Be Fearless

There are no flow questions this week due to a guest speaker. Take time this week to look at the Be Fearless Campaign, reminding your group that is who we are called to be as a Mariners Life Group. Our goal is 100% participation… everyone giving, everyone serving as response to the generosity we have received form God!

We are called to fearlessly impact our community. In 2013, we began BE FEARLESS. Through this generosity campaign, so far we have raised over $1.5 million and served thousands of hours to benefit those in Orange County and around the world. It’s time to BE FEARLESS again.

Through giving $39.95 (or more) or serving at one of these opportunities, you can
make a difference.

Serving Opportunities:

Boys and Girls Club Work Project Irvine

Date: Saturday, March 7
Time: 8:30am – 12pm
Location: 295 E. Yale Loop, Irvine, CA 92604
Details: We will be doing some painting, cleaning and light repair work in the interior of the Boys & Girls Club facilities. Please meet at Boys & Girls Club and wear comfortable clothing! Ages 7+

Kids Around The World

Date: Saturday, March 7
Time: 10:30am – 1pm
Location: Mariners Church, Irvine Campus
Details: Kids Around the World partners with local churches, schools and other organizations to provide food for other countries. In response to the current food crisis in Liberia, we are partnering with them to help package meals for distribution. Families and children are welcome. All ages.

Lighthouse Community Centers Work Project

Date: Saturday, March 21
Time: 8:30am – 12:30pm
Location: 1010 Minnie St., Santa Ana, CA 92701
Details: We will be working alongside the community members of Minnie St. to beautify the community center and surrounding neighborhood by painting, cleaning, tending to the community garden and more! Meet in the Upper Room at Mariners Church at 8:30a. Transportation will be provided. Wear comfortable work clothes and pack your sunscreen and water bottle. Ages 7+

Medical Clinic at Christian Arabic Church

Date: Saturday, March 21
Time: 8am – 3pm
Location: 662 N. Gilbert, Anaheim, CA 92804
Details: Provide basic medical care for those in need. By bringing these vitally needed services, our hope and prayer is to spread the gospel message throughout the world and be a force for change. Wear comfortable work clothes and pack your sunscreen and water bottle. Lunch will be provided! Ages 18+

Matthew 25:31-46 // Do Good, Be Generous

Lean In // 5 minutes

Leader note: This week a simple question and image has polarized people into two camps. Click the link below and have group members answer the question. Make sure to watch your time as the question is simply intended to be fun and create energy. Don’t spend more than 5 minutes on the question.

Click here: White/Gold or Black/Blue?

What color is the dress?

Look Down // 10 minutes

Read Matthew 25:31-46

What separates sheep from goats?

Sample answers may include…

Sheep respond with:
- Action- food for the hungry & water for the thirsty
- Engaging the stranger
- Compassion- visiting the prisoner
- Care for the sick
- Obedience- Serving others is the same as serving Jesus
- Seeing and identifying with the “least of these”

Goats respond with:
- In-action
- Indifference
- Complacency
- Rationalization- “why” help is not needed
- Self-centeredness
- Belief that the least are unimportant

What’s the surprise in the story?

Commentary: The surprise is found in how the people responded to the poor, needy, marginalized, and broken.

Look Out // 10 minutes

Who are the “least of these” in our world today?

Sample answers could include…

Hungry/Thirsty – Physically hungry/thirsty, seeking fulfillment & life
Stranger – Outsider, the immigrant, marginalized,
Without clothes – Homeless, vulnerable, human trafficking
Sick – Mentally ill, shut-in, physically handicap
Prisoner – Addicts, broken, indebted, broken relationships, depressed

Leader note: Go through each of the categories Jesus highlights in the passage and put together a full list of who would be included in each one before moving on to the next question. Consider the emotional, physical, spiritual, geographical, financial, and relational factors.

An experiment: Integrating Love, Truth, Justice, & Peace

Leader note: We tend to lean toward one characteristic more than the others. So, when we see a person described as “the least of these” we tend to react with love, truth, justice, or peace.

As a Look Out experiment, choose a category from the “least of these” question (listed above) and divide your group into four groups. Depending on their category, group members will only give voice for either love, truth, justice, or peace. So, group members in the love category will speak up for the “least of these” through only a perspective of love while group members in the truth category will give voice for their perspective through a lens of truth, and so on and so forth.

*Please remind everyone that it is only an experiment!

Sample Story: Mike pulls up to a traffic light and discovers a person standing on the side of the road holding a sign. The Love Group responds by finding a way to help the person by rolling down the window and giving them something. The Truth Group responds by thinking, “They made decisions that have led to this circumstance and I know that helping can only further the hurt.” The Justice Group responds by advocating for the poor and needy and how they never received the same opportunities as others. And, the Peace Group responds by trying to harmonize the different ways to help the person in need.

Look In // 15 minutes

Leader note: With the definitions of the “least of these” listed above and in mind, lead group members through these questions. Don’t let the group settle for just the usual talking points like homelessness or immigration. Rather, encourage group members to go deeper.

Where have you recently seen someone in need? How did you respond?

What could it look like to integrate love, truth, justice, & peace for those in need?

Leader note: As the leader, pay attention to group member’s stories and themes so that you can possibly respond to helping those in need as a group.

How could your group respond to the needs in your community?

Live It Out // 5 minutes

What would happen in our community and world if we unleashed good deeds and generosity?

Leader Note: This weekend is our Be Fearless campaign where we are unleashing good deeds and generosity. If you are looking for opportunities to serve, please click this link: Be Fearless. There are five events to serve with one goal in mind: To fearlessly change the world for Jesus Christ. Here are the events:

Saturday, March 7-

Boys and Girls Club Work Project Irvine – 8:30a-12n
Kids Around The World – 10:30a-1p

Saturday, March 14-

Boys and Girls Club Work Project Costa Mesa – 8:30a-12n

Saturday, March 21-

Lighthouse Community Centers Work Project – 8:30a- 12:30p
Medical Clinic at Christian Arabic Church – 8a- 3p

Key Verse(s): For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. – Matthew 6:21

Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. – 1 Timothy 6:18

Key Thought: Do good for those who can’t and won’t do anything for you.

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.

Luke 3:3-14 // Be Fearless: How To Start A Revolution Wk 2

Introduction // 5 minutes

What’s a person or event in history you’d like to meet or visit and why?

Sample answers may include…

William Wilberforce
Gettysburg address
Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech

What would you tell the people living in that context?

Leader Note: When living in a historical moment most people tend the miss the weight and significance of what they are faced with. For others they are so blind by the current state of culture and society (example; the abolishment of slavery movement) that they can’t imagine that things can or even should change.

With the gift of historical hindsight what would you tell the people, what would you encourage them not to miss?

Observation // 15 minutes

Read Luke 3:3-9

What does John the Baptist say about preparing for the Lord’s coming?

Sample answers may include…

That the people should be baptized and repent of their sins (v.3)
To let their lives show that they have repented, turned their ways (v.8)
To not rely on their heritage but to live lives that show repentance (v.8)
To produce “good fruit” (v.9)

Read Luke 3:9-14

What does “good fruit” look like in the passage?

Sample answers may include…

Giving your shirt to the poor, generous living (v.11)
Sharing your good with the hungry, sacrificial living (v.11)
Collect no more money than you’re owed, just living (v.13)
To not use your power for corruption (v.14)
Living without greed (v.14)

Leader Note: Raise the point to your group that John does not say… go to the temple or read the words of the prophets. John basically says to live generously and justly. To provide for those who need provision and protect those that need protection. To be mindful of the poor and powerless. This is what “good fruit” looks like… a repented heart in action spending themselves on others who are incapability or paying them back.

Understanding // 10 minutes

What causes people to miss Jesus today?

Sample answers may include…

Greed
Pride
Self-centeredness
Religious living without care for others

Leader Note: The crowds asked John “What should we do?” They wanted to know how to get ready for Jesus, how to not miss him. John clearly says that the best way to see Jesus is to live a generous and just life. Anything that falls outside of those categories can potential cause us to miss seeing Jesus.

Application // 10 minutes

How will you experience Jesus?

Leader Note: You may also ask the question this way… “If experiencing Jesus is clearly done in the context of generous and just living, then what would it look like for you to live that way and what holds you back?”

Live It Out // 5 minutes

What if we lived out generosity and justice? Who would see Jesus and what could the impact be?

Prayer: Pray for compassion to see what Jesus sees. Pray for boldness to enter into places that we may not want to go. Pray for any form of pride or selfishness to be uprooted in our hearts so that we may fully display, with our actions the power of repentance and the power of the Gospel within us.