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DISCOVER YOUR GIFT
Beautifully Gifted | Part 1
Senior Pastor Keith Stewart
January 5, 2025

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once prayed, “Use me, God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself.” Dr. King's desire is a perfect encapsulation of this Sunday's message. God has a wonderful purpose for your life and you will discover it once you understand how He has uniquely formed and equipped you to be. This is the perfect beginning to the new year and you don't want to miss it.

#Realspringcreekchurch #spiritualgifts #beautifully #gifted #discoveryourgift

1. Take some time individually or as a group to read the various lists of spiritual gifts: 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 1 Corinthians 12:8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:28; 1 Peter 4:9-11; Romans 12:4-8; Ephesians 4:11-13). Do you know what your spiritual gift or gifts are? They say that two tests of the spiritual gifts are fruitful and fulfilled. In other words, when you are exercising your spiritual gift, it is fruitful - that is, other people express appreciation for your gift, it is helpful, beneficial, healing or instructive to them. And secondly, you are fulfilled in exercising your gift. In other words, you find satisfaction and deep connection to God as you put your gift into practice. In what ways have you experienced being both fruitful and fulfilled?

2. Our heart represents our loves - our strongest and most persistent desires. What are the things you most love to do? How has pursuing the things you love been a factor in your life in school, your career and personal life? In what ways could God’s kingdom benefit by sharing your passions with others? If you’ve already found a way of doing that, describe what that experience was like and explain how others can do the same.

3. Abilities are those strengths and aptitudes that we are born with. We develop our abilities and perfect them throughout life, but there is an inclination that already exists in one or several areas to excel. Sometimes, we are unaware of our abilities because we dismiss them too easily thinking that everybody can do what comes naturally to us. What abilities have you discovered in your life? What strengths have you always been aware of? How do you use your abilities in your personal life? Professional life? Spiritual life?

4. Our personalities also constitute the unique gifts God has given us. Pastor Keith highlighted two aspects of personality, introversion versus extroversion and preferred learning styles in affective, reflective or substantive. In these two categories, do you know which terms best describe you? If so, which ones do and explain how that plays out in your life. It is also vitally important that we be aware that not everyone is constituted as we are. Personality can help us relate powerfully to those most like us, but God wants us all to gain an appreciation for all the personality styles and the contribution we can make to one another. Take some time to contemplate how each personality style has strengths and weaknesses.

5. The experiences we’ve had in life for good or bad can be used by God to help others who find themselves in similar situations. What good things in your life experience has God used to help others? What bad things in your life has God redeemed and worked to the benefit of others? Is there anything that you once never wanted to talk about but now do so freely because of the healing and forgiveness that God has helped you to experience?

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THE SHEPHERD
Pastor Jerrid Fletcher
December 29, 2024

#god #theshepherd #psalm23 #psalm22 #realspringcreekchurch

Psalm 23 is one of the most beloved and comforting passages in all of Scripture, offering a timeless reminder of God’s love and care for His people. In this sermon, we will explore the beautiful imagery of God as our Shepherd—a guide who provides, protects, and restores. Just as a shepherd knows each sheep by name and cares for their every need, our God leads us beside still waters, refreshes our souls, and walks with us through life’s darkest valleys.

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. In what moments this past year have you felt a sense of abandonment or silence from God, similar to David in Psalm 22? How did you navigate those feelings?

2. Reflecting on Psalm 23, how has your understanding of God as a shepherd influenced your perspective on personal trials, and in what specific ways have you witnessed His provision
in your life?

3. After considering the different labels attributed to David throughout his life, what labels have you accepted for yourself, and how do you reconcile those with the identity God has ascribed to you?

4. Who has God been to you this year? Share a specific instance that embodies His presence or guidance during a challenging moment in your life.

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EMMANUEL
The Name | Part 4
Senior Pastor Keith Stewart
December 22, 2024

#god #realspringcreekchurch #emmanuel #thename #godwithus

Each of the names given to Christ reveal something special and unique about Who He is and Why He came. Appropriately, this Sunday before Christmas, we dive into the mystery of Emmanuel, which means, God with us. This name lets us know that there’s more to the Christmas story than we have ever imagined, hoped or dreamed. This name reminds us that we’re never alone. This name unleashes our worship of the One Who is always with us.
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. The French writer André Breton said, “All my life, my heart has yearned for a thing I cannot name.” C.S. Lewis concluded was if I find myself having a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most logical conclusion is I was made for something beyond this life. How does the God hunger manifest in people? What sort of things do people seek other than God to fill this hunger? Have you personally had experience with this truth positively or negatively? If so, what was that like?

2. Have you ever sensed God with you in a difficult, challenging or painful time in your life? How did God make you aware that He was with you? What did He do for you?
Or what did He say to you? Or what happened in your circumstances that ended up being a great comfort?
What would you say to someone who feels abandoned by God or all alone in whatever it is they are going through?

3. Take some time to discuss the following verse...
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4.14-16

4. Pastor Keith mentioned two practical ways of illustrating the incarnation (God becoming human). One was Philip Yancey’s illustration about his salt-water aquarium and the other was the Christian author Dorothy Sayers who developed a character in her detective fiction novels that she fell in love with and then wrote herself into the story. What did these illustrations say to you? How are they similar to what God did for us? Can you think of any other ways of how or why God became human?

5. The story of the Bible is the record of God expressing His desire to be with us. The story begins in a Garden and walking together every day. From there, the story progresses to the pillar of a cloud and a fire by night that remains with the people and guides them daily. Once the Israelites settle down, God has them construct a dwelling place, first in the tabernacle and second in the temple, where He can dwell in the midst of His people. When Jesus arrives, He is Emmanuel – God with us. Then once He ascends back to the Father, Christ comes to dwell within every believer. God is with us is not just the message of Christmas but the message of Christianity. How is God with you today? Where is He leading you? How is He comforting you? In what ways has He corrected you? What is He saying to you? How is communion an opportunity to re-experience Christ in His nearness to us?