First listen to the sermon (posts Sun. afternoon). Then use the ideas below to help you and your group apply what the Lord is teaching you.

 

Icebreaker idea: What's a game you enjoy playing, win or lose?

 

A way to pray: Pray that we would pursue love, mutual submission, and humility in our relationships with one another. Pray that the way we live before unbelievers would reveal Christ rather than selfishness, and that God would use this witness to draw 2,000 people in our area into a growing relationship with Jesus by 2022.

 

Talk It Over:

• Treasuring God: How does our relationship with God empower us to "rather suffer wrong" and "rather be defrauded"?
• Being Transformed: Which "such were some of you" applies to me? What are a few tangible steps I can take to walk in new life in that area?
• Loving Others: What behaviors are condemned in this passage? How is each of these a failure to love, and what would the loving alternative be for each?
• Pursuing Unity: What does it look like practically for us to pursue unity when we have grievances against one another?

First listen to the sermon (posts Sun. afternoon). Then use the ideas below to help you and your group apply what the Lord is teaching you.

Icebreaker idea: What's one way God has brought joy into your life recently?

A way to pray: Pray for our church to pursue unity – to be grace-filled, patient, loving, quick to repent when wrong, and quick to forgive when wronged. Pray, too, that we would judge rightly, in a way that promotes unity and pictures Christ well to the 2,000 people we're seeking to reach for Him by 2022.

Talk It Over:

• Treasuring God: How does a growing relationship with God help us want to flee temptation, avoid sin, and repent quickly when we do sin?

• Being Transformed: What are some wrong ways we tend to judge? How does the gospel change the way we judge?

• Loving Others: How can judging be the loving thing to do? What are some of the pitfalls that can make it unloving?

• Pursuing Unity: How does the right kind of judging increase our unity as a church family? How does the wrong kind of judging (or not judging at all) undermine unity?

First listen to the sermon (posts Sun. afternoon). Then use the ideas below to help you and your group apply what the Lord is teaching you.

 

Icebreaker idea: Who is someone you think of as wise? What's one wise idea, piece of advice, practical tip, etc. that you've appreciated from them?

 

A way to pray: Pray for an increased reliance on God and not on our own wisdom, especially as we seek to see Him use us to reach 2,000 people by 2022, leading them into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

For discussion:

• Treasuring God: What are some specific ways I have seen that God's wisdom is wiser than the world's wisdom?
• Being Transformed: When have I been tempted to trust my own perspective more than God's? How can we resist this temptation?
• Loving Others: What does the wisdom of the cross teach us about what it means to love others? How does the cross give us the power to love?
• Pursuing Unity: What are some practical examples of how focusing on our own wisdom leads to division? How can focusing on the cross instead lead to unity?

First listen to the sermon (posts Sun. afternoon). Then use the ideas below to help you and your group apply what the Lord is teaching you.

 

Icebreaker idea: What's something you're passionate about (an author, an activity, a leader, an idea, a hobby, etc.)? Why is it important to you?

 

A way to pray: Pray for a deep unity in our church family – and all the churches in our area! – that would help others see Jesus alive in us and would draw 2,000 people by 2022 into a growing relationship with Him. (See John 13:34-35, 17:20-23.)

 

For discussion:

• Treasuring God: Why is Paul so passionate about keeping believers' focus on the gospel? (See especially v. 17; see also chapter 2:1-5.)
• Being Transformed: When have I been tempted to let differences lead to division? How does the gospel help me fight that temptation?
• Loving Others: How are divisions among believers a failure to love each other? How are these divisions also a failure to love unbelievers?
• Pursuing Unity: How are divisions among believers different from mere differences of opinion? How do we avoid divisions?