“Our Need for Others” is a weekend message I shared at Crossroads Church in Cranberry, PA. A great community of people seeking to follow Jesus and share Him with others.
- Read Matthew 22:34-40. These verses say that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love other people. … Therefore, the two most important things that we can do are to develop strong, healthy relationships with God and people!
- Why do you think Jesus emphasized loving God with all of our heart, soul, and mind? What are some indicators that our relationship with God is healthy and strong, and what are some indicators that it is not?
- What are some reasons that our relationship with God sometimes seems close and good, but sometimes it does not? What are some things we can do when God seems distant, or when the Christian life seems dry?
- What is good about your own relationship with God? How might God be prompting you to grow in your relationship with Him?
- God Himself is a relationship among the three Persons of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God created us in His image, so we are created for relationship with one another. But what are some of the ways that humanity’s fallen sinful nature has made us cautious about developing close relationships? What can we do about that?
- How are relationships with Christ followers different than relationships with people who do not yet know Christ? Under what circumstances is it good, or not good, to develop close relationships with pre-Christians?
- From Acts 2:42-47, and from your own experience, why are close relationships with other Christ followers essential for personal health and godly impact in His Kingdom?
Some people in our lives are VDPs (very draining people), and some are VBPs (very building people). Sometimes the VDPs are people we love, but because of their current life circumstance, are nevertheless more draining than building. Of course, Jesus wants us to minister to VDPs. But it is essential for our own long-term health that we intentionally develop relationships with VBPs.
- Who are the VBPs in your life, and how do they lift you up? How could those relationships be even stronger? … If you have very few or no VBPs, how can that situation be remedied?