Great Grace | Receive (Discussion Guide)

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

Life Group Discussion Guide :: Sunday, April 14, 2013 (JXG) 

Sandy Lake Wesleyan :: Pastor Shawn

Great Grace | Receive (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.

From Last Week (Great Grace, wk 1 | Know)

Read Philippians 3:7-11

Why is Paul’s insistence that everything he had worked for is ‘garbage’ significant?

What role does the power of the resurrection seem to play in this assertion?

What does it mean to ‘know know the power of the resurrection and participation in his sufferings?’ How is knowing the power of the resurrection and participation in the suffering of Jesus connected?

Read Philippians 3:12-13

What is significant about Paul’s ‘forward-leaning’ posture here?

How can we lay hold of the goal of new life and continue to pursue Jesus?

How do we avoid the pitfall of making our ‘pursuit’ one of more legalism?

Read Ephesians 2:3-5

What do we see as the hope of great grace in this passage?

Why is there the reminder “it is by grace you have been saved?”

Read 1 Corinthians 15:22

What does it mean that ‘in Adam all died?’ How is understanding this vital to how we live in the light of Jesus’s resurrection?

Pastor Jeremiah repeated this statement a couple times: There is nothing you have ever done which cannot be forgiven. Nothing you have ever done which must define you. No part of you which God cannot make new in the power of the resurrection.

What was your initial thought about this?

How do we move this from being something that is simple ‘head knowledge’ to allowing it to penetrate our heart.

What do you think the further ripple of this truth might be?

Our “So What? Now What?” next steps were to, over the rest of this series:

:: Ask God to teach you what you don’t yet know about grace (ask him to move you from having a definition to knowing the meaning of great grace).

:: Ask God to show you where you need to experience his great grace.

This Week: (These questions will follow the rest of the series and should provide wide-ranging discussion for your Group on an ongoing basis. Be mindful of the opportunity to call each other and journey to ‘more’ as a Group. If the challenge to become more like Jesus isn’t felt in your Life Group, it’s probably not happening anywhere for your Group members.)

What Scripture/portion of Scripture resonated with you the most? 

What does the Holy Spirit seem to be saying to you through His Word?

Here are the Scriptures used this morning:

• Ephesians 2:8

• 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

• Hebrews 4:16

What aspect of grace came alive to you this week? 

What does it look like to take that and live it out in the week(s) ahead?

What did you hear/discover that was new or fresh for you this week? 

What is God calling you to do or be with what he has shown you?

What did you wish had been unpacked a little more in the message? Why? What insights does the Group have into those questions or areas you hoped to go deeper into?

What is currently your greatest challenge in knowing, receiving, embracing, and extending grace (these are the four themes of the current series)? 

Pray for each other as these challenges are identified. 

What was this week’s ‘prayer time’ opportunity (Hint: it involved repentance vs. apology; and moving into the way of grace)? 

How can you participate in it as a Group? 

How can your Group pray for you as you seek to do these things on your own?