05.20.07
Posted in Small Group Plans at 8:00 am by collodi
“Stumbling or Stepping”
Small Group Plan
May 20, 2007
Dear Group Leader…
Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said:
“We can’t keep the Christians from going to church. We can’t keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can’t even keep them from conservative values. But we can do something else. When they meet for fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk. Make their minor differences seem large, tempt them to compare and pass judgment so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions.”
Has Satan been successful in his scheme?
OPEN IT / INTRODUCE IT …
· Where do most of our differences of opinion come from?
· Why do we care so much that others agree with us on nonessential items?
· How can we allow room for disagreement without being disagreeable?
LOOK AT IT / STUDY IT …
Romans 14:13-14
13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. 14 As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
· How is “passing judgment” a “stumbling block” to faith?
· Whose Faith is hurt the most – the one judging or the one being judged? Explain.
· Why and how has God accepted us?
· What does His acceptance have to do with our acceptance of one another?
Romans 14:15-16
15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16 Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.
· What is the signal that a Christian’s conscience is “distressed” ?
· What attitudes should rule when two consciences are in collision? Why?
Romans 14:17-18
17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
· Describe the kind of person who would choose eating and drinking over peace and joy?
· How can my choice of food be affected by my choice to eat with others?
Romans 14:19-23
19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. 22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
· What does the phrase “make every effort” mean?
· Why are peace and mutual edification so important?
· How can a personal opinion “destroy” God’s work?
· Give an example of a belief that you should “keep between yourself and God.”
· When a Christian “condemns himself” what has he done?
USE IT / APPLY IT …
· Why does Paul call those who are uncertain, the “weak” ?
· Think of some “disputable matters” (vs. 1) where the principles of Romans 14 can be applied.
· Love and knowledge are balanced in Romans 14. Describe a life that has knowledge but no love. Describe a life that has love but no knowledge.
Close by asking God to help you to put each other first.
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05.13.07
Posted in Small Group Plans at 8:00 am by collodi
“A Death-Defying Life”
Small Group Plan
May 13, 2007
Dear Group Leader…
Salvation starts with a very personal encounter with God, but it soon begins to bind together those who are saved, and eventually it spills out into society. We describe this as Reaching Up, Reaching In, and Reaching Out. Jesus summarized it with the greatest commands, “Love God … love you neighbor.” Paul offered it as the natural next step in a life that has encountered God’s grace.
OPEN IT / INTRODUCE IT …
· “Passion for God … Compassion for People”
· How would you explain the vision of Prestoncrest to someone visiting our church?
LOOK AT IT / STUDY IT …
love - Romans 13:8-10
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
· How does Paul’s view of death differ from today’s view?
· How does love “fulfill” all the other commandments?
· What happens to social ethics without the guiding, empowering principle of love?
· Why is love an important component to loving others?
· Why is love a debt that can never be fully paid (vs. 8 )?
life – Romans 13:11-14
11 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
· What comes to mind when you think of “the armor of light” (vs. 12)?
· Paul uses several images to describe “the present time” (vs. 11). Which most clearly describes our present time and which is the most disturbing to you?
· How would you help someone to begin to “put aside the deeds of darkness” (vs. 12)?
· How would your life be different if you consistently tried to “wear” (vs. 14) Jesus?
USE IT / APPLY IT …
· What best communicates love to you? Explain.
· As you walk through your day, where could love best be seen in your life?
· How does love defeat death?
· We don’t know when Jesus will return (vs. 11-12), but describe what you want your life to be when he returns.
Close by asking God to help you to surrender, to renew, and to decide.
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05.06.07
Posted in Small Group Plans at 8:00 am by collodi
“The Other Six Days”
Small Group Plan
May 6, 2007
Dear Group Leader…
John Mac Arthur has written:
The source of most of the problems people have in their Christian lives relates to two things: Either they are not worshipping six days a week with their lives, or they are not worshipping one day a week with the assembly of the saints. We need both.
Some times I wonder how badly the spiritual search on our nation’s one sacred day is hurt by the spiritual regression on the other six secular days.
OPEN IT / INTRODUCE IT …
· Describe your early experience with worship?
· What did it mean to you as a child?
· How has your understanding changed?
LOOK AT IT / STUDY IT …
Body - Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.
· The last 11 chapters have detailed God’s amazing grace.
· How does “God’s mercy” set the stage for our sacrificial response?
· What would you say to a new Christian who asks, “How do I offer my body?”
· “Life is worship.” How do you respond to this statement?
Mind – Romans 12:2a
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
· Explain the difference between “conforming” and “transforming.”
· List the items that you would expect to find listed on a page with the title “Patterns Of This World.”
· How does a mind, renewed by God, think?
Will - Romans 12:2b
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.
· What enables the Christian to discover/test “what God’s will is?”
· Name the places where you have seen God’s will the clearest.
· What are the major obstacles that prevent you from finding God’s will?
USE IT / APPLY IT …
· Of Body, Mind, and Will, which is most difficult for you to surrender to God? Explain.
· Which of the three is under the greatest attack by our culture? Explain.
· Which of the three is your most successful area? Why has that area worked well for you?
· How could success in one area lead to success in the other areas?
Close by asking God to help you to surrender, to renew, and to decide.
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