Stu Quakenbush                                            Rockford Campus                                           Sept. 10, 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

For many, this is the first unofficial week of fall. With start of school, sports, and all things fall-ish, we anticipate a beautiful season of God’s Creation reminding us that change is a regular part of our life.

 

What do you look forward to most in the fall season?

 

What do you dread most about fall?

 

 

TOGETHER IN THE WORD

 

THIS WEEK’S KEY PASSAGE: James 1:1-18

 

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

 

 

 

IN SIGNIFICANT MOMENTS

This week we kicked off a new series titled, In Significant Moments. We’re working through the book of James to see how the Gospel of Jesus looks like in daily life, applying to the big and small moments that make up our days.

As you begin time in your group this week begin with prayer that matches Stu’s encouragement to us:

“Adopt a heart-posture of expectation for God to move in through His Spirit and Word in His people”

James was Jesus’ brother, leader in the church in Jerusalem, and eventually executed for his faith. He wrote this letter to a scattered people who were in the midst of suffering.

QUESTION: Why do you think this background of James and the audience he was writing to is important to understanding this letter?

 

“Count it all joy”

Read verses 2-3 out loud (again, if you already have). Pause in a moment of silence.

Read the verses again. Pause again.

These verses, taken out of context can seem, at best, indifferent to suffering or, at worst, insulting to those suffering under real hardship.

QUESTION: What do you feel as you heard these verses read aloud? What challenges you about them?

Two conditions necessary to understanding this letter:

• Christ is a greater joy than everything we have lost or may lose
• Suffering brings us closer to Christ

QUESTION: Why is this important to understand about this passage? What do we lose if we forget these 2 important truths?

 

“When you suffer”

Suffering is a part of life – we will suffer. But we can forget this sometimes. Our whole society is largely designed to minimize suffering and remove it from our existence, as if it were a foreign object to be removed.

QUESTION: In what ways do you see culture minimizing suffering? What is alluring about the promises of “the world”? What is harmful about this approach?

 

“Trials of many kinds”

We will experience the trials and they will come at us in all different shapes and sizes and ways. Sometimes we cause them. Sometimes they just happen to us. Many times, there’s a mixture. These can be small and frustrating. These also can be huge and devastating. In any case, we are called to “choose joy”.

QUESTION: Who are we called to look to for our joy? Why is this so significant in “trials of many kinds”?

Ways to prepare for suffering:

• Provide Support for the Suffering: we best endure suffering when we do it together. Your group can be an amazing extension of God’s love in times of trial.
• Practice in the small stuff: We often do not “rise to the occasion”. We more often “fall to the level of our training”. By practicing choosing joy in the midst of our smaller struggles, we build pathways in our mind that help us choose it in the harder times.
• Preach the Gospel to Yourself Daily: Suffering is a result of the fall. The only antidote for this is the grace of God through Jesus Christ who loved us when we were unworthy of love and in hatred toward him. Remind yourself of the grace of God and how he loves you and is with you in your pain. Do the same for those around you. 

QUESTION: Do you do any of these right now? What does it look like?

QUESTION: What of these would be most helpful to you right now? Would you add any others?

Stu says: “A joyless faith in everyday life will not be a joyful faith in the midst of suffering.”

QUESTION: What do you think of what Stu said above? What resonates with you? What challenges you?  

 

“Count and Joy”

“Count”: consider, perceive, think of it.

“Joy”: Happiness built upon the goodness of God, revealed by the Word and His Creation.

As Christians, we are not called to minimize or ignore the pain of ourselves and others. We can and must call the garbage of life what it is: garbage. But God ALWAYS calls us to what is best. When he tells us to “count it all joy”, we can do so knowing he’s meaning it for our good.

QUESTION: In what ways can we – as Christians – be guilty of ignoring or being apathetic to the pain of others? How have you seen this played out in your life?

QUESTION: How can a “joyful” outlook and spirit coincide with grief and lament?

QUESTION: What has this looked like in your life in the past?

QUESTION: What circumstances do you have now that cause you to be fearful or in pain? How might God be calling you to “choose joy” today?

 

TOGETHER IN ACTION

Shift Your Focus to Christ: look to Him in prayer, in reading the Bible and studying it, putting it to memory. Consider your life and how it either aligns with or does not align with Scripture.

Grieve with Hope: look up to your eternal hope for endurance in temporary circumstances.

Remember the Promises of God: as you read Scripture, take note of and commit to memory the truths found there.

Pray: take all your needs to the Lord (Phil. 4:6-7) and do so for and with one another.

 

TOGETHER IN PRAYER

As a group, take time to talk about what is causing your heart to grieve, fear, or be troubled. What trials are you going through? Take courage and be willing to share even the hard things.

Then prioritize time together to pray over one another. Carry these with you through the week to continually pray.