Description

This Palm Sunday, Pastor Jay closes our Isaiah series by looking at Isaiah 62 and the call to be bound by and for purpose. Isaiah paints a picture of a people fully surrendered to the coming Savior—a bride joyfully preparing for her Bridegroom—reminding us that saying yes to Jesus binds us to His mission. Through a personal moment of conviction, we’re challenged to stop treating the Great Commission like someone else’s assignment and instead let Scripture be a mirror that exposes whether our lives actually make room for those far from Jesus. Isaiah’s prophetic vision urges us to “prepare the way,” clearing every stone and raising a banner so people can meet the Savior of the world. In Christ, heaven is coming to earth, and we are invited into this union—called to do all we can and give all we have so others may know the love that has transformed us.

Questions:

• To begin service you were asked to picture someone you’d love to see baptized.
   Who came to mind for you and why?
• Do you relate more to having too many people to reach—or not enough proximity to people who don’t know Jesus? Why?
• Read Isaiah 61:1-3.
  Isaiah 61 describes Jesus coming for the broken, hurting, and lost.
  In what ways can churches (or we personally) unintentionally keep “broken people” at a distance? How can we change that?
• Jesus calls those who follow Him “Oaks of Righteousness.”
  We learned that Oak Trees can stand 100ft tall, have a canopy of 120ft wide, live 1,000 years, and home to over 2,300 species of wildlife. Most importantly, we learned that out of the 10,000 acorns an oak tree can drop in a year, on average 1 in 10,000 becomes trees.

How does the “1 in 10,000” idea challenge or encourage the way you think about sharing your faith?

What are practical ways you have found to share your faith in day-to-day life?

• Read Isaiah 62:1-5, 10-23

In the middle of Isaiah 62 we hear about marriage - reminding us that our relationships must be built on Christ, with him at the center of  it all. What competes (sports, work, business, finances, etc,) with being in the center of your relationships/marriage?

• If we truly adopt a kingdom mindset—hoping in God for both present challenges and future generations—how does that change how we pray, plan, and lead our families?