10.14.12 Life Group Discussion Guide (Community)

Note: This Guide is available as a .pdf download here.

Life Group Discussion Guide :: Sunday, October 7, 2012 (JXG) 

Sandy Lake Wesleyan :: Pastor Shawn

Community...Living Lives that Matter 

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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We celebrated at the beginning of our Worship gatherings that people have come to know Jesus through the ministry of SLW recently. Pray as a group for those who have taken the step of receiving Christ in their lives--that they would have strength and courage in their new journey.

Discuss: What are the opportunities for your Group to connect with people who may be far from God? What are the ways your Group can live as ‘Jesus with skin on’ in practical ways in our region? We’re challenging every Life Group to again engage in at least one missional expression--please connect with Pastor Jeremiah if you need help finding opportunities.

Read Acts 20:32

What does this say about how God uses community in our lives?

What does it mean that our inheritance is among those who have been set apart to/for God?

What are the ways we see God reminding us throughout Scriptures that to experience all he has for us, we are called to live in community (rather than off on our own)? 

What Scriptural examples can you think of that show those of us who seek Christ are ‘more together than we are apart’?

Pastor 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 1 Kings 19:1-19

Where do we see Elijah stuck in the isolation :: fear :: victim mentality cycle?

What does this show us about God’s provision and graciousness when we’re caught in this cycle?

Have you ever had Elijah’s experience of moving from a ‘mountain top experience’ with God to crushing lows? Share with your Group what you learned through this experience and how God, the people of God, and his Truth helped restore you.

We were told “character is tested in isolation, but formed in community.”

What do you think was meant by this?

How have you seen this truth at play in your own life?

Read John 13:34-36

What does this Scripture say about our need for (and God’s desire for!) us to live in genuine community?

What is the sense of cost and commitment in this passage?

What are we called to do and be in this section of Scripture?

We were reminded that the difference between solitude and isolation is a matter of focus: solitude is a tool of God with a focus on God; isolation is a toll of Satan with a focus on us. How do you see this playing out in your life?

Ask your Group members how they’re processing the question we were asked to reflect on: Where have a lack of solitude & abundance of isolation made us vulnerable? How can you be praying for each other in the light of how you’re processing this? How can your Group serve each other in terms of accountability when answering this question?

What does it look like for your Group to help each other live in obedience to our So What? Now What? next steps?

force FOCUS (to God) :: fill VOIDS and lies (with Truth) :: find FELLOWSHIP

Where are the temptations in your Group to avoid genuine fellowship? How can you intentionally pursue a dynamic of deep, meaningful fellowship together?