Discussion Questions – David (week 18)

Here are the discussion questions for April 30 – May 6. To download a printable sheet of questions you can use to discuss this week’s readings in your small group, click here.

Group life: Consistency and change

Bill Barton wrote a post at another small groups site that’s worth reading. Here’s part of it.

We’re about to undergo a change in our group. We’re going somewhere “different.” Will this change be good, bad, or indifferent for our group life? I’m not really sure right now! I know of 2 things that are healthy and necessary for a growing Christ-centered spiritual life though…Consistency and Change.

I think the same will be true for small groups. What do you think needs to be consistent in order to be a group full of life and Spirit? What are things you can change in your group that will help your group find freshness and new life?

He shares a great list of values that should stay consistent within a group alongside how to change within those values to keep things fresh. For example, it’s important to consistently grow meaningful relationships. But something that can be open to change is the people in your group. Inviting new people can bring freshness and life.

Read more here.

Discussion Questions – Saul (week 17)

Here are the discussion questions for April 23-29. To download a printable sheet of questions you can use to discuss this week’s readings in your small group, click here.

Putting faith into practice

What does it mean to live out our faith? How do small groups fit in? Read this excerpt from the book, Transformation: How Glocal Churches Transform Lives and the World, by Bob Roberts, Jr.:

We Have Lost Intimacy to Religion

The kingdom of God is bigger than any building, although most of us live our lives to build edifices in temporary settings. How foolish for the church, for Scripture tells us that we are to live for the eternal, not the temporary. Instead, it’s possible to live our lives in such a way to demonstrate that the kingdom is far bigger than we are.

Understanding the personal dimension of the kingdom of God is life changing. Try starting, as I did, with reading slowly the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. Have you ever read that slowly? (That’s difficult enough since we are so desensitized to it.) But have you ever lived it? We’ve all read it – many have even preached a series on it. But the question is, “How do I live this stuff?” Oh, I understand the kingdom theologically. I’ve studied the textual explanations of the kingdom. I’ve read the scholars, the commentaries, and theologians and what they say that it means. What does it mean to live the kingdom of God personally inside? And then what does it mean to live it corporately as a church?

This seemed impossible to do when I first began to study it with intensity. Then I really began to be disturbed when I read where the disciples like John and Peter and even the apostle Paul said in effect, “Imitate me.” In other words, “Live it like I’m living it.” Some otherwise ordinary people did live out what Jesus taught – enough to lead by example.

Tips for building community

Calvary Church’s small groups blog recently posted some great tips on building community within groups. Here’s some of what they had to say:

1. Begin with a Get-to-know-you time
Here are a couple ideas.

• Start with a get-to-know-you question. Here is an example. “Let’s start today with everyone introducing themselves and what is your favorite kind of dessert.” By opening the door of each person’s life each week, you help to get to know each other, little by little.
• Have one person give a five-minute overview of their life: where they were born, where they have lived, marriage, kids, and key points spiritually.

2. End with prayer requests. (or begin with them if you are always running out of time)

3. Be vulnerable
If you want people to open up and be honest, you have to open up and be honest. They will not do what you do not do, no matter how much you talk about it.

Of course, like many things in life, balance is of the essence. There is such a thing as sharing too much with too many. Most groups, however, err on the side of being too formal and stuffy. Tell us what is happening, really.

4. Party
Have people into your home. Go out to lunch with them. Go eat after church. Enjoy sporting events together.

5. Mission projects.
It is not enough to learn together and play together, and talk together. Do things together. Go on mission trips together. Work together. Build together. Travel together. Look for ways to accomplish things for God together. Help each other move. Shared common experiences build community.

6. Open your home
It is hard to imagine having a friend that I had not been in his home and he had not been in mine. There is something about sharing life together in each other’s homes that builds community.

7. Tell your story
We don’t just have one story. We have dozens. Tell yours. All of yours:

• Having kids story.
• Spiritual highlights story.
• Spiritual struggles story.
• Career story.
• Geographical story.
• How you learned to be consistent in your quiet time story.
• How you discovered your spiritual gifts story.

8. Be there for each other
In every life the rains will come. Sooner or later they will come to the people in your group. When the rains come, hold an umbrella for a friend.

Or course, it is not the rains that are the problem. It is the storms–the really bad storms. Eventually, the really bad storms–the train wrecks will come to everyone. When they do, be there for each other. Do all you can, but mostly be there.

Be at the hospital. Be at the funeral home. Be there. Take the time. Take the trip. Pay the price. Be there.

If money is the need, take up an offering. Share the burdens of life together. Watch the kids. Clean the house. Fix the meals. Do what you can. Be there.

9. Eat
There is something about eating together. Eat often. Eat a lot. Studies prove that the more unhealthy the food, the better the community. (I just made that up.)

We say it over and over here, but we weren’t meant to live life alone. It’s so exciting to have the opportunity to connect and serve together. Chances are, you’re probably doing at least a few of these in your group. Look over the list and see if there’s another piece you could add to your group this week!

Discussion Questions – Samuel (week 16)

Here are the discussion questions for April 16 – 22. To download a printable sheet of questions you can use to discuss this week’s readings in your small group, click here.

Discussion Questions – Ruth (week 15)

Here are the discussion questions for April 9 – 15. To download a printable sheet of questions you can use to discuss this week’s readings in your small group, click here.

Discussion Questions – Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet (week 14)

Here are the discussion questions for April 2 – 8. To download a printable sheet of questions you can use to discuss this week’s readings in your small group, click here.

This week’s Devos take a look at Jesus in the Old Testament. For this week’s group discussion, we’re going to look at one well-known story of Jesus in the New Testament (It’s one of my favorite). Next week, we’ll be back to studying different individuals from the Old Testament.

If you would like to print them from your web browser instead, click the link below to read and print them.