Group Discussion & Life Challenge
Use these notes as discussion prompts for your group, or in your personal time with God.
Connect:
Get to know each other. Connect, warm up to each other, fellowship.
Care:
Carry each other’s burdens. Share life’s challenges and practice Soul Care. Pray together.
Challenge:
1. Aaron shared, “God’s mission is far bigger than we can imagine… when our vision is too small, we can miss what God is doing.” Have you ever experienced missing what God was doing in your life, only to get it in hindsight? What did that look like?
2. Aaron asked, “Are we focused on God fixing our problems or joining His bigger mission?” What might those two focuses look like in our experience? How do we know the difference?
3. Read the following quotation: “How could God possibly love sinners? He might be able to forgive them and even love them if they promise to improve. But this is not what Jesus taught. In actions and words, He proclaimed that God loves sinners – as they are, and not as they should be” (James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God, p. 66). As you reflect on this thought, what questions come up? Do you feel resistant to the idea of God’s unconditional love for sinners? Why or why not?
4. Aaron used the metaphor of God sitting on an office chair to illustrate our thinking that our behavior conditions God’s love toward us. He turns from us when we sin, and He turns back when we clean ourselves up. Have you ever felt that way? How does it affect the way we view God and interact with Him?
5. At the Church of the Nativity, the Door of Humility forces people to bow low to enter. Why is humility necessary to receive God’s gift of unconditional love? What resistances to humility do you experience?
Clarify:
Does anyone need clarity on something? Are there any big God questions you are wrestling with?
Celebrate:
Celebrate life’s successes and God’s provision. Worship God’s presence. Time to brag about God.
BibleApp
Through the Bible in one Year
Join us in reading through the entire Bible in one year. Each day of this plan guides you through passages from both the Old and New Testaments, allowing you to see connections between the history of our faith, and the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan. Readings average four chapters in length, so it is posible to do. When you use the YouVersion Bible App, you can even have the app read the Bible text to you – very useful when you are in the car or otherwise occupied with your hand.
All you need to do is click the link to the Bible Plan, which should lead you straight to the Bible app. Your two options are now (1) to read the plan on your own, one day at the time. Or (2) you can make it more fun and rewarding, by sharing the plan with one or more friends, and then even “Talk about it”.