Title: The Means of Sanctification
Passage: John 15:1-12
Icebreaker: Tell us about someone’s face that matters to you. Examples could be: your grandmother who passed away but whose face you still can picture, your 5-year-old cousin, your dog who has sad eyes, etc.?
Review: What was the definition of “sanctification” that your group came
up with?
Reflect: What from the sermon stood out to you? What was challenging, comforting, or confusing?
Sermon Questions:
1. Jesus talks about how a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it stays connected to the vine. In high school culture, what does it look like when someone tries to fake 'fruit'—like putting on a costume of being a good, moral Christian—versus someone whose life is actually changing from the inside out?
2. In verse 3, Jesus tells the disciples, 'Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.' If Jesus already declares us 'clean' and accepted right from the start, why do you think we treat our daily mistakes like we’re on probation with God? How does knowing you are already clean change how you handle failure?
3. Jesus says that the Father prunes the branches that do bear fruit so that they will grow even more. Pruning means cutting things away, which sounds painful. What are some ways God might 'prune' a high schooler today (e.g., changing friendships, facing a failure, letting go of a habit)? How can we trust God when that process hurts?
4. The word 'abide' means to make your home somewhere or to stay plugged in. Jesus says we abide by letting His words stay in us and by keeping His commandments. When we want our phones to work, we don’t pray for a miracle or wait for a lightning strike—we just plug them into an ordinary wall outlet every night. The Speaker talked about the 'means of grace' (the Word, the sacraments/communion, and prayer) as God’s ordinary 'outlets' for giving us the power to grow. Why are we so tempted to ignore these quiet, ordinary daily habits and instead wait around for a 'camp high,' an emotional breakthrough, or a crisis to finally fix our spiritual lives? What would it practically look like for you to 'plug into the outlet' of God’s Word or prayer on a random week this fall?" What would prevent it?
5. Jesus explicitly says that He told us all of this so that His joy would be in us and our joy would be full (v. 11). If you’re honest, do you usually view God's commandments as things that steal your joy or things that protect your joy? What would it look like to pursue holiness because you're chasing fullness of joy, rather than just trying to avoid getting in trouble?
Close in prayer for God to help us look at Jesus and that we would look more like Jesus when we return from RYM than when we got here.
Review: What was the definition of “sanctification” that your group came
up with?
Reflect: What from the sermon stood out to you? What was challenging, comforting, or confusing?
Sermon Questions:
1. Jesus talks about how a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it stays connected to the vine. In high school culture, what does it look like when someone tries to fake 'fruit'—like putting on a costume of being a good, moral Christian—versus someone whose life is actually changing from the inside out?
2. In verse 3, Jesus tells the disciples, 'Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.' If Jesus already declares us 'clean' and accepted right from the start, why do you think we treat our daily mistakes like we’re on probation with God? How does knowing you are already clean change how you handle failure?
3. Jesus says that the Father prunes the branches that do bear fruit so that they will grow even more. Pruning means cutting things away, which sounds painful. What are some ways God might 'prune' a high schooler today (e.g., changing friendships, facing a failure, letting go of a habit)? How can we trust God when that process hurts?
4. The word 'abide' means to make your home somewhere or to stay plugged in. Jesus says we abide by letting His words stay in us and by keeping His commandments. When we want our phones to work, we don’t pray for a miracle or wait for a lightning strike—we just plug them into an ordinary wall outlet every night. The Speaker talked about the 'means of grace' (the Word, the sacraments/communion, and prayer) as God’s ordinary 'outlets' for giving us the power to grow. Why are we so tempted to ignore these quiet, ordinary daily habits and instead wait around for a 'camp high,' an emotional breakthrough, or a crisis to finally fix our spiritual lives? What would it practically look like for you to 'plug into the outlet' of God’s Word or prayer on a random week this fall?" What would prevent it?
5. Jesus explicitly says that He told us all of this so that His joy would be in us and our joy would be full (v. 11). If you’re honest, do you usually view God's commandments as things that steal your joy or things that protect your joy? What would it look like to pursue holiness because you're chasing fullness of joy, rather than just trying to avoid getting in trouble?
Close in prayer for God to help us look at Jesus and that we would look more like Jesus when we return from RYM than when we got here.