Group discussion notes - 24 July 2022

If you weren't at the live service this past Sunday you can listen to the sermon here.

This week we’re talking about an attitude of gratitude. The way to have that attitude is to recall in our minds what God has done and to keep our eyes open to what God is doing. But it’s not always easy because the world we live in broken and marred by pain and loss and yet, scripture calls us to give thanks in all circumstances.

Create Community

What is the thing in your life that you’re most grateful for right now?

Worship God

See how many times you can pray around the circle of your group with each person giving thanks for one thing. Spend a good portion of time giving thanks to God our Provider (Jehovah Jireh)

Then break bread together as Jesus did, “After giving thanks….”

Make Disciples

Accountability from last week

Did you find an opportunity to speak some Kingdom truth into someone’s life this week? If yes, how did it go and if not, what stopped you from doing it?

Scripture: Psalm 1-7 [NIV]

1. Part of our gratitude is for what God has done, why is it that we often allow our current circumstances to cloud our recollection of the past?

2. We’re called to “Give thanks in all circumstances” 1 Thess 5. How would you help someone to give thanks when their life is imploding?

3. In our tough times we’re called to pray to God for his deliverance. Where has God been faithful before in delivering you?

4. It might also be that in your tough times God is doing something in you that you need to be grateful for as uncomfortable as it might be. In the psalm people strayed and God used pain to bring them back. (CS Lewis wrote “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world”). Where do you see God most at work in your life at the moment?

Be on mission with God

Find some way to express your gratitude to God to some other person this week. It’s part of the instruction that we’re given in the psalm: “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story”, “Let them tell of his works with songs of joy” and “Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders” we’re called to speak to others about what God has done and is dong in us, for us and through us.

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Group discussion notes - 17 July 2022

If you weren't at the live service this past Sunday you can listen to the sermon here.

This week we’re talking about making disciples. If we’re being discipled by Jesus and by others, we’ll want to start passing on what we have learned to others. The passage in Matthew 28 telling us to make disciples is called the great commission. This entire section of scripture is about equipping believers (that’s you) to be able to teach others what it is to live as Jesus followers.

Create Community

Who do you think you are influencing the most in your life right now?

Worship God

Try set the scene with some candles, draw the group together into prayer and silence, use a worship song from YouTube/Spotify that will focus the group on the magnificence of God. Spend a time of group prayer allowing each person to say out loud words of worship.

Make Disciples

Accountability from last week

How are you doing at allowing others to speak into your life and make you a better follower of Jesus?

Scripture: Titus 2 [NIV]

1. Read the scripture and allow each person to reflect on what they found most personally applicable to their circumstances.

2. Much of what Paul writes to Titus is about following Jesus in daily life. In what area of life do you feel that people around you most need to follow Jesus more closely?

3. What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in following Jesus?

4. Much of following Jesus is about those massive faith lessons, but the smaller daily rhythms of life. What daily rhythm has been most beneficial to your following of Jesus?

5. We’re called to teach others the things we’ve learned, who are you currently leading to follow Jesus more closely? If you’re not, what’s stopping you and how can others in the group help you to be more obedient to Jesus?

Be on mission with God

Find someone who you can invest into for the next few months, Don’t go huge but begin to find small, practical ways to invest into them to help them to follow Jesus more closely (if you’re really anxious find a faithful friend who will allow you to practice with them).

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2022-07-17 group notes

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