SERMON NOTES AND STUDY GUIDE, 2/4/24

We are on a journey of RENEWAL together as a church. During this series, we are focusing our attention on ACC’S overall purpose and practices. Our purpose is why we exist and our practices are how we live into it. In many ways, we are living out these practices and into our purpose. Our hope is that by clarifying both, we will live it out even more and become a powerful movement that God uses to bring renewal in and around us. This week, we focus on the fourth practice – Restore the World around Us. Our guest speaker was Grace Shim, the executive minister for Serve Globally for the Evangelical Covenant Church.

1. Looking back, what is an example in your life where you saw something (e.g. thing, person, building, etc) be restored and it amazed you?
2. Reflect on ACC’s  purpose statement [why we exist]: “Practicing the way of Jesus together for the renewal of the world.”  How do you see our 4th practice of “Restoring the world around us” helping us live into our purpose statement? 
3. How does Isaiah 61:1-3 broaden or deepen your understanding of the good news of God’s kingdom towards a fuller sense of the “whole gospel”? And how does this relate to when Jesus declared this same passage in Luke 4:14-20 about Himself?  In your own words, what is the good news of the kingdom of God, and what is so good about it? 
4. In Acts 1:8, Jesus declares we are his witnesses through the power of the Holy Spirit and defines 3 spheres in which we are to engage as witnesses: Jerusalem (local and familiar), Judea & Samaria (beyond the familiar), and the ends of the earth (global). From your perspective, who would you include in each of these spheres? How might God be inviting you to further engage in each one as Jesus’ witness?
5. Do you agree that people are often more concerned about ‘doing’ and accomplishing at the cost of their ‘being’ and attuning to who God meant them to become? How might a greater focus on becoming a ‘whole person’ impact life, work, and/or ministry? Share an example of how you’ve seen this demonstrated positively or negatively.
6. God invites the “whole church” to participate in his local and global mission as witnesses. What keeps you from being more fully engaged (e.g. scarcity mindset, sense of inadequacy, etc.)? What step of faith might you take to say, “Here I am, Lord” (Isaiah 6:8 ‘hineni’) in offering what you have?
7. “The whole church engaged in the whole gospel for the whole world through whole persons” – which part of this stands out most to you? As you choose to follow the way of Jesus towards restoring the world around you, what will be your next step? 

Pray over each other:  “Lord help _____ to experience the whole gospel to help shape him/her into a more whole person that reflects You. Then, show him/her where and how to bring restoration and wholeness in the place(s) he/she has been called.”