There are no Flow Questions this week. We encourage groups to use this week as an opportunity to engage a prayer experience this Tuesday, October 13th at 7 pm in the Chapel. Let’s join together in prayer and worship to pursue God and to be filled and inspired for more of Him in our lives. More info on our website.
Author: flowmaster
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
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.
Romans 6:1-14 // Free At Last
Lean In // 5 minutes
Who are some of your favorite villains?
Sample answers could include:
- The Joker (Batman)
- Wicked Witch of the West (Wizard of Oz)
- Buzz (Home Alone)
- The Shark (Jaws)
- Darth Vader (Star Wars)
- The New York Yankees (unless you’re a fan…)
- Ben Linus (LOST)
- Regina George (Mean Girls)
Look Down // 10 minutes
What do you learn about sin?
Sample answers could include:
- Causes death
- Not to live with it any longer
- It can reign in my body
- Can become enslaved by it
- Set free from sin
- Christ is more powerful than sin
- Christ died the death once and for all
- Sin is broken but it’s still present
- It’s a choice
Look Out // 10 minutes
Leader note: The goal of this Look Out question is to get group members to reflect on the allure of sin. There is something attractive about sin otherwise it would not be so effective in entrapping.
Why does it feel so good to be bad?
Sample answers could include:
- Appeals to desire
- Thrill
- Adrenaline
- Excitement
- Power
- Pretend
- It’s just fun
When does it become a bait and switch?
Leader note: With sin, at some point the “good” feeling wears off. This usually takes place right after the hook is set and are being reeled into sin’s effect. Help group members identify the “bait and switch” tactic of sin.
Look In // 20 minutes
Where is sin “baiting” you and how are you responding to it?
What would it take for you to believe sin is not your master?
Leader note: In this week’s sermon, Kenton explained how the penalty of sin is paid and the power of sin is broken but the presence of sin is still around. With that being said, there are still potential places in our lives where we are susceptible to temptation and sin. Help your group members to see that in those moments we have an opportunity to say: Sin is not my master!
The Apostle Paul reinforces this idea by saying, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” – Romans 12:2 (NLT)
Live It Out // 5 minutes
Who would be impacted if sin were no longer your master?
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.
Romans 5:1-5 // What Makes You Happy
Thursday, September 24th 7 pm, IR Community Center
Life Group leaders, members and Rooted grads looking for a Life Group are invited to join us as we kick off our fall session with a night of connection, vision and community. Dave Runyon, co-author of The Art of Neighboring, will be with us to continue our conversation about how to love and serve our neighbors with the love of Christ. To register, click here.
Lean In // 5 Minutes
What makes you happy?
Sample answers may include…
- Family
- A great meal
- Being with friends
- A day to myself
- My car collection
- My house
- The way people view me
- Chocolate
- Netflix
- Promotions
Leader Note: Ask a follow up question here, “Do those things always make you happy.” Lead your group to see that in reality even the things or the people that make us most happy can also bring us pain and sorrow! Our families will go sideways, our homes eventually get old and relationships hit speed bumps. Transition you group to the next section by saying something like… “Let’s look at what this passage has to say about happiness and the journey to joy.”
Look Down // 10 minutes
Read Romans 5:1-5
What are the reasons we have to be joyful?
Sample answers may include…
- We have been made right, justified with God
- It starts with what God has done, we receive it by faith
- Being made right with God brings us peace
- We stand in God’s grace, we have access to God
- We have an everlasting hope
- Even suffering isn’t wasted, it can be used to bring hope and joy
- Our hope is not unfounded, it won’t run out or let us down
- God’s love is active, given to us through the person of the Holy Spirit
Look Out // 10 minutes
Where does the world find joy? Is it sustainable?
What does it look like to have Romans 5 joy? Where have you seen it?
Leader Note: What the world calls joy or happiness stands at a contrast to what real God-filled joy looks like! Encourage your group to share stories of where they’ve seen this type of joy in others. What did it look like? How did effect others?
Look In // 20 minutes
When have you experienced this true joy?
Where do you need this joy today?
Live It Out // 5 minutes
How might embracing this joy impact your community, your family?
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.
Psalms 150 // Shut Up And Dance
Thursday, September 24th 7 pm, IR Community Center
Life Group leaders, members and Rooted grads looking for a Life Group are invited to join us as we kick off our fall session with a night of connection, vision and community. Dave Runyon, co-author of The Art of Neighboring, will be with us to continue our conversation about how to love and serve our neighbors with the love of Christ. To register, click here.
Lean In // 5 minutes
What’s a great concert you’ve been to?
Leader Note: Be sure to ask follow up questions here… for example, “what did you love about it, how did it make you feel, how did others react?” You may even want to ask, “When was a time you had negative live music experience?”
Look Down // 20 Minutes
What do you learn about worship?
Sample answers may include…
- We are instructed to worship God
- We worship him in his sanctuary, which is our hearts, where he lives
- We worship him in the heaves, join the the angles
- Worship him for his acts of power, saving grace, forgiveness, restoration
- We worship him for his greatness, creative power
- The passage list basically every known instrument of that time, we worship him with everything we have, don’t hold anything back!
Leader Note: Now, point your group to the weekend message (Shut Up And Dance, 9/12-13/2015) where we looked at the different words for worship in scripture. These words lay out the kind of worship God likes, His worship style! Look over these together as you set your group up for the next set of questions.
Set up this next section by asking….
What’s God’s Worship Style?
7 Hebrew Words For Praise
1. Halal
Halal is a primary Hebrew root word for praise. Our word “hallelujah” comes from this base word. It means “to be clear, to shine, to boast, show, to rave, celebrate, to be clamorously foolish.”
Praise (halal) ye the Lord, praise (halal) o ye servants of the Lord, praise (halal) the name of the Lord. Ps 113:1-3
2. Yadah
Yadah is a verb with a root meaning, “the extended hand, to throw out the hand, therefore to worship with extended hand.”
So I will bless thee as long as I live; I will (yadah) lift up my hands in thy name. Ps 63:1
3. Towdah
Towdah comes from the same principle root word as yadah, but is used more specifically. Towdah literally means, “an extension of the hand in adoration, avowal, or acceptance.” By way of application, it is appratent in the Psalms and elsewhere that it is used for thanking God for “things not yet received” as well as things already at hand.
Offer unto God praise (towdah) and pay thy vows unto the Most High. Ps 50:14
4. Shabach
Shabach means, “to shout, to address in a loud tone, to command, to triumph.”
O clap your hands, all peoples; shout (shabach) to God with the voice of joy (or triumph). Ps 47:1
5. Barak
Barak means “to kneel down, to bless God as an act of adoration.”
O come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel (barak) before the Lord our maker. Ps 95:6
6. Zamar
Zamar means “to pluck the strings of an instrument, to sing, to praise; a musical word which is largely involved with joyful expressions of music with musical instruments.
Be exalted O Lord, in Thine own strength, so will we sing and praise (zamar) Thy power. Ps 21:13
7. Tehillah
Tehillah is derived from the word halal and means “the singing of halals, to sing or to laud; perceived to involve music, especially singing; hymns of the Spirit.
Yet Thou art holy, O Thou who art enthroned upon the praises (tehillah) of Israel. Ps 22:3
Look Out // 10 minutes
Where have you seen this kind of worship?
Leader Note: Have you group think about places they’ve seen this type of worship, in a church setting or even out in our world. Then ask the next question.
Why does God like these things?
Leader Note: What do you think is the value of this type of worship in God’s eyes? What does it communicate to him, what does it do in us?
Look In // 20 minutes
Leader Note: This next section requires you as a leader to lean in to not only your group members but to yourself. We want our groups to see that all of these things are for us! You yourself may not be comfortable raising your hands or dancing… but don’t lean back and let yourself or others off the hook. The truth is we do all of these things in lots of settings. We dance at weddings, with our our kids. We shout at sporting events. Why would we hold back worshipping God with everything we have!
Which of these are you leaning into, which ones are you leaning back from and why?
Why would God want this for you?
Leader Note: Often the ones we are most uncomfortable with is where God wants to teach us more about himself and more about us. Press into your group here, don’t let anyone off easy! Remember, the aim is allow your group to see that these are for all us!
Live It Out // 5 minutes
What would change in if you worshiped this way, how could others impacted?
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.
Flow Questions
Flow Questions will be on hold for the month of August. Check out other recommend group studies here, including information about an exciting, free new online resource for groups, Rightnow Media.
Check out Kenton Beshore’s book Ask in the Irvine Campus Bookstore for more on the Flow Question model.
Click here for Life Group Serve Opportunities
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.
Judges 6:7-16 // Big Dreams And New Names
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.
Lean In // 5 minutes
What are nicknames you had growing up?
Look Down // 10 minutes
What do you learn about God in the passage? What about Gideon?
Sample answers may include…
- God response the cries of his people
- God has the power to rescue and save us from desperate situations
- God will remind us of how he has lead/saved us
- God calls us to worship him alone
- God is with us even when we turn our back on him
- God sees things in us that we don’t see in ourselves
- God gives us strength, he sends us
- Gideon, was hiding, afraid
- Gideon doubts God’s presence, sees the circumstance and feels abandoned
- Gideon focuses on his own lack of strength, makes excuses for what he can’t be a “Mighty Warrior”
Leader Note: Led your group to focus on verse 12 where God calls Gideon a “Mighty Warrior.” In that moment there’s no way Gideon could have believed that to be true. He was hiding in fear for us life and his response to the name that God gives me is meet with doubt and excuses. Even still God will use Gideon to do all that he promised. God designed Gideon to truly be a “Mighty Warrior.” That was his Gideon’s God-given dream and calling.
Look Out // 5 minutes
What are the names the world gives us? Where do we get those names?
Sample answers may include…
- Broken
- Worthless
- Less-lan
- Stupid
- Expendable
- Ugly
- Shameful
- Un-loveable
Commentary: The names the world, and the enemy tries to stamp on our hearts often come from comparison our experiences and failings. Names shape our identity and self worth.
Look In // 20 minutes
What name has God given you?
Leader Note: This may take time for your group to identify. Explain that the name God give us will be associate with a dream a hope and calling that we believe God has for us. To not live in the calling would leave us feeling frustrated, unfulfilled and hopeless. Challenge your group to write down what the believe that name is. It will likely take them a few different cuts to really identity that name. Encourage them to go with the one that invokes the most emotion, the name that in a sense stops them in their tracks.
What’s a lie the enemy would have you believe about your name?
Leader Note: Like Gideon, we all have reasons, excuses why we can’t live in our calling. These are lies that the enemy feeds us to cast doubt and to shape a “false reality” of our selves and our calling.
One you have the name and the lie associated with the name you will now use your group to pray over each person. Thank God for the calling and purpose placed on their life then replace the lie that the enemy has used with the truth of God’s word and how He sees them. Pray body, pray with passion and expectation for God to speak and empower each individual to truly embrace and live out all that God has for them!
Live It Out // 5 minutes
Who could you impact by living out your God-Given Name?
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.
Ephesians 1:3-8 // Remembering And Forgetting
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
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.
Acts 2:42-47 // Hearing God Together
Lean In // 5 minutes
What are some things you can’t do alone?
Sample answers may include…
- Play catch
- Get engaged/married
- Play in a band
- Have a conversation
- Water ski
Leader Note: The goal of the question is to get your group to engage. As the leader, be prepared to share a few lighthearted things you’ve tried to do alone but ended up having a hard time. Allow some space for group members to share stories around their answers.
Look Down // 10 minutes
What are some of the activities the early believers practiced as a group?
Sample answers may include…
- They gathered regularly together
- They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching—studying Scripture
- They committed themselves to doing life together and sharing meals (including communion)
- They were devoted to prayer
- They were in a deep sense of awe and they performed miracles and wonders
- They were generous and met people’s needs
- They worshiped together at the Temple
- They met in homes
- They shared their meals with great joy and celebration
- They praised God and enjoyed the goodwill of all the people
- God grew their group and added new people
Leader Note: Transition your group to the next section by saying something like… “one of benefits of living in this kind of community is that we learn to hear God’s voice together, to speak and share words of encouragement and truth to one another. God loves to speak to His children and one way he does this is through community.”
Look Out // 10 minutes
What are the moments in life where people look for advice?
Sample answers may include…
- Career changes
- Parenting
- Marriage
- Family dynamics
- Health challenges
- Picking a school/college
Where have you seen God speak through community in those moments?
Look In // 15 minutes
When was a time God spoke to you through community?
Where do you need Him to speak currently?
Live it Out // 5 minutes
What would change by you hearing God’s voice through community?
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.
John 16:1-15 // Listening To The Holy Spirit
Lean In // 5 minutes
What are your favorite patriotic quotes?
Sample answers include:
- Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. – John Fitzgerald Kennedy
- This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. – Elmer Davis
- For what avail the plough or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail? – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it. – William Faulkner
- Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death! – Patrick Henry
Look Down // 10 minutes
What do you learn about the Holy Spirit?
Sample answers could include:
- The Holy Spirit is our advocate (14:16; 15:26)
- Testifies about Jesus
- Sent by Jesus (16:7)
- Proves the world wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment (v. 8)
- Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (v. 13)
- The Spirit only speaks what he hears (v. 13)
- Tells us what is yet to come
- Glorifies Jesus
Look Out // 10 minutes
Leader note: An advocate is a person who speaks in support or defense of a person or a cause. There are many people and causes to advocate for but where you are leading your group is how the Holy Spirit advocates for us by guiding us into truth. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit guides us to Jesus, who is the Truth.
What are the different causes people advocate for?
What does it look like to be an advocate?
Sample answers could include:
- Speaking for
- Standing with
- Guiding
- Seeking the best for
- Supporting
- Bringing justice to
- Empowering
Leader Note: God has given us the Holy Spirit as our advocate on behalf of Jesus. Because the physical presence of Jesus is now with the Father, then the next best thing is God’s spiritual presence in the person of the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. Help your group grasp the concept of advocacy because this is how Jesus describes the gift of the Holy Spirit—He is our advocate.
Look In // 20 minutes
Leader Note: One of the ways the Holy Spirit advocates for us is by leading us into truth. With that in mind, create some space for group members to speak out and process what God might be speaking to them through the Holy Spirit.
What is the Holy Spirit (possibly) saying to you?
What would it look like to follow that leading?
Leader Note: Have group members break into smaller groups of 2-3 to share what they feel God is saying to them. For some, it may be clear what the Holy Spirit is saying. However, for others, it may take some probing to help them discover what the Holy Spirit is saying to them.
Live It Out // 5 minutes
What would happen if you (consistently) listened to the leading of the Holy Spirit? Who would be impacted?
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.