Discovery Church - Nondenominational Church in Hickory North Carolina
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Sermon Based
​Devotions

Friday: 2nd Coming - The Eternal State

4/10/2020

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Today's Reading:
John 20:24-29 (NIV)
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Consider this:
  • What new possibilities does this “newness” provide for us?
  • How does this compare to a caterpillar and a butterfly?
  • Why did Thomas view the resurrection as impossible in John 20:24-29?
  • What changed his mind?
  • In John 20:28 Thomas discovers that Jesus is alive.  What new possibilities did this present him with?
  • Do you have new possibilities as a result of the resurrection?
Treasure Application:
In this passage we see the disciples in a time between the Resurrection and Pentecost.  They were gathered together in a house behind locked doors.  They knew their messiah had rose from the dead, but they weren’t sure what was going to happen next.
​
  • In that environment, do you think they were able to LOVE OTHERS well?  What do you think that may have looked like?
  • Is it possible that they could have DISCOVERED JOY by loving Jesus and each other while not necessarily being happy about their physical environment, political situation, and uncertain future?
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Thursday: 2nd Coming - The Eternal State

4/9/2020

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Today's Reading:
1 Corinthians 15:52-53 (NIV)

in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (NIV)
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1 John 3:2 (NIV)
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Consider this:
  • We will be made new in the new creation.  How will we be different than we are now?
  • What will you be able to do that you cannot do now?
  • What does 1 John 3:2 say about the mystery of our future existence?
  • What was Jesus like after His resurrection?
Treasure Application:
  • Our current bodies are limited and fragile.  How does that impact our ability to SERVE OTHERS?
  • How do our current bodies force us into situations where we need to be served by others?
  • In the new heaven and new earth you will have a new body.  Will you need to EXPERIENCE HEALING then?  How do you think that may impact how or why we serve others then? 
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Wednesday: 2nd Coming - The Eternal State

4/8/2020

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Today's Reading:
Genesis 3:8-10 (NIV)

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
Consider this:
  • What will our relationship to God look like in the new creation?
  • What will be different about our relationship with God?
  • What is our relationship to God like now?
  • How did our relationship to God change in Genesis 3:8-10?
Treasure Application:
  • Adam and Eve hid from God.  How does PRAYER help us to stop hiding from God?
  • We are far more able to SEE GOD at work in our lives when we are in relationship with Him.  What role does prayer play in that relationship?
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Tuesday: 2nd Coming - The Eternal State

4/7/2020

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Today's Reading:
​Genesis 3:16-19 (NIV)

To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
    with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.”
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”

Romans 8:20-22 (NIV)
 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
Consider this:
  • Heaven and earth are “made new”.  What does this mean?
  • What makes the “new earth” different than the “old earth”?
  • The current creation gravitates towards disintegration.  What does this mean?
  • The new creation gravitates towards life.  What does that mean?
Treasure Application:
  • ​Since the fall of man, we have been in bondage to sin and our fallen nature.  How does LEARNING help free us from that bondage?
  • When we FIND FREEDOM, are we free of our fallen nature, sin, and the curse?  If not, what are we FINDING FREEDOM from?
  • Where will humanity FIND FREEDOM from our fallen nature, sin, and the curse?
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Monday: 2nd Coming - The Eternal State

4/6/2020

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Today's Reading:
Revelation 21:1-7 (NIV)

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.  Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
Consider this:
  • What is happening in this scripture?
  • Describe the way you picture it in your mind?
  • What are the emotions that the scripture is trying to communicate?
  • What is God trying to tell you through this passage?
  • How does this scripture make you feel?
Treasure Application:
  • Which people, on this “first earth”, have received the INVITATION to join God in the new heaven and new earth?
  • How will people who accept His invitation SEE GOD once the first earth passes away?
  • How will people who reject His invitation SEE GOD once the first earth passes away?
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Friday: 2nd Coming - The Great White Throne

4/3/2020

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Review:
Go back and look over the the scriptures you have read for this week's devotions.  Also, consider the answers you came up with for this week's questions.
Treasure Application:
  1. What have you learned from this message that can set you free?
  2. How do you see the LOVE of GOD in this message?
  3. Can this message help heal your relationships?  If so, how?
  4. In a topic as somber as The Great White Throne Judgment, how can we find a way to LOVE OTHERS?
  5. How can you DISCOVERY JOY in light of the truths in this message?​
Be Encouraged:
John 3:16-21 (NIV)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.  This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
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Thursday: 2nd Coming - The Great White Throne

4/2/2020

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Today's Reading:
Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV)
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Romans 3:22-24 (NIV)
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Consider this:
  1. What do these passages tell us about the value of the gospel message?
  2. Is the gospel message important?  If so, why?
  3. Why did Jesus die for us?
  4. Have you shared the message with anyone?
Treasure Application:
  1. How is sharing the gospel an act of SERVING OTHERS?
  2. If you share the gospel with someone and they recognize the truth of it, how might that help them EXPERIENCE HEALING?
  3. Could you EXPERIENCE HEALING by sharing the gospel with others?​
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Wednesday: 2nd Coming - The Great White Throne

4/1/2020

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Today's Reading:
Mark 10:17-18 (NIV)

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him.  “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered.  “No one is good—except God alone.

Isiah 64:6 (NIV)

All of us have become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Consider this:
  1. What is the truth about the human condition?
  2. What does God's Word tell us about the human "goodness"?
  3. Do you think you are good?
  4. Does God think you are good?
Treasure Application:
  1. When you SEE GOD working in you life, what is the source of the "goodness"?
  2. PRAYER is communication and like any other form of communication it draws two people together.  How does PRAYER help others to SEE GOD in you?
  3. If those who don't know God see Him at work in your life, might they recognize it as "goodness"?
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Tuesday: 2nd Coming - The Great White Throne

3/31/2020

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Today's Reading:
Philippians 2:9-11 (NIV)
     Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
         and gave him the name that is above every name,
     that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
         in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
    and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
         to the glory of God the Father.
Consider this:
  1. A trial is intended to produce truth.  What truths are revealed about Jesus at this trial (The Great White Throne Judgment)?
  2. How is this trial different than the trial Jesus had when He was on Earth 2,000 years ago?
  3. Why is truth so important?
Treasure Application:
  1. How does knowing the truth empower us to FIND FREEDOM?
  2. If LEARNING the truth is the key to FINDING FREEDOM then what is the impact of learning something that is false?
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Monday: 2nd Coming - The Great White Throne

3/30/2020

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Today's Reading:
​Revelation 20:11-15 (NIV)

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.  The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Another book was opened, which is the book of life.  The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.   The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  The lake of fire is the second death.  Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Consider this:
  1. What is happening in this passage?
  2. Who is the Judge?
  3. Who is being judged?
  4. Who is not being judged?
  5. Where are the followers of Christ?
  6. Why are they not at this judgment?
  7. Why is this judgment required for the people involved?
Treasure Application:
  1. In light of the Great White Throne Judgment, why is it important to find the treasure of LOVE GOD?
  2. How can believers use INVITATION to help those whose names aren't found in the book of life?
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