We invite you to ponder the week’s Bible passage and 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 reason it can be challenging to read the Bible (or to read it regularly)? If you’re a believer, what’s one reason it’s worth pushing through those challenges?

A way to pray: Pray for one another to reflect Jesus in how we respond to the sufferings we’re facing (or will face), as we seek to see 2,000 people by 2022 baptized and growing in relationship with Jesus through the Word, prayer, and community.

Talk It Over:

• Treasuring God: How do I typically react to suffering? What does this tell me I might be at risk of treasuring even more than God?

• Being Transformed: What difference would it make if I were to respond to suffering more like the apostles in Acts 5:40-42? Which Scriptures could help me do that?

• Loving Others and Pursuing Unity: How is God challenging me to use my thoughts, words, and actions to love others sacrificially and to pursue unity among believers? Which Scriptures can help me do this with both “grace and truth” (John 1:14)?

We invite you to ponder the week’s Bible passage and 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: Do you tend to be more of an optimist or a pessimist? Share why you think that might be, or offer an example that illustrates your tendency toward hopefulness or cynicism.

A way to pray: Ask God to strengthen us as we seek to live as people of the light in the midst of dark and difficult days. Pray that His light shining through us would draw 2,000 people to Himself by 2022, seeing them baptized and growing in relationship with Jesus through the Word, prayer, and community.

Talk It Over:

• Treasuring God: What are some practical ways that keeping God first in my life helps me avoid “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power”?

• Being Transformed: In what ways do verses 2-5 describe my life (past or present)? What tangible step can I take right now to avoid falling into these behaviors?

• Loving Others: How does 2 Timothy 2:24-26 help me discern when the most loving thing I can do is to “avoid such people” (2 Timothy 3:5)?

• Pursuing Unity: What things in verses 2-5 have hurt the people in my life? What can I do to build up relationships damaged by the devil’s influence?

We invite you to ponder the week’s Bible passage and 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 important ingredient in addressing conflict constructively?

A way to pray: Pray for those in our lives who don’t know the Lord – ask Him to set them free from Satan's trap. Ask God to remind us how we’ve been set free from that same trap, and to use our stories and our changing lives to point people to Him as we seek to see 2,000 people by 2022 baptized and growing in relationship with Jesus through the Word, prayer, and community.

Talk It Over:

• Treasuring God: In what ways has “cutting [God’s word] straight” helped me love Him more? How might “crooked cutting” show that I treasure myself most?

• Being Transformed: Do I tend to conform the Word to my desires or seek to be transformed by it? Do I ask “What does it mean to me?” or “What is it saying?”

• Loving Others: How often do I remind myself that I used to be caught in Satan’s trap? How does seeing others as “trapped” help me love them more?

• Pursuing Unity: How do I typically interact with “opponents”? How can my Grow Group help me grow in kindness, patience, and gentleness?

We invite you to ponder the week’s Bible passage and 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: Which of these words/phrases do you like best (and why) – endurance, focus, self-discipline, following the rules, hard work?

A way to pray: Ask the Lord to help us pursue His mission – that we’d encourage and equip each other to follow Him and take His good news into our homes, workplaces, communities, and world. Pray that we’ll see 2,000 people by 2022 baptized and growing in relationship with Jesus through the Word, prayer, and community.

Talk It Over:

• Treasuring God: What beautiful qualities of God can I meditate on to increase my love for Him and my fervor for seeing others following Him?

• Being Transformed: What are my greatest efforts going toward? What distracts me from the mission God calls us to as believers? What needs to change?

• Loving Others: How does Christ’s trustworthy promise to remain faithful even if we are faithless impact how I live out what it means to genuinely love others?

• Pursuing Unity: In what specific ways has Jesus shown me grace? How does recalling His unmerited favor in my own life encourage me to pursue harmony with others?