Family Dinner: March 19th – 25th

Open your Bibles to Colossians chapter 3, and read verses 22 and 23 together.

Our motives in serving and following God are really important to Him. People see the outward appearance, but God sees us on the inward; He sees our hearts. The book of James says our faith is dead if it doesn’t have good works, meaning we have to desire to do good works to the benefit of others if our faith is real and genuine! We’re not to please others by going on a mission trip, being baptized, or feeding the homeless, but to please and glorify God! The commands of God and doing good works are not to be burdensome, but we’re to desire to be cheerful and generous givers from our hearts. This is all an outpouring of our love for Jesus as we desire for others to know and love Him as well.

Discuss the following questions together as a family:

1. Which commandments are more difficult for you to obey and tend to be burdensome, why?

2. What are ways you can serve God? What good works can you do to the benefit of others and for God’s glory? 

3. What good work has someone done that blessed you in your life?

4. How have you served God in the past? What was a takeaway from that?

Put it into Practice! Pray and Ask God for an opportunity, and then RISE UP to do a GOOD WORK this week!

Family Dinner: March 12th – 18th

Open your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 2 and read verses 3 and 4 together.

God desires all to be saved and understand the truth. In God’s eyes, it’s GOOD for us to be saved so He made a way for us to be saved! The truth is that He sent Jesus to die for us on the cross. Jesus took on the wrath of God and He took the punishment of the sins of the world, becoming the Mediator between us and God. God reaches out and He personally touches our lives because of the Gospel, this good news of Jesus.

Discuss the following questions together:

1. What are ways that you can personally reach out, touch and bless someone else?

2. Share of a time that someone personally reached out and touched your life. What did they do? How did it make you feel?

3. Share your testimony. How has God personally touched and changed your life?

Put it into practice! Who in your life needs to hear the gospel? God desires them to be saved! Invite them to Easter!

Family Dinner: March 5th – 11th

Open your Bibles to the book of Joshua, chapter 1 and read verses 8 and 9 together.

When you’re seeking an answer in a troubled moment, do you go to friends, or do you go to God? Do you look for a ‘sign’, or do you look to God’s Word? God has already spoken all that we need to know, and it’s written down for us in the Bible, we just have to read it! He doesn’t suggest, but commands us to not be afraid, reassuring us that He’s with us wherever we go.

Discuss the following questions together!

1. What difficult thing have you walked through in the past? How did you get through it? How did God show up in a big way?

2. How is God’s success different than the world’s, or even our perspective of success?

3. Is it easy to always be strong and not afraid? What are we to do when we are walking through, “the valley of the shadow of death”?

4. What difficult thing are you currently walking through? How can your family help you biblically walk through this trial?

Put it into practice! Read Philippians 4:6-7. Pray, make your requests known to God and trust Him with the result. He will give you peace and joy amidst your trial.

Family Dinner: February 27th – March 4th

Open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7, and read verses 13 and 14 together.

We all find ourselves in difficult places in this life. Whether we get ourselves there, others get us there or God sovereignly leads us there. We’re promised that the walk with Jesus is not an easy one, and our hope and strength remains in our sovereign King. He is for us, not against us. He is with us, and He challenges us to be joyful through the promised trials of life. Who do you run to in the midst of your trial?

Discuss the following questions together:

1. Who do you talk to when you’re going through a difficult time? Why?

2. Jesus says, “…narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life…” Why isn’t it easy to follow and know God?

3. What difficult place have you ended up at? How did God show up?

Put it into practice! Pray for another family who doesn’t know Jesus, and invite them to attend Easter with your family on Sunday, March 31st at the Dignity Health Sports Park!

Family Dinner: February 20th – 26th

Open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 18 and read verse 15 together.

Often times when dealing with someone who is being difficult or has wronged us in some way, we don’t go about it the way Jesus commands us to. Either we gossip about them and the situation and try to “recruit” our team trying to get others on our side and against them, avoiding the situation and becoming bitter, OR we get furiously angry and walk right up to them wanting to confront, yell and fight. But Jesus, gives us the way to love our fellow brother/sister, to forgive them and to reconcile.

Discuss the following questions together as a family:

1. Why do we often times gossip about the person we’re having conflict with?

2. Tell of a time that you wronged someone. What happened and how did the situation dissolve, or did it?

3. Why is it important to obey Jesus’ every command, whether we agree or not?

Put it into practice! Read Matthew 18:16-20 together to continue to see how Jesus commands us to reconcile with our family. Pray and ask the Lord to reveal who you need to reconcile with. Then go, and seek forgiveness and reconciliation!