Opening Discussion
A) What is the connection between everyday relationships and the work of God?
B) What are the present benefits of the work of Christ in your everyday life?

Key Points
a) Christian lives will be ineffective and unfruitful when the benefits of Christ are not grasped for daily living.
b) The wrong things rule our hearts when we forget that our identity is in Jesus Christ.

Questions
1) As Christians we can easily misunderstand or forget about the benefits of Christ’s work in the here and now. How common is this experience and how does it hinder our ability to live as children of God in a fallen world?
2) All of us have times in our Christian lives when we are ineffective and unproductive. What might these moments look like and why do they happen?
3) When we forget that our identity is in Jesus Christ, wrong things will start to rule our hearts. In what ways might we start to shop horizontally (in the world) for wrong things and how dominating can they become?

Personal Application
A) Have there been any recent moments in your life where you have misunderstood or
forgotten the present benefits of the work of Christ? How have these moments hindered your ability to live as a child of God in your daily experiences of life?

B) In what ways have you encountered moments of ineffective and unproductive Christian
living? What has been the result of such moments and what have you learnt from them?

C) In your own life are there things other than Christ that could possibly be taking a greater functional ownership of your heart than you care to admit? What might these things be and how will you stop them from ruling your heart?