SERMON RESOURCES

READ: Joshua 4

RECAP:

Calvary Distinctive 1: Priority & Proclamation of the Whole Counsel of God

• At Calvary South Dayton, we are committed to teaching the "whole counsel" of God; Genesis to Revelation. 
• We prioritize teaching and studying the Word of God, book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. 
• Inductive Bible learning involves: what does the text say? (observation/knowledge); what does the text mean? (interpretation/understanding); how does the text apply (application/wisdom).
• We endeavor to live lives characterized by increasing Biblical maturity.

Calvary Distinctive 2: Centrality of Christ

• We look for Christ from Genesis to Revelation.
• We emphasize the person and work of Christ.
• Christ is the focus of our worship. 

Calvary Distinctive 3: Empowered by the Spirit

• We de-emphasize self-sufficiency and personal achievement, and depend on the powerful move of the Spirit in all endeavors.
• We are intentional to remain Spirit-sensitive and Spirit-led in our initiatives.

Calvary Distinctive 4: Lifestyle of Grace

• On matters of secondary issues (including non-essential doctrinal differences, dress, preferences, politics, opinions), we choose grace.
• We discourage divisive criticism and critiques on issues unclear in Scripture and/or secondary to the gospel.
• We endeavor to live out grace as a daily lifestyle.

Calvary Distinctive 5: Servants' Hearts

• We esteem servants' hearts higher than leadership titles & reputation.
• We look for "shadow servants" (those who serve joyfully and sacrificially (even with menial tasks) when no one is looking.
• We follow passionate servant-leaders.
• Pursuing humble hearts of sacrificial/faithful service is of primary importance.

Calvary Distinctive 6: Ventures of Faith

• We are intentional to prayerfully take on faith-filled risks.
• We are not afraid to try and fail. 
• We will not be ruled or restrained by pragmatism or comfort zones.

Calvary Distinctive 7: Supremacy of Love

• We want everyone who enters through our doors to first and foremost know they are unconditionally loved (regardless of place or station in life).
• They will know we are Christians by our love.
• Expressing love is supreme--short-term and long-term.

Calvary Distinctive 8: Innovative & Comprehensive Disciple-Making

• We are going to be innovative in our approaches.
• We are going to prioritize intentional disciple-making (acts 2:42, 47) for everyone, birth to elderly.
• We are not a country-club. we are a community of faith, personally & corporately engaged in disciple-making.
• We nurture Paul/barnabas/timothy relationships.

Calvary Distinctive 9: Mobilization & Multiplication

• We are actively looking for ways to share our lives with others.
• We prioritize church-planting initiatives and global involvement.
• WE want to live with a global perspective--seeing the people of our region anthropologically and missiologically.

Discussion Questions:

1. Many churches will say they value the Word of God. What makes us different. Why is this important?
2. We are first and foremost "Trinitiarians" (belief in the Father/Son/Spirit). However, we choose to make the person & work of Christ central. Why?
3. What does it mean to be truly "empowered by the Spirit?" What does it mean to be biblically "sensitive" to the spirit's leading in our lives and church?
4. Why is a biblical understanding and application of grace so important to us? What does that look like lived out practically in a multi-generational faith community?
5. How would you differentiate between someone who models a "servant's heart" vs. someone who serves/works in ministries?
6. Why are ventures of faith important to the life of the believer? How do we know when we're being foolish? How do we know when we're being fleshly?
7. How can we practically live out the supremacy of love at our church, while not compromising biblical truth?
8. What does disciple-making involve? How is that different from what many churches emphasize?
9. We believe it's important to mobilize & multiply. Why can this be difficult at times.

Life & Heart Questions:

• Which distinctive is the most important for you?
• Which distinctive do we need to work on most at Calvary South Dayton?
• How can we better communicate and live out these distinctives among our church family and community?

Prayer Focus:
Pray that we will apply hearts and feet to our new distinctives. Pray God will continue His supernatural work of blessing and provision and life-transformation among us. 

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