Build It! | Some, Not All (Discussion Guide)

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

Life Group Discussion Guide :: Sunday, November 18, 2012 (JXG) 

Sandy Lake Wesleyan :: Pastor Shawn

Build it! | Some, Not All (week 5)

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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Please use some of these notes from Orphan Sunday to spur conversation with your Groups (the full Guide is at this link):

“It was never God’s intent that there would be that many orphans and the Church would be silent.”

What is your reaction to this statement?

How can we step more into the call of God and his heart for us to “Do good. Seek justice. Encourage the oppressed.”?

How do we move in response that is less oriented on us and more on loving God?

Read Isaiah 58:6-12

What are the conditions God sets out for knowing his righteousness, healing, and leadership; for rebuilding, and experiencing all of the newness of life he has for us?

What are things in your life, community, Group in need of restoration? 

How has God positioned you/your Group to see that restoration come?

We can get very caught up in discerning the will of God--but if we’re not engaging in the clear calls he sends to us from Scripture, we won’t hear him in the smaller things.

Why do you think this is?

How do we often turn ‘discerning God’s will’ into something more about us than God?

That God is so clear in this means it must be priority for us; why do you think it can be so hard to make our priorities line up with what are obviously God’s priorities?

On Global Orphan Sunday we highlighted the call to practice ‘true religion’ by caring for the widow and the orphan. The overarching challenge was to “do for one what we wish we could do for all” and to “identify the one.” Who is ‘the one you can start with (right in front of you)’ for you as individuals? What are ways that your Group can champion, be involved with, and help resource orphan care? Who is ‘the one’ for your Group?

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The Kingdom of God needs to be something that happens in us before it can happen through us.

What did Pastor Shawn mean by this?

How have you seen this reality in the history of your life and relationships?

How can we position ourselves to experience having the Kingdom transform us internally? How can we be positioned to offer this transformation to others?

Read Luke 5:12-16

What is significant about Jesus saying “I am willing”? How does this change in the context & reality that Jesus did not heal everyone?

Why is it important to note that Jesus withdrew from those seeking him? 

What other examples can you think of where there is a ‘some, not all’ reality in Scripture? In Jesus’ ministry?

Why is this such a place of struggle for so many of us when it comes to our understanding of God and our expectation of what He does?

Read Matthew 12:15 and Luke 4:40

Why do you think there were some instances where God healed everyone present and other times when he did not?

How does all of this inform our understanding that “building the Kingdom means trusting in who God is and not what he does...no matter what he does”?

What is the difference between who God is and what he does?

What are symptoms that we’ve confused these? How can this confusion lead to an unhealthy place where we feel offended with God and his actions?

How is a proper perspective of the temporal and eternal vital for us as we continue to ask for “Your Kingdom come”?

Read Luke 7:18-23

What is most significant to you in this passage?

Have you ever been tempted to turn away from God because of difficulty? 
     How did you handle that situation?  

How can we “stumble”/find ourselves offended on account of Jesus?

What are ways that God may not meet our expectations? What examples in your own life can you think of? 

How do we position ourselves to have our expectations in line with God’s desires and character?

We were challenged to make a commitment to not be offended by Him.

What does it look like for you and your Group to call one another to more in this area? How can you help each other to grow in trust and intimacy with God despite difficulty and suffering?

Prayerfully reflect as individuals on this question: Is there anything in my life and relationship with God that would undermine my steadfast trust in Him? Ask the Holy Spirit to search and know you. Share with someone in your Group whom you trust that can pray with and for you over the next several months that God would bring wholeness and steadfastness.