Prayer
Because the primary goal of our time together is to establish relationships and learn how to walk with one another in all that God has called us to be and do, we’d like to begin by praying for one another. So, does anyone have anything you’d like us to pray for or anything to share regarding how you’ve seen God moving in your life that we can celebrate together?
Introduction Video
Opening Question
When did you get your first cell phone?
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight… This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”– Acts 9:1-12,16
Tech & Worship
In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word for worship is shakhah, it means to bow down.
In the New Testament, the word for worship is proskyneō, it means to “kiss the hand,” or to “kneel down.”
From the sermon: Christian worship is whole-body participation in the honor of Jesus Christ.
Does technology help foster deeper worship in your spiritual life? If so, how?
Does technology ever distract you from worship? If so, how?
What is one practice or habit that consistently helps you focus on whole-body participation in honoring Jesus?
Tech & Community
At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down.
They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and fire them well.” They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.
Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let’s make ourselves famous so we won’t be scattered here and there across the Earth.”
God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.
God took one look and said, “One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they’ll come up with next—they’ll stop at nothing! Come, we’ll go down and garble their speech so they won’t understand each other.” Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That’s how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into “babble.” From there God scattered them all over the world.– Genesis 11:1-9, The Message
How does technology help to gather and unite people together in positive ways?
How does technology create division or gather people in negative ways?
Why do you go to church?
Tech & Mission
In the sermon, Pastor Morgan pointed to the technologically advanced Roman roads, and how they were intended to help Rome grow and control their nation but were also used by the early church to fulfill the Great Commission.
How can we leverage digital technology for the sake of analog connections?
How can technology help us leverage relevance for the sake of transcendence?
Where can we “walk” online roads for the sake of reaching real people?
Closing Thought
Spend the last minutes of your time discussing Pastor Morgan’s challenge to ignore your phone for twenty-four hours. Is this possible for you, and if so, how will you do it?