Father's Day at The Rocks | 1st September 2024

A new year; a new way to be human. 

A new year often promises transformation through self-improvement. But what if the life you’re longing for doesn’t start with a better version of you, but with a deeper surrender to Jesus? This series invites us into the way of true renewal: not through hustle, but through holy surrender, counter-formation, and recovered vision.

Watch The Messages 

(I Think) I Love You | Part 4 - Thinking About Sex
Dec 7, 2025  •  Alistair Cochrane
(I Think) I Love You | Part 3 - Thinking About Love
Nov 30, 2025  •  Daniel Indradjaja
(I Think) I Love You // Thinking About Sex
Nov 30, 2025  •  Alistair Cochrane
(I Think) I Love You | Part 2 - Thinking About Marriage
Nov 23, 2025  •  Citra Rumende
(I Think) I Love You // Thinking About Marriage
Nov 23, 2025  •  Alistair Cochrane
(I Think) I Love You | Part 1 - Thinking About Dating
Nov 16, 2025  •  Daniel Indradjaja

Small Group Discussion Questions

Below you will find access to each week's discussion questions!
Week 1 | Becoming Dead
We’re told to chase the best version of ourselves, but what if that’s the problem? In this talk, we explore Jesus’ radical invitation to let go of the self we’re building and receive a life we can’t lose. Through Luke 9, we unpack how dying to self isn’t about disappearing—it’s about becoming truly alive. This is the start of a new year, and maybe the best thing you can do isn’t to set a goal… but to surrender.

Discussion Questions:
  1. What’s something you’ve tried to change about yourself in past New Year's resolutions? Did it last?
  2. Where do you feel pressure to “build” or “prove” your identity right now?
  3. Jesus says to “deny yourself” and “take up your cross daily.” What part of that feels challenging? What part feels freeing?
  4. In what ways has your faith ever become more about performance than relationship?
  5. What does surrender look like practically for you this week?
  6. How can we encourage each other to live from a “received identity” instead of a curated one?
  7. Any additional thoughts on this week’s message?
Week 2 | Becoming Formed
You might think you’re making your own choices—but are you really? In this talk, we explore how your daily habits and rhythms are shaping you, often more than your deepest desires. From Daniel in Babylon to Paul’s call in Romans, we learn that formation is always happening. The only question is: are you being formed on purpose? This message calls us to adopt intentional practices, not to earn God’s love, but to enjoy it.

Discussion Questions:
  1. Think back over the last week—what were the first and last things you looked at each day? How do you think those moments are shaping you?
  2. Have you ever noticed yourself being shaped by what you consume online or on social media?
  3. Romans 12 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world.” What are some cultural patterns you’ve been tempted to conform to recently?
  4. In what ways are your current rhythms building spiritual strength—or just spiritual survival?
  5. What’s one small shift you could make this week to practise intentional formation toward Christ?
  6. What “joy liturgies” have helped you enjoy God more?
  7. How do you personally define holiness? Has that changed over time?
  8. Any additional thoughts, comments, or questions based on this week’s message?
Week 3 | Becoming New
We often settle for self-help when Jesus offers something far bigger. In this talk, we unpack how the gospel isn’t just about your personal peace—it's about world renewal. Through Revelation 21, we see that Jesus didn’t come to tweak your life, but to make all things new. You’re not just saved from something—you’re saved for something. Discover how your healing becomes part of someone else’s hope, and how you’re invited to live as a sign of the world to come.

Discussion Questions:
  1. What do you think the difference is between self-improvement and true renewal? Have you experienced both?
  2. Have you ever experienced personal transformation that also blessed someone else?
  3. How does Revelation 21 challenge the idea that Christianity is just about going to heaven? How does that change your understanding of what Christianity is actually about?
  4. Where might God be asking you to rebuild or restore something this year?
  5. What’s one part of the world that breaks your heart, and how might God be calling you to participate in restoring it?
  6. What helps you rely on the Holy Spirit’s power rather than your own ability?
  7. Any additional thoughts on this week’s message?
Week 4 | Becoming Radical
What if the church isn’t measured by size but by the speed and depth at which her people become like Jesus? In this talk, we challenge the slow drift of modern discipleship and rediscover Jesus’ radical call to obedience, love, and multiplication. This isn’t about doing more—it’s about becoming more like Him. If the mission is to make disciples, why have we settled for being spectators? It’s time to go all in.

Discussion Questions:
  1. What do you think most people use to measure a “successful” church? What about you?
  2. Which of the four distortions (consumerism, preference, platform, or program-based faith) do you relate to most?
  3. How quickly do you usually respond to something God is prompting you to do?
  4. Which of the biblical portraits—Stephen, Philip, or Mary—spoke to you most? Why?
  5. What would “radical discipleship” look like in your current season of life?
  6. What’s one practical way you can go “all in” with your faith this week?
  7. Any additional thoughts, comments, or questions based on this week’s message?
Week 5 | Becoming Communitas
Church isn’t just a place to belong—it’s a movement to participate in. In this talk, we explore the shift from casual community to “communitas”—a group of disciples radically committed to Jesus, each other, and His mission. Paul’s long list of greetings in Romans 16 isn’t small talk—it’s a blueprint for a bold, sacrificial, and missional family. If you’ve ever felt like community wasn’t enough, maybe what you’re longing for is communitas.

Discussion Questions:
  1. When have you felt most known and most needed in community?
  2. How has consumer culture shaped the way you view church and belonging?
  3. What does “communitas” mean to you after hearing this talk?
  4. Which of the five marks of communitas (mission, liminality, risk, sacrifice, bonding) do you feel drawn to—or challenged by?
  5. What might be keeping you from deeper, more intentional spiritual community?
  6. What’s one step you could take this week to move from comfort to calling?
  7. Any additional thoughts, comments, or questions based on this week’s message?
Week 6 | Becoming Vocational
What if your job wasn’t just where you work—but where God works through you? This talk explores how your vocation, paired with contending prayer, becomes a redemptive force in the world. Whether you’re in business, education, trades or tech, you're called to more than success—you’re called to renewal. Prayer fuels your purpose. Work becomes worship. And you become a disciple who doesn’t just survive Monday to Friday, but transforms it.

Discussion Questions:
  1. How have you typically viewed your job—just a way to earn, or part of your calling?
  2. What do you think it means to work “as unto the Lord” in your industry?
  3. Have you ever witnessed God at work in your workplace? What happened?
  4. What does integrating prayer into your work look like for you right now?
  5. How might your industry move from “ethical” to “redemptive” if disciples began to influence it?
  6. What’s one thing you could start doing this week to bring your faith and work closer together?
  7. Any additional thoughts, comments, or questions based on this week’s message?
Week 7 | Becoming Generous
This isn’t a talk about the church needing money. It’s about Jesus wanting to free you from what money does to your heart. In a world ruled by fear, comparison, and financial pressure, this message helps us see generosity not as guilt, but as formation. When we give, we’re not losing—we’re winning a war against Mammon. Whether you’re rich, broke, skeptical, or somewhere in between, this talk invites you into joy, freedom, and a new way to handle your money.

Discussion Questions:
  1. What messages did you grow up hearing about money—either at home, in school, or in church? How do you think those have shaped your current mindset?
  2. What stood out to you most about the difference between money and Mammon?
  3. When have you seen generosity impact someone’s life—either as the giver or the receiver? What did that do to you?
  4. Which do you most resonate with: giving out of guilt, giving out of habit, or giving out of joy? Why do you think that is?
  5. What does “excelling in the grace of giving” look like in your life right now?
  6. What do you think is the difference between generosity as a financial decision and generosity as spiritual formation? How can you grow in the latter this year?
  7. Any additional thoughts, comments, or questions based on this week’s message?

More Resources

Bible Reading Plan - Main Focus

“The reality is, we are all being formed. However, we are not always conscious of the external and internal influences that are contributing to our transformation as we go along in life.”
Spiritual Formation – Kath Henry
 
The Bible teaches us that transformation can come through rest, reading the Word, prayer and more – follow along with this plan and let God change you from the inside out!
AVAILABLE HERE

Additional Bible Plans

Read through each week's devotion guides on the Bible App - be sure to add The Rocks as your church in the Bible app to get notified each week. There are permalinks to each one below.

The Deeply Formed Life | 7 Day Plan

As New York pastor Rich Villodas defines it, a deeply formed life is a life marked by integration, intersection, intertwining, and interweaving, holding together multiple layers of spiritual formation. This kind of life calls us to be people who cultivate lives with God in prayer, move toward reconciliation, work for justice, have healthy inner lives, and see our bodies and sexuality as gifts to steward.

A Simple Rule | 40 Day Plan

Develop a rhythm of prayer that integrates your faith into your daily life, following Paul’s simple advice: rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances. Learn to see life through God’s eyes, develop fresh habits of prayerfulness, and grow more like Christ, shaped by time spent with Him.

Read More

The below books would be what we recommend to do a full deep dive into everything we are tracking with on Sundays. They are below in order of complexity.

Liturgy of Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life

Tish Warren
In the overlooked moments and routines of our day, we can become aware of God's presence in surprising ways. How do we embrace the sacred in the ordinary and the ordinary in the sacred? Come and discover the holiness of your every day.
Buy at Koorong

Every Good Endeavour

Timothy Keller
In an increasingly competitive and insecure economic environment, we can lose sight of God's plan for work. Do we work to live, or live to work? Gifted communicator Timothy Keller draws on the wisdom in God's Word to show how Christians can bless society through excellence, integrity, discipline, creativity, and passion in the workplace.
Buy at Koorong

Beautiful Resistance: The Joy of Conviction in a Culture of Compromise

Jon Tyson
Definitely more theological in its underpinnings and more global in its scope. This is a dense read which will challenge your understanding of how church works.
Buy at Koorong

Listen More

The below podcasts would be what we recommend to do a bit more listening around these ideas.

Who Are You, Really?

Becoming Something Podcast
Many of us have lived for decades without actually understanding who God says we are. We are all unique creations of God and He has a special role for each of us!
LISTEN NOW

Creating Rhythms of Renewal and Contending for Revival

Passion + Purpose Podcast w/ Louie Giglio
What does it look like to live at a sacred pace? How can we contend for a move of God in this generation? How do you discern your God-given calling in life?
LISTEN NOW

Moving From an Age of Anxiety to an Age of Action

Rebuilders Podcast
This episode unpacks the spiritual implications of a world where image becomes violence, where global crises go viral, and where real-world chaos follows online rhetoric. What does faithful Christian presence look like in this new reality?
LISTEN NOW

Study More

Some of us may be at a point where want more structured theological discourse around these topics. Below you will find resources from a free online seminary that will be helpful. A seminary is simply a Christian university that focusses on theology and ministry.

Introduction to Spiritual Formation

This class explores discipleship, formation, and Christian ethics, focusing on how to follow Jesus in a more transformative way. Dr. Huber teaches to approach Christian living biblically, theologically, and practically. He provides tools to help you experience personal growth and deeper change as you follow Jesus in community.
LISTEN NOW

Spiritual Formation and Devotional Intimacy

11 Lecture Class
In this class, you will learn about the process of spiritual formation and the importance of developing a deep devotional intimacy with God. The course explores the biblical foundations of spiritual growth, the role of the Holy Spirit, and the individual's personal responsibility in their own spiritual development. It also highlights various spiritual disciplines and practices that help foster a closer relationship with God, such as prayer, meditation, Scripture reading, worship, and fellowship. Finally, you will examine common obstacles and challenges faced in the journey of spiritual growth and discover strategies to overcome them.
LISTEN NOW

Watch More

The below content would be what we recommend to do a bit more viewing around these ideas.

Introducing Spiritual Formation

Dallas Willard

Spiritual formation and AI

Andy Crouch and Jay Kim

What is Spiritual Formation and How is it Done?

Dallas Willard