Don Denyes // Rockford Campus // November 17, 2024

SMALL GROUP
DISCUSSION GUIDE

THIS WEEK’S KEY PASSAGE: Philippians 2:1-11

REMINDERS

LEADER DEVELOPMENT CLASS (Sundays, 6–7pm – Rockford Campus Room 304)

As we lead our groups, we all face a variety of challenges: busy schedules, people ghosting us, hurt feelings, differing political views, personal problems that affect our ability to help others. How do you face these? Do you feel stuck and in need of some advice? We want to help you be the best you can be in the way you serve, so that’s why we started the LEADER DEVELOPMENT CLASS.

This fall we’re looking at Crucial Conversations, a training tool that will help you as a leader learn what it looks like to commit to unity and oneness, while at the same time striving for truth and respect. We long to help our church grow in this and know that God will do many good things as we learn to communicate well together! In the Winter, we’ll jump into a longer, 12-week series on the book LEAD by Paul David Tripp.

Leaders: Our classes are “open”—each one is stand-alone and can be attended as you are able. No purchase or prep is required. We provide any materials needed for discussion. Please plan to attend at least 4 of these classes between Oct. 2024 through April 2025.

TOGETHER IN LIFE

As you take some time to get to know one another, take a few minutes to ask each person about his or her favorite movie and why it’s their favorite.

TOGETHER IN THE WORD

THIS WEEK’S KEY PASSAGE: Philippians 2:1-11

Note: If you are meeting as a group, we encourage you to read the entire text together out loud.

KEY QUESTIONS:

Read Philippians 2:1-11.

Don summed up the sermon by noting that Philippians calls us to be:

• Like-minded
• Lowly-minded
• Lord-minded

What do you think of when you hear those phrases?

What are some steps you can pray about and take in order to live this out more each day?

GOING DEEPER:

OUR MISSION – UNITY

Paul’s letter to the Philippian church illustrates the need for unity even within the best of churches. While the Philippian church was one of Paul’s favorites, they still had problems: competition in the pulpit (Philippians 1:15), complaining in the pews (2:14), and conflict in the staff (4:2-3). Paul called the Philippians Christians to unity, and he described what that unity should look like and how it should be lived out.

Questions:

• Read Philippians 1:27 and 2:2. These verses speak of having the same mind. Don defined being of the same mind as having the same love, which is a love for Christ above everything else. How does love of Christ bring unity (rather than uniformity) with those who are different from us?
• Read John 17:20-23. What was Jesus’s desire for His followers?
• Look at the “so that” statements Jesus made in verses 21 and 23. Why does He desire unity for His followers? What does Christian unity model to a watching world?

OUR MINDSET – HUMILITY

In the second chapter of Philippians, Paul gave us how-to instructions for living out our mission of Christian unity. In order to live a life of unity, we must have a mindset of humility.

Read Philippians 2:3-4 and then James 4:6, Proverbs 3:34, 1 Peter 5:5-6, and Matthew 23:12.

Questions:

• What do these passages teach us about the Christian mindset? What are some of its hallmarks?
• What do you think it looks like to get rid of selfish ambition? Where does selfish ambition sometimes hide in your life?
• What do you think it looks like to esteem others as better than you are? What are some daily ways that you could live that out?
• What do you think of the phrase, “whatever humbles me, helps me!”? Has this proven to be true in your life?

OUR MODEL – JESUS

If the mission is unity, and the only way that is achieved is through a mindset of humility, we must have a model of what that looks like. Paul continued his letter by holding up Christ as the perfect model of humility.

Read Philippians 2:5-9.

Questions:

• Consider the trajectory of Jesus’s life from heaven to humanity, and then to the cross. What are some of the hallmarks of humility that we see in the life of Jesus?
• Is there anything about Jesus’s humility that surprises you? Why or why not?
• Is there anyone in your life who models humility for you?

TOGETHER IN ACTION

Consider what it looks like to be like-minded, lowly-minded, and Lord-minded.

What are some steps you can pray about and take in order to pursue greater Christian unity and humility in your daily life?

TOGETHER IN PRAYER

Pray that God will form in you a mindset of humility based on the model of Jesus, that you would esteem others higher than yourself.

Pray that God will illuminate any areas of selfish ambition in your life and help you lay that down for a life of humble service.

Pray that you will seek unity in heart and mind with fellow believers in your small group and church and behave charitably toward those who are not yet in Christ.