1. If we want THE CHURCH to be known for caring more about people than anything else, then it starts with our own personal life. The church is not a building, a legal entity, a weekly service…..it is us! Are we caring about the things Jesus cared about? With all the political and social unrest, how do we stay focused on what Jesus cared about?
2. If I feel like I am not experiencing God, not feeling or seeing Him in my life, or not hearing Him speak to me; it may be because our priorities are misplaced and not in alignment with His. What do you do daily to make sure your priorities reflect Jesus? How do we keep our priorities straight throughout the day?
3. Too many of us were taught (either directly or indirectly) that God could not handle us being honest with our struggles. Are you honest with God? What would it do for your relationship with God if you were totally honest about your daily struggles?
4. What are we so fixated on that we miss the intimate moments of seeing God move in my own or other people’s life? (Matthew 12:22-24)
5. If we take the time to get to know God, we will begin to see people the way Jesus sees them, pray for them the way Jesus prays for them, love them the way Jesus loves them. What do I need to do to get to know God? How do I live in intimacy with God and share His passion and priority for people?

Luke 15:1-7 NLT Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!

Mark 3:1-55 NLT Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn’t answer him. He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored!

Matthew 12:22-24 NLT Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn’t speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see. The crowd was amazed and asked, “Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?” But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.”