Refocusing the Spiritually Fallen – Dr. Bradley Howell (John 21:15-19)

Welcome to CROLCC, we are so glad you are here worshiping with us.  Have you started writing down your dreams yet?  Last week pastor Danny Silk reminded us that God placed dreams inside of us when he created us, and when we realized those dreams, our destiny in God will therefore be fulfilled.  What are your dreams?  Perhaps many of us because of the busyness of life have stopped dreaming.  I want to encourage you to never stop dreaming but continue to dream big dreams.  Write them down, pray, write some more.  Perhaps in another 5 years look at them and you will be amazed that God cares more about your dreams even more than you do.

Today we are going to talk about culture.  I think it has been always interesting for me as a Chinese living in an American culture.  In a way I am kind of shelter from it because I have my own upbringing in the Chinese culture.  But I think it is important for us to understand the culture at large because we want to be able to bring the kingdom culture to those that live around us.  If you read the stories of Jesus, he always preaches with the audience’s culture in mind in order to reach them.  Therefore the more we understand who our audiences are, the more effective we can be in sharing our spiritual stories.

Discussion Questions

1. What were some of the culture values you were accustomed to growing up?
2. Where might we see God moving in culture that at first glance seems foreign to us?
3. What are we doing that might need to be reframed in order to come alongside people in that context?
4. How do you see your own story as a testimony of God in the culture we live in?