CELL NOTES 25/1/10

ICE BREAKER

Are you a glass half empty or half full person?

THEME

Chains can help.

Reading Phil 1: 12 - 26

SERMON OUTLINE

As an all age service there was no full message as such.  Teaching from the service included

1) Extract from “The Hiding Place” – the story of Corrie Ten Boom.

2) vv12-14 Paul stresses that there have been positive effects of his imprisonment – he has been able to witness to the guards and other people connected to the prison, and his reaction to the imprisonment has been an inspiration to other Christians to be bolder.

3) Difficult things will happen to us in our lives – somebody treats us badly, something goes wrong, illness or family trouble, even prison!!

4) But there are those who inspire by their faith and reaction to difficulty.

5) God has his hand on it all (v12), and despite the hardship necessarily involved in following Jesus, there is also joy (v18).

QUESTIONS OF APPLICATION

1) What is your response to difficulty, generally? How do you deal with it?

2) Are facing any particular difficulty at the moment? What is your attitude? How may this passage be relevant?

3) Who has been an inspiration to you over the last two years?

4) When have you seen God bring good out of a seemingly black situation?

5) How would you answer somebody who questions the goodness of God in the light of situations such as that in Haiti?