
🔆 What does gospel hope - that Jesus will return for those who belong to him - reveal about God’s heart for his people in the face of death? (Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17)
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because Jesus died, rose and will return, death does not have the final word and all who belong to him will be with him forever.
Follow-Up Questions:
- What does the promise that we will be with the Lord forever reveal about Jesus as the person and heart of our gospel hope? (Read 1 Thessalonians 4:17)
- How does Christ dying for us ensure that, whether dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever? (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:9–10)
INSIGHT: God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because Jesus died, rose and will return, death does not have the final word and all who belong to him will be with him forever.
Who Am I? Who are We?
❤️ What does it mean that we once belonged to darkness, but are now "children of the day"? (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:4–5)
Follow-Up Question:
🤍 Paul encourages us to not waste our lives with restless obsession or foolish apathy toward Jesus' return. In what ways can you be more 'ready' for Jesus' return, without being restless?
REPENT & BELIEVE: Repent of restless obsession, foolish apathy and settling into darkness, and believe you are a child of light called to readiness.
Follow-Up Question:
- What does being saved into the body of Christ mean for how we carry gospel hope together when grief becomes too heavy? (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:11)
- How can the future promise of Jesus' return (the Day of the Lord) be a present reality of our identity?
🤍 Paul encourages us to not waste our lives with restless obsession or foolish apathy toward Jesus' return. In what ways can you be more 'ready' for Jesus' return, without being restless?
- Where are restless obsession, foolish apathy or patterns of darkness keeping you fearful, paralysed or asleep to the life God has given you today?
- In what ways can you be more ready for Jesus’ return without becoming restless, trusting Jesus with tomorrow and receiving today as a gift?
- How can your voice strengthen and comfort those who are grieving by carrying gospel hope when they cannot hold onto it themselves?
REPENT & BELIEVE: Repent of restless obsession, foolish apathy and settling into darkness, and believe you are a child of light called to readiness.
What Should I Do in Light of the Gospel?
🤲🏻 If you have grief you need care for, share (what you are comfortable sharing) with the group and let them lovingly speak gospel hope into it.
Actions
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
Actions
- Trust Jesus with tomorrow, receive today as a gift and get on with the work he has given you today.
- Enter into another person’s grief by sitting together, weeping together, allowing silence to remain silent and gently reminding them of gospel hope.
- When someone cannot hold onto hope, remember the gospel for them, speak the voice of Jesus and remind them that Jesus is stronger than death.
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you that our hope is grounded in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because he lives, death does not have the final word, and all who belong to him will be with him forever. Jesus, our risen King, help us trust your timing and live as children of light. Holy Spirit, help us get our lives in order and live today in the light of gospel hope. When grief feels overwhelming, surround us with brothers and sisters who remind us of your promises and care with Christlike love. Make us ready to encourage one another, build one another up and carry gospel hope together. Amen.
1.5b When Care Gets Practical
"Do not stifle the Holy Spirit."
1 Thessalonians 5:12-22
1 Thessalonians 5:12-22
Christ Connection
Jesus patiently endured the cross, and as his disciples follow him together, the gospel produces a Spirit-filled community marked by practical love, patient care, peace, goodness, joy, prayer and gratitude.
BIG IDEA
Honour your leaders with respect and wholehearted love.
Care for each other with patient and discerning love.
Live towards God with joy, prayer, gratitude and Spirit-fuelled freedom.
Discipleship Questions
Before you begin, share with the group what stood out to you from the passage or content? What did the Spirit stir in you?
How does God’s deep patience towards us give us space and time to repent, and shape our patience with everyone? (Read 2 Peter 3:9)
When frustration, offence and tension come naturally, what do they reveal about what is already within us? (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:15)
How is walking with Jesus moving your heart to rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks and cling to God’s goodness?
When frustration, offence and tension come naturally, what do they reveal about what is already within us? (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:15)
How is walking with Jesus moving your heart to rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks and cling to God’s goodness?
Expanded Discipleship Questions
🔆 Who is God & What Has He Done?
🔆 Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: God is deeply patient, entirely good and the source of every good thing. Jesus patiently endured the cross, and the Holy Spirit produces God’s character in us.
Follow-Up Questions:
- How does God’s deep patience towards us give us space and time to repent, and shape our patience with everyone? (Read 2 Peter 3:9)
- How does Jesus patiently enduring the cross reveal the source and pattern of the patient care his disciples show one another? (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:14)
- How does the Lord forgiving us enable us to bear with one another, forgive grievances and cultivate peace within his community? (Read Colossians 3:13)
INSIGHT: God is deeply patient, entirely good and the source of every good thing. Jesus patiently endured the cross, and the Holy Spirit produces God’s character in us.
Who Am I? Who are We?
❤️ Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
REPENT & BELIEVE: Repent of passive, impatient and retaliatory responses, and believe the gospel produces Spirit-shaped, practical care as we follow Jesus together.
Follow-Up Questions:
- When frustration, offence and tension come naturally, what do they reveal about what is already within us? (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:15)
- Because Jesus is our source of joy, how does walking closely with him move us to rejoice, pray and give thanks in every circumstance? (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18)
- As disciples rather than spectators, what does it mean for us to become a Spirit-filled community whose practical care displays the gospel in motion? (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:12–22)
REPENT & BELIEVE: Repent of passive, impatient and retaliatory responses, and believe the gospel produces Spirit-shaped, practical care as we follow Jesus together.
What Flows Out of My New Heart?
🤍 Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
Follow-Up Questions:
- Appreciate your leaders by thanking them and showing them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work.
- Warn the idle, encourage the timid, take tender care of the weak and remain patient with everyone.
- Cultivate peace, refuse offence, choose good over evil, rejoice, pray, give thanks and do not quench the Spirit.
PRAYER: Father, you are deeply patient and entirely good, and every good thing flows from you. Thank you for giving us space and time to repent. Jesus, thank you for patiently enduring the cross and forgiving us. Draw us closer to you so the gospel moves us to rejoice, pray and give thanks. Holy Spirit, produce God’s character in us and keep your fire burning among us. Shape us into a community of practical care: honouring our leaders, cultivating peace, encouraging the timid, helping the weak, patiently bearing with everyone and always pursuing what is good. Amen.
2.1 Counted Worthy
"TBC"
2 Thessalonians 1
2 Thessalonians 1
Christ Connection
Coming Soon
BIG IDEA
Coming Soon
Discipleship Questions
Before you begin, share with the group what stood out to you from the passage or content? What did the Spirit stir in you?
Coming Soon
Expanded Discipleship Questions
🔆 Who is God & What Has He Done?
🔆 Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
✝ Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
- Coming Soon
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
✝ Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
- Coming Soon
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
Who Am I? Who are We?
❤️ Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
REPENT & BELIEVE: Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
- Coming Soon
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
REPENT & BELIEVE: Coming Soon
What Should I Do in Light of the Gospel?
🤍 Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
- Coming Soon
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
PRAYER: Coming Soon
2.2 Stand Firm
"TBC"
2 Thessalonians 2
2 Thessalonians 2
Christ Connection
Coming Soon
BIG IDEA
Coming Soon
Discipleship Questions
Before you begin, share with the group what stood out to you from the passage or content? What did the Spirit stir in you?
Coming Soon
Expanded Discipleship Questions
🔆 Who is God & What Has He Done?
🔆 Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
✝ Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
- Coming Soon
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
✝ Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
- Coming Soon
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
Who Am I? Who are We?
❤️ Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
REPENT & BELIEVE: Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
- Coming Soon
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
REPENT & BELIEVE: Coming Soon
What Should I Do in Light of the Gospel?
🤍 Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
- Coming Soon
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
PRAYER: Coming Soon
Do Not Grow Weary
"TBC"
2 Thessalonians 3
2 Thessalonians 3
Christ Connection
Coming Soon
BIG IDEA
Coming Soon
Discipleship Questions
Before you begin, share with the group what stood out to you from the passage or content? What did the Spirit stir in you?
Coming Soon
Expanded Discipleship Questions
🔆 Who is God & What Has He Done?
🔆 Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
✝ Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
- Coming Soon
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
✝ Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
- Coming Soon
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
Who Am I? Who are We?
❤️ Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
REPENT & BELIEVE: Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
- Coming Soon
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
REPENT & BELIEVE: Coming Soon
What Should I Do in Light of the Gospel?
🤍 Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
Follow-Up Questions:
- Coming Soon
INSIGHT: Coming Soon
PRAYER: Coming Soon