Clean Slate | Week 2 (Discussion Guide)

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

Life Group Discussion Guide :: Sunday, January 6, 2013 (JXG) 

Sandy Lake Wesleyan :: Pastor Shawn

Clean Slate | 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.

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 Be sure to pray for, encourage each other, 

and share the victories God is giving your Group.

Read Isaiah 43:18-19

What are ways we can be tempted to dwell in the past? What are symptoms of doing this??

How can we be blind to the what God is causing to spring up...the new thing(s) he is doing?

What are ways that we can position ourselves to be aware and receptive to the new thing(s) God is seeking to bring about in our lives?

What are some reasons that new life, new opportunities, and ‘clean slate’ moments seem short-lived? 

Have you ever experienced a ‘new start,’ only to find that it seems the ‘old junk’ pulls us back into what was?

How is living in the reality of a ‘clean slate’ more of a journey than a singular decision?

Read Psalm 51:1-6

In what ways do you see a ‘roadmap’ for the journey of a clean slate reality in this passage?

How do you see the theme of cleansing and purifying?

Why is the fact that David had been guilty of adultery when this psalm was written so important?

David seeks God first.

What is he seeking him for?

Why is the fact our sin is always against God so important for us to
grasp?

“Every sin requires a conversation with God. Otherwise it lingers and we are not free.”

What does it look like to ‘declare our transgressions’ before God?

What are symptoms that we haven’t really ‘owned’ what we have
done?

THREE THINGS TO CONSIDER TO MAKE SURE WE’RE MOVING TOWARD A TRUE “CLEAN SLATE”

1. God -- We don’t actually give our ‘junk’ to him.
   How can holding on to our ‘junk’ be done out of good intent?
   How can holding on be out of rebellion? Out of fear?
   
2. Us -- We sneak around and take it back, or maintain a ‘tether’ even after thinking we’ve given it away.
   Have you ever done this? What was involved in your journey of finally giving it away?
   How can the tether/anchor to our ‘junk’ be severed? What are ways we try to do this on our own?
   
3. Junk -- We desire it more than we long for God.
   What are some of the ‘tether’s connecting us to our junk? Pastor Shawn mentioned doubt, pride, power, fear.
   What are symptoms that we desire the ‘junk’ more than God?

Read Psalm 51:7-12

What is the difference between wanting to be forgiven vs. the desire to be clean?

How is the desire to be clean seen in David’s prayer?

David recognizes being made clean must be something God does, and his desire is for open relationship with God. What are symptoms that we’re seeking forgiveness without restoration?

We were asked to reflect on this question:

What’s keeping you from experiencing freedom and a clean slate?

Spend time as a group praying through this with and for each other. Be sure to pray for each other during the weeks ahead, that the Holy Spirit would clearly show you if you’re not experiencing freedom...and the thing(s) holding you back.

How can your Group help each other with this week’s “So What? Now What?” takeaways:

:: Seek God for help and rescue

:: Declare sin

:: Let it Go

How can you journey with each other through these things? What are ways you can live a clean slate reality as a group?