Application for Yesterday’s Message
2 CommentsYesterday, I preached a message titled “Change Happens When We Believe the Gospel.” The text was 2 Kings 5:1-15, in which Naaman, a powerful military leader from Syria, seeks healing for his leprosy. God provides the healing, but the means he uses are not what Naaman had anticipated.
You can listen online or download an mp3 here.
Use the following questions prepared by pastor Don DeVries to help you apply the message:
1. As Christians our lives can reflect the wrong belief that we are saved by grace but changed by our own will power. How can that lie lead to self-righteous legalism and/or discouragement?
2. How does the truth that “change is God’s agenda and God’s purpose” fill you with hope and faith that God can change you?
3. Josh shared that change happens when we believe the gospel. What alternative means are you tempted to choose for cleansing and transformation? Therapy? Medicine? Self-help techniques? Religious rituals?
4. If you are not a Christian, do you realize that God has spoken to you in the gospel? Are you willing to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ, repent of your sins and believe on Jesus for salvation?
5. What is one area of your life in which God is calling you to grow and change? What is one passage of Scripture that you can apply to that area of your life that needs transformation (see Phil. 2:12-13)?
Hey Josh,
By Nick on 06/29/2009LOVED hearing this message again (Small Group Conf. in Towson fall of 06?)... such a rich passage.
Thank you for sharing that “change happens when we believe the gospel”. Wish we could have heard more about how we practical believe the gospel in our daily lives - too bad we only have 1.5 hours each Sunday!
Had some great fellowship about this passage with friends after church. Thanks again!
Nick, I was wondering if any of the caregroup leaders would remember the message. You should get some sort of prize. (grin) Thanks for your encouragement.
By Joshua Harris on 07/01/2009