Stu Quackenbush // Rockford Campus // May 19, 2024

 

Storytellers: How Firm Is Your Foundation

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE

 

REMINDERS

THANK YOU LEADERS! – All this month we’re taking time to meet with and celebrate our Life Group Leaders. Thank you so much for all you do to enable our church to grow closer with the Lord. Keep up the great work!

 

TOGETHER IN LIFE

This week Stu said he often distracts himself by scrolling through the news. What’s your favorite distraction right now and why?

 

TOGETHER IN THE WORD

THIS WEEK’S KEY PASSAGE: Luke 6:46–49

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

 

A Higher Calling

In verse 46, Jesus raises the issue of obedience. Throughout the preceding chapter He has given guidance and commands. Those who listen but don’t obey are in trouble. Our temptation is to turn our lives toward “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” instead—being a nice person seeking a nice life from a god who is kindly but not involved. Jesus calls us to more than this.

QUESTIONS:

• We’re used to calling Jesus “lord,” so we might forget it actually means something like “master.” Why might Jesus be concerned about someone who calls Him “Lord” but does not obey? Does that person’s actions match what he or she is saying?
• How does “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” fall short of the Christian faith? Try to think of a couple examples that set us apart from the following:
  • Moralistic people
  • Therapeutic faith
  • Deism (that there is one god who made all things but now lets them run on their own)
• What fears or concerns do you have as we discuss obedience?

 

A Model of Obedience

The obedient person comes, hears, and obeys (verse 47). He or she digs deep and settles for nothing less than the rock, which is Jesus Christ (verse 48). If you have put your faith in Jesus, obedience is not optional. It is not easy, and we won’t achieve perfection in this life, but Jesus holds us through the trials of life and the judgment to come.

QUESTIONS:

• Who in your life is a living model of obedience?
• How has following Jesus changed your life so far? What victories can you look back on and celebrate?
• How are you doing right now on the fruits of faith that Stu listed: growing godliness, hatred for sin, and love for the Bible?
• What has “digging deep” looked life in your life? Or in other words, when have you had to choose the hard path to follow Christ?

 

Digging Toward Christ

While it may not be easy to see a house’s foundation, we can know a heart’s foundation by its fruit: obedience versus disobedience. Christ warns us because He loves us and wants us to avoid the consequences of merely saying “Lord” while our lives are really built on sand. Wherever you are, we dig toward Christ through repentance.

QUESTIONS:

• To repent means to turn away from sin and turn toward Christ. Are you quick to repent when you find you have sinned? What is the hardest part of repentance for you?
• Do your daily prayers include confession and repentance? Are you able to rest in Christ’s promise of forgiveness and hope?
• When is the last time you confessed your sins to another person? Do you have someone in your life right now that you can confess to?

 

TOGETHER IN ACTION

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24)

Our next steps for this week are: reflect, repent, confess, pray, and rest. Set aside time to reflect, either now in group or scheduled sometime this week, to search your heart and ask God to reveal to you anything you need to repent of. If you’re able, try to carve out time every day to reflect on this.

If there is anything about your group that prevents you from feeling like you can confess your sins there, see what you can do to address it. If it can’t be addressed, decide today who you will go to that can listen to your struggles and failures and point you to Christ.

 

TOGETHER IN PRAYER

As you close in prayer, remember the great love that makes all of this possible. Romans says it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance (Rom 2:4). We repent because we have a God who is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). We can approach God because even though we are called to be perfect, we are covered by the perfect life of Jesus Christ. If your faith is in Him, your life and identity and hope is in Him. Take time to thank God for all the ways He has shown His kindness to you in your past and present.