StoneBridge Community Church
Associate Pastor Jonathan Lusche
In Cultivate, we will be turning to Paul's letter to the Philippians to see how God cultivates churches so that churches will produce a "harvest of righteousness."
Philippians 3:17 NIV
1 Corinthians 11:1 NIV
Proverbs 1:5 NIV
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
Galatians 5:19-21 NIV
Hebrews 13:7 NIV
7 Biblical Examples of Personal, Positive Influencers
EXODUS 18
Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, acted as a mentor after observing Moses trying to solve all the disputes of the Israelites.
DEUTERONOMY 31 AND 34
Early in the wilderness journey, Moses began to mentor Joshua. Years later, God chose Joshua to be the next leader of the Israelites because he had Moses' spirit and had been mentored for the leadership position.
1 KINGS 19 AND 2 KINGS 2
Elisha was prepared for his prophetic ministry through his close relationship with the prophet Elijah. When Elijah was taken up into heaven, his mantel fell on Elisha and he received a double portion of his mentor's spirit.
RUTH 1 TO 4
The Book of Ruth portrays Naomi as a mentor to Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law. Ruth had such a strong relationship with Naomi that she refused to leave her for any reason. Naomi helped Ruth understand the laws and customs of the Israelites.
LUKE 1
Luke tells us that Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, mentored Mary after she learned she was to be the mother of Jesus. Elizabeth, being filled with the Holy Spirit, reaffirmed the work of God in Mary's life.
ACTS 4, 9, AND 11
Barnabas was a mentor to Paul when he was a new Christian. Later they were sent as missionaries into Cyprus. The apostle Paul became a great spiritual leader and authored 14 books of the New Testament.
ACTS 16, PHILIPPIANS 2, AND 1 & 2 TIMOTHY
Paul was a mentor to Timothy and described the young man as being "like-minded" with him in his commitment to serving God. Their relationship was so strong that Paul called it a father-son relationship.
GROWTH GROUP / PERSONAL REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Looking to your past, try to name three personal, positive influencers on your life and faith? Specifically, how did they make an impression on you? What have you learned from them that you want to emulate?
2. Looking at the present, who are three personal, positive influencers on your life and faith? How are they making an impression on you, now? What have you learned from them that you want to emulate?
3. In what areas of your life do you feel you are a personal, positive influencer on someone else? How so?
4. Do you feel qualified to be a Christian mentor to someone else? Why or why not? Is it possible that you're just making excuses?
NEXT STEPS
- Spend time in prayer, thanking God for providing the right persons of faith, in the right season of your life (past & present), for you to come to your current status in your faith.
- In prayer, consider how you might be more intentional about mentoring others in Christian faith. If specific names and faces come to mind, ask God to provide organic opportunities for this to happen.
- In prayer, confess and repent of any excuses you may be clinging to that is preventing you from being open to a new relationship with a mentor OR preventing you from becoming a personal, positive influence in another's life.
- Recognizing that many of these types of relationships are fostered within StoneBridge growth groups, commit to joining a growth group in September.
We encourage you to use Facebook, Instagram, and other social media to share images, quotes, links, or what you've learned from this week's message and YouVersion message notes. Social media can also be a great way of inviting your friends to worship and special events.