God created everything and then created man and woman in His image.  He was pleased with His creation as He said, “It was very good.”  In Psalms, it is reiterated that God created us and knows us intimately.  The same God that made us knows us and loves us despite everything we have done, are doing, or will do.  

Questions for further thought:
1. Do you believe you are fearfully and wonderfully made?  If not, why?
2. How does knowing that God loves you despite everything you have done or will do make you feel?

​Challenge: Pray to God thanking Him for making you who you are.

Doing good deeds takes energy, and telling people about Jesus takes energy and courage. Fortunately for us, we don’t need extra coffee or smoothies or granola bars to fuel our goal to be like Jesus. All we need to do is ask, and the power of God will work through us even when we don’t feel like we can make it, sometimes even when we think we’re getting it all wrong.  

Questions for further thought:
1. Do you ever feel like it’s a heavy burden to do all the things God wants us to do? 
2. Can you think of a time when God showed up in a way that made it utterly obvious that it was Him and not you providing the answer?  

​Challenge: Ask God to show you where you can rely on His power to shine light in the world.

When we help others, especially as a church group, we need to be prepared for someone to ask “Why are you doing this?” What is our reason for hope? Peter’s advice here is important for us today: a gentle, respectful response will attract others to the Way and will create a wider opening for Jesus’ light to shine through.

Questions for further thought:
1. Have you ever fumbled through a response to someone asking you about Jesus?
2. Can you think of examples from others that have impressed you as welcoming invitations to learn more about Jesus?  

​Challenge: Practice a one-line answer to why you believe in Jesus that might lead someone to ask even more questions.

If we copy what Jesus did, we will speak to and teach others, and we also will DO. Healing is the work we associate most with Jesus, but He also fed people, washed feet, and did carpentry. Maybe building wasn’t directly associated with His ministry, but can you imagine Jesus doing ANYTHING that didn’t bless people? Our everyday work as well as our “good deeds” should be a conduit for God’s light to shine into this world.

Questions for further thought:
1. What percentage of your day do you devote to helping others?
2. Do our good deeds have to be done directly in Jesus’ name to be effective at spreading God’s light? 

​Challenge: Think of one specific way that Jesus’ love can shine through in your everyday routine at work.

The context for Mark 16:15 is that Jesus just revealed himself to the 11 disciples for the first time after he rose from the grave. First he rebukes them for their lack of faith, and then he gives a simple directive: tell everyone – not only those who might be most open to the Gospel, not only those who “need” it more than others – everyone.

Questions for further thought:
1. Do you ever find yourself limiting who you need to share Jesus with?
2. What are the categories of people who seem most difficult to share with?  

​Challenge: Identify a specific obstacle that keeps you from talking to people about Jesus and then work on it. For example, if you feel like you lack knowledge, learn the Roman Road or another common template about how to share the Good News.

Jesus’ instructions to ask for more workers to be sent out stems from His infinite compassion. If we want to be like Jesus, we have to have tender, submissive hearts that long to reach out to a fallen world. And of course, we can’t only pray for other workers to be sent out to preach the Good News … we have to be willing (and brave enough) to step up ourselves!

Questions for further thought:
1. What are the problems in this world that make you sense how desperately the world needs Jesus?
2. In what specific ways can you step up and be Jesus?  

​Challenge: Identify three people you know who need the Good News and/or have physical needs that you or Hillcrest can help fill; pick one to talk to this week.

In a world where people feel isolated and alone, God created unique and loving community called the Church. One of the first acts Jesus did during his ministry was to establish a community of believers called the disciples. Jesus and these 12 men changed the world by sharing the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Jesus taught and most importantly modeled this new kind of community. Jesus could have preached, taught, and healed by Himself, but God designed us to need each other, and Jesus lived this out by seeking his 12 friends! 

Questions for further thought:
1. What can happen to us spiritually when we stop attending church or being involved with other Christians? 
2. How can Christians spur one another toward love and serving others? 

​Challenge: Read Hebrews 10:24-25

Opportunities to serve others are all around us. As we read earlier this week there were even examples of where we could serve. But we don’t have to volunteer at an organization to be serving. It gets as simple as opening the door for the person behind you, raking or mowing a neighbor’s yard who you know has been extra busy with life, or letting the person with less items go ahead of you in the check out line. God puts people in our lives everyday whom we can choose to serve. 

Questions for further thought:
1. Do you regularly consider the needs of others while doing your daily everyday work? 
2. Who is God putting on your heart that you could serve tomorrow? 

​Challenge: Pray and ask God to give you a heart like Jesus. 

We were not created to go through life alone. We were made to have relationship with our community of fellow children of God. In community we find our place in the body of Christ, we learn to serve, love, and respect each other. And in community we receive the healing and love that can only come from other followers of Jesus. 

Questions for further thought:
1. Where do you need the healing that comes from relationships with other believers? 
2. What people has God placed in your life? 

​Challenge: Reflect on your need for community.

When looking around your city, town or (if you live somewhere like where I grew up) one stop-light village, volunteers are needed almost everywhere. There are many different places that we can donate our time or resources to help those in need. Homeless shelters and women’s shelters in bigger cities. Mentoring or volunteering at schools, and community events in smaller towns. And for those “one stop-light villages” there are always neighbors or even donating monetarily to places in bigger cities that provide help to the under resourced. We as Christians’ can make a difference no matter what community God has placed us in! 

Questions for further thought:
1. Where have you volunteered your time before? 
2. What has been your favorite way to make a difference in your community? 

Challenge: If being a volunteer isn’t something you are doing right now, think of one way you can make a difference in your community and start right in!