REALLIFE STUDY GROUP

“Build Up!”

ICEBREAKER: Pick one of your favorite architectural buildings, structures or towers in antiquity or modern times and tell us why. (Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, Cathedral of Notre Dame, The Statue of Liberty, The St. Louis Arch, The Crystal Cathedral, The Roman Colosseum, Buckingham Palace, McKinley Monument, The Pentagon, The US Capital, The Inn at Belden Village, The San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge, The Taj Mahal, The Lost City of Angkor Wat, The Egyptian Pyramids, Moscow Kremlin, The Hoover Dam, The Great Wall of China, Stonehenge, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, The Louvre Museum, The White House, St. Peter’s Basilica, etc....)

CONFESSION: My Father is a builder so I am a builder. I am called to build up my church, my home, my mind, my neighborhood, the marketplace, the schools, the government and the downcast.

DEFINITION: Build: Banah (Hebrew) to build, rebuild, establish a family, cause to continue, make permanent

OUTLINE: Building Blocks for Success (2 Peter 1:1-10 KJV)

· Faith....complete trust, confidence, strong unwavering belief

· Virtue....integrity, excellence, Christian energy, good character

· Knowledge....experiential intelligence, spiritual understanding, good information

· Temperance....self-control, alert discipline, self-restraint, moderation

· Patience....steadfastness, endurance, the capacity to tolerate delay, trouble or suffering without getting upset or devastated

· Godliness....piety, reverent wonder, God-likeness (character), dutiful or devout to God, careful conformity to the Laws of God

· Brotherly Kindness....affection, warm friendliness, positive regard

· Charity....love, altruistic self-sacrificing generous love

Build Up Be-attitudes

1. Be a Builder....Stop tearing down & start building up yourself and others (Encourage, Inspire, Edify, Motivate, Challenge....)

· Builders not only build buildings, they build up other builders while building buildings!

· Builders aren’t afraid to build others up while building themselves up

· Builders see the end result before the product is finished

· Builders build with words before they build with sticks and stones

· Builders are believers in God, themselves and others

· Builders build things to outlast the seasons, the storms, and the situations of life

· Builders develop a mental blueprint of what they are building

But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, PRAYING in the Holy Ghost, KEEP yourselves in the love of God, LOOKING for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some HAVE compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. (Jude 1:17-25 KJV)

2. Be Prepared....Count the cost: Ask the hard questions. What will be the time commitment, emotional expense, relational investment, energy output, resource requirement?

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. (Luke 14: 28-30 KJV)

3. Be Smart....Do your homework; Consult the Experts! Smart people learn from the people that know what they don’t know! Life Coaches, Business Consultants, Growth Strategists, Financial Brokers, Master-planners, Dream Architects, Body Builders, Fathers of the Faith, Building Analysts, Time Managers....Who are the pillars in your house?

Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars. (Proverbs 9:1 KJV)

4. Be Sure....Build on a sure foundation. There’s nothing more dependable than God’s Word. You can bank on it! You can trust it! Be confident! Be absolutely positive! Make up your mind, there’s no turning back.

The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness [shall be] a SURE reward. (Proverbs 11:18 KJV)

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth SURE, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (2 Timothy 2:19 KJV)

5. Be Persistent....Don’t waste your time, but don’t rush through either! Pay attention to the details and stay on track. Don’t run ahead or lag behind! Stay the steady course no matter how hard it gets. Be consistent through the resistance!

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I PRESS toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

6. Be Knowledgeable....Develop a checklist! Make sure you’ve got the best materials, best Intel, best information, best motives, best technologies, best strategies, best ideas, best help.

· Requirements for Knowledge Acquisition....Commit to & Realize:

o You’ve gotta know, you don’t know, what you don’t know

o You’ve gotta get a clue that you don’t have a clue

o You’ve gotta learn how to learn

o You’ve gotta see it to seize it

o You’ve gotta become a reader to become a reaper

o You’ve gotta use it or lose it

o You’ve gotta pass on what’s been passed on

Through wisdom is a house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by KNOWLEDGE shall the chambers bet filled with all precious and pleasant riches. (Proverbs 24:3, 4 KJV)

7. Be a Finisher....Finish what you start by: Changing what you can change, enduring what you can’t change and never giving up until your changes produce change! Be the catalyst!

· Finishers never quit

· Finishers never make excuses

· Finishers believe it will work

· Finishers refuse to be distracted

· Finishers use disappointment as the springboard to accomplish even more

TEXT: Jude 1:17-25; Ephesians 2:19-22;

2 Peter 1:5-9 (The Message) So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.

STUDY GROUP QUESTIONS:

1. Name three people in your life that build you up.

2. Name three things you can do to build yourself up.

3. According to Jude 1:17-25 (KJV) what are the results of building yourself up by praying in the Spirit?

4. Which of the building blocks listed above in 2 Peter 1:5-9 do you need to rebuild with?

5. Which of the building up be-attitudes listed above jumps out at you?

6. What does the blueprint for your life look like?

a. Well thought out plans

b. A little confusing

c. Don’t judge me now, wait till you see the finished product

d. These must be somebody else’s

PRAISE REPORTS AND PRAYER REQUESTS:

ACTION POINT: This week I will speak edifying words! I will build myself up by praying in the Spirit. I will build my spouse up with uplifting words. I will build my workplace and my home up by speaking encouraging words. I will build my community up by speaking words of life and hope over my city, state and country. I will find someone who is down and lift them up!