Bible Truth Foundations
Session Notes · Part 2: Growing in Christ
How to read this: Bold = word to land on. Scripture = read aloud. Amber = ask the room. Green = your bridge. Purple = facilitator cue. Red = pastoral / watch-for. Times run from the start of a 30-minute session.
Standing Habits · Every Session
Section A · Mind and Word
Before You Start
Ask the room
"Think of the last argument that really stung. Not the biggest, the one that got under your skin. What exactly were you defending?"
Proverbs 13:10 (NKJV)
"By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom."
Cue
Read it twice. Ask what the verse does not say: strife from difficult people, unfair treatment or bad circumstances.
Caution
Low self-esteem isn't the opposite of pride; it's the same self-focus. The cure is not a better opinion of yourself but a smaller preoccupation with yourself.
Mark 9:35 (NKJV)
"If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."
Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me..."
Running over?
Drop Moses and Matthew 7:12 first. Never cut Proverbs 13:10 or Mark 9:35.
Pick 1-2
• Jesus redefined greatness as serving rather than rebuking the desire. Why do you think He did that?
• Where's the line between healthy self-respect and self-centredness?
• Think of someone marked by unusual peace. How do they handle being wronged?
Watch-for
Don't let anyone use this to diagnose a spouse or colleague in the room. Keep it first person.
Land it
"By pride comes nothing but strife. Dethrone self and the water stops." Close in prayer.
Before You Start
Ask the room
"When you read the Bible, what usually happens next? Does it stay with you through the day, or is it gone by breakfast?"
Joshua 1:8 (NKJV)
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night... For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."
Cue
Prosperity and success are both attached to one practice here. Name it.
Psalm 1:2-3 (NKJV)
"...in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water..."
Caution
You can study words about God and never meet Him. Luke 6:46: "Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?"
Psalm 119:11 (NKJV)
"Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You."
Running over?
Drop the four methods to a one-line mention. Never cut Joshua 1:8 or Psalm 1.
Pick 1-2
• What's been your honest experience of Bible reading: duty, delight, confusion, habit? What made it come alive?
• Joshua 1:8 promises prosperity and success. What does that promise mean, and what doesn't it mean?
• Share one verse that has stayed with you for years. Why do you think that one took root?
Cue
Keep it practical. Invite anyone with a working habit to share what helps.
Land it
"Read slowly enough for the Word to start reading you, until it turns into prayer." Close in prayer.
Before You Start
Ask the room
"What thought have you replayed most this week? If your closest friend could hear your inner monologue, what would surprise them?"
Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Cue
Ask: where does transformation happen first? Not circumstances or behaviour: the mind.
Philippians 4:8 (NKJV)
"...whatever things are true, whatever things are noble... meditate on these things."
Romans 8:6 (NKJV)
"For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."
Caution
Many fight the enemy with words while surrendering to him in thought. Resisting (James 4:7) starts with refusing his suggestions dwelling space.
Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)
"You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You."
Running over?
Drop the spacecraft picture and Proverbs 23:7 first. Never cut Philippians 4:8 or Isaiah 26:3.
Pick 1-2
• Is it genuinely possible to choose your thoughts? Share experiences on both sides.
• Why does suppressing a thought strengthen it while replacing it weakens it?
• What's the difference between renewing the mind and positive thinking?
Pastoral
If someone shares anxiety or depression, affirm that renewing the mind and seeking medical help are not in competition. Follow up privately.
Land it
"You choose what stays. Evict the lie by filling the room with truth." Close in prayer.
Section B · Church and Authority
Before You Start
Ask the room
"When you hear 'church', what picture forms first: a building, a Sunday service, or people? Where did that picture come from?"
Hebrews 10:24-25 (NKJV)
"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together... but exhorting one another..."
Cue
Notice the purpose attached to assembling: considering, stirring up, exhorting. Not attendance for its own sake.
Matthew 18:20 (NKJV)
"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
1 Corinthians 14:26 (NKJV)
"...Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching... Let all things be done for edification."
Caution
You can sit in rows for years and never be considered, stirred up or exhorted. Being in the room doesn't fulfil Hebrews 10:24-25.
Running over?
Drop the living cycle and practical care first. Never cut Hebrews 10:24-25 or ecclesia.
Pick 1-2
• What did you grow up believing "church" meant? How has this confirmed or challenged it?
• Passive attendance or participating body: which have you mostly experienced, and what made the difference?
• What would the early church's daily sharing look like in our context, realistically?
Pastoral
Some have been hurt by church. Acknowledge it; don't defend or argue. Offer to talk afterwards.
Land it
"Not 'did I go to church?' but 'did I build anyone up, and let anyone build me?'" Close in prayer.
Before You Start
Ask the room
"Does the devil feel more real to you than the authority you have over him, or less? What shaped that?"
1 John 3:8 (NKJV)
"...For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil."
Cue
The purpose of the incarnation in one clause. Whatever the devil builds, the Son came to demolish.
Colossians 1:13 (NKJV)
"He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love."
Caution
"We do not wrestle against flesh and blood" (Ephesians 6:12). The moment warfare turns into suspicion of people, it has left the rails.
James 4:7 (NKJV)
"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
Running over?
Drop "why the enemy resists the Word" first. Never cut 1 John 3:8 or James 4:7.
Pick 1-2
• Why does the church swing between obsession with the demonic and total silence? Where's the biblical balance?
• Why is the Word called the sword, rather than our arguments, volume or willpower?
• What's the difference between healthy vigilance and fear?
Watch-for
If someone discloses occult involvement or oppression, don't handle it in the group. Involve church leaders privately and calmly.
Land it
"Fleeing is the enemy's job, not yours. Submit to God, speak the Word, stand." Close in prayer.
Before You Start
Ask the room
"When you pray about a problem, do you speak as someone asking help from outside, or as someone given authority inside it?"
Matthew 28:18 (NKJV)
"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.'"
Cue
Point to the very next word: "Go" (v19). All authority claimed, then delegated into His people's mission.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NKJV)
"...casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."
Running over?
Drop Psalm 115:16 and Ephesians 1:19 first. Never cut Matthew 28:18 or 2 Corinthians 10:5.
Pick 1-2
• Why did Satan use deception rather than force in Eden? What does that reveal about his actual power?
• Authority vs power: why does a police officer's raised hand stop a lorry?
• How would our praying change if we truly believed we're seated with Christ above all principality?
Cue
Use the police officer picture to make it concrete. Let the room enjoy the answer.
Land it
"The enemy only has lies. Stop supplying the ammunition. Christ holds all authority." Close in prayer.
Section C · Healing and Relationships
Before You Start
Ask the room
"When you pray for someone's healing, what do you honestly expect to happen? Where did that expectation come from?"
Isaiah 53:4-5 (NKJV)
"Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows... But He was wounded for our transgressions... And by His stripes we are healed."
Cue
700 years before the cross. Read the list slowly: griefs, sorrows, transgressions, iniquities, peace, healing.
Matthew 8:17 (NKJV)
"...that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 'He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.'"
Caution
God is not the author of sickness. Don't credit to God what Jesus spent His ministry destroying.
Running over?
Drop sozo and Mark 16:18 first. Never cut Matthew 8:17 or the pastoral honesty point.
Pick 1-2
• What were you taught, explicitly or by silence, about whether God still heals? How has it shaped your praying?
• How do we hold bold faith for healing together with honest love for those not yet healed?
• If God isn't the author of sickness, how should we speak about illness in prayers and conversation?
Watch-for
If someone grieving a loss speaks, stop and honour them. Never imply blame. Follow up privately.
Land it
"The same cross that carried your sins carried your sicknesses. His will toward you is good." Offer prayer for the sick. Close in prayer.
Before You Start
Ask the room
"Have you ever prayed for healing that didn't come? What conclusion did you quietly draw about God, yourself or prayer?"
Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..."
Cue
The destruction isn't caused by God's unwillingness but by ignorance. That distinction carries the whole lesson.
Pastoral
Someone who prayed in the dark and lost someone did not fail; they hadn't been taught. No guilt about the past.
Caution
Beware morbid introspection. Where there's real sin, repent and move on. Endless self-examination is unbelief wearing a religious coat.
Mark 6:5-6 (NKJV)
"Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief."
James 5:15 (NKJV)
"And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven."
Running over?
Drop the gravity picture and Mark 5:40 first. Never cut the pastoral note on ignorance or the introspection caution.
Pick 1-2
• Which explanation of unanswered prayer have you found most damaging: "God sent it", "you lacked faith", or silence?
• How can a church teach on hindrances boldly without wounding the sick among them?
• What's the difference between honest self-examination and morbid introspection?
Watch-for
If someone is visibly hurting, pause the discussion. Pray for them, gently, if they want it.
Land it
"Delay is not denial. God's will for you was published at the cross." Close in prayer.
Before You Start
Ask the room
"Whose name came to mind just now, before we even started? What happens inside you when you hear that name?"
Matthew 18:21-22 (NKJV)
"...'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.'"
Cue
Peter thought seven was generous (rabbis taught three). Jesus' answer isn't arithmetic; it's a way of life.
Caution
Forgiving is not pretending it didn't hurt, excusing evil or automatically restoring trust. It is releasing the debt to God. Reconciliation takes two; release takes only you.
Mark 11:25 (NKJV)
"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses."
Running over?
Drop Stephen and the tormentors detail first. Never cut the parable or the caution.
Pick 1-2
• Why do you think Jesus told a story about money to teach forgiveness?
• Work through what forgiveness is not: release vs excusing vs trusting again vs reconciling.
• How do we help someone forgive a truly terrible wrong without cheapening what was done to them?
Watch-for · abuse
If someone discloses abuse or ongoing harm, safety comes first. Forgiveness never means staying in danger. Follow safeguarding procedures and involve leaders.
Land it
"You haven't failed if it still stings. You've forgiven if you keep refusing to collect." Close in prayer.
Before You Start
Ask the room
"Where did you learn what a marriage is supposed to look like? What did the examples you watched teach you, for better or worse?"
Genesis 2:24 (NKJV)
"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
Cue
Three movements: leave, be joined, become one. Every marriage difficulty touches at least one.
Pastoral
Singles, divorced and widowed: this is for you too. Your past is not your future, and the principles shape every relationship.
Caution
"I fell out of love" treats love as weather. Scripture treats it as agriculture: sow, tend, grow. Feelings follow actions.
John 15:5 (NKJV)
"...He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."
Running over?
Drop Genesis 5:2 and 1 Peter 3:7 first. Never cut Genesis 2:24 or "love is learned".
Pick 1-2
• What models of marriage shaped you? How do you keep the good and break with the bad?
• Do feelings follow actions more than actions follow feelings? Share evidence.
• How can a church strengthen the marriages within it rather than leaving couples to survive alone?
Cue
Turn questions both ways: married to singles ("what does this prepare you for?"), singles to married ("what do you wish you'd known?").
Land it
"Love isn't weather that happens to you. It's a field you choose to sow." Close in prayer.
Before You Start
Ask the room
"If your spouse, or future spouse, could replay everything you said about them to others this month, would it build them up or pull them down?"
Ephesians 5:25 (NKJV)
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her."
Cue
The standard isn't fairness, compatibility or fifty-fifty. It's the cross.
Ezekiel 16:8 (NKJV)
"...I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine."
Caution
Public teasing about a spouse's weakness isn't humour; it's exposure. Praise publicly, correct privately, always.
Running over?
Drop berith detail and Galatians 5 first. Never cut Ephesians 5:25 or the spoken word.
Pick 1-2
• Why has covenant thinking become rare? What would it take to recover it?
• What's the most life-giving thing a spouse has said, or could say? Why do words weigh so much?
• How can the unmarried live covenant faithfulness now and support the married well?
Pastoral · divorce in the room
Hold truth and care: "This is God's design. None of us has lived it perfectly, which is exactly why grace is part of the same story."
Land it
"Covenants are kept in inches: daily words, daily deeds." Close in prayer.
Before You Start
Ask the room
"You've said 'I love you' to people, food and football teams. When you say it to God or another person, what do you actually mean?"
1 Corinthians 13:13 (NKJV)
"And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
Cue
Of everything that survives this life, Scripture crowns one thing greatest. The lesson asks what exactly it is.
1 John 5:3 (NKJV)
"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome."
Romans 12:21 (NKJV)
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
Running over?
Drop the refugee family story and Romans 13:10 first. Never cut the four loves or 1 John 5:3.
Pick 1-2
• Why is phileo alone an unstable foundation for marriage or church life?
• Is acting lovingly toward someone you dislike hypocrisy? Argue both sides, then settle it from Scripture.
• Where have you seen agape visibly change a person, family or community?
Cue
Keep the four Greek words simple. One line each, then move on to living it.
Land it
"If you want a love that feels, do the love that acts." Close in prayer.
Before You Start
Ask the room
"Think of the person who's most convinced you they love you. How much came from what they said, and how much from what they did?"
Matthew 25:40 (NKJV)
"...inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."
Cue
Read it until the room sees the second recipient.
Matthew 25:35-36 (NKJV)
"For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in..."
1 Corinthians 13:8 (NKJV)
"Love never fails..."
Running over?
Drop Proverbs 10:12 and Matthew 22 first. Never cut Matthew 25:40.
Pick 1-2
• "Ninety-five per cent of love is nonverbal." Overstated or accurate? Test it against those who've loved you best.
• Does Matthew 25 teach salvation by works? What does it say and not say?
• Love is the one thing you take beyond the grave. How should that reorder a diary and a bank account?
Cue
Steer the works question briefly: deeds are the evidence of love, not the price of salvation.
Land it
"The soup you carry across the road goes to two doors at once." Close in prayer.
Section D · Provision and Prayer
Before You Start
Ask the room
"Complete this honestly: 'Deep down, I believe God's attitude to me having money is…' Where did that belief come from?"
2 Corinthians 9:8 (NKJV)
"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work."
Cue
Count the sweep: all grace, always, all sufficiency, all things, abundance. Then ask: what is the abundance for?
3 John 2 (NKJV)
"Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers."
Caution
Two ditches: "God wants everyone poor" (lack called holiness) and "God exists to make you rich" (greed called faith). Scripture walks between.
Genesis 12:2 (NKJV)
"...I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing."
Running over?
Drop Abraham and David detail and Ephesians 4:28 first. Never cut 2 Corinthians 9:8 or the two ditches.
Pick 1-2
• Why has the church swung between poverty-as-holiness and prosperity-as-entitlement? What does each get wrong?
• What does the love of money look like in someone who has very little?
• What good works in our community are waiting on someone's abundance? Could it be ours?
Pastoral
Some may be in debt or real hardship. No shame. Point to church support and practical help where available.
Land it
"Blessed to be a blessing. Provision flows to you so it can flow through you." Close in prayer.
Before You Start
Ask the room
"When did giving last cost you something you actually felt? What went through your mind as you let it go?"
Luke 6:38 (NKJV)
"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over... For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."
Cue
One-word command, then a long description of the return. Ask: whose measure sets the size?
Pastoral · say this up front
Some have been pressured over money by churches. This isn't an appeal. Nobody is being asked to give tonight.
Mark 12:43-44 (NKJV)
"...this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury..."
Proverbs 11:24-25 (NKJV)
"There is one who scatters, yet increases more... The generous soul will be made rich..."
Caution
Giving to get isn't giving; it's shopping. The promises are for cheerful, love-driven givers (2 Corinthians 9:7).
Running over?
Drop Psalm 41 and Luke 16 first. Never cut the widow or the caution.
Pick 1-2
• Why do you think Jesus watched the offering box? What does His interest tell us?
• How do we hold the real promises of return without sliding into giving-to-get?
• What makes giving hard: fear, habit, past manipulation, genuine lack? Be honest.
Cue
Let honest barriers surface without correction. Validate past hurt; keep the focus on the heart, not the amount.
Land it
"The God who watched the widow watches you. Give from love, give first." Close in prayer.
Before You Start
Ask the room
"What's the prayer you've almost stopped praying? What has the delay been quietly teaching you about God?"
1 John 5:14-15 (NKJV)
"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us... we know that we have the petitions..."
Cue
Count "we know" twice. Confidence in prayer is not presumption; it's inheritance.
Daniel 10:12-13 (NKJV)
"...from the first day that you set your heart to understand... your words were heard... But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days..."
Mark 11:24 (NKJV)
"...whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."
Running over?
Drop "answers through people" first. Never cut Daniel 10 or Mark 11:24.
Pick 1-2
• What conclusions do people draw from delayed answers, about God, themselves or prayer? Which have you drawn?
• What keeps persistence alive when nothing visibly changes?
• How do we examine motives without falling into morbid introspection?
Watch-for
Some waits involve deep grief. Don't promise outcomes for specific situations. Stand with them in prayer.
Land it
"Don't build a doctrine out of a delay. Build an altar in it." Close in prayer. End of Part 2.