Discussion Guide 10.30.2011

Message: stuck? | week 5

Discuss and pray about the things below—don’t feel the need to ‘cover everything,’ but use this as a guide to help your Group process what God is teaching them. Look through these discussion points and focus on what you think will be most beneficial to your Group. Be sure to pray for and encourage each other.

Take some time to have group members share something they’re celebrating this week.

What good thing has happened? 

What miracles has God done?

Toward the beginning of his message, Pastor Shawn said, “Who we obey says a lot about who we are.”

What do you think he meant by that?

Do you agree or disagree? How can your Group members help each other identify who they’re obeying?

Read Galatians 5:13-15 then discuss…

What insight does this give us about the freedom we have in Christ?

What happens, according to this passage, when we don’t use our freedom to serve one another?

Pastor Shawn pointed out that this passage reminds us that freedom isn’t for us, but for God to use us to impact others; what are some ways your Group can live beyond themselves and take part in impacting others together?

Read John 8:31-32 then discuss…

According to this passage, what does Jesus say makes us “really [his] disciples”?

What does your Group think it looks like to “hold to Jesus’ teaching”?

Jesus says that once we hold to his teachings we will then know the truth and then we will be made free; what significance does the order he mentions these things have for us?

Read John 5:1-15 & Mark 10:46-52, then discuss…

What are some of the similarities and differences seen in these two stories?

What was God speaking to your heart as Pastor Shawn read and talked to these two stories? 
What does this say about the things that can inhibit us from knowing the freedom Jesus offers?

Read Galatians 5:24-25, then discuss…

Pastor Shawn spoke to this passage after giving a list of some of the things that inhibit us:

Anger :: Pride/Self-Centeredness :: Deception/Dishonesty 

 Envy :: Pride of Knowledge :: Anxiety 

Greed/Excess :: Misplaced Desires :: Inaction

What does it mean to ‘crucify our flesh’ in light of these inhibitors?

Can you think of other things that might inhibit us from knowing the full life Jesus has for us?

Pastor Shawn cautioned us that the more we rub up against the truth and ignore it, the more our hearts can grow calloused. How can your Group members help each other to be receptive to God’s truth in their lives? What are some ways we can create a pattern of being exposed to God’s truth on a regular basis?

This week’s “So What? Now What?” was…

To look up – how can you encourage each other to sincerely ask God, “Lord, change me”?

To look in – take time as a group to ask the Holy Spirit to identify the inhibitors in our lives. Pray for each other that God would show us and penetrate any calluses on our hearts.

Encourage your group to use the Monvee assessment tool.

During the next week or so, connect with group members and check-in to see how they’re doing as they look up & in.

Discussion Guide 10-23-2011

Life Group Questions : Sunday, October 23, 2011
Sandy Lake Wesleyan : Shawn Cossin, Lead Pastor

Discuss and pray about the things below—don’t feel the need to ‘cover everything,’ but use this as a guide to help your Group process what God is teaching them. Be sure to pray for and encourage each other.

Take some time to have group members share something they’re CELEBRATING this week—what good thing has happened? What miracles has God done?

Read James 1:27, then discuss…

What do you think James means by ‘pure religion?’

What are some ways your group/group members can take part in “looking after widows and orphans in their distress?”

(This would be a great time to invite your Group to take part in the Freedom Road 5K and Orphan Sunday experiences).

Shawn talked about some of the tools the enemy uses to move us to a place of disobedience (six D’s)—what are they?

Deception :: Doubt :: Discouragement :: Despair :: Diversion :: Delay :: Defeat

He also shared a cycle these “D’s” bring us into that we get stuck in: isolation :: fear :: victim mentality

Share a bit of how you’ve experienced the enemy trying to get you ‘stuck’ using these tools?

We can feel isolated, afraid, and a ‘victim’ in our relationship with God—but it especially happens in our human relationships and in our connection to the Church… what should our reaction be when we (or people we know) fall into this way of thinking?

Satan is the “father of lies”—what are some of the lies he uses to get us into those places of isolation, fear, and being a victim?

Read James 4:7, then discuss…

How are ‘submission’ and obedience linked?

How do you think submitting ourselves to God is connected to resisting the devil?

Stop here and invite members of your Group to pray however they’re led for the members of your Life Group that they would be keenly aware of when they are falling into isolation, fear, or a victim mentality. Pray for strength to submit to God and resist the devil.

Shawn showed a video in two parts. What happened?

What does this show us about our response when we ‘get cut off?’

Read Galatians 5:4-8, then discuss…

What are some ways we try to be ‘justified by the law?’

Pastor Shawn noted that some of the incidents that ‘cut in on us’ are personal offenses—lies, betrayals, wounds & hurts. How do you think we can overcome those things to keep running a good race?

A caution in all of this is that the more we rub up against the truth and ignore it, the more our hearts can grow calloused. How can your Group members help each other to be receptive to God’s truth in their lives? What are some ways we can create a pattern of being exposed to God’s truth on a regular basis?

Close in prayer for each other and God’s desire to help us know freedom.

LG Questions : 10-16-2011

Life Group Questions : Sunday, October 16, 2011

Sandy Lake Wesleyan : Shawn Cossin, Lead Pastor

Shawn showed some really nice pictures of a really nice building with really nice amenities. What type of building was it? What’s deceiving about the fact that it’s actually a prison, and what spiritual truths/corollaries might there be in relationship to that story?

Read Galatians 5:1, then consider…

What does it look like for you to stand free as a follower of Jesus?

Why would a Christian ever submit again to a “yoke of slavery”? Is that even possible?

Shawn talked about… Giving our lives to Christ  =  Will we obey?  =  If we obey, we go to what’s next

BUT… If we don’t obey, we get STUCK

Read the following quote…

“Obey God in the thing He shows you, and instantly the next thing is opened up. One reads tomes on the work of the Holy Spirit, when one five minutes of drastic obedience would make things as clear as a sunbeam… It is not study that does it, but obedience.” [Oswald Chambers]

How have you seen this Oswald Chambers quote at work in your life? Share with your group some examples from your lives of the way God shows up when we surrender and obey.

Obedience : The quality of being obedient, describes the act of carrying out commands or being actuated

NOT compliance – behavior influenced by peers

NOT conformity – behavior intended to match the majority

It’s “HEARSOMENESS” – obedience, submission, service, humility

Read John 14:21, then consider…

            Who is the one God loves?

            What does God do when we obey?

Be honest… have you ever struggled to “see” God due to disobedience?

“Delayed obedience is disobedience.” [Charles Spurgeon]

Shawn introduced two very special guest, Josh & Leslie, missionaries in an undisclosed country. Take time as a group to discuss the following thoughts from Shawn’s conversation with Josh & Leslie…

            What was their plan before sensing God’s call?

            How did Josh sense God’s call on his life?

            What was Leslie’s response to God’s call on Josh’s life?

            What did eventual obedience in their life begin to look like for them?

            How is their story encouraging and/or challenging to you?

            Talk about all this as a group, then close in prayer with one another.

LG Questions :: October 9, 2011

Life Group Questions : Sunday, October 9, 2011

SLW “Stuck” Series : Pastor Jeremiah Gomez

Jeremiah introduced the “Stuck” series by talking about the Bridger Wilderness area – an area larger than the state of Connecticut. Ever been there, or to a large wilderness area? Share some stories together.

Jeremiah shared some of the “complaints” people had about this wilderness area – what were some of your favorites? Oh, and by the way… what did these complaints indicate and reveal?

“We must be made for more, and life should be an adventure.” That’s the strong assertion Jeremiah made, and well – Jesus said it about 2,000 years ago! Read John 10:10 together, and reflect on the reality of Jesus’ words.

Read Galatians 5:1 together. What was Paul speaking of? What does it mean for us to be free? Share some thoughts with each other about the ways God – through Christ – has brought freedom to your lives.

Why do so many of us struggle to step into the freedom God has for us? Think about it for a moment, then discuss this question – What are some of the ways you see people getting “stuck” in life?

Read Galatians 5: 16-18 together, then consider…

            Who are the people Paul was writing to?

            What seemed to be the problem?

            What did Paul say as a word of caution/warning?

            How did Paul encourage them to break free from selfishness?

So, pause for a moment… How are we like these Galatians Paul was writing to? What problems do we seem to face? What would Paul (or better yet, Christ) offer as a word of warning? How could we begin to break free from such selfishness?

Jeremiah asked a fairly basic question… “Why don’t we choose to break free from selfishness?” Simple question, right? Well, why is it so hard to do? Talk about it for a moment.

Jeremiah talked about a story Jesus shared with his disciples, the parable of the sower (Matthew 13). What does the seed represent? What do the different soils represent? (Go ahead, do some reading in Matthew 13, since Jesus ends up explaining the entire parable.)

What chokes out the potential of the seed in our lives? As Jeremiah asked, “What gets us into deep weeds?” Do me a favor… get a little more personal with your group… share something personal that chokes out God’s work in YOUR life. [LEADERS – don’t make everyone do it unless the whole group wants to, but be sensitive to the more personal sharing that may happen here, and even be ready to pause and pray with those who share.]

WRAP it UP : What are some life-giving thoughts and practices we could begin to engage in to get “unstuck”? Share with each other and encourage each other in some practical, godly steps you could each take to draw close to God and move toward a free, unstuck life. Once you’ve done that, pray together as a group, asking God to help you all break free from a life of selfishness and move us toward a life of freedom and selflessness. And of course, pray the same for our entire church, region, and world!