Life Group Discussion Guide

THIS DISCUSSION GUIDE IS AVAILABLE AS A PDF DOWNLOAD HERE.

Life Group Discussion Guide :: Sunday, April 29, 2012 (JXG)

Sandy Lake Wesleyan :: Pastor Ken

Live SENT  |  Week 3

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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A couple weeks ago, we were invited to take time alone with God and ask him where he has sent us...or where He WANTS to send us to live for the greater purpose of His design. Take time to ask your Group members what God has shown them as they’ve spent time seeking him. Be sure to pray for each other and encourage members to step into relationships of accountability (giving another person permission to ‘check in’ on them in the area(s) they’ve shared).

Last week, we were asked to reflect on this question: What is the one step you need to take this week t0 see God do a new thing in your life...or in someone else’s life? Take time to ask your Group members what God has shown them; pray for each other, encourage each other, and use answers as an opportunity for follow-up and check-in during the weeks ahead.

Pastor Ken reminded us that Living SENT is about God’s agenda, not ours. What are ways we can seek the Holy Spirit when it comes to our daily, weekly, monthly… activities?

Read Matthew 28:19-20; discuss…

• What are ways that we allow a different agenda to prevail than what Jesus calls us to? What are some of those things that we allow to move us off of this mission?
  
• What are the relationships you already have in which the Holy Spirit is reminding you of his desire to intentionally connect with people about who Jesus is to you?
• What are some of the challenges, fears, or frustrations that can effect how we connect more deeply with the people we already know?
• What do you think it look s like to engage these people at a deeper level?

Pastor Ken shared about fishing with his dad and a couple of the lessons he’s learned:

• You catch more fish if you have a line in the water.
• What does it mean to ‘have a line in the water’ when we live as ‘fishers of men?’
  
• You have to use the best approach.
• What are some poor choices of bait/approach that you’ve seen when it comes to engaging those we already know who don’t know Jesus?
• What are some great approaches you think we could use?
  

Read 1 Peter 3:15-16a

• What does it mean to ‘always be prepared to give an answer…’?
  
• Why do you think the author makes a point that we should use gentleness and respect...with a clear conscience?
• What are ways to do this with gentleness & respect?
• What are ways we might violate our conscience in how we speak about--and invite people to--Jesus?
  
  

Pastor Ken shared about different approaches: Confrontational (“Repent and be saved!”); Intellectual (“Check the evidence.”); Testimonial (“He did it for me!”); Relational (“Let’s get together.”); Invitational (“Come and see.”);  Serving (“How can I help?”)…

• Which do you think is your ‘style’?
  
• What can you do to grow in effectiveness in using your style?
  
• Who is the Holy Spirit showing you to connect with in the area you’re strongest in?
  
• This is also a list of the ways that those around us will most readily connect with the truth of Jesus; rather than just focusing on your natural bent, think of some of the people you already know and ponder what would be most beneficial to them in how you connect. Share with your Group and pray together that God will open up a clear opportunity to engage with them in the way that would best for them, even if it isn’t your strongest ‘approach.’

“People are people. Not projects.”

• What are some symptoms that we’ve forgotten this reality?
  
• What are some symptoms we might be ‘living sent’ out of condemnation, fear, or legalism?
• What does it look like, instead, to live SENT out of a love FROM Christ FOR the people around you?

We were asked to reflect on the following questions:

• Who has God brought to mind? 
• What style has God given me? 
• How’s your ‘burden’ doing? 
• Will you look for--and be open to--moments directed by the Holy Spirit?

During your Group gathering, take time to reflect on and answer these questions. Ask them what they will do to be more aware of God’s prompting (Holy Spirit-directed moments) and how the Holy Spirit is showing them to keep a passion ignited for those who don’t know Jesus.

What are the natural opportunities to connect with your Group members as they process and answer the question during the weeks ahead? In what ways can you tackle these things as a Group or through smaller relational connections in your Group? Be sure to follow up in your future meetings to see how God is answering this question.

Life Group Discussion Guide

This Guide can be downloaded as a .pdf HERE.

Life Group Discussion Guide :: Sunday, April 22, 2012 (JXG)

Sandy Lake Wesleyan :: Pastor Shawn

Live SENT  |  Week 2

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.

------------------------------------------------------

Last week, we were invited to take time alone with God and ask him where he has sent us...or where He WANTS to send us to live for the greater purpose of His  design. Take time to ask your Group members what God has shown them as they’ve spent time seeking him. Be sure to pray for each other and encourage members to step into relationships of accountability (giving another person permission to ‘check in’ on them in the area(s) they’ve shared).

At the beginning of the message time, Pastor Shawn shared about a new ‘Live Sent’ expression coming to SLW this fall: The Ready, Set, Grow! Preschool! Take time to pray during your Group meeting that the Holy Spirit would touch the children and families who will be ministered to through the preschool. 

Pastor Shawn talked about Jesus’s process in our lives as we follow Him (saved-set apart-sent).

• What is the difference between being ‘saved,’ ‘set apart,’ and ‘sent?’
  
• Each of these elements is more about God’s activity than our own effort, but we often make this process more about US than what God is doing IN US. What are symptoms of this misunderstanding? What is the result of focusing more on our own effort than God’s leading and enabling?

• In what ways is ‘being set apart’ a process? What are the struggles you’re having as God identifies new ways in your life he wants you to be set apart? Have your Group members pray for each other as they identify these areas of struggle; praise God for his victory in the lives of your members.
  
• By not living SENT we experience less than God desired for us and are in a place of disobedience. Why do you think it seems so many Christ followers stop in their progression at ‘set apart?’ Can we earnestly follow Jesus and yet choose disobedience?

• While this is more about God’s activity than our own effort, what is a symptom that we are out of balance in this and holding our own activity back? What are the results of such an imbalance?

Read Matthew 28:19-20 & Acts 1:8; discuss…

• With Jesus’s command/commission is a promise; what is it? How is this promise central to our ability to live SENT?
• How are these two passages complimentary? What do we learn about our call to move outward?
• What do you think kept the Disciples from stepping immediately into obedience in these areas? How do those same things keep us from obedience today?

Read Acts 8:1b, 4-8; 26-36 discuss...

• Jesus’s call to live SENT was clear, but it wasn’t until persecution came that the church focused on this mission. What ways do you think God uses discomfort/pain/difficulty to position us to obedience and sent-ness?
• How does living SENT require us to overcome cultural prejudice? Where do you see the call to live SENT in your life meaning to overcome cultural ideas in your own sphere of influence?
• Why would God take Philip from a place of fruitful ministry and send him to the barren desert? Have you ever felt God doing this in your life?
• God keeps leading Phillip to do increasingly faith-requiring ministry; this never would have happened if Phillip hadn’t taken initial steps to live SENT.
• What might some foolish-looking opportunities be that God is leading you to as you live sent?
• What are some unlikely circumstances that you find yourself in (in where you live, work, play…) today; how might God be positioning this ‘unlikely circumstance’ to become a tremendous opportunity for the Kingdom?
• “To live sent means we follow His agenda.” What are ways that we substitute our own agenda instead of what God’s design is? What are evidences that we have done this? What are some evidences we have submitted to His agenda?
  

We were asked to reflect on the following question:

“What is the one step you need to take this week to see God do a new thing

 in your life...or in someone else’s life?”

What are the natural opportunities to connect with your Group members as they process and answer the question during the weeks ahead? In what ways can you tackle these things as a Group or through smaller relational connections in your Group? Be sure to follow up in your future meetings to see how God is answering this question.

Sunday Message Video

Here's the video played as part of Pastor Shawn's message this weekend as we launched our new series looking at what it means to "Live SENT!"

Life Group Discussion Guide

This Guide is available as a PDF here.

Life Group Discussion Guide :: Sunday, April 15, 2012 (JXG)

Sandy Lake Wesleyan :: Pastor Shawn

Live SENT  |  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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Pastor Shawn opened his message talking about the ‘purpose drift’ that different innovations and household items have experienced.

• What are some organizations or products that you have seen drift from their purpose toward something better? Toward something less than what they were originally intended?
• OUR God-given purpose is fellowship with God; what are ways we drift from our original design? What do we pursue instead?

Read John 17:13-23; discuss…

• What connection do you see in our unity (with God & each other) and our sent-ness?
• What do you think will happen if we try to ‘live sent,’ but are not living in unity with each other or with Christ?
• How can we pursue the unity Jesus prayed for us to have?

Read John 20:19-23; discuss...

• That Jesus sent us means he has given us his authority; the ability to act as him in our own spheres of influence.
• What does this mean for how we interact with others?
• What are opportunities to act as Jesus in the world around you? How should our awareness that we are actually acting on behalf of Jesus himself change the way we connect with those around us?
• What are some of the symptoms of not fully engaging with this truth?
  
  
• John highlights that it is the power of the Holy Spirit who enables the Disciples to be bold, and to work in his authority.
• What does this reiterate about our need for unity with Jesus/the Holy Spirit?
• What are the things that can separate us from this power?
  
  
• This Scripture takes place as the Disciples are operating out of fear. Scripture reminds us that God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power…
• What are ways we can find ourselves in fear when it comes to daily living? When it comes to the idea of living SENT?
• How can we move away from fear and into the Spirit of power God has given us?
• What can your Group members do to position you away from fear and be used by the Spirit with boldness and authority?

Pastor Shawn asked, “Where is Jesus moving you beyond being scared, beyond being safe, to be SENT?”

• When you heard this question, what answer immediately came to mind?
• What are the places you feel safest? How might those be connected to where you are being sent?

Leaders, be sure to invite your Group members to take time this week to get alone with God and ask him where he has sent you...or where he wants to send you to live for the GREATER purpose of his design (and do the same yourself).  In your following gatherings take time to follow-up; ask your Group members what they have sensed the Holy Spirit showing them in answer to this question. This is a great opportunity for further conversation, fellowship, and accountability.

Life Group Discussion Guide

This guide is available as a pdf HERE.

Life Group Discussion Guide :: Sunday, April 8, 2012 (JXG)

Sandy Lake Wesleyan :: Pastor Shawn

For U  |  Week 2 (EASTER SUNDAY)

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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“You might be surprised to know that Easter is not just about Jesus. Seriously. It’s not all about Him. It’s also about...us. It is about you! Easter reminds us that because God loves you, Jesus lived for you, died for you and rose for you. Because He did that for us, we can ultimately live for Him; and that changes everything.”

• What is your initial reaction to this idea? 
• Some of us bristle at this; why do you suppose that is?
• What are some of the dangers of thinking Jesus is not enough ‘about us’? 
• What are some of the symptoms that we have misunderstood this?

As much as Easter is for and about us, it is even more about Jesus and what he has done…just as there are dangers with not seeing the Resurrection enough about us, there are dangers in not seeing Easter as enough about Christ. 

• What are some of those dangers?
• What are symptoms of a lack of balance in this understanding?

“Because of the Resurrection, we can see tomorrow differently.”

• What aspects of our lives does the Resurrection impact directly? 
• How has it already impacted you and your life?
• How can the Resurrection help us look at our ‘tomorrows’ with joy and expectation? 
• What are the ways we might find ourselves looking to our tomorrows with dread? 
• How can we renew our minds to live today (and tomorrow!) in the light of Resurrection?

Shawn reminded us that while Christ lived, died and rose for us, he is also timeless--which means he is the God who was, is, and is to come.

• What are ways that we see God impacting our past? 
• How has he redeemed your ‘yesterdays?”
• If God IS, what does that mean for our present? 
• What is he leading you to do in your ‘today’?
• What are the ways that we struggle to see God’s activity as it relates to our future? 
• How do you sense him leading you into your ‘tomorrows’?

Take time to pray with and for each other based on the things identified above (praise him for what he has done with the iniquity of our past, pray about what he is leading your Group members to do ‘today’ and ‘tomorrow.’

Read Mark 16:1-7; discuss…

• What is significant about the statement, “But go, tell his disciples and Peter” in this passage?
• In what ways have you been the ‘and Peter’ referenced here? Have you ever looked at your ‘tomorrow’ in shame and despair? Where did hope come from (if a Group member hasn’t experienced that hope, take time right now to pray with and for them)?
• “There you will see him, just as he told you.”
• This was a gentle reminder of what they Disciples should already have already known. What are ways that we need the same reminder of what God has done/has promised he will do?
• The announcement of the Resurrection is coupled with a call to obedience. In what ways do you sense God calling you to a new level of obedience as you are reminded of the power & hope of Christ’s Resurrection.”

“To truly be loved is to be fully known for who you are...and loved FOR WHO YOU ARE.” Read Romans 5:8 and discuss the reality of this quote and how Scripture shows God exemplifying this idea.

• We are called to offer the same kind of love, hope, and forgiveness… how does living in the Resurrection enable us to love fully?
• Is it possible to walk in obedience to this outside of the new life brought to us through the Resurrection?

Our reflection question this week is, “How will your tomorrow be different because of what you ‘see’ today?”

Ask your Group members to reflect on this over the course of the next week or so; remind them of the admonition that if the Resurrection does not change our tomorrow, we are only experiencing part of what God has for us. As your Group shares what will be different about their tomorrows, be sure to pray with and for each other.

Encourage (and facilitate) relationships of accountability among your Group members as they journey through the reality of a new tomorrow. If you need help facilitating these relationships, please connect with me.

Sunday Video

Here's a slightly different version of he video shown as part of Pastor Shawn's message this past Sunday.
Enjoy!

Life Group Discussion Guide

[This Discussion Guide is also available as a .pdf that can be downloaded here.]

Life Group Discussion Guide :: Sunday, April 1, 2012 (JXG)

Sandy Lake Wesleyan :: Pastor Shawn

For U  |  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.

------------------------------------------------------

“You might be surprised to know that Easter is not just about Jesus. Seriously. It’s not all about Him. It’s also about...us. It is about you! Easter reminds us that because God loves you, Jesus lived for you, died for you and rose for you. Because He did that for us, we can ultimately live for Him; and that changes everything.”

• What is your initial reaction to this idea? 
• Some of us bristle at this; why do you suppose that is?
• What are some of the dangers of thinking Jesus is not enough ‘about us’? 
• What are some of the symptoms that we have misunderstood this?

Read Mark 11:9-10; discuss…

• What was so significant about this FIRST “Palm Sunday?”
• The people gathered didn’t fully understand what Jesus came to do…what are ways that you have ‘missed the point’ in the past of who Jesus is/what he came to do? How can we gain greater clarity on who Jesus and our call to relationship with him?

• What are ways that we fail to acknowledge Jesus as King?
• What is God calling you to trust him with in your own life as King and Rescuer?

Read Romans 8:31

• It can be easy to buy into the lie that God is against us or is indifferent toward us; have these thoughts ever been present for you? How did they show themselves? 
• If God is for us, what does that mean about how we approach him in prayer?
• If God is for us, what does that mean in terms of how we handle adversity?
• If God is for us, he can be trusted… what is something he is calling you to trust him with that you have previously held onto as your own to manage/deal with/figure out?
• As you prayerfully identify what you may be holding back from the God who is for you, share this with each other… have your Group pause to pray for each other that you would grow in awareness and trust.

Read 1 Corinthians 1:18; discuss…

• What is the ‘message of the cross?’ How might it be seen as foolish?
• The writer uses the phrase, “to us who are being saved…”
• Why do you think he chose these words? Why not “to us who have been saved?”
• If our rescue already ours...but not yet fully seen...how does that inform the way we deal with the troubles/issues we face every day?
• In what way has the message of the cross been shown to be ‘the power of God’ in your life?

Our reflection question this week was, “What area of your life do you need to give Jesus control of this Easter?”

Ask your Group members to reflect on this over the course of the next week or so; challenge them to identify one person they can trust to share this personal insight with and step toward trusting God with relinquishing control.

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.