Category: Obsessed

Genesis 25:29-34 // Thanksgiving: Obsessed Wk 3

Lean In // 5 minutes

What do you reach for in the grocery store checkout lane?

Sample answers may include…

  • Candy bar
  • Gum
  • Magazine
  • A movie
  • A drink (soda, water, energy)
  • Toy

Leader note: When standing in the grocery store checkout aisle, what are the last second purchases your group members are most likely to make?  Give everyone an opportunity to participate.

Look Down // 10 minutes

Read Genesis 25:29-34

What does Esau want?

Sample answers may include…

  • Esau is empty-handed and wants some of Jacob’s stew
  • He is famished so he’s hungry
  • He doesn’t want to wait: Quick…
  • It looks like red stew (meaty stew) and wants it now
  • He’s “desperate”—From famished (v. 29) to Look, I’m about to die (v. 32)
  • The stew for his birthright

Commentary: Esau was a skilled hunter and a man of the open country (Genesis 25:27) so he had an appetite for meat.  So, when he comes in empty-handed and see’s Jacob’s stew, he wants some of that red stew that he thinks is a meaty stew.  Later in the story, it is revealed that Jacob only had bread and a lentil (bean) stew.  However, what he traded was very costly.  Esau’s birthright as a first son in Israel was a priceless thing.  He was regarded as the first fruit’s of his father’s strength, dedicated to God, privileged during his lifetime, and received a double share of the inheritance.  Esau’s birthright was priceless.

What does Esau get? 

Sample answers may include…

  • He wanted red stew (meaty stew) but he received some bread and some lentil stew
  • He leaves dissatisfied: He ate and drank, and then got up and left
  • He traded his birthright for a bowl of beans

Look Out // 10 minutes

What are the “birthrights” that people trade for “bowls of beans”?

Sample answers may include…

  • Family for career
  • Faith in God for trust in self
  • Love/Intimacy for sex/pornography
  • Character for financial gain
  • Marriage for independence
  • Health for busyness
  • Community/friendship for independence/autonomy
  • Identity for acceptance

Leader note: In the story, Esau traded away something priceless for a common, everyday meal.  As you lead your group, help them to identify where they see people trading away the priceless for the common, everyday thing.

Look In // 15 minutes

Where do you feel tempted to make a trade?

Leader note: Help your group picture the priceless things or people in their lives.  Then, ask group members where they feel a temptation to leverage those priceless things and people to satisfy a need.  As the leader, you want to lead them to a place where they can see this temptation because the next question is about countering this feeling.

What could it look like to pause and give thanks?  

Leader note: Often, our needs and wants demand that we satisfy them…immediately.  Help your group imagine what it could look like to pause at such a place and counter the feeling with thanksgiving.  Giving thanks is a powerful tool in shifting our focus off of what we do not have and rightly placing it on what has been provided.  This could be a good place to have group members list some things that they are thankful for in this season.

Live It Out // 5 minutes

What if you regularly gave thanks in this season and beyond?  Who might be impacted by a thanksgiving lifestyle?

Leader note: Help your group come up with a “Thanksgiving Plan” in this season.  Perhaps, they could create an ongoing list of things or people to be thankful for and reflect on it daily.  Collect ideas from the group and revisit it the next time your group meets.

Key Verse(s): Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.  Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. – Psalm 103:1-2 (NLT)

Key Thought: I want what I have; it couldn’t be better

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.

Exodus 18 // First Things First: Obsessed Wk 2

Lean In // 5 minutes

What’s your favorite time waster?

Sample answers may include…

  • Watching TV or a movie
  • Social media- Facebook, Instagram, etc.
  • Surfing the internet—ESPN, Pinterest, etc.
  • Playing video games or phone games
  • Napping

Look Down // 10 minutes

Read Exodus 18:5-12

Leader note: Read Exodus 18:5-12 and then pause before reading the rest of the passage.  Exodus 18:13-27 will be the focus of the discussion.  The first part of Exodus 18 provides some context for the story of Moses and Jethro and the second part is Jethro’s advice to Moses.

Read Exodus 18:13-27

What motivated Moses to work so hard?

Sample answers may include…

  • Called by God: “…the people come to me to seek God’s will…”
  • He’s God’s mediator: “…I decide…and teach them God’s [ways]…”
  • Feels responsible for the people’s well being: “…show them [how] to live and behave…”
  • Fulfilling a big need: “…You must be the people’s representative before God…”
  • Possibly believes he’s the only one capable
  • Concerned it could fall apart if he stops
  • Doesn’t see another way: “…[Jethro replied] What you are doing is not good…”

Commentary: The point is that Moses had some great reasons and not-so-great  reasons for his workload and pace.

Why does Jethro say, “What you are doing is not good?”

Sample answers may include…

  • The workload and pace is unsustainable
  • Moses is wearing himself and others out
  • The work is too heavy to do alone
  • Moses’ work is important but the strategy was not effective
  • Moses wasn’t prioritizing his strength

Commentary: Remember, the nation of Israel that Moses led was roughly 2 million people.  So, Moses’ strategy was not only unsustainable but was also not effective, which makes Jethro’s advice even more important.

Look Out // 10 minutes

What energizes people?

Sample answers may include…

  • Being creative
  • Pursuing dreams
  • Connecting with family and friends
  • Achieving goals
  • Feeling a sense of purpose
  • Playing

And, what overwhelms people?

Sample answers may include…

  • Having too much to do
  • Not enough time
  • Always saying “yes”
  • Doing things alone
  • Not doing what’s important to them
  • Thinking, “Who else will do it?”
  • Not delegating

Leader note: The goal of this Look Out question is to set up the following Look In question.  Usually, we are energized when we have healthy priorities and overwhelmed when priorities get left out in life.  Help your group to really think about the things that energize and overwhelm people.

Look In // 15 minutes

What are the big “rocks” or priorities in your life?

Leader note: In Pastor Kenton’s message, he referred to an illustration by Stephen Covey in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  The illustration identified the big priorities or “rocks” in life such as: God/Faith, Family, Marriage, Health, Rest, Work, Finances, Friends, etc., and what it looks like to place them first.  Help your group identify what is important in their life or what they want to make a priority.  It may be helpful to have group members write them out so they can visualize them.

What does it look like when you lose sight of your priorities?

Leader note: Remember, it’s not about fitting more into your life but rather it’s about putting the big rocks in first.

Who is a Jethro in your life?

Leader note: Who is a person or persons that has the ability to speak into your life?  As a leader, take time to ask the group who is their Jethro and if they don’t have one then what steps could they take.

Live It Out // 5 minutes

What if you lived life by putting the big “rocks” first?  How would your life be different?  Who else could it impact?

Leader note: As you ask this question, go around the group and have them list one step they could take to put a big “rock” first.  For an experiment, follow up with the group to see how life was different because they took that step.

Key Verse(s): If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied. – Exodus 18:23

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. –Psalm 90:12

Key Thought: Without priorities, everything is a priority.

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.

Psalm 23 // Obsessed Wk 1

Lean In // 5 minutes

What posters were on your wall in high school?

Sample answers may include…

  • Cars/Trucks
  • Movies/Movie Stars
  • Athletes/Sports Teams
  • Singers/Bands
  • Travel Destinations

Leader note: Help your group remember some of the posters they or their friends hung on their walls when they were younger.  The goal of this question is get your group thinking about the ways we compare ourselves to others. You may want to say something along the lines of… “the truth is many of us tend to compare ourselves to those we look up to or to things we do or don’t have.”

Look Down // 10 minutes

Read Psalm 23

Circle the words or phrases that evoke emotion.

Sample answers may include…

  • “lack nothing”
  • “he leads me”
  • “green pastures”
  • “refreshes my soul”
  • “fear no evil”
  • “cup overflows”
  • “goodness and love will follow me”

Leader note: As your group reads Psalm 23, ask them to identify words or phrases that create emotion.  Then, give everyone an opportunity to name 2-3 words or phrases that made an impression on them.  This is an important step as the discussion will involve some of the words or phrases the group identifies.

Look Out // 10 minutes

What do people look forward to during the holiday season?

What can create tension during the season?

Sample answers may include…

  • Family
  • Money/Finances
  • Work
  • Marriage
  • Relationships/Loneliness
  • Future
  • Time

Leader note: After the group lists some things that people generally look forward to during the holiday season, help them list or categorize some things that might create stress or worry.  As the leader, you might want to help capture and categorize the different areas.

Look In // 15 minutes

What challenges are you facing this season?

Where can you apply Psalm 23 to those challenges?

Sample answers may include…

  • Money/Finances = “I lack nothing”
  • Job/Vacation = “He guides me”
  • Marriage = “My cup overflows”

Leader note: The holiday season tends to bring various areas of life into focus which can create thoughts, feelings, and emotions of all kinds.  Help your group to identify 2-3 areas of life to where they can apply a Psalm 23 word or phrase.  For example, “In my finances…I will lack nothing…”  Often, the area of life that creates the most emotion is the primary place that God wants to speak.  As the group “connects the dots”, encourage them to hold onto that Psalm 23 word or phrase through the season and beyond. 

Live It Out // 5 minutes

How will applying Psalm 23 impact your life and others this season?

Leader note: The work that God does individually has an impact on all of us collectively.  As your group identifies their area of life to apply the Psalm 23 word, help them to see how it will impact those around them—spouse, kids, co-workers, etc. 

Key Verse(s): The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. – Psalm 23:1

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.