Matt Zainea Rockford Campus April 21, 2024
Storytellers: Prayer Before Practice
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
REMINDERS
Leader Development Class (Sunday nights) – Our last LDC will be happening this coming Sunday, 4/28. It’s not too late to jump in! PLEASE JOIN US IN ROOM 300 (RK CAMPUS) SUNDAY NIGHTS FROM 6-7pm!
Leader Appreciation Gathering – May 8, 6pm – We want to take time with all of our Life Group leaders to thank you, feed you, and talk about what God has done in your group this year. Please join us for a meal and fellowship at the Heaton household (9385 Myers Lake Ave, Rockford, MI 49341). RSVP’s are helpful as we plan for food, etc.
Send RSVP to Kim at [email protected]
Magnify Church Prayer Room is OPEN! – Our church is grounded on the reality that we have a God who made us, knows us, and longs for us to be in relationship with Him. One critical piece to that relationship is PRAYER. To this end, some generous brothers and sisters in our church family have donated funds to help us construct a room dedicated to this meaningful pursuit of Christ.
Please feel free to come and use the prayer room as a group! To use it during the day, please stop in the office during normal business hours. To use it on off-times, please arrange this with our receptionist Sandy so that she can make sure the room will be available for you. This is not to be used as a regular meeting space, but specifically as a special place to pray.
My hope is that all our Life Groups are praying groups and I hope you get the chance to put it to use yourselves!
TOGETHER IN LIFE
Matt announced the opening of our Magnify Church Prayer Room.
Discuss a time in your life when prayer became important to you. What were you praying for? What happened?
How did God move or respond in light of your prayers?
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:7-11, ESV)
TOGETHER IN THE WORD
THIS WEEK’S KEY PASSAGE: Luke 6:12-16
Note: We encourage you to read the entire text together as a group out loud.
JESUS PRAYS
Our Savior found it foundational to His life to spend time in solitude praying to His Father in Heaven (v12).
QUESTIONS
- What does Jesus pray for in v12?
- How long does Jesus pray for?
- What does it say Jesus did after He prayed?
- Why do you think Jesus prayed for this?
- When you pray, how do you pray? Is there certain things/people you pray for? Do you have a practice of prayer?
- How do you feel about your prayer life right now? What could be same, different or better?
- What does Jesus prayer life (here or in other places, cf John 17) show us about the need for prayer in our own life?
JESUS CALLS THE 12 DISCIPLES
Jesus prays for the men He called to be “apostle” and then calls them. Here’s the list:
QUESTIONS
- What details do you remember of each of these Apostles?
- Why do you think Jesus picked these men?
- What does Jesus picking these men tell us about God’s priority for whom He choses to use for His Kingdom here on earth?
Matt Says: “To become a disciple isn’t just to believe something, or believe someone is something…to be a disciple is to follow somebody with the intent to become like them.”
QUESTIONS
- Would you consider yourself a disciple? Why or why not?
- Who has helped you become a disciple?
- What do you feel like has been a gap in your becoming a disciple?
- What kinds of things did Jesus do that you’d like to do more of?
- What do you need to do to become more like Jesus?
Our groups are one of the best places we learn to be a disciple. This disciple role is a whole-life consuming pursuit of Jesus, not just giving Him a portion of our day or week, but all of it to decide how He wants us to live. It’s not just giving Him some of our choices we make, but allowing Him to speak and choose in all of them. As Matt said, being a disciple of Jesus isn’t just an idea to believe is real, but is a lifestyle to be lived every moment of every day.
QUESTIONS
- God called these men to do a job for Him in His Kingdom. What has God called you to for His Kingdom?
- How do you know? What fruit have you seen of this?
- Who has affirmed this in you?
- How can this group help you in growing in your gifts, skills, roles, and responsibilities for God’s Kingdom?
TOGETHER IN ACTION
As a group, take time to list different gifts and skills you sense in the others in your group. In what ways have you seen them living them out?
Take turns sharing this about each person.
Allow a minute or two for the person to respond.
How do you feel about those things shared about you? In what ways can you put these to use for the Kingdom of God?
Bonus Action: We are nearly to May! Begin casting a vision for your group for your hopes are for Summer 2024. Don’t wait til the week before June to figure it out – a little bit of conversation and planning ahead of time goes a long way. Give everyone a chance to share what they hope for the summer as a group and find ways to help meet each other’s needs. Some great questions for this include:
- “This would be a great summer as a small group if…”
- “How can I encourage each of you this summer in your faith?”
- “Here’s what would be helpful for me to remain faithful this summer…”
- “In the summer, it’s hardest for me when…”
TOGETHER IN PRAYER
Read Psalm 139:23-24 as a group.
Pray and ask God to show you different areas of your life that are hard for you to let die.
What areas as a Priest, Person, Partner, Parent and/or Professional do you struggle to “put to death” the flesh (Col. 3:5)?
Pray God will help you release them to Him for Him to deal with.
