On The Road To Better (part 2): Spring Starts In Winter

TO START

Have you ever really wanted something you had to wait a long time to get? What was it? How’d you handle the waiting? Share with the group.

 

DISCUSSION

Have you ever been in a place where it just seemed like God wasn’t coming through on something you thought he said He’d do? Share with the group.

  • What did you expect God to do that He wasn’t doing?
  • How did it feel?
  • What questions did you have?

As we read about David on Sunday, we said that David doesn’t know what God’s up to, but he continues to have faith that God’s up to something.

  • Have you ever watched someone do that, go through something really hard with steady faith? Tell the group about it.

Nothing starts full-grown. Everything starts as a seed. Look for the seeds in your own life. What do you see God planting in you right now?

  • Have you noticed God planting anything in the people around you? Your family? Maybe some of your fellow small group members?

Once we recognize that God’s planting something in us, it’s our job to water it and protect it. What would that look like for you? Consider your seeds and figure out how you can help them grow. Share some practical steps with the group.

Think of a way you’re strong now that you used to be weak. See if you can look back and find the first seeds God might have been planting in His efforts to grow you. When did your transformation really begin? What do you think spurred it? What efforts of yours helped it grow?

Justin said on Sunday, “What we need is not complete protection from difficult things, or a life void of disappointment. What we need is hope.”

  • Why is hope what we need?
  • How does hope make it better?

This world is full of small things that are pregnant with divine potential. How can we do a better job of celebrating the small things God is doing? Give a few examples.

 

SCRIPTURE READING

Read Galatians 3: 26-29.

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

What does it mean that we’re Abraham’s seed?

If we are Abraham’s seed how long ago did God plant us, beginning the process of bringing us to salvation? How does that make you feel?

Consider the hereditary seed God’s sowing through you personally. How can you protect what’s God’s growing in your family? Practically speaking, how can you help your children or grandchildren, nieces or nephews grow in Christ right now? What about your possible/potential children? Think of both things you can do personally and things you can do collectively.

 

PRAYER

Together, pray this paraphrase of Psalm 142. Break the Psalm into parts and have each member pray a little (you'll probably need to print copies or text it to everyone):

We cry aloud to You, Lord;

We  lift up our voices to You for mercy.

We pour out before You our complaint;

To You, Lord, we tell our troubles.

When our spirits grows faint within us,

It is You who watches over our way.

In the path where we walk

We find snares of all kinds..

Look and see, God, sometimes it feels like we’re all alone;

Like we have no safe place;

We feel alone and misunderstood and vulnerable.

That’s why we cry to you, Lord;

You are our refuge,

All we need and all we’re promised here on earth.

Listen to our cry,

For we have desperate needs;

Rescue us from the forces of darkness,

For they are too strong for us.

Set us free from the prison of disappointment,

Of sadness, of loneliness, of loss, of guilt, of pain,

That we may praise your name.

We will find belonging and community among the righteous

Because of your goodness to us.

 

FOR FUN:

Have a discussion about the myth of “overnight success.” Consider these words from KIND bar founder Daniel Lubetzky: http://www.inc.com/daniel-lubetzky/what-overnight-success-really-looks-like.html

  • Are you expecting overnight success?
  • Is overnight success even possible?
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