View The After Party video here: https://youtu.be/QNx1otmkGSA
Feel free to share this link with your Life Group to watch ahead of time or watch together as a group.

The books Scotty recommended are:
Thou Shalt Not Be A Jerk by Eugene Cho
Before you Vote by David Platt

Connect

Follow-up from last week’s conversation: Were you able to spend some moments with God this week? What did your daily plan look like in actuality? Share honestly with the group and then continue to encourage and challenge each other in this way in the coming days.

Engage

As we begin this conversation around politics, let us hold fast to these words:

“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; for without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14

Growing up, what were politics like in your family? Was it a topic frequently or rarely discussed? Did you feel comfortable talking about politics with your family? Why or why not?

Over the years, how has your perspective on politics changed or stayed the same? During this current election year, what has been one of the most challenging aspects for you personally?

1 Timothy 2:1-2 says, “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.” (NLT)
Consider the action words in this verse, what part of your life are you challenged to act differently?

Apply

• Look: What can you actively do this week to spend more time looking at Jesus rather than anything else? As a group, consider fasting from politics for 7 days like Scotty suggested to simply focus on Jesus.

• Learn: Simply observing Jesus in the Gospels can be an incredibly helpful way to know what we should say, how we should live, and love. How did He treat those who were different from Him or who outright opposed His teachings? How did he respond when engaging in hard conversations or when amongst hostile environments? Consider reading through the book of Mark together as a group, just a chapter a day before November 3rd rolls around. Notice what you see of Jesus and share with each other as you can.

• Live: After looking and learning from Jesus, consider then how can we, as His followers, faithfully campaign for His name, represent His example, and endorse His words and life over the next few weeks in our country? Prayer is often the most impactful thing we can do. Consider choosing a specific topic to pray for each day this week together as a group.

There are a lot of different ways we can look, learn, and listen together. Come up with your own plan as a group or choose one of the ideas given but most importantly, choose something to tangibly do together this week and then be faithful to follow through.

Pray

Consider praying the words of 1 Timothy 2:1-2 above.