Understand specifically what God has called you to do
Know your purpose
If you aim at nothing in particular you'll hit it every time
Be part of someone else's legacy
Be under authority - Luke 7:1-10
Be faithful with someone else's property - Luke 16:10-12
Find a mentor / coach
Follow the leader
Elisha refused to leave Elijah at:
Gilgal - Josh 4:19 - 5:12
First camp after crossing the Jordan
Circumcision - the covenant renewed, reproach rolled away
First Passover in Canaan
First experience of the produce of the land
Bethel
Originally dedicated to God - Gen 28:10-22; Gen 31:10-13
Subsequently defiled - 1Kings 12:25 - 13:6
Later reclaimed under Josiah
Jericho
Originally destroyed and cursed - Josh 6:20-27
Subsequently rebuilt - 1Kings 16:34
Stay with your leader through all the stages of your relationship
New beginnings
Examining defilements in your "house of God"
Examining "resurrected" issues
Eat the meat and spit out the bones
Eli ----> Samuel
Introducing Eli - 1Sam 1:1-3
Eli's Sons - 1Sam 2:10-25
Prophetic Warning - 1Sam 2:27-36; 1Sam 3:1-18
Samuel comes into his own - 1Sam 3:19-21
Prophetic Fulfillment against Eli - 1Sam 4:10-22
Samuel's Sons - 1Sam 8:1-9
Recognize the negative traits that you need to avoid
Pay attention
Elisha had to see Elijah taken up to heaven
Jordan
They crossed the Jordan out of Canaan
Their final moments were on the "wilderness" side of Jordan
Catching the transition
Everyone probably expected Elijah to die
No one expected chariots and horses of fire and a whirlwind
Elijah had a reputation for "disappearing" - 1Kings 18:1-15
Keep your eye on your leader in the wilderness
See and recognize your leader's "promotion"
His/her promotion is your promotion
Don't waste time longing for the "good old days"
Know what's going on in the ministry to which you belong
Know the power of God
River splitting power
Resurrection Power - Eph 1:15-23
Move beyond discouragement - 1Kings 19:1-21
Sulking, pouting, and pampering are not God's will for us
Elijah went "backwards" to Mt. Horeb (Sinai)
"What are you doing here?"
Discouragement distorts your perception - 1Kings 19:10-14
Go back the way you came - 1Kings 19:15
Handle your next assignment - 1Kings 19:15-21
Make the transition to commitment - 1Kings 19:19-21
Don't miss God's invitation
Say goodbye to your old life
Jesus did this at his baptism
Be faithful - 1Kings 19:19-21; 2Kings 2:1-18; 2Kings 3:11
Faithfulness is a lifestyle
Begin with faithfulness
End with faithfulness
No mystery about the intervening years
Work on your stuff
Examine yourself - 1Cor 11:28-32; 2Cor 13:5
Count the cost - Luke 14:28-33
Conquer your fears
Feed on God's Word - Job 23:12; Jer 15:16; Mat 4:4
Pray
Worship
Prostrate yourself
Personally
With your resources
Excel at giving - 2Cor 8:1-9; 2Cor 9:6-7
Examples - Gen 14:17-20; Gen 28:10-22; Prov 3:9-10
Fellowship
Put others ahead of yourself Philip 2:4-5
Glorify God in your everyday life
At school
On your job
Be a faithful worker
Understand the big picture
Solve problems - don't leave them in someone else's lap
Be a Kingdom strategist
Operate strategically
Beware the tyranny of the urgent
Q1 (Important & Urgent); Q2 (Important & Not Urgent)
Q3 (Unimportant & Urgent); Q4 (Unimportant & Not Urgent)
Operate in Quadrant 2
Put the big rocks in first
Make a plan
Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, 5 year, etc.
Follow the plan
Keep it updated
Put God's Kingdom first - Mat 6:19-34
Organize your life around the Kingdom - not "worldly success"
Resist Satan's efforts to make us preoccupied with ourselves and with our own families only.
Our deliberate efforts at unity and connecting to our brothers and sisters help to release God's power - John 17:20-23
Summary
God exists
Key assumptions:
God wants to be known
If he didn't want be known, how could we know him?
We also assume that we are competent to know God - we forget about the impact of original sin on our ability to know God
Win Converts
Acts 8:1-8 - Philip evangelizes in Samaria
God scatters us when we get too complacent
Those who were scattered preached the Word wherever they went - Use your gifts
Give God credit
Pray for and lay hands on people
Let the gifts of the Spirit flow
God is not into "superstars"
Acts 8:9-13 - Simon the Sorcerer
Acts 8:14-25 - The Apostles to the rescue
Acts 8:26-40 - Philip and the Ethiopian
Will you teach your disciples the full gospel?
1Cor 2:1-5 - Not human persuasion, but divine persuasion!
New Material
Leave a Legacy (continued)
God Expects Fruit
Fruitfulness is rewarded
Parable of the minas - Luke 19:11-27
Parable of the talents - Mat 25:14-30
Fruitlessness is punished
Cursing the fig tree - Mat 21:18-19
When will the fig tree bear fruit? - Luke 13:6-9
Are you gathering with Jesus? - Mat 12:30
Are you drawing people into God's Kingdom?
Submit to your leaders - Heb 13:17
Recognize the time - Luke 19:41-44
Make disciples - 2Tim 2:2
You have to pull someone in close
They have to be close enough to understand what you have
They have to want what you have
The whole counsel of God - Acts 20:22-27
Be a strategic connector
We must design everything we do so that it advances the great commission - winning and making disciples.
The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord - Isa 11:9
Connect people to the Kingdom
Use any godly means necessary
Evangelize on your own - occasionally works
confrontation compel someone to follow Christ
Invite to Sunday service - occasionally works
Invite to life group - appropriate for some
Join the workforce!
Invite to a life group activity - appropriate for most
Come to the party!
Invite to lunch with one to two brothers/sisters - great strategy
Will we let God use our relationships or will we selfishly keep them to ourselves?
Not human persuasion, but divine persuasion! - 1Cor 2:1-5
Pray first and expect God to produce results - 1Cor 3:1-15
Be an expert builder
Build quality
Don't be someone who escapes through the flames
Summary
Paul's appeal: 2Cor 10:1-18
Authority for building you up - 2Cor 10:8; 2Cor 13
Boasting in the Lord - 2Cor 10:17; Jer 9:23-25
Circumcised only in the flesh - Jer 9:25-26
Discussion Questions
Reflect on John 15:1-8
What things in your life most resemble fruit as defined in this passage?
According to verse 2, what will happen to you if you don't bear fruit?
According to verse 2, what will happen to you if you do bear fruit?
What's the difference between being "cut off" and being "pruned"?
Have you ever been "pruned"?
In what ways have you produced fruit that went on to reproduce itself?
Reflect on Mark 11:12-14, 19-23; Luke 13:6-9
If you were a fig tree and Jesus came to you looking for fruit, what would he say?
Reflect on Luke 19:11-27; Mat 25:14-30
Has God entrusted you with opportunities for fruitfulness? Describe what you did with some of these opportunities? Did God get a good return on his investment in you?
General Questions
Have you ever led someone to faith in Jesus Christ?
Have you ever helped to train someone in the Christian life?
Has someone that you've trained ever gone on to train others?
Works Activities For This Week's Life Group Meetings
List the people in your sphere of influence.
Go over the people in your list and share with your group the answers to the following questions:
How badly to you want to see this person saved?
How much time have you spent praying for him/her? On your own? With a prayer partner?
What are you willing to do differently to see this person saved?
