Discussion Questions

Patrick said that during COVID he looked out his window and realized “Satan was out there doing push-ups,” while he was “getting weaker and weaker”—what does that metaphor assume about spiritual warfare, and what kinds of Christian “weakening” did the lockdowns expose in your own life? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does Patrick’s “Satan doing push-ups while I got weaker” picture say about spiritual battle? During lockdowns, what weak spots in your Christian life did you notice?

Strength to Strength took its name from Psalm 84 (“chazak, chazak…going from getting stronger and stronger”) and describes believers as people “whose hearts are set on pilgrimage”—what picture of God’s intentions for Christian life is implied here, and how does that confront a settled, comfort-oriented version of Christianity? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Psalm 84 talks about going from strength to strength and having hearts set on a journey—what does that say God wants the Christian life to be like? How does that challenge a comfortable, “settled” kind of Christianity?

The group began as an unrecorded 6:00 AM Zoom prayer call with no platform, no studio, and no “fancy recording equipment,” and later intentionally kept editing “very light” so it stayed “raw” and “organic”—what does this reveal about what they believe God can do through weakness and simplicity, and what modern Christian instincts does it quietly rebuke? JumpstartAnother way to ask: They started with a simple 6 AM Zoom prayer call and kept the videos raw on purpose—what does that say about what they think God can do through simplicity? What modern Christian habits does this push back against?

When Glenn said his “number one thing” after Patrick stepped back was changing the name from “Weak to Weak (week to week)” to “Strength to Strength,” what does that rename communicate about hope, sanctification, and perseverance—and where might it risk turning spiritual growth into a performance metric? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does changing the name from “Weak to Weak” to “Strength to Strength” say about hope, becoming more like Christ, and not giving up? How could that also make spiritual growth feel like a scoreboard?

Wendell described the mission as “earnestly contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints,” preferring “the common man who has a heart after God” over “TV speakers who can really do great on camera”—what early-Christian assumptions about authority, teaching, and discernment are operating here, and how would that clash with evangelical celebrity culture? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Wendell preferred faithful “common” believers over polished TV speakers—what does that say about who should teach and how Christians should judge what’s true? How would this clash with Christian celebrity culture?

Wendell also stressed, “We’re not concocting something new and exciting,” but pressing into “the historic faith” and especially “the kingdom message”—what does that suggest about God’s priorities in the church, and what popular “fresh” trends or novelty-driven ministries might this teaching implicitly challenge? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If they say they aren’t making something new but are leaning into the historic faith and the kingdom message, what does that show about what God wants the church to focus on? What popular “new and exciting” ministry trends might this challenge?

The team highlighted that Q&A and “candid discussions” sometimes run longer than the main talk, and that some topics are “a little controversial” and not normally heard in church—what might that imply about how early Christians handled disagreement and correction, and what kinds of modern church habits make honest discussion feel dangerous? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Their Q&A and honest talks sometimes go long and cover topics many churches avoid—what might that say about how early Christians dealt with disagreement and correction? What church habits today make honest conversation feel unsafe?

Several speakers emphasized, “We aren’t looking to supplement church,” and yet they keep connecting believers globally (Australia, Netherlands, Albania) and even helping believers in the same city find each other—how should Christians weigh digital teaching versus local embodied community, and where does your current practice reveal imbalance? JumpstartAnother way to ask: They say they don’t replace church, but they connect believers online across the world and even in the same city—how should Christians balance online teaching with being part of a local church community? Where do you see your own life leaning too far one way?

Strength to Strength for Sisters is drawing “double the views,” with YouTube analytics showing 75% of the audience is female, and they formed a mentorship panel of older women to handle discipleship needs—what does this reveal about hunger, formation, and gaps in many churches’ care for women, and what might need to change locally so online mentorship isn’t the primary refuge? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If the Sisters group gets lots of women viewers and adds older-women mentors, what does that reveal about what women are missing in many churches? What could change locally so women don’t have to rely mainly on online help?

Bryant introduced S2S Books with the tagline “Fuel for Sojourners,” framing books as a way to bring ideas digital media can’t, and quoted Margaret Wheatley: “If we sit together and talk about what’s important to us, we begin to become alive”—what view of how God changes people is being assumed (conversation, ideas, “spiky truths”), and how does that confront “easy-believism” approaches that emphasize assurance without disciplined transformation? JumpstartAnother way to ask: They say books and real conversation can bring deeper, harder truths that change people—what does that assume about how God grows us? How does that challenge “easy-believism” that stresses feeling assured without real, disciplined change?