08.06.08
Small Group Plan - August 3, 2008
“Transparent Together”
Unity
Small Group Plan
August 3, 2008
Dear Small Group Leader,
Small groups, prayer partners, confession, accountability. Are these frightening words? On this side of transparency, yes. But on the other side, they are protection and life. As Eugene Peterson translates Paul’s words:
11 Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. 12 We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. 13 I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!
The Message
2 Corinthians 6:11-13
OPEN IT / INTRODUCE IT …
· What place comes to mind when you think of the beauty of God’s creation?
· Do you enjoy God’s still creation (mountains, forests) or God’s active creation (rivers, oceans)? Explain.
· What does being out in God’s creation do for you? What is repaired or refreshed in your soul?
LOOK AT IT / STUDY IT …
The Birth Of Transparency
Genesis 2:22-25
22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
· What would it feel like to live at the beginning, before the time of failure and mistakes?
· Why were Adam and Eve so unguarded and transparent?
· Imagine the kind of relationship with God that involved long, slow walks and talks. How would it feel? What would you talk about?
The Attack On Transparency
Genesis 3:1-7a
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked.
· Why did Adam and Eve shift their focus from God to themselves?
· How did this shift change their relationship with God? With each other?
· Think through each of these words – worry, defensiveness, self-absorption. What does each of them do inside of a person? How does each of them wound a relationship?
The Death Of Transparency
Genesis 3:11-13
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me — she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
· Describe Satan’s strategy here. How is he destroying transparency in the first human family?
· Even though everyone is pointing fingers, how are all to blame?
The Rebirth Of Transparency
2 Corinthians 1:12-14
12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace. 13 For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, 14 as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.
· How has Paul been open or transparent with the Corinthians?
· This is a church that has attacked Paul’s character. How can he continue to write so openly to them?
· Why isn’t he withdrawing or even retaliating with his own attack?
USE IT / APPLY IT …
· Is there someone with whom you can be completely transparent?
· What does it mean to be completely known by someone?
· On the other hand, why would someone be afraid to be known?
· What tempts you to hide and build walls?
· How could someone use our openness as a weapon? Should we use any caution or balance in being transparent? How?
· Close by making your small group a safe place to be open. Allow time for anyone to share what is on their heart?
· Ask God for integrity and protection to keep anything that is shared in the group. Ask Him to courage to be more transparent.