Trevor Hunt // Rockford Campus // August 18, 2024

 

A Cross Shaped Life: Stand Firm

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE

 

REMINDERS

Unashamed: Beach Baptisms are coming up on Sunday, August 25, from 3:30 pm–6:00 pm at the Maranatha Conference Grounds (4759 Lake Harbor Road, Norton Shores). If you’d like to be baptized, or have questions about what that means for us here at Magnify Church, please follow the link and register to have a conversation with one of our team members.

This event is one of the biggest on our church calendar and we’d love to have as many people come to be baptized and to celebrate others’ baptism together as one big family of God! Hope to see you there!

 

Fall Events are right around the corner. With the turn of the page of the calendar into August comes Fall planning in full swing. As you and your family begin to carve out time in your schedules, please be sure to keep an eye on what’s going on across the church.

We want to do our very best as a congregation to help everyone become a disciple of Jesus through the ways we Worship, Learn, Relate, Give, Serve, and Reach.

Please connect with us if you have any questions or ideas for this Fall!

 

TOGETHER IN LIFE

There are lots of events happening at church this fall! Share which one(s) you’re excited about and why.

 

TOGETHER IN THE WORD

THIS WEEK’S KEY PASSAGE: Philippians 4:1-7 | Stand Firm

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

 

From “What if?” to “Even if…”

Today’s passage talks about peace and anxiety. Anxiety often focuses us on our fears of what if. But the peace of God teaches us to trust like Daniel’s friends, who said even if God did not rescue them, they would follow Him until the end.

QUESTIONS

• How often do you tend to worry about the “what ifs” of life?
• Share a time when you were especially carefree. What was it about that time that made it easy not to worry?
• Trevor said, “True peace is not the absence of trials but the presence of God guarding our hearts and minds.” Can you think of a time when you experienced this kind of peace in the midst of trials?

 

Agree in the Lord, Rejoice in the Lord

Agreeing in the Lord does not mean anything goes when it comes to doctrine or behavior. But it does mean loving others enough to give up what you think you deserve. Rejoicing in the Lord means being grateful to Him in every circumstance. If our joy is in Christ, it will not shift and change because of circumstances.

QUESTIONS

• Are there any fights or disagreements in your life that you need to let go of?
• What does it look like to find your joy in Christ?
• Are there any recurring circumstances that tend to get the best of you—situations where joy is harder than usual to maintain? What’s one thing that might help you remember to rejoice in the Lord?

 

Everything to God in Prayer

Re-read Philippians 4:6.

Anxiety hits each of us differently, but whatever our situation, everything hinges on how we respond to it. Paul says that the right response always includes prayer. We get to approach God with our requests and concerns, all our burdens and frustrations. But we should also come with thanksgiving even in the hardest circumstances. It is through prayer that we find the peace of God.

QUESTIONS

• How is your prayer life going? What do you base that on (or how do you know that it’s going well or poorly)?
• How easy is it to bring your requests to God? Do you ever hold back?
• How easy it is to show God gratitude? Do you ever hold back?
• Do you feel like you are experiencing the peace of God right now? Why or why not?

 

TOGETHER IN ACTION & PRAYER

Review the answers you gave about areas where you might tend to “what if” thinking in your life and where anxiety is most often present. Devote extra time to prayer, each of you first praying for yourself—either separately or together—and then going around a second time to pray for one another.

In 2 Corinthians 1:3–5, Paul reminds us that God is the “God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction.” We can have peace in the midst of any circumstance because we know that Christ endured the cross for us, and God raised Him from the dead and gave Him the name above every name. Through Christ we share in His peace and in one another’s comfort. Because of Christ’s perfect love and faithfulness, we have an unfailing promise of hope and peace despite our fears and doubts.