What does the cross of Jesus mean for us? How does Jesus dying on a cross change our lives? What transformation does the cross bring about in our world and in our lives?

The cross of Jesus guarantees that our sin has been dealt with—we are forgiven.

The cross of Jesus draws all people to God as a divine signpost welcoming us into the presence of God.

In the Gospel of John, the Apostle John records his account of Jesus’ teaching about being high and lifted up on the cross.

Have you ever had a crisis of belief? Have you ever doubted God or struggled with you faith?

Doubts are common. It is okay for us to wrestle with our beliefs and to have doubts and questions concerning our faith.

John the Baptist, Jesus’ own cousin and prophet, who also prepared the way for him, had questions and doubts when he was imprisoned for living out his faith and speaking out against Herod Antipas.

Matthew’s Gospel account captures John’s crisis of belief. Matthew tells us, “Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” (Matthew 11:2-3, ESV).

How do you know which direction is best? How do you know which way to go? Where do you go for the guidance you need?

We can feel overwhelmed looking for direction in life. The choices can be daunting. The pathway can be unclear. The right way can be darkened.

The Psalmist writes, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105, ESV).

We can receive the guidance we need through the illumination of God’s word.

Who do you represent as you live your life, do your work, and conduct yourself in the world? On whose behalf do you live and do business?

We all represent someone and some worldview, purpose, or belief in how we conduct ourselves in this life. We do not live and work and do the business of life in isolation, or without influence.

In Luke’s Gospel account, in chapter nineteen, as Jesus was passing through Jericho on the way up to Jerusalem, Jesus pursued a tax collector named Zacchaeus. Jesus went to his home and Zacchaeus came to know Jesus as the messiah and became a child of God, repenting and giving half of all he had to the poor and restoring anyone he defrauded four fold—twice what was required by the law.

What kinds of people does Jesus call to follow him as his students? Who does Jesus choose to be his followers?

While many teachers wait for the very best and the most eager students to flock to them, to follow them, and to sit under their teaching, Rabbi Jesus goes out to unlikely places and chooses the most unexpected and the most unlikely candidates to follow him.

Rabbi Jesus chooses his followers from the most unexpected pool of people, and from the most unexpected places. Jesus chooses the most unlikely people to follow him—he chooses people like you and me.

What do your works, the things you do, say about what you believe?

Our actions speak louder than our words.

A sermon is better seen and received when it is lived out, rather than simply spoken.

Our works speak volumes about what we believe. Our faith is communicated through our actions and the way we live out our lives.

The Book of James tells us, “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:17-18, ESV).

What are you doing with what you have? Are you being faithful with the time, talents, and resources you have been entrusted with?

When we are faithful in what we have been given, God will trust us with greater things.

In the Parable of the minas, Jesus tells the story of a nobleman who goes out to a far country to receive a kingdom. The nobleman entrusted ten servants with one mina each and instructed them to do business in the land and to represent him in the marketplace.

What are you doing to cultivate the place where you live? How are you producing for the welfare of you, your family and the people who live around you?

Since the beginning of creation God placed humanity in a garden and invited us to have dominion over the earth, to cultivate the garden, and to fill the earth and to subdue it.

Everyone benefits from the cultivation of place and the flourishing that comes from working the land and producing the fruit of our labor.

When God’s people were exiled in Babylon, God spoke through the Prophet Jeremiah, encouraging them to flourish while in exile.

Does God work? And if God works, does God take a break from his work? What would happen if God ceased to do work?

Work is good. God is always at work in the world. God also rests from his labors, but God is steady at work for his purposes in the world.

John’s Gospel tells us, after Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath Day, and asking him to pick up his mat and walk, the man went and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. Because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews were persecuting Jesus. Jesus answered them, saying, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” (John 5:15-17, ESV).

What would the world look like without work? Would our own lives have provision, purpose, or prosperity without meaningful work?

Without work the fabric of God’s good plan for his creation comes unraveled. We were created to do good work. Work gives us provision and purpose. Work is good.

The wisdom of the Proverbs teaches us many practical truths about work. One Proverb says, “Whoever is lazy regarding his work is also a brother to the master of destruction.” (Proverbs 18:9).

What is the fruit of your labor? Who directly benefits from your work? Does your labor benefit the people in need who are in your sphere of influence?

Our work produces fruit that benefits us directly. Our work benefits our family. Our work benefits the church. And our work should benefit the people around us who are in need.

The Apostle Paul wrote the church in Ephesus, encouraging them in the way they should live out their faith, saying, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” (Ephesians 4:28, ESV).

What good work has God prepared for you?

We are all created by God as his handiwork, created and designed by God for good works.

The Apostle Paul wrote the church in Ephesus, saying, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV).

Work is good. Work is God’s plan and God’s design for each of us. When we do God’s good work, we live out our purpose and we live out God’s good plan for our lives.

What goes into discerning the right direction? How do you know what decision is best and which way God is leading?

We all need direction from God in our lives. We need wisdom beyond ourselves. We need to know how God is leading us and which way is the right way to go.

The Psalmist wrote, “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.” (Psalm 25:9, ESV).

When we seek God in humility, we are open to his leadership. It is then God leads us in what is right and teaches us his way.

Do you experience God’s Peace? Are you a person of peace?

Our God is a God of peace.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to be a people of peace.

In John’s gospel account, Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27, NIV).

Jesus gives us his peace.

As followers of Jesus, we have been left with the peace of Jesus and we are to be people of peace in a troubled world.

How is your comfort level with trusting God? Do you experience difficulty when it comes to trusting in the stability of God?

We can trust God. And when we do trust God, there is a peace that comes over us and a release of our cares and our anxieties.

The prophet Isaiah wrote, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.” (Isaiah 26:3-4).

Keeping our minds on God and trusting him keeps us in perfect peace. Our God is reliable—“GOD is an everlasting rock.”

The ministry and work of encouragement that Barnabas did cannot be overestimated.

When the early church was skeptical of Saul’s conversion to Jesus, due to his early persecution of the church, Barnabas bore witness to the legitimacy of Paul, and he vouched for Paul’s transformation as a true follower of Jesus. Barnabas also gave testimony and spoke of Paul’s bold preaching in the name of Jesus.

The Book of Acts tells us when Paul had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples, and everyone was afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. “But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.” (Acts 9:26-27, ESV).

Where does rest come from? Are you rested? Do you need rest? Where can you find the rest you need when you need it?

We are created for rhythms of life, work, and rest. Each of us need and desire rest. God created rest. God is a God of rest. And God offers us the good gift of his rest. Rest is good.

The Psalmist writes, “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.” (Psalm 62:1, NIV).

God is the origin of rest and salvation. We can discover the rest we need and the rest we are looking for in God himself. When we seek God, we find God’s rest and salvation, which we desperately desire and need.

What role does encouragement play in leadership? What are the fruits of encouragement in God’s people?

Encouragement plays a key role in the leadership and fruitfulness of God’s people.

The Apostle Paul wrote to Titus about the character and qualities of the leaders of God’s people in his church.

Paul wrote that an elder, “Must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” (Titus 1:9, NIV).

How do you know who needs correction and who needs encouragement?

It has been said that the good news of Jesus Christ—the gospel, afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted.

The truth is, there is always room to grow and to improve—people need correction, and everyone needs and thrives on some loving and caring encouragement—people need encouragement.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church urging them to warn and to encourage fellow believers for the benefit and the good of the entire church community.

What are the most transformational and encouraging words we can speak to the people around us?

As followers of Jesus who live out our lives in light of another kingdom, we are called to communicate the word of God in every opportunity.

The Apostle Paul encouraged his disciple Timothy with these words, “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” (2 Timothy 4:1-2, NIV).