Belfrey Group Notes and Questions Listening to the Word of God - What happens when we hear the word of God? We are transformed and enabled to transform our society. The different represent the readiness of our hearts for the word of God to take root and flourish. - Are we ready for the sowing of the seed of the word into our lives? We are all called to be continually transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ, and therefore there is always room for the word of God to transform us more and more into the likeness of Jesus, and out of that transformation we are enabled to transform the society that we find ourselves in. Ongoing transformation can be triggered in our lives by the gospel message, but by the same token the word of God can be stifled by the state of our hearts. The Path Jesus says the devil will try to snatch away the word of God This means the Word is transformative - The only offensive part of the armour of God is the of the Spirit - which is the word of God’ Eph 6 ‘Sword We need to spend time in God’s word - we need to listen and respond to what it says In order to protect ourselves and our lives from the attacks of the enemy we need to cover ourselves in soil’ by listening and responding to what we read in the bible. (Top-soil is the ‘top nutrient high soil that allows seeds and bulbs to get all that they need so that they can flower at the right time) How do you time listening to God’s word to cover yourselves in that top soil? What are the different ways you could interact with God’s word more? Share ideas about different resources (podcasts, Bible in One Year, audio bible, online talks etc.) Soil Those who hear and receive the word, but fall away in hard times. If we have ways of operating that we constantly retreat to in difficult times then this may be like having weeds instead of fruit among the rocks. The word of God is powerful, we need to be listening to it all the time - not just when times are easy. What are the stones in our lives that prevent the word from taking root? - do we fall back into old patterns and habits when life gets tough? How can we support each other and encourage each
Belfrey Group Notes and Questions Listening to the Word of God - What happens when we hear the word of God? We are transformed and enabled to transform our society. The different represent the readiness of our hearts for the word of God to take root and flourish. - Are we ready for the sowing of the seed of the word into our lives? We are all called to be continually transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ, and therefore there is always room for the word of God to transform us more and more into the likeness of Jesus, and out of that transformation we are enabled to transform the society that we find ourselves in. Ongoing transformation can be triggered in our lives by the gospel message, but by the same token the word of God can be stifled by the state of our hearts. The Path Jesus says the devil will try to snatch away the word of God This means the Word is transformative - The only offensive part of the armour of God is the ‘Sword of the Spirit - which is the word of God’ Eph 6 We need to spend time in God’s word - we need to listen and respond to what it says In order to protect ourselves and our lives from the attacks of the enemy we need to cover ourselves in ‘top soil’ by listening and responding to what we read in the bible. (Top-soil is the nutrient high soil that allows seeds and bulbs to get all that they need so that they can flower at the right time) How do you time listening to God’s word to cover yourselves in that top soil? What are the different ways you could interact with God’s word more? Share ideas about different resources (podcasts, Bible in One Year, audio bible, online talks etc.) Soil Those who hear and receive the word, but fall away in hard times. If we have ways of operating that we constantly retreat to in difficult times then this may be like having weeds instead of fruit among the rocks. The word of God is powerful, we need to be listening to it all the time - not just when times are easy. What are the stones in our lives that prevent the word from taking root? - do we fall back into old patterns and habits when life gets tough? How can we support each other and encourage each