At Trailhead, we believe that church is not just about growing in God’s Word but doing so in community. We have designed this study guide to help you follow along with Sunday’s message. Study the scriptures, take notes, and then reinforce what you learned by answering a few questions. Ask others to join you in discussion, whether it be with your family or online with your Trailhead study group. Let’s have church!
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Interactive Scriptures and Notes
John 10:10 (NIV)
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Luke 12:13-21 (NIV)
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” And he told them this parable:
“The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
John 17:3 (NIV)
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Ephesians 3:14-19 (NIV)
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:19 (AMP)
…and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].
Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Discussion Questions
How do you measure the life that you’re living? What makes it possible to live at a higher quality, in your opinion?
Why is it important to experience all that God has for you? Are you missing out if you keep your relationship at the “surface level?”
How can you guard yourself from the “thief” described in John 10:10?
Based on your understanding of the Bible, what does a Christian look like? How do I measure up to that picture?
Personal Reflection
On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your relationship with God right now? What can you do to improve on that number or what steps can you take to protect the number you gave yourself?