Denise Gallichio

1. Read John 15 incarnationally. Where do you find yourself in the story?

2. Describe a season in your life defined by abiding?

3. How practically do we abide in Jesus?

4. In what ways have you experienced “apart from Jesus you can do nothing.”

5. Our Faith Family seems pretty excited about “sowing for a great awakening.” In order for our neighborhood to be awakened,​ we are relying on God to move in and through our hearts into the hearts of those around us. Wouldn’t it be much easier if we could control the powers of awakening? How is not being able to control change actually changing you?

6. There is an “if” and “then” type progression in John 15. Describe.

7. In the last week, how has God’s Word been abiding in you?

8. Reread Isaiah 55.10-12. Note all the ways of God’s participation in awakening.

9. How have you witnessed God’s Word not returning empty? Are there relationships where you have planted seeds yet it appears they are empty? How do you wait patiently on His Word to bear fruit?

10. How are you experiencing fruit being produced in the places where you live, work, attend class, or play?

11. Read Isaiah 60. Summarize the passage using five words.

12. Read John 12.23-24. In what ways are you dying and yet experiencing new life?

13. What precipitates awakening? Give an example from your own experience.

14. Read Acts 2. Note at least five elements of awakening.

15. How do you see Peter as one who has been awakened? What died in him in order for fruit to be produced through him?

16. Read and reflect on John 15.7. “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

17. If you abide in Him, and His Word abides in you, ask. What will you ask for? Who will join you in your prayer? How will you live while you pray?

1. Read the Parable of the Sower incarnationally, where do you find yourself in the story?

2. In the first few verses of the text, we see large crowds gathering around Jesus. Why were people gathering around Him? Why do you people gather around Him today? What prevents someone from coming to Jesus?

3. Why does Jesus speak in parables?

4. Jesus talks about the Kingdom in this parable, and in each of the parables in Matthew 13. What is the Kingdom of God? How does it operate? How do you see yourself as a citizen of His Kingdom? In the last week, how has the Kingdom dynamic been lived out in your life?

5. The message on Sunday highlighted four points Jesus made in this parable. What are they? What’s the implication of each?

6. Over the last few weeks, we have been talking about sowing for a great awakening. Answer and expound on the following:
Why are we doing this?

For whose benefit is a great awakening?

And what is an awakening anyway?

7. Read and respond to J.D. Walt’s description of awakening. Awakening is not a touch from God, as though all that was needed was a bit of healing and renewal. No, awakening is a totalizing invasion and infusion of Word and Spirit, the present in-breaking of the realm and ultimate reality of eternal life. We are not talking about the renovation of an old house into a better house. We speak not of renewal of life but the resurrection from death; dead bones coming to life. This is not a spiritual self-improvement program. This is a comprehensive shifting of the center of gravity in our lives, from sin and death to love and life.

The Word of God wills to be made flesh—to take on human skin. The Spirit of God wills to be made a breath, filling mortal bodies with miraculous life. No, awakening cannot be reduced to mere spiritual renewal. It happens when Word and Spirit come together to make gloriously visible the will of God in the working of human beings. J.D. Walt

8. Jesus takes the time to explain the parable of the sower. How does that in and of itself encourage you?

9. What’s your best definition of the “seed”?

10. Who was the primary sower of God’s Word in your life?

11. Who is the primary sower of God’s Word in your life today?

12. In the message, there was encouragement given to ensure that someone other than the pastors at Sanctuary being your primary sower. Why would that be so?

13. The soil is an important element in this story. There were three ways the soil was described, “hardened”, “shallow” and “cluttered.” Using the word “soul” instead of a “soil” describe the condition of your soul?

14. As you close this study read, reflect and respond to the following:
The Holy Spirit is not about creating cool environments for crafty religious experiences. The Holy Spirit creates corporate, collective, and even generational movement. Deeply personal? Yes. Profoundly communal? Yes. When enough of God’s people reach the threshold of honesty about their holy discontent, the movement begins to happen. Historians call it “revival.”…Revival begins not so much with lost sinners as it begins with saved sinners whose salvation has grown cold. True revival, given a wide berth, always holds the possibility of spilling into the broader culture. This is the stuff of awakenings.

1. Read Matthew 9 incarnationally. Where do you find yourself in the story?

2. In the text, what was it that caused so many people to come to Jesus? What were they looking for from Him?

3. When you come to church, read your Bible, or do a devotional like this, what is your truest motive?

4. As you examine the people in the story, with whom do you most see yourself? How is Jesus engaging you right where you are?

• Paralyzed Man
• Men bringing the Paralyzed Man
• Matthew the Hated Tax Collector
• One of Matthew’s Friends at the Party
• The Woman Who’s been Searching for aCure for 12 Years
• Synagogue Ruler Looking for a Resurrection
• Pharisees who didn’t like any of this
• Disciples who Committed to Following Jesus,
• Other Spectators along the Way

5. Jesus had “compassion” on them because they were “harassed and helpless.” What’s your best definition of compassion? How is compassion demonstrated in this story?

6. Describe a time when you felt “harassed and helpless, like a sheep without a Shepherd. How did Jesus show compassion toward you? How is Jesus showing compassion toward you today?

7. How do you see this text as being a potential starting point for the Church?

8. How does Jesus instruct His disciples to pray? How is the prayer answered?

9. In thinking about our call to travail in prayer and now to sow for a great awakening, what is the present implication for you?

10. What’s the difference between a disciple and an apostle? Where do you find yourself in this delineation?

11. Where do you sense you are being sent? To whom, when, where, why?

12. How do you see the harvest being made ready in your neighborhood? What’s your role in bringing in the harvest?

13. Review Psalm 126.5-6. What’s the implication of these verses in​ your life today?

1. Read Ezekiel 36.23-28 incarnationally. Where do you find yourself in this text?

2. How does God speak to you? When was the last time you felt Him speaking? What did He say? What did you do? What happened?

3. In your own words describe God’s Sovereignty.

4. Do a quick review of Scripture highlighting the different names used for God. Which Name means the most to you? Why?

5. How have you experienced the “holiness” of God?

6. In the text how does God say He will show His holiness?

7. God says He will show His holiness through you. In the last 48 hours, how has He displayed His holiness through you?

8. Reread verse 25. How is God bringing this text into being in your life? What idols is He removing? What idols are you fighting to hold onto?

9. What’s the difference between a “heart of flesh” and a “heart of stone.” How has your heart changed? Describe how a family member might testify to that change?

10. As you think about people in your life who are dry, weary, or even dead, how does this question impact you, “Do you think these dry bones can live?”

11. How will God be proved holy before the eyes of His enemies and those lost and far off? How do you see this happening now?

12. God is calling us to sow. Review the passages below. Which do you see happening now? Which do you feel God is calling you to step forward in faith?
Matthew 13
Galatians 6.7-9
2 Corinthians 9.6-9
2 Corinthians 9.10-11
Hosea 10.12
Psalm 126.5-6

13. Where, when, with whom have you sown with tears and experienced a harvest of joy?

14. When you watch the video of the baptisms how is your heart stirred? How does a video like this give you a clearer vision for the call to sow?

15. Is a Great Awakening possible in our land and in our day? Is it probable? If a Great Awakening were to occur, what would have to happen? What will your role be in sowing for a great awakening today?