BEGIN WITH YOUR HEART
LEADER - If you know your group will need a jumpstart into this converstaion, begin by asking, “Who was the last person you found yourself in a spiritual conversation with and where did that happen?”
Read Matt. 28:16-20 and answer the following questions as a group:
In v. 19 Jesus tells the disciples to “go” … This is best translated and understood to mean, “as you are going”. In light of that, what changes about this passage for you?
“As you go” through your week, where do you go? (Work, home, gym, friends, store, etc.)
What are the disciples instructed to do as they are going?
Pray: Father, you have instructed us through your Son to be disciple makers and culture influencers in Matt. 18. Would you help us to have open eyes to see the opportunities you put in our path to be spiritual influencers as we are going through our weeks?
A LOOK IN GOD’S WORD
LEADER - Help your group choose an issue fairly quickly and spend most of your time discussing how to apply the truth of God’s Word to your life on that issue. Get out your study Bibles, use google, etc. to dig into God’s Word on that issue.
As we talked about in the sermon, simply knowing the facts and rules from scripture is only half the equation. We need to be able to apply them to our lives in order to follow Jesus in a life defining way.
As a group, pick an issue of right or wrong that is relevant to your group and walk through the following questions:
Struggling to come up with a right or wrong issue? Consider these:
Anger and treatment of others around you. (Rom. 12:10 / Jam. 3 / Eph. 3)
Favoritism (Jam. 2 / Read about Joseph (Gen 37), effects of favoritism?)
How to place healthy expectations on children? (Gal. 6:2 / Eph. 6:1-4 / Col. 3:21 / Matt. 7:9-12)
Cheating vs. Gaining a competitive edge? (Col. 3:9 / Phil. 2:3 / As a tax collector, Zacchaeus cheated people for a living, consider his story, Luke 19:1-9.)
1] What is the real issue? (Often what we like to think is the issue, is a peripheral issue. Dig to figure out the real issue. Phil. 4:8 will help you to get to the heart of an issue.)
consequences in a person’s life in the Bible?)
2] What is God’s heart on the issue? (Does God speak to this issue directly, or via consequences in a person’s life in the Bible?)
3] What does God’s Word say? (Does God’s Word have anything else to say on the topic?)
4] How does the truth from God’s Word affect my thinking and living on this issue? (Make a concrete application step or steps.)
5] Where do you see this issue being fleshed out in our country or as you go through your week?
MY LIFE- OUR MISSION
MY LIFE – Where are the most natural avenues for me to share about a God who creates & restores? Who are in those places? Consider: Home, work, & play (gym, community activities, sports leagues, reading groups, clubs, etc.)
YOUR FAMILY – At a dinner table this week, review the 6 LIFE QUESTIONS. Explore with your family members their understanding of what each question means. Which question(s) resonate best with you…and your kids? Do you think it might help to discuss these together as a family each week?
OUR MISSION – Our LIFE QUESTIONS help us assess if our every-day walk with God is engaging in our church’s mission. The more regular our meeting with God, the more we ask for the Spirit’s flowing presence, the more we share our tough stuff with spiritual accountability partners, the more we “put out the welcome mat” to people not yet in God’s family…well, the more the Lord connects people to life-defining relationships in Christ. Right? Let’s lean into our Father’s provisions, and these great questions, together!!