Preparing for the Gathering - 2 Timothy 4:1-5

January 5, 2018 by Dalton Vansell Preparing for Sunday

Prepare your heart for our Sunday Morning Gathering by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together.

You will find tangible suggestions for putting scripture to action in your personal life and in our corporate body, links to the songs we will sing, and lyrics for you to prepare for our corporate singing.

Please see the Preparing for the Sermon post for suggestions in thinking more critically through the passage, meditating more intently on the text, and prayerfully seeking wisdom to deepen your understanding of the passage to be preached this Sunday.

Intentionally Act

Examine your heart, your thinking, and your beliefs to see if you’ve been failing to apply this passage. Walk through this passage and seek to align your thinking, your will, and your beliefs to what this passage says.
Pray for our congregation to have a biblical view of preaching. Pray that there wouldn’t be compromise in hearts toward preaching that is only a façade of the biblical command. Pray that the people of Summit Woods would deepen in their appreciation for and understanding of biblical preaching. Pray that we would be discerning people when it comes to preaching.
Pray for the elders and leaders of Summit Woods to remain committed to the faithful preaching of the Scriptures. Pray that they would stand strong against the temptations to compromise.
Click the links below to find the lyrics and recordings of the songs planned for our gathering this Sunday; practice the songs, study the lyrics and sing together.
Pray for those leading our corporate gathering this week and for the Holy Spirit’s work as the Word of God is further explained and applied: Dawson Bryant: music; Rob Stouffer: Elders' prayer & scripture reading; Bret Capranica: teaching.

Questions for Growth Group Discussion

Why is it important to develop a mindset of personal accountability to God in how you prioritize the priority of Scriptural preaching?
What are practical ways to cultivate that kind of accountable mindset?
What do you find that is most helpful in developing a hunger for Scriptural preaching? What tends to distract your appetite for the preaching of Scripture?
What tends to make us think we need something different than the teaching of Scripture in our church gatherings?
Describe a season of your life where you thrived on significant biblical teaching. When was it? How did it impact your life? Your fellowship with other Christians? You worship?
Describe a season of your life where you found yourself disinterested in significant biblical teaching in the church’s main gathering? What effects did that disinterest have on you?
How do you best prepare yourself to receive the kind of input from the Scripture described in 2 Timothy 4:2 (reproof, rebuke, and exhortation (encouragement))?
What would 2 Timothy 4:3-4 look like practically today? How would you recognize this tendency beginning to creep up in your own heart and what would be a helpful way to avoid it taking hold of you?
How do your expectations for a shepherd compare to those provided in this passage?
What would be the best way for you to respond to this week’s passage?
How could you pray specifically for our congregation in light of this week’s passage?
How would this passage encourage you to interact with non-Christians? To pray for them?

Songs for Sunday

Lyrics

Lyrics Morning Gathering - January 7, 2018 by Summit Woods Baptist Church on Scribd