09.02.07
Small Group Plan - September 2, 2007
“When God Invites Us In”
Ancient Future Faith
Small Group Plan
September 2, 2007
Dear Group Leader…
C.S. Lewis wrote about salvation:
We must not suppose that even if we succeeded in making everyone nice we should have saved their souls. A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world — and might even be more difficult to save. … Christ’s work of making New Men [is like] … turning a horse into a winged creature … It is not mere improvement but Transformation.
Mere Christianity
pp. 182-183
OPEN IT / INTRODUCE IT …
· When you enter a public building, what does it mean to you when someone holds the door open?
· When you arrive for worship on Sunday and are greeted at the door, how would you feel if it were Jesus holding the door open, looking you in the eye and saying, “welcome”?
LOOK AT IT / STUDY IT … SALVATION
Who Is It For?
Luke 9:24
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.
Acts 2:21
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
· What is Jesus asking us to lose when he says, lose your life? What about our life is actually being put away or lost?
· Do you think it’s possible to misunderstand the idea of “losing your life”? Explain.
· How does it make you feel to think that salvation is for “everyone”?
· How would explain the conditions placed on salvation, “whoever wants …” “everyone who call …”?
What Does It Mean?
Luke 3:6
And all mankind will see God’s salvation.
Acts 2:38
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
· When you ask for someone’s forgiveness and receive it, how does it feel?
· What is happening inside a person to cause them to desire forgiveness?
· How would you describe a person’s life both before and after forgiveness?
Where Is The Door?
Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
Acts 4:12
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
· When you think of Jesus “seeking” the lost, what stories or words of Jesus come to mind?
· Why is salvation found no-where else?
· How have some forms of Christianity created alternative messages other than Jesus?
How Do I Walk Through?
Acts 4:4
But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.
Acts 16:14
One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
Acts 16:33
At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.
Acts 2:38
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
· What is really happening when someone “hears” or “listens” to God’s message?
· Describe the kind of “heart” that would be “open” and “responsive” to God’s message.
· Why is some kind of contrition a vital part of responding to God?
· What is God doing in our “baptism”?
USE IT / APPLY IT …
· What is most likely to keep people from approaching God’s open door?
· In the past, what has made you reluctant to walk through His door?
· What about Jesus’ approachability has made you want to follow Him?
· When we accept God’s forgiveness, what are we admitting about ourselves?
· What did your baptism mean to you?
· Was it a difficult decision? Explain
As a group close by listing the blessings of being forgiven and then thank God in prayer.