Matt Zainea Rockford Campus February 5, 2023
GET IT TOGETHER – Clinging to Wisdom
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
REMINDERS
- Group Leaders Spring Refresh – March 12 at 10:50am at Northview and March 26 at 10:50am at Rockford
- Check out our new Life Group Newsletter
TOGETHER IN LIFE
** Matt shared a story about when he worked at Old Kent Bank and his department was responsible for bad commercial loans. His boss would intentionally assign him the church loans to teach him a lesson about how foolish the church was. Have you ever been Ridiculed for your belief in Jesus Christ?
TOGETHER IN THE WORD
THIS WEEK’S KEY PASSAGE: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
** Matt Zainea is preaching our sermon series Get It Together, focusing on Paul’s first letter to the church of Corinth known as 1 Corinthians. In it, we will consider the eternal truths for our time in history. There’s so much that is profound, yet very meaningful to our day-to-day lives.
Review of the first two pieces of the letter.
- Disposition of grace and peace
- No Division – Connection instead of discord, distance or disdain
When Paul refers to the Cross, he’s referring to three things:
- Reality of Jesus’ perfect life
- His execution
- His resurrection
QUESTION: If you were to ask random people on the street what they thought of the cross what do you think people might say? Do you think they’d even know what you meant by “the cross?”
Two views of the cross exist: Folly vs. Power of God – The cross is either powerful or stupid
QUESTION: Can you think of an example of something recently in the news, TV or movie, where Christianity was portrayed as foolish?
QUESTION: Why do you think the cross sounds stupid to so many people?
Types of Folly
- Worldly wisdom
- Discerning
- Scribe
- Debater
All of theses types of folly say, “There is a god and it’s me.”
QUESTION: What are some of the beliefs that Christians hold fast to that worldly wisdom would say are foolish?
QUESTION: In what ways are you tempted to value the wisdom of the world over the wisdom of God?
Wisdom of the World vs Wisdom of God
- Jews wanted a show, not heart change or sin revealed
- Greek wanted to use reason with no heart change or sin revealed
- What looks week and foolish to humanity is actually the power of God
- The cross is a stumbling block to the world – We all have a desire for the world to work without pain and suffering. The cross does not seem like a good answer to us.
We all have ways that we think we can fix the world. Matt told a story of a man at a restaurant that believed that if he could kill a few people publicly, that would fix the world. Matt thought when he was younger that if Larry Bird would come to know Christ that would save so many people. We sometimes believe if rich and powerful people would become saved it would change the world. Paul says that’s foolishness, we’ve missed the point. Faith at the cross is true power and there’s only one way to see that, that’s to begin with our own sin.
If you’re a Christ follower how did you get there? It has nothing to do with worldly power, only godly power.
QUESTION: In what ways are you tempted to believe the world can be fixed outside of the way of the cross?
QUESTION: What aspects of the cross move you most and why?
QUESTION: How does remembering your own sin point you toward the power of the cross?
Paul takes us through our own hearts.
Why we Divide
- Discord – finding fault, sewing seeds of a critical spirit
- Distance – keeping to yourself, not being known in community
- Disdain – an air of superiority, spiritual haughtiness
TOGETHER IN PRAYER
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Thank the Lord for his amazing grace and gift of salvation through faith.
TOGETHER IN ACTION
In what ways do I stay divided? If I believe the cross has true power, how should my behavior change?
