Trent Heaton                                            Rockford Campus                                           Sept. 17, 2023

 

In Significant Moments

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE

 

REMINDERS

Leader Development Class (Sunday nights) – Our team has come together to make space for our leaders to come together to connect, to grow, and to leave charged up to lead well. This opportunity begins this week and will run weekly during the Sunday evening programming. It is a class you can jump in on at any time. Our goal is that all of our leaders would be connected into trainings at least 4 times a year in order to keep sharp and ot help sharpen others. For questions or suggestions on class topics, please reach out to Trent Heaton ([email protected]).

 

New Additions – We have new folks reaching out to connect about groups on a weekly basis. Please let us know if you’re able to welcome some of these new members into your group to have a space to experience Jesus’ love together.

 

TOGETHER IN LIFE

Warm Up QUESTION: Share a high and a low of this past week with your group.

 

 

TOGETHER IN THE WORD

 

THIS WEEK’S KEY PASSAGE: James 1:19-27

 

Note: We encourage you to read the entire text together as a group out loud.

 

 

IN SIGNIFICANT MOMENTS

James is a great book of “how’s,” but we need to understand the “why’s.”

 

Speed of Life

Read verses 19-21 out loud (again, if you already have). Pause in a moment of silence.

Read the verses again. Pause again.

Love and hurry and fundamentally incompatible.

QUESTION: In what areas of your life do you need to slow down?

QUESTION: Have you ever been told that you are a good or a poor listener? Please share how that conversation went and what you learned from it.

QUESTION: When was the last time that you felt truly listened to? How did that make you feel?

 

Mirrors

QUESTION: Many people can relate to hearing a sermon or reading a bible passage, feeling the prompting of the Holy Spirit to act in some way and then completely forgetting about it before the end of the day. Why do you think that is? What do you think the consequences of forgetting to act might be? What do you think would help you to act on those promptings instead of forgetting?

 

Religion

QUESTION: The Greek word for religion means, “God fearing.” How does that definition differ from the current connotation of the word, “religion?”

 

The Bigger Picture

If we only focus on the “do’s” we will miss the heart of Jesus.

QUESTION: Do you ever feel overwhelmed with all the “do’s” in the Christian life?

QUESTION: Many of us when feeling the pressure of the “do’s” will fall into one of two camps. The first one becomes cynical and says, “It’s impossible, I give up.” and the other puffs up with pride and says, “Watch how good I can be.” Which camp do you tend to fall into?

QUESTION: The truth is that we are all incapable of doing anything good without the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. Paul says that all our good works are like filthy rags. What helps you to rely on the Holy Spirit in times of overwhelm?

 

The Best News Ever

• The Gospel sets us free and invites us into hope.
• We are new creations in Christ Jesus
• Living water is not a crushing weight
• When we remember what we’ve been rescued from, doing the things James commands become a “get to” instead of a “have to.”

 

TOGETHER IN ACTION

• Listen and act upon the Gospel
  
• Listen and act upon this text
• Listen and act in community.

 

TOGETHER IN PRAYER

As a group, pray together and ask the Lord to help you to not only be hearers of the word, but also doers. Throughout the week, ask the Holy Spirit to show you when you need to listen more, when you need to slow down and where you need to let anger go.