Month: October 2015

Romans 8:12-17 // Off With The Old

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We’re looking for Life Groups to help us put on the biggest party of the year for our community on Friday, Oct 30th. From manning the rides, serving up food to helping in the reptile petting zoo, there are plenty of ways for your group to jump in! Contact our special events team to learn more.

Lean In // 5 minutes

What’s your guilty pleasure TV show?

Leader Note: From the guy that hates to admit watching The Bachelor, to bing watching House Hunters, most of us have shows that we love because they offer us an escape or a way to unwind! Transition your group to the next section by saying something like… “A lot of the shows we watch are based in some form of a false reality. Let’s see what our passage has to say about the reality and identity we are called to live in as believers.”

Look Down // 15 minutes

Read Romans 8:12-17

What do you learn about God’s Spirit? 

  • We have a choose to live by it or by the flesh
  • Living by God’s Spirit puts to death the ways of our flesh
  • Living by God’s Spirit brings life
  • God’s Spirit leds us and marks us children of God
  • God’s Spirit brings us intimacy, a personal relationship “Abba, Father”
  • The Spirit “testifies” or bears witness to remind us that we are God’s children
  • God’s Spirit does not make us fearful or slaves
  • God’s Spirit is given to us, we receive it we don’t earn it

 Leader Note: Highlight these key four observations from the weekend message.

1. I am a loved son/daughter // God is our Heavenly Father, He choose us, adopted us to be His! Because of this we have an intimate and personal relationship with him. Our identities, whatever they used to be… our now rooted in Him, our identities our in Him! 

2. I have a Heavenly Father // God is our Father and he loves us more than we can ever imagine! Consider Matthew 7:11… “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

3. I have a witness // God also gives us his Holy Spirit to remind us of what we so often forget… that we are loved! The Holy Spirit stands to give testimony and witness to what is true about us.

4. I have a heavenly inheritance  // God brings us into relationship with Himself and makes available to us all that is His.

Look Out // 10 minutes

Where do you see people creating their own identity?

How do they manage it and what happens when it collapses?

Leader Note: Invite stories here from you group. What are things people shape their reality and identity around, what does that look like, where have they seen it? What do they do to maintain that image, what are the effects of living that way?

Look In // 20 minutes

What parts of the passage are hard for you to embrace and why?

Why do you need to embrace it?

Leader Note: Point back to the observations from question 2, paying special attention to the four main observations… We are Loved, We Have a Witness and We have a heavenly inheritance. Ask your group to read out the four statements aloud. Which ones are most difficult to beleive, which ones cause the most emotion? Challenge your group to think not only about which of these truths they wrestle with but why do they think God would want this for them and what difference would that make?

Live it Out // 10 minutes

How might your life and the lives of others be impacted if you embraced these truths?

Click here for Life Group Serve Opportunities

Looking to Join a Life Group? Check out our online group directory to get in touch with leader today.

Learn More About Flow Questions: Check out Kenton Beshore’s book Ask in the Irvine Campus Bookstore for more on the Flow Question model.

Romans 8:1-12 // I’ve Got The Poweri

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We’re looking for Life Groups to help us put on the biggest party of the year for our community on Friday, Oct 30th. From manning the rides, serving up food to helping in the reptile petting zoo, there are plenty of ways for your group to jump in! Contact our special events team to learn more.

Lean In // 5 minutes

What’s something you used to be afraid of? How did you overcome it?

Leader Note: Transition you group by saying something like… “it’s amazing how many of our fears feed off the power of our thinking and imagination. Fears become the strongest when we believe that the worst possible outcome of any given situation is the more than likely outcome!” Let’s see what our passage says about that kind of power.

Look Down // 10 minutes

Read Romans 8:1-12

What do you learn about life in the spirit? What about life in the flesh?

Sample answers may include…

Life in the Spirit

– Life in the Spirit removes guilt and condemnation
– There’s power in the Life of Spirit
– The power of the Spirit frees us from the power of sin and death
– A spirit filled life causes us to think about things that please the spirit, that bring life/peace and not death
– Without the Spirit we can not please God
– We have the Spirit living in us, he controls us
– The Spirit gives life and makes us right with God
– The power of the spirit in us is the same that raised Christ to life

Life in the Flesh

– It is weak, is drawn to sin
– It thinks about sinful things
– Allow it to control out lives and our thoughts led to death
– It stands directly against ways of God
– It never obeys God’s standards and can never please God
– We do not have to do what it wants us to do

Leader Note: Point your group back to verse 5… “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.” This passage and verse highlight the fact the we are given a choice to think powerless thoughts of the flesh or power-filled thoughts which come from and please the Spirit.

Paul is talking about something greater than “positive thinking” to change ourselves. Positive thinking tells us that we can create what we want through our thinking. Paul is saying that power is not simply in our thoughts but in the source of those thoughts. Are we living out the Spirit and allowing him to transform our thoughts and our lives or are we living out the powerlessness of the Flesh?

Powerless flesh guided thoughts will be…
Defensive, judgmental, blaming, fear based, stressed, angry, self loathing and depressed.

Powerful Life in the Spirit thoughts will be…
Grateful, wise, resourceful, full of hope, confident, compassionate, patient and joy-filled.

Look Out // 10 minutes

Where do you see things overwhelming peoople’s lives?

Why do they feel overwhelmed?

Leader Note: Invite stories from your group here. Have them talk through what they see in those situations. What’s the powerless thinking that’s associated with them?

Look In // 20 minutes

Where do you experience powerlessness?

What would it look like to embrace the power of the Spirit over those things?

Leader Note: Another way to ask these questions could be to say… “what are things in your life that seem like they will never change, what’s the hope in this passage for you?” Challenge your group to consider where they (and you!) are living… in the way of the old self which is powerless, or in the Life of the Spirit which is full of power  

Live It Out // 5 minutes

How would others be impact if you lived this way?

Click here for Life Group Serve Opportunities

Looking to Join a Life Group? Check out our online group directory to get in touch with leader today.

Learn More About Flow Questions: Check out Kenton Beshore’s book Ask in the Irvine Campus Bookstore for more on the Flow Question model.

Romans 7:15-25 // The Struggle Is Real

Lean In // 5 minutes

Tongue Twister Contest

Leader Note: A bit out of the norm, but it will make sense when you read the passage! See who the tongue twister champ is in your group, who can say one of these cleanly the most times. Think of a fun prize you could give the winner, i.e. twirlers or a Starbucks card fro extra caffeine!

“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?”

“How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
If a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,
And chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would
If a woodchuck could chuck wood”

“She sells seashells by the seashore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I’m sure she sells seashore shells.”

“dish soap” (This one is harder than you think!)

Look Down // 10 minutes

Read Romans 7:15-25

What do you learn about Paul’s struggle?

  • He doesn’t understand what he does or why he does it
  • He hates what he does but he does it anyway
  • He affirms that the law is good, but still he fails to live up to it’s standards
  • He wants to do good the desire is there, but he can’t do it
  • The sinful nature is winning the struggle of sin over his will power
  • He’s at war with this new nature in Christ and his sinful nature
  • He understand that he can’t win the battle himself, that Jesus will deliver him

Look Out // 10 minutes

Where are people provoked to break rules and why?

Leader Note: Challenge your group to think about places where rules may be posted or implied but “people” seem all the more inclined to bend or break them. Then ask your group why do you think that is, what motivates people to break the rules anyway? Here are a few examples to get your conversation going…

  • Lines at amusement parks
  • Bringing in outside food/drink to the movies
  • Costco food samples, just take one please!
  • Rules of the road, speeding, carpool ect..

Leader Note: Transition your group to the next section by saying something like… “sometimes simply knowing the rules isn’t enough to keep us in line. Inheritetly we all have something within us that will test the boundaries, see what we can get away with even if we know it’s harmful. On the flip side some of us become legalistic with rules and will follow everyone to a tee and become critical of those that don’t. The passage today encourages us to consider that both approaches to sin and grace can become harmful distractions from what God really wants to expose and develop in us.”

Look In // 20 minutes

What are the things you hate doing that you do anyway?

Are you addressing those things and how?

Leader Note: As always set the tone for your group by being vulnrable yourself. Share with honesty places where you seem to be stuck just like Paul was in the passage. Think about how you are responding. Are you overcompensating with self-righethous behavior, are you ignoring that there’s even anything wrong with your actions? How might God want to transform not only your actions but more importantly your heart?

Live It Out // 5 minutes

What if you lived in honesty about that struggle? How would you and others be impacted?

Click here for Life Group Serve Opportunities

Looking to Join a Life Group? Check out our online group directory to get in touch with leader today.

Learn More About Flow Questions: Check out Kenton Beshore’s book Ask in the Irvine Campus Bookstore for more on the Flow Question model.