October 17

Tech Wise Sermon Series

Download Printable pdf of Discussion Questions

WEEK 2 | HEART, SOUL, MIND, STRENGTH

Throughout the series we will have discussion handouts to help bring dialogue about this topic in your households and amongst those you are close with. Today’s message focuses on what it means to respond to God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

“Talking about countercultural formation: “Nothing easy forms us. So, everything that forms us in some respect is hard. Maybe another thing we have to say to one another by way of encouragement as we go along on this tech-wise journey is, ‘This is going to be hard for all of us—parents and kids—but it’s going to be good.’” — Andy Crouch

  • DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

    “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” The Writing Life, Annie Dillard

    1. Do our lives get better as they get easier?

    2. Open up your Bibles and read the words of Mark 12:30. What do the words of Jesus, “all your heart, soul, mind and strength,” mean to you?

    3. List a few activities that you do throughout the day. On a scale of 1-10 (one being not at all, and ten being ‘engaging fully’ how do these activities engage body, soul, mind, strength?

    • Going for a run
      • heart ____ soul ____ mind ____ strength ____
    • Playing piano
      • heart ____ soul ____ mind ____ strength ____
    • Scrolling social media
      • heart ____ soul ____ mind ____ strength ____
    • _________________
      • heart ____ soul ____ mind ____ strength ____
    • _________________
      • heart ____ soul ____ mind ____ strength ____
    • _________________
      • heart ____ soul ____ mind ____ strength ____

  • DIGGING DEEPER

    This week you are encouraged to watch this hour long talk by Andy Crouch to a church a few years ago. The talk gives a helpful summary of his perspective in what it means to follow God with heart, soul, mind, and strength


    OPTION A:     Watch 60 minutes of the video — from 4 minutes to 64 minutes (scroll down to find video)

    OPTION B: Watch the first 30 minutes to get an introduction to the topic below (scroll down to find video)


    1. Do you/have you played a musical instrument? What instrument do you find most interesting or which instrument would you most like to learn?

    2. In the video, Andy Crouch talks about the difference between pressing play and playing something.

    Make a list for each question below:

    a. What are the ways that pressing play and playing something are SIMILAR?

    b. What are the ways pressing play and playing something are DIFFERENT?


    3. What are the ways our life is impacted when we shift from ‘making’ something to ‘pressing a button’?

    4. Andy Crouch suggests that the tech-foolish life is built on having many devices in our lives that make things easy for us but we neglect the tools and instruments that help us to become the kind of people who we want to be. What helps us become better people? How are tools and instruments part of this?

One in five U.S. parents (21%) says their family doesn’t know how to have a conversation anymore because they are all on their phones or devices.

“The most important formative things in our lives are full of risk, and they’re full of meaningful difficulty. They require me to go someplace where I’m not fully safe – whether emotionally, sometimes physically – where some aspect of my heart, soul, mind, strength, is not just being protected, but is being put at risk.” — Andy Crouch

Roughly seven in 10 parents say smartphones will hurt children’s ability to develop healthy friendship (68%) and 10 social skills (71%).