What does God require from his followers? What are the basic expectations God has for his children?

As God’s children, we are subject to God’s leadership and character in our lives.

Because God is just, God requires justice from his children. Because God is kind, God requires kindness from his children. Because God is who he is, God requires humility from his children.

God spoke through the Minor Prophet Micah saying, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8, ESV).

When was the last time you received a good word from someone? How did this encouragement affect you?

A good word encourages and motivates us to move forward. Encouraging words can remove anxiety and heaviness in our lives, and allows us to shake depressive inertia and move forward in life.

The wisdom of the Proverbs tells us, “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.”

(Proverbs 12:25, ESV).

What do you believe? Where do you place your faith? Does what you believe, or who you believe in, have the power to save you? Have you placed your faith in God who saves?

What we believe matters. Where we place our faith matters and is of eternal consequence. We must place our belief, our faith, in the truth of God and allow him to save us and give us life.

This saving faith was the faith of Abraham. This was the faith that Abraham placed in God. This is the faith in God who saves.

What are you seeking? Where are you seeking life?

What we are looking for is of essential importance. Where we are looking is important as well.

The Apostle Paul wrote the Colossian church, saying, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” (Colossians 3:1, ESV).

What work are we called to do as followers of Jesus?

As followers of Jesus, we are to obey God’s Great Commission to make disciples, or students, of Jesus.

Before his ascension into heaven, Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them inthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, ESV).

What is a servant? What are the expectations of a servant? Is a servant expected to do the master’s will? What does a servant receive in exchange for obeying their master?

Servants serve. A servant is not above their master, and a good servant serves their master obediently. A servant serves and receives a fair reward for their service.

We are called to serve God faithfully as his obedient servants.

What is Pentecost? What is the importance of Pentecost? What did Jesus promise concerning the Holy Spirit of God and when was the Holy Spirit sent?

The day of Pentecost is named after the Feast of Weeks and means fifty. Christians remember Jesus sent the Holy Spirit of God fifty days after the resurrection. Pentecost begins the era of the church, and the dwelling place of God being within each believer in Jesus.

Jesus promised to give his disciples his Holy Spirit. In John’s Gospel, Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17, ESV).

How did Jesus ascribe glory and honor to his Father during his earthly life and ministry before the ascension? What did Jesus pray for and long for as he ministered and prayed to his Father?

Jesus glorified God the Father by accomplishing the work God had given him to do on earth.

Jesus longed to be present with God and to receive the glory he had left in heaven when he came to earth in the incarnation.

What good comes out of Jesus’ departure from earth to heaven after the resurrection? Is it possible that endless good has come from Jesus leaving?

At the ascension of Jesus, he led his disciples out as far as Bethany, “and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.” (Luke 24:50-53, ESV).

It is in this departure of Jesus that Jesus ascends to his heavenly throne, begins his preparation to make a place for us and to bring us to himself (John 14:1-6), and he begins his preparation to send the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2).

What is the very least we can do to remember those who have sacrificed, and done the most they could do, and given the greatest sacrifice there is to give?

We remember and we honor those who have served faithfully and given their life so that we can live in freedom.

Their sacrificial and life-giving service reminds us of our Lord Jesus.

In John’s gospel account, Jesus said, “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily.” (John 10:18, NLT).

What difference does wisdom make in your life? When was the last time you asked God to give you wisdom?

We need wisdom. A wise decision can mean the difference between life and death. The pursuit of wisdom is a noble and fruitful pursuit in our lives.

The New Testament author, and half brother of Jesus, James, wrote, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5, ESV).

When Jesus prayed, what did he desire? What was the heart of Jesus for his people when he prayed to his Father in heaven?

You can tell a lot about the condition of a person’s heart and their deepest cares and desires by listening to their prayers. We can learn about the heart of God through the prayers of Jesus.

In John’s Gospel account, John records the High Priestly prayer of Jesus. John tells us Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:1-3, ESV).

How has the faith of your family, especially the faith of your mother and grandmother, influenced your life? What role does the faith of the family play in nurturing our own faith?

Our faith is mostly passed down and strengthened by our family, especially by our parents, our mothers, and our grandmothers.

The Apostle Paul wrote his spiritual son, Timothy, calling him “my beloved child,” and commending his faith, which was passed on to him through his grandmother and mother. Paul encouraged Timothy to guard the faith that was entrusted to him.

Paul wrote Timothy, saying, “I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” (2 Timothy 1:3-5, ESV).

How do we know we are God’s children? What difference does it make in our lives that we are children of God?

We are children of God, and can be confident that we are children of God, by believing in Jesus and receiving him.

The gospel of John tells us, “But to all who did receive him [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12, ESV).

Where does fruitfulness come from? How do we bear fruit in our lives? What is the source for what we produce?

We cannot produce lasting and beneficial fruitfulness apart from God. The source for all lasting fruitfulness is God.

In John’s gospel account, Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5, ESV).

What is home? Are we at home in this life or are we looking for something more?

Anglican theologian C.S. Lewis famously said, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity).

We are restless for home. We are restless for God. We are not quite at home in this world. Our most intimate place we call “home” is not our true and eternal home.

Saint Augustine said it this way, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” (Saint Augustine).

What house does God desire for himself? Where does God choose to live? Where does God desire for us to live?

God makes his home with his people. We are the dwelling place of God. God wants us to be with him, just as he desires to dwell with us.

The Apostle Peter wrote, “As you come to him [Jesus], a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4-5, ESV).

What are the challenges of following Jesus? How do we know where Jesus is going and how do we know the way?

These are important questions and they were important questions even for the early disciples who wrestled with following Jesus.

In John’s gospel account, “Thomas said to Jesus, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:5-6, ESV).

Do you feel like you belong? Do you feel like you have a place? Are you rooted in place?

God desires to make us a home with him. We belong with Jesus. We have a heavenly place where we will dwell with Jesus and we will be rooted in that place with him for eternity.

In the Apostle John’s Gospel account, Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 15:1-3, ESV).

What seeds are you sowing? What are you harvesting in life?

It has been said, “You get out what you put in.” and “You reap what you sow.”

The Apostle Paul taught the church in Corinth, saying, “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” (2 Corinthians 9:6, ESV).