Lean In // 5 minutes
What are some of your favorite summer time memories?
What are the pictures, the emotions you have in those memories?
Leader Note: Summertime for many is a time to vacation, a time to be with family and a time for new adventures. Transition your group to the next section by saying something like… “it’s fun to recall experiences we’ve had in our lives. In the same way, remembering who we are as Children of God is an important exercises that can bring us encouragement and joy.”
Look Down // 10 minutes
Read Ephesians 1:3-8
What do you learn about the blessings God gives us?
Sample answers may include…
- He doesn’t hold them back, every spiritual blessing is ours
- We are blessed because of what Christ did, we don’t earn His blessings
- God chooses to bless us, it was His plan from the beginning
- God brings us into His family
- He blesses us because He wants to
- It gives Him great pleasure to bless us
- His blessing show up in kindness and wisdom
Look Out // 10 minutes
What do people experience when they embrace God’s blessings?
What do people miss out when they don’t embrace God’s blessings?
Sample answers may include…
Embracing God’s Blessings
- Freedom
- Peace
- Secure in who we are
- More willing to take risk, to step out to new places
- Not dependent on the approval or praise of others
- Boldness, confidence in what God has called them to
Not embracing God’s Blessings
- The security that comes from knowing who are
- They potentially miss out on seeing God the unexpected, the impossible in and through them
- We become less willing to extend love and grace to others
- We become judgmental of others and either highly critical or over confident of ourselves
What keeps people from embracing God’s Blessings?
Leader Note: The life that God has for us, through His blessing, is a full and vibrant life, the kind of life we all want. So why don’t we all choose it? Why would people exchange God’s blessings for something lesser?
Sample answers may include…
- Doubting that God is actually good
- Doubt that God wants to bless them, they feel unworthy of it
- They can’t understand God’s blessings, can’t rationalize it or Him
- Choosing a life of the “known” the uncomplicated and safe life
- People want to feel like they’ve earned what they have, they created their own path and blessings
Look In // 20 minutes
Leader Note: Use the the following to help set up the next two question for your group. The truth is, we are much better about holding onto the things that we think make us ‘unworthy’ of God’s blessings. Our sin, the shame we carry and the hurts and disappointments of the past. While those things are true and we don’t dismiss them they don’t define who we are. Challenge your group to identity the things they are holding onto, the things that are impeding their relationship with God and others. Then, recalling the passage, what do they need to remember about the ways God see’s them? What’s holding them back from living in that truth, and how would things be different if they could embrace that truth.
What are the things you need to forget?
What are the things you need to remember?
Live It Out // 5 minutes
What would change in your life if you embraced God’s blessings?
Leader Note: When we live in a place of seeing ourselves as God sees us we are transformed as are the people around us. When we are secure in our identity we will live lives of purpose and seek to serve and bless others. How would that change not only our lives but the lives of those around us, our communities, our families?
Communion Experience // Optional at the end of group
One of the most tangible ways we are invited to remember God’s gift of His son to us and the sacrifice He made for our sins on the cross, is through communion. In Acts 2:42 we read, “They (the early church) devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer.” The breaking of bread, or communion, was on of the repeated experiences of the early church. As we take communion we celebrate the life we have in Christ and remind ourselves that He came to be with us, to free us and make us whole!
You may want to read 1 Corinthians 11:23-28 over your group. After you read the passage, pause for your group and yourself to reflect on anything that may be in your heart that you’d like God to cleanse and heal. Take the bread and cup, serve each-other and as do you do speak a blessing over the person you serve. An example of a blessing you can give is, “This is Christ body’s and blood shed for you. He died that you may live.
Click here for Life Group Serve Opportunities
Learn More About Flow Questions: Check out Kenton Beshore’s book Ask in the Irvine Campus Bookstore for more on the Flow Question model.
Saturday Nights at Mariners is the place to be! Come to the 5 pm service and stick around after for great food, awesome games with prizes and live entertainment. Summer Saturdays is a great way for you entire Life Group to connect and invite others in from your community! Click the image above to learn what’s happening each week.