Grow Group Questions // November 21st, 2021

2k22 Celebration

Introduction

In 2017, we as a church started moving towards an idea embodied 2k22 where we dared to dream big and see what God wanted to do in 5 years. Some of those dreams were about seeing 2,000 people come to know who God is and be baptized. We also saw the creation of The Commons and other projects as we wanted to create spaces for the new people God was going to bring.

It has been a joy to see all that God has done in and through Berean in the last 5 years and this Sunday we want to take some time and celebrate! We want to pause and take notice of what God has done and praise Him for what He did in this time.

Ice Breaker Questions

Here are some possible ways to get a conversation started:

  1. What has been your favorite memory of 2021?

  2. What is your favorite Thanksgiving memory??

Getting Started

Open up with some prayer – some possible prayer topics:

  • God would lead your time of discussion.

  • That this study would help our understanding of who God is and who we are in light of that.

  • Pray for your GG, that God would bring unity and community in your group

  • Pray for NP Berean and how would God use us to bring the Kingdom of God to NP.

Discussion Questions

  1. When we hear big goals like, “Seeing 2,000 people put their faith in Christ and be baptize.” what do you think? Are you skeptical? Hesitant? Pessimistic? Hopeful? Why is hard sometimes to dream big and watch God work? What are the big things God wants to do in your GG?

  2. When Berean’s elders bring forward ideas like 2k22, where do you see yourself fitting in being a part of that idea? Do you see yourself fitting at all? Where do we as a group fit into supporting the church?

  3. Read John 3:22-35. What can we learn from what John is talking about? Why is that view so hard to maintain? How do we do at exalting Christ instead of ourselves?

  4. We talked about how it can be easy to bring the focus onto ourselves and seek glory when good things happen. What are the areas you want people to notice you? What are the aspects about yourself that you are tempted to draw attention to in order to try and impress others? How do we combat that?

Closing Prayer

Prayer can often be somewhat of a weird time, and we understand it can be awkward to pray out loud, but as your group grows in comfortability ask people to pray out loud. Prayer is a very effective tool the Holy Spirit uses to draw our hearts closer to God. It is also a time you as a group can come together and come before the throne of God and make requests and just experience Him.

Some suggestions:

  • Ask if there are any prayer requests.

  • Pray that Jesus would use the week to reaffirm the truths discussed here.

  • Pray that God would put a burden on each person for Berean

  • Pray for the leadership at Berean

Personal Spiritual Practice

This section is for anyone that wants some practical steps to try throughout their week. they are not required, but maybe a great way to reinforce what has been discussed during group. Maybe this could even be a way to check in either during the week or the next time you meet as a group.

Journal: It is so easy to forget all that God is doing and has done in our life. When we are experiencing good times, we often just continue to in them forgetting to note them and when hard times come we have forgotten where God was faithful. Take this time and reflect on some of the things God has done. I would encourage thinking through some big events in the past few years, then think through the past year, and then each day try and see what God is doing each day.

Pray For The Church: Pray that God would continue to grow your heart for Berean and her people. I am reminded of 1 John 3:11 and how we are called to love one another. Pray that your love increases, and that God would continue to reveal what role He is calling you to fill at Berean.

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Grow Group Questions // November 14th, 2021
Grow Group Questions // November 14th, 2021

Habits of Grace//Belong To His Body (Community)

Introduction

Do you want more grace in your life? Things like kindness, beauty, generosity, forgiveness? Author David Mathis explains that tapping into grace is like getting a refreshing drink of water. We can turn on the faucet, but we’re not the source of the water. Similarly, God has designed rhythms and habits of life that can connect us to the flow of His grace, but we’re not the source of the grace.

In Mathis's (very readable!) book “Habits of Grace,” he groups these practices/disciplines into three categories: Hear His Voice (Word), Have His Ear (prayer) and Belong to His Body (fellowship, or community). This week we will be exploring Belong To His Body (Community)

To get the most out of your group time, we invite you to look over the questions below and write your thoughts down before you meet with your group.

Ice Breaker Questions

Here are some possible ways to get a conversation started:

  1. What is your favorite element of a Thanksgiving meal?

  2. When is the appropriate time to decorate for Christmas?

Getting Started

Open up with some prayer – some possible prayer topics:

  • God would lead your time of discussion.

  • That this study would help our understanding of who God is and who we are in light of that.

  • Pray for your GG, that God would bring unity and community in your group

  • Pray that the Holy Spirit would use each person in the group to help grow and encourage one another to Christ

Discussion Questions

  1. We are surrounded by a culture that does not like criticism and cries out against judgment, why do you think that is? What does Scripture say about hypocritical judgment (Matt. 7:1-6)? Later on, in the passage chapter Scripture calls us to be discerning. What is the difference between Biblically correcting and hypocritical judgment?

  2. What is your immediate reaction when someone calls out sin in your life? (Anger, sadness, justification, shame, etc.) What do you think you could do to help be more receptive of correction?

  3. All sin is a declaration of rebellion against God and His Kingdom as we attempt to establish our own kingdom. Read Romans 6:15-23. What are the consequences for allowing sin to continue? In light of that truth does that change how we should view criticism? Why do you think we talked about criticism as a “Means of Grace”?

  4. Often when people bring a rebuke to someone there are a lot of missteps in giving that rebuke. Read James 5:16 & Mt 7:12. What should be the first step before bringing any rebuke? Read Mt 18:15-20. What should the process look like? Read Gal. 6:2. How should you continue to walk with that person?

  5. Read 2 Tim. 3:16-17. What should be our basis for any rebuke we give someone? How do we make sure our heart and standards align with God’s heart for someone? How do we as a Grow Group help one another grow?

  6. Knowing that the church acts like a body (1 Cor. 12:12-31) and serves different roles, how is that helpful to our growth as believers? Does our group feel like a safe place to confess sin/offer a Biblical rebuke? If no, why not? Do we do that well as a group?

Closing Prayer

Prayer can often be somewhat of a weird time, and we understand it can be awkward to pray out loud, but as your group grows in comfortability ask people to pray out loud. Prayer is a very effective tool the Holy Spirit uses to draw our hearts closer to God. It is also a time you as a group can come together and come before the throne of God and make requests and just experience Him.

Some suggestions:

  • Ask if there are any prayer requests.

  • Pray that Jesus would use the week to reaffirm the truths discussed here.

  • Pray you would be a group that cares about the spiritual state of our people

Personal Spiritual Practice

This section is for anyone that wants some practical steps to try throughout their week. they are not required, but maybe a great way to reinforce what has been discussed during group. Maybe this could even be a way to check in either during the week or the next time you meet as a group.

Be Vulnerable: Take some time and ask either your spouse, a close friend, a mentor or even someone you trust to be honest about some areas they think you can grow. It can be hard to accept criticism but is also vital to our spiritual growth. I would suggest praying for protection from your flesh that can want to become defensive and protect itself.

Pray For Others: Pray for where God wants to use your strengths in your community. How has he wired you, given you specific life experience, or given you specific gifts/training to help your community grow. God has you in the community you are in for a reason, pray that God would reveal that.

Grow GroupsGuest User
Grow Group Questions // November 7th, 2021
Grow Group Questions // November 7th, 2021

Habits of Grace//Have His Ear (PRAYER)

Introduction

Do you want more grace in your life? Things like kindness, beauty, generosity, forgiveness? Author David Mathis explains that tapping into grace is like getting a refreshing drink of water. We can turn on the faucet, but we’re not the source of the water. Similarly, God has designed rhythms and habits of life that can connect us to the flow of His grace, but we’re not the source of the grace.

In Mathis's (very readable!) book “Habits of Grace,” he groups these practices/disciplines into three categories: Hear His Voice (Word), Have His Ear (prayer), and Belong to His Body (fellowship, or community). This week we will be exploring Hear His Voice (Word).

To get the most out of your group time, we invite you to look over the questions below and write your thoughts down before you meet with your group.

Ice Breaker Questions

Here are some possible ways to get a conversation started:

  1. What is the ideal temperature for the day?

  2. How do you feel about snow?

Getting Started

Open up with some prayer – some possible prayer topics:

  • God would lead your time of discussion.

  • That this study would help our understanding of who God is and who we are in light of that.

  • Put into practice one of the suggestions:

    • Praying through the Bible

    • A.C.T.S. prayer

    • Lord’s Prayer

Discussion Questions

  1. Putting away what we may think is the right answer, what do we think that God thinks about our prayers? Do we feel he is disappointed in us? Why is that? Read 1 John 5:14-15 and Ephesians 1:18. What does Scripture say about how God views our prayers? What does that mean for us?

  2. If we were honest, how do we view prayer? Is it helpful? Do we see it as useless? Do we see God answering our prayers? Why do we hold the view that we do? How does 1 John 5:14-15 help us in understanding God answering prayers?

  3. What is one practical step you can take this week to help grow your personal prayer life? Maybe it is creating a “prayer closet”, setting a routine, setting reminders, etc.

  4. Since we had a whole Sunday on prayer it would probably be good to spend the rest of your night practicing praying together publicly. Some things to maybe try

    1. Pray shorter sentences, but multiple times

    2. Pick a topic and pray on that topic for 5 minutes

    3. Pray through Psalm 23 (video for reference)

    4. Pray through A.C.T.S. format

Closing Prayer

Prayer can often be somewhat of a weird time, and we understand it can be awkward to pray out loud, but as your group grows in comfortability ask people to pray out loud. Prayer is a very effective tool the Holy Spirit uses to draw our hearts closer to God. It is also a time you as a group can come together and come before the throne of God and make requests and just experience Him.

Some suggestions:

  • Ask if there are any prayer requests.

  • Pray that Jesus would use the week to reaffirm the truths discussed here.

  • If time allows pray through Psalm 37.

Personal Spiritual Practice

This section is for anyone that wants some practical steps to try throughout their week. they are not required, but maybe a great way to reinforce what has been discussed during group. Maybe this could even be a way to check in either during the week or the next time you meet as a group.

Prayer Journal: Take this week and start developing a prayer journal. This journal is a place where you can write down prayer requests that you or others may have and alongside it record when God answers that prayer, even if that prayer is “not now”. Here is a link to some tips on making a prayer journal

Pray For Others: Take each day this week and pray for someone in your group or someone at work. Pray for them each day asking the Lord that they would come to know the Lord if they do not or strengthen their relationship if they do. Maybe even ask them if there is something you can be praying for. Pray for their work, life, marriage (or relationships), temptations, joy, etc.

Grow GroupsGuest User
Grow Group Questions // October 31st, 2021
Grow Group Questions // October 31st, 2021

Habits of Grace//Hear His Voice (WORD)

Introduction

Do you want more grace in your life? Things like kindness, beauty, generosity, forgiveness? Author David Mathis explains that tapping into grace is like getting a refreshing drink of water. We can turn on the faucet, but we’re not the source of the water. Similarly, God has designed rhythms and habits of life that can connect us to the flow of His grace, but we’re not the source of the grace.

In Mathis's (very readable!) book “Habits of Grace,” he groups these practices/disciplines into three categories: Hear His Voice (Word), Have His Ear (prayer), and Belong to His Body (fellowship, or community). This week we will be exploring Hear His Voice (Word).

To get the most out of your group time, we invite you to look over the questions below and write your thoughts down before you meet with your group.

Ice Breaker Questions

Here are some possible ways to get a conversation started:

  1. Would you rather only be able to whisper or only be able to shout?

  2. Would you rather it be 10 degrees every day for the next month or 100 degrees every day?

Getting Started

  1. Open up with some prayer, some possible prayer topics:

    • God would lead your time of discussion.

    • That this study would help our understanding of who God is and who we are in light of that.

    • We would have a rich love for His Word.

    • That His Word would bring joy and conviction to our lives.

  2. Read 2 Tim. 3:19 and 2 Pet. 1:21

Discussion Questions

  1. What do these two passages tell us about Scripture? How does this impact how we view Scripture? Is that different than how the world views Scripture?

  2. On Sunday we talked about how a specific author wrote Scripture to specific people at a specific time. How does that impact how we should read Scripture? Does it change how we should approach it? What are some of the biases that we bring when we are reading the Bible? How do we combat them?

  3. Read Psalm 1. What image does the writer give for someone who delights in the Law? Seeing that a person is like a tree planted by streams of water, what does that mean? What does it mean that he will bear fruit? How does that connect with what being in Scripture will be like for us?

  4. A study was done in 2021 and revealed that 11% of Christians read their Bible daily and so there are many who struggle with being consistent in the Word. Why do you think people struggle being in the Word? If we are being honest, how do we do at spending time in Scripture? What stops us from spending the time?

  5. There were many tools given on Sunday from reading aloud, to reading big, to reading repeatedly, etc. What tools did you find the most helpful? What tools do you use in your reading to help be consistent or help your overall time with the Word?

Closing Prayer

Prayer can often be somewhat of a weird time, and we understand it can be awkward to pray out loud, but as your group grows in comfortability ask people to pray out loud. Prayer is a very effective tool the Holy Spirit uses to draw our hearts closer to God. It is also a time you as a group can come together and come before the throne of God and make requests and just experience Him.

Some suggestions:

  • Ask if there are any prayer requests.

  • Pray that Jesus would use the week to reaffirm the truths discussed here.

  • If time allows pray through Psalm 1.

Personal Spiritual Practice

This section is for anyone that wants some practical steps to try throughout their week. they are not required, but maybe a great way to reinforce what has been discussed during group. Maybe this could even be a way to check in either during the week or the next time you meet as a group.

Read Big: Often when reading Scripture, we read a chapter at a time and there is nothing wrong with that, but it can also cause us to miss the context of a book of the Bible. Much of the NT was written as letters to be read in one sitting and so this week it would be good to try that. You can pick any book you want, but some suggestion would be Philippians (~14 minutes), Ephesians (~20 minutes), or 1-3 John (~20 minutes).

Read Repeatedly: Take a passage like Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Ephesians 2, Psalm 1, or any other passage you like and read it every day this week. Try and note the different things you notice each day and what stood out in the beginning of the week and at the end. You can also expand this idea to a whole month and work through a book of the Bible.

Grow GroupsGuest User