CONVERSATION STARTERS
Conversation Starters help us dig deeper, connecting Sunday’s sermons with our Monday lives. Please know that these questions are meant to be a resource. You do not have to follow them verbatim or get through them all. We trust you to know your group and to ask the questions based on your group needs.

1. What are the biggest influences in your life? Friends, work, family, entertainment? How do we see these influence our daily lives?

2. Read John 15:1-17 silently or aloud.

3. Why does abiding in Christ go hand in hand with being his friend? Looking at the promises in this passage that come from abiding, what are some consequences if we do not abide?

4. What are some of the ways to stay connected to the true vine? What are some habits that you practice already?

5. What do we learn about Jesus in this passage?

6. What does this passage say about what it means for believers to follow Jesus as king?

7. How does this passage encourage and/or challenge you?

PRAYER PROMPT
Pray for the Holy Spirit to be present in the room and to fill each of you. Pray for belief that Jesus is near even when we may not feel it.

Title: The King’s Friends
Scripture: John 15:1-17
Speaker: Taylor Fair, TaylorF@cckc.church

> How to wither your friendship with Jesus.

> Resist the Father’s pruning.

“The vinedresser is never closer to the vine, taking more thought over its long-term health and productivity, than when he has the knife in his hand.” - NT Wright

> Disconnect with Jesus and His people.

“God lets us participate with him in life…The joining of a musician and an instrument is a picture of this unity. The instrument gives itself completely into the hands of the musician, and the musician is fully immersed in the instrument’s sound…a branch does not produce fruit if it does not remain in the vine, but we are too quick to overlook the reverse: neither does the vine produce fruit if it has no branches. This is both the humility of God and the humility of being human. The awareness of this mutuality is essential for a spirit filled life. Abide in me and I in you: the instrument wholly in the hands of the musician and the musician entirely in the sound of the instrument. Within this experience of becoming one, the meaning of our existence is fulfilled.” - Martin Schleske

> Underestimate the joy of obedience.

"We live in a culture that is so lukewarm that anything that even resembles discipleship is dismissed as legalism." - Jon Tyson