Stu Quackenbush // Rockford Campus // November 10, 2024

SMALL GROUP
DISCUSSION GUIDE

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

This week’s sermon was on prayer. Reflecting on your past, is there another teaching on prayer that really stuck with you or impacted your spiritual life? It may be a sermon, a book, or just a piece of advice.

 

TOGETHER IN THE WORD

THIS WEEK’S KEY PASSAGE: Luke 11:1-4

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

 

Talking to the Father

Everything depends on who God is, and Jesus invites us to a relationship with God as Father. He is a God who loves you deeply, calls you His own, provides for you, protects you, and listens to you. In the panel discussion, Dan Lokers reminded us that all of hell is set against this relationship with God, and our pain, shame, and pride often make it difficult to recognize, accept, and trust His fatherly love.

QUESTIONS

• What comes to your mind when you think of God as Father?
• Do you find it easy or difficult to believe God loves you in this way? Does one of the obstacles Dan mentioned resonate with you?
• Name one way your prayer life might change if you understood God as Father the way that Jesus does.
• Does knowing God is holy (worthy of our reverence) change your perspective on this in any way? If so, how?

 

Longing for the Kingdom

Jesus taught a lot about the kingdom of God, and here He teaches us to pray that it would come. Stu explained that this has at least three aspects: longing for Christ’s return, asking for the Spirit to work in us individually as sons and daughters of the kingdom, and for our church as a whole to be defined by the kingdom. To pray that God’s kingdom would come also requires us to let go of our desire to be king or to build a kingdom for ourselves.

QUESTIONS

• As you think through the three aspects of the kingdom—individual, corporate, and future—which one do you usually have in mind when you pray? Why?
• Which of the three do you think we need most right now? Why?
• Is there anything in your life that makes you hesitate to pray this part of the prayer? Anything you don’t want God’s kingdom to change or disrupt in your life?

 

Bringing Our Spiritual Needs

The second half of the prayer shifts the focus more directly on us. We must confess our sins and ask for forgiveness daily, recognizing that every act of sin is against God (Psalm 51:4). Even though we never lose our relationship with God, asking forgiveness draws us closer to Him. We also pray for His help to avoid temptation, much like we might ask a navigation app to chart a course that avoids traffic jams. In everything, God is our help.

QUESTIONS

• Is confession and forgiveness a regular part of your prayer life? Explain your answer.
• What might it say about us if we fail to ask for forgiveness when we sin?
• Do you continue to feel guilty or ashamed after you have asked for God’s forgiveness? Why do you think that is?
  • 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Know that you are free to forgive yourself if God has forgiven you. If He is perfectly good and also willing to forgive you, that is enough.
• How are you doing at forgiving others when they sin against you?

 

Insights from Fellow Believers

During the panel discussion, we received lots of good advice from fellow believers. Which ones most resonated with you? Some of the topics included:

• Praying Scripture
• Parents interceding for children
• Husbands initiating prayer without needing to dominate it
• Praying in community
• Talking with God continuously throughout the day
• Bearing one another’s burdens as a conduit, not holding on to everything personally
• God’s compassion for us
• Learning from others without comparing or judging
• How Christ intercedes on our behalf

 

TOGETHER IN ACTION

This week, discern what needs to change in your prayer life and commit to making it happen each day. Make sure you’re protecting enough time to pray and to grow in this area.

 

TOGETHER IN PRAYER

Decide as a group the best way to apply this sermon in your time of prayer together.