The World
Weekly Reading
Monday: Mark 2
Tuesday: Exodus 35, Mark 3
Wednesday: Exodus 36, Mark 4
Thursday: Exodus 37
Friday: Exodus 38, Mark 5
Saturday: Psalm 24-29, Proverbs 6
Sunday: 2 Samuel 8-17
Tuesday: Exodus 35, Mark 3
Wednesday: Exodus 36, Mark 4
Thursday: Exodus 37
Friday: Exodus 38, Mark 5
Saturday: Psalm 24-29, Proverbs 6
Sunday: 2 Samuel 8-17
Discussion Questions
- We talked this week about the world and its desires. How would you describe the ways of the world in contrast to the ways of Jesus? Write your own definition of “the world."
- Consider how we have redefined sin to be something that sounds virtuous. Identify some examples.
- Read the parable of the sower in Mark 4. Give examples of thorns from the world. In what way(s) do you think you may have assimilated to the culture in the way you think about things in life? Consider the ways in which that might be lacking the order of God and therefore the love of God.
- Refer below to the 3DQ questions and think about how you are specifically being called to “do the will of God.”
3DQ - 3 Discipleship questions to ask each other: What is God saying to you? What are you going to do about it? How can I help?
Sermon Notes
Key Passage: 1 John 2:15-17
James 5:13-17
1 Peter 2:11-12
Desire of the eyes | Instead of the desire of the eyes, having eyes on King Jesus
Desire of the flesh | Instead of the desire of the flesh, a Spirit-led commitment to obedience
Pride of life | Instead of the pride of life, a deep humility (marked by the spiritual disciplines of confession and celebration)
Definitions of the world:
“Our cultural and social practices that are under the control of Satan and, thus, opposed to God.” -Dallas Willard
“A system of ideas, values, morals, practices, and social norms that are integrated into the main-stream and eventually institutionalized in a culture corrupted by the twin sins of rebellion against God and the redefinition of good and evil.” - John Mark Comer, Live No Lies
“Post-Christianity is not pre-Christianity; rather post-Christianity attempts to move beyond Christianity [while] simultaneously feasting upon its fruit. Post-Christian culture attempts to retain the solace of faith, [while] gutting it of the costs, commitments, and restraints that the gospel places upon the individual will. Post Christianity intuitively yearns for the justice and shalom of the kingdom, [while] defending the right of the individual will. … [in summary] … we want the kingdom without the King.” -Mark Sayers
"Another joy leak is the prevalence of video screens in our daily lives. We use smartphones, television, and movie screens to fill our idle minutes or hours. Joy and screen time are inversely proportional. When our eyes and face are staring at our phones, we are not engaging with the faces around us. The joy drains out of our communities by depriving ourselves of each other’s faces. Our need for face-to-face time is designed into our flesh and cannot be substituted with a screen. Our brains can distinguish between a real face and a face on a screen even when we are infants. Our neurological circuits do not react to screens the same as they do to live faces. Since we need facial joy like we need food and oxygen, we are starving ourselves of relational nutrition." -Wilder and Hendricks, The Other Half of Church
James 5:13-17
1 Peter 2:11-12
Desire of the eyes | Instead of the desire of the eyes, having eyes on King Jesus
Desire of the flesh | Instead of the desire of the flesh, a Spirit-led commitment to obedience
Pride of life | Instead of the pride of life, a deep humility (marked by the spiritual disciplines of confession and celebration)
Definitions of the world:
“Our cultural and social practices that are under the control of Satan and, thus, opposed to God.” -Dallas Willard
“A system of ideas, values, morals, practices, and social norms that are integrated into the main-stream and eventually institutionalized in a culture corrupted by the twin sins of rebellion against God and the redefinition of good and evil.” - John Mark Comer, Live No Lies
“Post-Christianity is not pre-Christianity; rather post-Christianity attempts to move beyond Christianity [while] simultaneously feasting upon its fruit. Post-Christian culture attempts to retain the solace of faith, [while] gutting it of the costs, commitments, and restraints that the gospel places upon the individual will. Post Christianity intuitively yearns for the justice and shalom of the kingdom, [while] defending the right of the individual will. … [in summary] … we want the kingdom without the King.” -Mark Sayers
"Another joy leak is the prevalence of video screens in our daily lives. We use smartphones, television, and movie screens to fill our idle minutes or hours. Joy and screen time are inversely proportional. When our eyes and face are staring at our phones, we are not engaging with the faces around us. The joy drains out of our communities by depriving ourselves of each other’s faces. Our need for face-to-face time is designed into our flesh and cannot be substituted with a screen. Our brains can distinguish between a real face and a face on a screen even when we are infants. Our neurological circuits do not react to screens the same as they do to live faces. Since we need facial joy like we need food and oxygen, we are starving ourselves of relational nutrition." -Wilder and Hendricks, The Other Half of Church
Resources
The Other Half of Church, by Jim Wilder & Michel Hendricks
Live No Lies, by John Mark Comer
An overview of the subject matter in this sermon series
Renovation of the Heart, by Dallas Willard
(available for free on Hoopla App through the library)
Especially chapters 6 and 7 on Transforming the Mind
Live No Lies, by John Mark Comer
An overview of the subject matter in this sermon series
Renovation of the Heart, by Dallas Willard
(available for free on Hoopla App through the library)
Especially chapters 6 and 7 on Transforming the Mind
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