Faith Talk – September 20, 2026
Faith Talks are designed to help you keep the conversation going beyond Sunday morning. Use this guide with your family or friends to reflect on the sermon and Life Group lesson, pray together, and put God’s Word into practice. Think of this guide as a starting place—then let God shape the conversation.
Sermon
Title: The Heart of the Matter Is a Matter of the Heart
Scripture: Ezekiel 36:26; Proverbs 23:26; 4:23; 3:5-6
Overview: Our words, choices, and priorities reveal what is happening in our hearts. We may be able to change a habit or improve our behavior, but we need God to change us from within. In Ezekiel 36:26, God promised His people a new heart, replacing their hard hearts with hearts responsive to Him. As we trust Him, we learn to surrender our desires, resist temptation, and follow His direction.
Main Points:
Discussion Questions:
For Kids
For Students & Adults
Application: Choose one area where you have been resisting God or allowing an unhealthy influence into your life. Be honest with Him about it. Identify one practical step of obedience, such as setting a boundary, asking forgiveness, or seeking wise counsel. Ask God to change your desires as you take that step.
Scripture: Ezekiel 36:26; Proverbs 23:26; 4:23; 3:5-6
Overview: Our words, choices, and priorities reveal what is happening in our hearts. We may be able to change a habit or improve our behavior, but we need God to change us from within. In Ezekiel 36:26, God promised His people a new heart, replacing their hard hearts with hearts responsive to Him. As we trust Him, we learn to surrender our desires, resist temptation, and follow His direction.
Main Points:
- Give Your Heart
- Guard Your Heart
- Let God Guide Your Heart
Discussion Questions:
For Kids
- When the Bible talks about your heart, it means more than the part of your body that beats. How do your thoughts, feelings, and choices show what matters to you?
- What is something you watch, hear, or do that helps you love God? What is something that makes obeying Him harder?
- When you are tempted to do something wrong, how can you ask God for help?
For Students & Adults
- What part of your life is hardest to surrender to God right now? What would trusting Him in that area look like?
- Where do you need a boundary to help you resist temptation? Consider your relationships, entertainment, conversations, or habits.
- Think about a decision you are facing. How can Scripture help you evaluate your motives and your next step?
Application: Choose one area where you have been resisting God or allowing an unhealthy influence into your life. Be honest with Him about it. Identify one practical step of obedience, such as setting a boundary, asking forgiveness, or seeking wise counsel. Ask God to change your desires as you take that step.
Life Group
Scripture: Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25
Christ/Gospel Connections:
All of Scripture points back to Jesus. In our study each week, every age group’s lesson includes a note about how the message connects to Christ. Use these Christ/Gospel Connections as a springboard for meaningful discussion about who Jesus is and what He has done for us.
Preschool – Jesus showed He has power over nature. Jesus is God’s Son. He came to save people from sin. When we trust in Jesus, He forgives our sin and gives us life with God forever.
Kids – The disciples saw that Jesus has power over nature. He is the Son of God, the promised Savior. One day, Jesus would show His greatest power-not by calming a storm, but by dying on the cross and rising from the dead to save people from sin. Jesus saves everyone who trusts in Him.
Students – Jesus demonstrated sovereign power over nature by calming the storm. Through His miracles, teaching, and most clearly, His death and resurrection, Jesus proved Himself to be worthy of our faith and worship. He alone can save us.
Adults – Jesus demonstrated His deity by calming the storm. As God, He is omnipotent and sovereign over all.
Discussion Questions:
For Kids
For Students & Adults
Christ/Gospel Connections:
All of Scripture points back to Jesus. In our study each week, every age group’s lesson includes a note about how the message connects to Christ. Use these Christ/Gospel Connections as a springboard for meaningful discussion about who Jesus is and what He has done for us.
Preschool – Jesus showed He has power over nature. Jesus is God’s Son. He came to save people from sin. When we trust in Jesus, He forgives our sin and gives us life with God forever.
Kids – The disciples saw that Jesus has power over nature. He is the Son of God, the promised Savior. One day, Jesus would show His greatest power-not by calming a storm, but by dying on the cross and rising from the dead to save people from sin. Jesus saves everyone who trusts in Him.
Students – Jesus demonstrated sovereign power over nature by calming the storm. Through His miracles, teaching, and most clearly, His death and resurrection, Jesus proved Himself to be worthy of our faith and worship. He alone can save us.
Adults – Jesus demonstrated His deity by calming the storm. As God, He is omnipotent and sovereign over all.
Discussion Questions:
For Kids
- Why were the disciples afraid, and what did they do when they needed help?
- What did Jesus do that showed He has power over nature?
- What is something that makes you afraid? How can you turn to Jesus when you feel that way?
For Students & Adults
- In Mark 4:38, the disciples questioned whether Jesus cared about them. When have difficult circumstances led you to wonder the same thing?
- What does this passage teach us about Jesus? How does knowing who He is help us trust Him?
- Jesus calmed this storm, but following Him does not mean every hardship ends immediately. What can faithfulness look like while a difficulty continues?
Pray Together
- Thank God for making new hearts possible through Jesus and for being present with us in frightening or uncertain circumstances.
- Commit to surrendering the desires, habits, and decisions you have been trying to manage on your own. Commit to following what He has revealed in His Word.
- Ask God for help resisting temptation and trusting His care. Pray for someone who is facing a difficult situation, asking God to sustain them and show you how to offer support.
Activity
Supplies:
Paper, pencils or crayons, and a Bible
Instructions:
- Have each person draw a large heart. Inside it, write or draw things that have occupied their thoughts this week: people, activities, worries, goals, or desires.
- Read Proverbs 4:23 together. Discuss how the things we think about can influence our choices. Which things help us follow God? Which could pull us away from Him?
- Read Proverbs 3:5-6. Invite each person to circle one thing they need to entrust to God. No one needs to share something private.
- Beside the heart, write or draw one step of obedience to take this week.
- Close by praying for one another. Remember that the Jesus whom the wind and waves obey is worthy of our trust with everything we have written inside our hearts.
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