flowmaster – Page 18 – Mariners Church Flow Questions

Flow Questions for June 2 & 3, 2012

1. Introduction: 5 Minutes

What was a celebration you have been to recently?

Leader note: Have people in your group talk about a recent celebration they attended. Then ask them how people were celebrating. It could be anything from a birthday party, 50th wedding anniversary, or even a celebration of life at a memorial. There may have been songs, stories, gifts, videos, memory book, great food – whatever it was, have them talk about the celebration.

2. Observation: 20 Minutes

Read Joshua 3:5-4:9. How did God show His faithfulness to His people?

Leader note: As a reminder, do not read these comments to your group. These comments and notes are for you, as a leader, to help facilitate through the questions. You are to help your group observe the passages and discuss their findings in God’s Word. The sample answers are for you if your group gets stuck, read one and then tell them to look further into the passage.

Commentary:

God spoke Clearly what His plan was
God spoke to someone who was listening and receptive
God followed through on every single promise
Not one person was lost
They were delivered safely
His presence was with them

What would people have been feeling before, during and after crossing the Jordan?

Leader note: Have your group think about moms with small kids, dads, the priests who had/got to carry the ark, and even Joshua. What would have been going through their mind as they consecrated themselves in preparation to walk into an overflowing river? What about while they were walking through on the dry ground? What about when they got to the other side, completely dry because of God’s faithfulness?

What do you learn about the celebration that followed this event?

Commentary:

It was commanded of God
All people were represented
It was a memorial, for generations to come to remember God’s faithfulness

3. Understanding: 20 Minutes

Where have you seen God’s faithfulness in people’s lives?

Leader note: Think of family, or friends, or stories you’ve heard about how God has shown His faithfulness in their lives.

How do you see people celebrating God’s faithfulness?

Leader note: You may know people who have been reconciled because of God’s faithfulness and they celebrate that with a party. You may know people who have been healed, or baptized recently. Or maybe a baby dedication.

4. Application: 20 Minutes

How have you seen God’s faithfulness in your own life?

Leader note: Even in our hardest times we can celebrate God’s faithfulness, how He delivered us and made His presence known in those times. And in the worst of times, or the best of times, we can celebrate provision, grace and mercy.

As a group, create a memorial and celebrate God’s faithfulness in your lives.

Leader note: This could be a memorial of stones like in the Joshua passage. Or you could possibly plant a tree, or some other creative way to memorialize what God has done in your lives. Try to think of ways to celebrate all that God is doing in your life, in the lives of those around you. Be creative, let everyone participate in the discussion of how you can celebrate.

Leader note: If your group will be breaking for summer this may be a perfect way to end your time together this season. You can plan a party where you spend time building/making your memorial, tell stories, sing, feast, whatever you determine as a way to celebrate God’s faithfulness until you meet again.

PRAY: Spend your last few minutes together offering a prayer of praise and celebration. Bring needs to the Lord and pray bold prayers of celebration in the midst of trials and struggles. Hold up each other as living memorials to God’s work and provision.

5. Live it out: What affect will your memorial have on your family, friends and community as you share it with them?

Flow Questions for May 26 & 27, 2012

1. Introduction: 5 Minutes

Where did you go on your last vacation?

Leader note: Focus on the more positive aspects of vacation – the relaxation, the chance to get to see new places, the time away from daily hassles and routines. You may want to save your story for last just in case you need it to create the atmosphere of rest.

2. Observation: 15 Minutes

Read Genesis 1, 2:1-4. What did God do in each of the six days? What did he rest from on the seventh day?

Leader note: Your group may want to debate whether Creation actually occurred in six literal days or if it is merely a figurative reference to time. Simply state hat though those are valid differences of opinions, today’s study is focused not on that greater issue but rather on the accomplishment of the work and the rest that followed. Further studies on Creation are something you can always choose to study later.

Leader note: As you look at the facts of each day, talk about all that was encompassed in that part of creation. This just expands the realm of the work involved – God did a LOT in His six days, we could never work this hard or accomplish so much. It helps to understand the bigger concept of the work He did and continues today.

Commentary:

First day:
He separated the dark from the light, creating night and day.
Second day:
He separated the waters of the heavens and earth can called the space “sky”.

Third day:
He made the waters come together, leaving dry areas, and called them “sea” and “land”.
He produced all of the seed-bearing trees and vegetation on the land.

Fourth day:
He made the solar system to govern this day and night: he placed the sun, moon, and stars in the sky.

Fifth day:
He made all the fish and creatures in the sea and the birds of the air, commanding them to multiply. He created all fish and birds that create fish and birds of the same kind.

Sixth Day:
He made livestock, small animals, and wild animals – all animals that produce animals of the same kind
He created human beings in his image to reign over all of the fish in the sea, the livestock, birds, wild animals, and small animals on the earth.
He created human beings as male and female and told them to multiply and fill the earth and govern over the animals and fish.

Seventh day:
He rested from all of his work
He blessed the seventh day and called it holy because he rested from all of his work.

3. Understanding: 20 Minutes

What are some different ways in which people fill up their seven days each week?

Leader note: We live in the busiest time in history. We do more because we have access to more. Before there were cars, a trip to the market could be most of what was accomplished in one day. Before the advancement in technology, getting one note or letter written and delivered could take days, but now it takes seconds and allows time for more opportunities and tasks to fill the day. It will create a lively discussion if you talk about why we are busier now than ever and then list specific tasks, opportunities, appointments and activities that fill each day. Include driving distances, kids’ activities, sports and physical fitness regimens, TV time, socializing, business meetings, travel, meaningful and meaningless time fillers.

4. Application: 20 Minutes

What are all of the things you do in a typical week?

Leader note: To answer this, you might want to have your group list out their activities for that specific day, and maybe the day before. And if they can, maybe even the day before that or took at what is on their calendar for tomorrow. Remind them to include mealtimes, sleeping, doctor’s appointments, hair appointments, nail appointments, kid’s sports, movies or TV time, work, driving time, pet time, cleaning, Bible studies, working in classrooms, volunteer work, and so on. It is also interesting to split the time into weekday and weekend times as tasks tend to vary drastically during those times.

Leader tip: Most people will be surprised by how much they actually do every day. The list can contain more than fifty activities per day, and with most people trying to sleep between six and eight hours per day, that leaves only sixteen to eighteen hours to accomplish those fifty-plus tasks. If you consider those things accomplished while “multitasking,” it is truly incredible what can be achieved in one day.

The definition of Sabbath is “ceasing”. What would it look like to cease from those activities in your life, one day per week?

Leader tip: Now take a minute to consider what would happen if one out of every seven days was dedicated to resting, taking a break from “all of the work” you do. To take a break from everything you normally do. What would happen to your physical and mental health? What would you “do” instead of al all of the work?

The Sabbath can “just be a day of rest.” How does this view of the Sabbath differ from your previous thoughts?

Leader Note: People have a tendency to think of the Sabbath as a day for God. They think that if they are to observe the Sabbath, God is asking them to spend an entire day worshiping, contemplating him, and praying. God gave us the Sabbath for us, just as he took a full day of rest after creating the universe (something our busyness will never outdo), he has instructed us to take a day off from “all of the work”. Talk about what “resting” looks like to you. It will be different for almost everyone. We want to avoid defining rest for everyone because once we assign rules – what you can and can’t do – we start looking like the Pharisees from Jesus’ day, where they had hundreds of laws about how many steps you could take, how much weight you could carry – before it was considered work. This is a heart issue – not a legal issue. It is about trusting in provision from God, in His working in your life.

Leader note: Choose one day in the next seven where you commit to “rest”. You may want to assign “accountability” partners and have them check up on one another and see how the “rest” time is going. What is challenging? How can they pray for each other as they continue to try to rest?

PRAY: As you end your time together you can pray in the pairs you have selected to hold each other accountable, or you can pray as a group. Pray that you will experience the rest that God has intended for each of you. You may want to read Psalm 23 out loud to the group and sit for a minute with the thoughts that psalm provokes, and what it would look like in your life. Ask God to show you rest, to give you rest, to meet you in your time of rest.

5. Live it out: How will you look different to your friends, family and coworkers if you begin to “rest”? How might it affect them?

Mariners Flow Questions for May 19 & 20, 2012

1. Introduction: 10 minutes

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Leader tip: Use the time to get people to engage with one another, let them respond to each other – open up the discussion.

Leader note: After everyone has had a chance to answer, ask, “Why did you want to be that?”

What is a job supposed to give you?

Commentary: Listen to their answers, it may reveal what they either get from their current career, or what is lacking. You will look at that in the last question. You may hear things such as: fulfillment, money, provision, identity, fame, a place to be great, a place to express yourself, a place to use your talents and ideas.

2. Observation: 15 minutes

Read Genesis 1:26, 2:4-17. What do you learn about work?

Leader tip: Let your group put things in their own words – not just recite the verse.

Commentary: some of the answers you should get are –

It is a gift from God
Gives provision
We are to tend/take care of God’s creation – what he gave us
It is a commandment
He modeled it – Created, gardener, got his hands dirty when he created people – man created from dust (the rest of creation was formed from nothing, but man and womam were hand-crafted)
Work is good – created before the fall
Honorable, God created work along with everything else – it is from God
God gives us resources to do our work (he provided water for the garden)

3. Understanding: 20 minutes

How is your job like gardening?

IMPORTANT Leader tip: Use this time to affirm one another – Have your group affirm each other using this question. For instance, if you have a teacher in your group, you can say something like, “I think your job is like a gardener in that you plan what you are going to plant in each of your students, you work daily to care for what you have planted, nourishing it with knowledge and attention, you help weed out wrong information and prune back behaviors that get in the way of growing, you provide the sunshine in lives by shedding light on new topics,

Every job has the philosophies of gardening attached to it. Be creative, have fun but be honest so that the affirmation achieves its desired results.

Leader note: If you are in a couple’s group it may be nice to have the spouses affirm each others.

What jobs don’t fit into God’s plan for work?

Leader note: It is important for us to realize that not all ways people make their living are within God’s plan, for instance, prostitution or any job that exploits humans. Neither is a bank robber or thief. Think of others.

What can work do? What can’t it do?

Leader tip: Draw two columns on a piece of paper and at the top of one columns write “Work Can”, and on the top of the other one write, “Work Can’t”

Commentary:

Some of those things work can do are –

provide some fulfillment, sense of accomplishment
Make you feel valuable, worthy
provide community, friendships, can love people
make a difference

Some things work can’t do –

Be in place of God, can’t be what we worship
Can’t provide significance
Can’t completely fulfill your life
Can’t be a perfect place/we are broken

Leader note: Some people think that going into church work or full-time ministry will offer more fulfillment in work, you may want to ask your group the question, “How is full-time work different than full-time ministry or church work?” Only ask this question if you have time to allow plenty of time for the application question, (don’t ask this in its place).

4. Application: 20 minutes

How does this change the way you will work? The way you treat those who work with you or for you?

Leader note: Recognizing that your work is good and a gift from God can change how you approach it each week. Knowing that God created work will help you understand that your job is no more or less important than any other, which will help with dealing with people differently. Think about those in the service industry too. Acknowledge their worth, their value, their significance. Consider the stay-at-home moms.

Important note: We want to be sensitive to those who are out of work and not by choice. Have them consider their job search – how it is like gardening, how it is what God has given them at this time – maybe it will make them look differently at this period in their life.

Pray: After this study it is appropriate to thank God for all of the new learnings you have about your work, thank Him for the gift of a job, thank Him for modeling work and for the provision of work. If you realized you need to change the way you think about your coworkers or those who work for you, pray for the opportunity to affirm someone at work this week. Pray that you will be mindful of those in the service industry and others who you may have in the past treated as “less than”. If you have anyone in your group who is unemployed, lay hands on them and pray for the gift of a job, and for encouragement to come this week.

5. Live it out:

Think of the people who work with or for you. Who can you affirm them personally or professionally? How can you affirm people in their work as you go about your daily activities?

Flow Questions for May 12 & 13, 2012

1. Introduction: 5 minutes

Who would you choose to run “The Amazing Race” with? Why?

Leader note: If your group doesn’t know about the reality program “The Amazing Race”, give them this brief summary. Teams of two take part in a race around the world. At each destination they must complete a task (usually based on the culture of their current location), figure out transportation, clues that direct them to various locations, usually on very little sleep and very little money. The last team to arrive at each destination is eliminated and the winner of the race wins $1 million.

2. Observation: 10 minutes

Read 1Kings 17:1-24. What do you learn about faith from Elijah? The widow? God?.

Leader Note: A good way to look at this question is to go first through the passage looking at Elijah and all of his actions of faith. Then go through it looking at the widow. And finally, look at God in the passage – his demands, his provision, his faithfulness.

From the passage:

Elijah:

He was obedient – delivering the messages God gave to him.
He followed the directions of the Lord where to live and how to survive – by faith.
He was faithful again when he left the dried up riverbed and went to Zarephath.
He was bold in his declaration of the Lord’s reassurance to the widow and in his demands.
He took the boy’s lifeless body in an act of faith, upstairs and pleaded with God for the boy’s life to return. He believed the Lord had the power to do it or he wouldn’t have asked.

The Widow:

By going to get water during a draught she did show compassion for Elijah, but not enough to bring him bread.
She believed the words of the Lord as told to her by Elijah and obeyed him.
When her son was ill and died she blamed Elijah for pointing out her sins and killing her son – her faith completely waned.
When she saw her son alive again she proclaimed her faith.

God:

Made what seemed to be, difficult and unusual requests of Elijah.
Rewarded Elijah’s obedience with daily provision.
When the river dried up he asked Elijah to show his obedience again.
He awarded Elijah’s obedience again, with daily provision. This time displaying his provision to the widow and her son as well.
He allowed the death of the son.
In response to Elijah’s faithful plea He performed a miracle and brought the boy back to life.

3. Understanding: 15 minutes

What tests people’s faith today?

Commentary: There are so many things that test people’s faith. Encourage your group to think of specific people (without naming names) that are going through things that seem to have shaken their faith to the core.

Some things to consider would be sickness, troubled marriages, kids making bad choices, career shake ups, reversals of fortune,. It seems to be mostly the “how can bad things happen to good people” mindset that shakes people’s faith, but sometimes it can be “how can good things happen to bad people”.

4. Application: 20 minutes

How has your faith been tested in the past and how was God faithful?

Leader note: Help your group remember how God has been faithful during times their faith was tested. If there were things that you have happened while your group has been meeting you can prompt them with those situations. Maybe they were tested in a time of unemployment and God provided for them during that time. Or maybe they were losing faith during a time of illness, but God saw them through to regained health. Or possibly they experienced a huge loss, even a death, but they saw God work in their lives afterwards and in the lives of others to show his faithfulness and goodness.

What situation is testing your faith right now?

Leader note: You may want to share first on this question as it can be very personal and may bring up vulnerable situations. Maybe you have huge financial problems right now and are having problems keeping faith that God will provide, it may fell like God isn’t paying attention. Perhaps someone in your life is struggling with illness and you are losing hope for recovery.

Pray: This week you will have spent your time together remembering God’s provision and faithfulness through testing times. However, the last question brings up current faith testing situations in your groups’ lives, so spend time responding to a faithful God and asking for His provision, healing hand, supernatural power, whatever is required to meet the needs of your group specifically. It may be a good idea to assign certain prayer requests to members of the group to pray for these needs throughout the upcoming week.

5. Live it Out:

Who is someone you know personally who is going through a challenging time and how might you encourage them?

Flow Questions for May 5 & 6, 2012

1. Introduction (5 minutes):

Who is someone in your life you can share your innermost thoughts, dreams and fears with?

Leader note: Have your group members think of a confidant, a best friend,a counselor. The idea is to have them feel what it is like to have someone know a lot about them and still love them as we move into studying Psalm 139.

2. Observation (15 minutes):

Read Psalm 139. What do you learn about God?

Leader note: There are a lot of observations so spend enough time on the question that you draw them out. Have your group put what they are reading into their own words, but don’t change the meaning of the text.

Commentary:
Some of the answers your group should come up with –

He knows everything about me
He knows every move I make
He is familiar with every aspect of me
He is discerning toward me
He is all around me and actually lays His hand upon me
His closeness and full knowledge is hard to even imagine
There is no where I can go where He isn’t

3. Understanding (20 minutes):

What is comforting about God’s knowledge and closeness to you? What is kind of scary about that?

Leader note: It is comforting to know that God is so intimately involved, and knows everything about us there is definitely a relief knowing He is always with us, but it is also scary that he knows every thought – even the bad ones, the sinful ones, the ugly ones. And that He is with us in those places we shouldn’t be, doing things we wish He didn’t see.

4. Application (20 minutes):

Where in your life do you feel God isn’t there?

Leader note: maybe you have a circumstance, a sickness, a problem in your marriage, a kid who is having troubles, loss of employment, financial devastationa dn you feel alone, as if God has abandoned you.

Thee’s another side to this too. There may be times you think you leave God behind. Maybe you come to church and meet God and you have your veneer that everything is great there and then when you leave, you think He stayed back there and you can go and live as though He isn’t with you – your behavior changes, your language changes, the way you handle anger may be different than if you knew God was still with you.

What would change if you knew, and really believede, that He has been there the whole time?

Leader note: it may be hard for some to realize that God has been there the whole time as they are struggling. Why wouldn’t He fix it or answer their pryaers if in fact He is there? But his is a wonderful time to remember that we are not promised a life without struggle, or pain, just because we are in His presence 100% of the time. And he knows what we are going through. We can’t know His thoughts or ways, but He knows ours.

For some it may even be harder as they look at their circumstances and believe that God has been there the whole time – why isn’t He doing something? But what if He is? What if He is doing something int he midst of your struggle, illness, etc?

Maybe places you go and people you hang out with might change, or at the very least, the way you are when you are with them, when you consider God’s presence next to you the whole time.

PRAY: As your group reveals places they think God has abandoned them, pray for them to feel His presence, pray that God will reveal Himself to them and bring comfort, peace, mercy in their situation. Pray for them to live a life that acknowledges that God is in their every thought and move. He loves them even though…..He will never leave or abandon them even though he doesn’t eliminte every struggle, He is there to walk with them through it.

5. Live It Out:

Is there someone in our community who needs to know the truths of Psalm 139? How can we help reveal His presence to them?

Flow Questions for April 28 & 29, 2012

1. Introduction:

In the television show Fear Factor, contestants were challenged in three separate areas: heights, crazy food, or terrifying predicaments. If given the option to: jump out of a plane, or eat a bug, or be submerged in a sinking car without air, which would you most likely do? Which would you least likely want to do?

Leader note: Have fun with this, you are just trying to get people to think of the notion of dealing with their fears. This can be something that everyone can do. Make it quick, but let everybody play.

Tip: Spend 5 minutes on this question.

2. Observation:

Read Numbers 13: 1-3, 25-33, 14: 1-10. What do you learn about: God, the land, and the people?

Tip: Spend about 7-10 minutes on this question as there is a lot to talk about in this passage.

Commentary: Some of the answers may be:

God:

He speaks
He wanted them to go into the Promised Land
He doesn’t like to be disrespected
He wants the people to remember what He did
He will at times give us obstacles and hurdles
He clearly revealed Himself
He takes disobedience seriously

People:

Moses did as he was commanded
The men did as they were instructed
The men saw the Promised Land as beautiful
They were afraid of the “giants”
Caleb had faith in God
The men pushed back against Caleb
People were scared and disappointed in God
People were forgetful
People were mad at God and Moses
Joshua and Caleb knew that nothing is impossible with God
People wanted to kill Joshua and Caleb

Land:

God gave it to the Israelites
Bountiful and fertile
Full of powerful people
Fortified Towns
Worth Conquering

3. Understanding:

If you were able to address the Israelites, what would you say to them?

Leader note: As you read the scripture and the peoples response, clearly would want to give a wake-up call to the Israelites and remind them of who God really is, and all that God has done and can do.

When was a challenging time in your life, and yet God came through for you? How does that impact your challenges of today?

Leader note: Often times to see the faithfulness of God, all we have to do is look back and see the ways he has come through in the past. Allow the group to reflect back and share, have that be a confidence builder to all God can do in the present and future.

4. Application:

Do you tend to see the “opportunities” in life, or do you tend to focus on “obstacles?” Why do you find yourself living that way?

Leader note: This is a time to instill in your group members the notion that with God anything is possible. You will have people in your group who have experienced difficulty in their life, and they may feel like God doesn’t come through, or God doesn’t have anything good for them. They may be trying to do things on their own strength, so they may feel insecure in their ability, leaving God totally out of the equation. This is a great time to speak confidence into your group members. This is a chance for people to gain confidence in all that God can do through each member in their group. If I see that God can do something in your life, I have the confidence that God can do the same for me.

What is an area in your life where you need courage? What are you afraid of? What do you hope is waiting for you when you take that step of faith with God? What will it take for you to be like Joshua and Caleb?

Leader note: Pray for each other. Pray for courage and faith knowing that God wants to take us to a better place, and has great things in store for us.

5. Living it out:

Who is someone in your life that is afraid or “frozen” in life? How can you be a Joshua and a Caleb to them?

Tip: Spend 7-12 minutes on this question.

Leader note: We all have people in our life that are stuck, whether it is personally, financially, relationally, etc. Sometimes people need to hear that with God, they can do anything. Think of people that you can pour into, give them confidence in God, and in themselves.