This Week's Discussion Guide | Dunamis, wk 1

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Life Group Discussion Guide : Sunday, March 4, 2012 (JXG)

Sandy Lake Wesleyan :: Pastor Shawn Cossin

Dunamis  |  Week 1

Remember, this Guide is not intended as an exhaustive list of what can be discussed, but is best used as a guide to help your Group process what God is teaching them. Read through the discussion points below and prayerfully consider what the Holy Spirit would have you work through.

 Be sure to pray for, encourage each other, and share the victories God is giving your Group.

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At the beginning of the 11am worship gathering, new members were received. During that time we were reminded of our call, as part of a local church, to be in a relationship of encouragement, accountability, mutual service, and unity...what are ways your Group can actively fulfill this call, within your Life Group and in the greater Body?

Read 2 Timothy 1:7;

• … what kind of power do you think is being discussed here?
• ...what are ways that we sometimes naturally ‘default’ to operating out of a spirit of fear?
• ...how are a ‘sound mind’ and ‘self control’ related to each other?

“There are some things in this life that will not be realized apart from prayer.”

• How have you seen this principle at work in your own life?
• Why would God allow this principle to work when he says he knows what we need even before we ask? 

Read Mark 9:14-29;

• ...what is the implied failure on the part of the disciples?
• ...what are the areas in your life that the Holy Spirit is showing you he will work in...but only by prayer?
• ...what are ways we find ourselves working in our own effort but only making matters worse? How might those things change if we were living God’s power as the result of his presence through prayer?

Read Philippians 4:13;

• ...what do you think it means that God gives us his power?
• ...what are ways we can twist this truth to mean something God never intended?
• ...when was the last time you had an “I can’t” moment? What would it have looked like to live in God’s power in that instance/circumstance?
• Often these moments are symptoms of a pattern where there is a specific arena of life not submitted to God’s presence and power in our lives. (Pastor Shawn posed the question this way: “What’s not happening because you’re not praying?)
• How can your Group help each other pursue God’s best in the areas that are currently met with, “I can’t…?”
  

Read Romans 8:31-32;

• ...what are ways in Scripture and life we can see that ‘God is for us’?
• ...what are ways that we mistakenly think others can ‘be against us’ or stop us from realizing everything he has for us?

“GOD... IS... FOR... US...”

• How does our view of God directly impact our understanding of this concept?
• In what ways have you improperly viewed God?
• What are ways we can miss the “is” part of this statement?
• If God is present and near, how does that change the way you address your biggest challenges? How does it change the way you Celebrate your biggest victories?
• How does knowing God is an advocate, defender, champion for us impact the way we approach him in prayer?
• What are the lies the enemy tries to convince us of about God’s presence and that he is ‘for us’?
• What is our role in this phrase?
• How does this indicate a more corporate (vs. individual) focus in how we approach the things God has for us?

How does knowing “God is not a resource for power but is the source of power” inform the way we pray? What can Your Group do to help each other keep this dynamic front-and-center as you seek God together?

Take time to pray for each other: ask God to again show himself as the one who is FOR you. Ask him to search your hearts and reveal to you the areas where he wants to demonstrate his power in your life. Ask him to help you encourage one another as you get to seek God together.

Identify areas of your lives where you know his work will only be done by prayer, and have your Group lay hands on each other as you seek him together. Be sure to just sit in his presence and ask him how he would have you pray.