Contents Week 6: November 28/29 Quick- Connect Discussion Guide Message Recap Use the questions in the Quick- Connect section if your group is already studying something else, and won t be using the full discussion guide. Use the Discussion Guide for a full small- group experience. This section includes an opening prayer, questions, next steps, and a closing prayer. This section includes a written recap of the weekend s message to help your group remember key points. Quick- Connect Guide Use the questions in this section if your group is already studying something else and won t be using the full discussion guide. Where did you see evidence of God s presence this last week? Which of the stops along the road trip Bill took us on resonated most with you? Why?
Discussion Guide 1 Opening Prayer Father in heaven, thank You for the ability to gather together. Open our hearts to hear what You have to say to us. Guide our time and our words. Amen. Discussion Questions Use some or all of the discussion questions below, in whatever manner you find helpful based on your group s needs. The Message Recap might help your group to prepare or to remember key points of the message at various points during the discussion. Message Recap Host Resources Getting Started Where did you see evidence of God s presence this week? Is there anything you want to share about the Next Step you committed to last week? The Basics Which of the stops along the road trip Bill took us on resonated most with you? Why? Read Ephesians 5:18 21 and 6:10 18 aloud as a group. What role has alcohol abuse or inebriation played in your family or your life? What role has worship music played in your life as a Christ- follower? Is there a particular song that has captured your heart recently? Play it for the group and share why it s meaningful to you. What emotion(s) does the section of Ephesians about mutual submission trigger for you? Why? How would you rate your overall level of fear these days high, medium, low? What specifically are you afraid of? How is fear impacting your decisions and behaviors? How do you think Jesus would counsel you about your fear?
Discussion Guide 2 A Little Deeper As a group, read Ephesians 6:10 18 and then read the following: Paul reminds us in this passage that there is more going on in the world than what we can see with our eyes warfare rages in the spiritual realm and standing firm in our faith is harder than we might think. Paul teaches as Jesus did that Satan seeks to plant doubt and fear in our hearts and prevent the spread of God s love and His message of redemption and grace. But we have been given the tools to defend against these schemes the truth of the gospel, the righteousness that comes with an identity in Christ, the message of peace, the shield of faith, a helmet of salvation, and a gospel sword. Share a time you have experienced the reality of spiritual warfare. How did you respond? In what Quick areas Connect of your life are you vulnerable to attack by Message the evil one? Recap (Are you discouraged? Host Resources Making decisions out of fear? Coping with Suspendisse pain in lobortis, unhealthy quam ways?) How can we, as a group, In lacinia, pray enim for sed and luctus support you? What step do you ac need euismod to sodales, take to diam stand firm? turpis luctus nunc, vel porta mauris enim quis ipsum. Next Steps ultricies, velit odio tempor mauris, in aliquet nunc sem tempor nisi. Vestibulum sodales. Review the next steps below and consider which one or ones each member of the group would like to commit to for the upcoming week (and beyond). Pray and Journal. Paul said to respond to spiritual warfare and evil with prayer. Journal about the fear or anxiety you are struggling with in your heart based on what is happening in the world or in your life. Is there an area of your life in which you need to remember John s words ( greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world )? With all the faith you have and with perseverance, bring your heart before God Abba Father in prayer. Use Bill s words if they help: God, would you bring peace soon to our troubled world? Make Music in Your Heart to the Lord. Find a song that touches your heart and allow it to fill your mind, heart, and soul as an offering of worship to and a way to commune with God. Practice Submitting Out of Reverence to Christ. Is there an area in your life marriage, work, friendships, children, parents, community in which you need to set aside your title, perceived authority, or entitlement mindset and put a serving towel over your arm? Out of reverence to Christ, practice submission and service this week in that area. Take a Step toward Recovery. If you are wondering if you drink too much or take another drug (prescription or otherwise) too often, take a step toward recovery by coming to Willow on Wednesday evenings for Recover. Also, read Coming Clean: A Story of Faith, by Seth Haines.
Discussion Guide 3 Closing Prayer Pray for whatever difficulties or needs were shared during your time together and have someone close that time by reading the prayer below. Lord, thank You for Your word and for speaking truth to us through Paul. We want to be people who live in the reality of the freedom that Jesus secured for us free of addiction, free to worship and sing, free to serve humbly, and free of fear. We pray with all the faith we have for Your help when we struggle whether against our own brokenness and ego or against forces of evil on earth or in the heavenly realms. Remind us of the tools you have equipped us with and come to our aid. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit and may we always be found with the message of Jesus and peace in our minds, hearts, and hands. Amen. Quick Connect Notes Message Recap Host Resources This material is protected by U.S. Copyright Law and is for your own personal use. Any further use requires permission. Contact Kellye Fabian at Willow Creek Community Church with your request.
Message Recap 1 Bill Hybels Scripture: Ephesians 5:18 6:20 This week, we are going on a road trip through 32 verses of Ephesians chapters 5 and 6. We will make four stops a roadside saloon, orchestra hall, a home, and a military base. First Stop: A Roadside Saloon Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) Many churches teach an anti- alcohol faith. In his church growing up, Bill heard many sermons about the evils of alcohol and no one in his family or church community drank alcohol. But as he got older, he began to see a tension between what he had been taught and stories in the Message Bible. Wine Recap was a staple ingredient in many festivals and celebrations in the Old Testament; Jesus incorporated wine into the sacrament of communion at the Last Supper; and Jesus first recorded miracle was of Him turning water into wine for people who had already drunk their host s supplies dry. The key question is: Should followers of Jesus drink alcohol or not? To answer this, we must look at Paul s words and see what is actually restricted imbibing in alcohol or inebriation? Paul is clear that it is drunkenness that is forbidden. In Scripture, this is always the case, whereas drinking in moderation is, for the most part, permitted. In our country, 30% of all traffic fatalities are alcohol related and during the holidays, that number jumps to 64%. Local police officers know that between 10pm and 1am on Friday and Saturday nights, at least in the Chicagoland area, the majority of drivers are inebriated. Bill s plea is that today, you would make the decision to never drink and drive. Bill s son, Todd, lost his best friend years ago to a drinking related car accident. Six of Bill s college friends died in a drunk driving accident. We should never drive after even one drink or get into a car with someone who has been drinking. Alcohol is not evil in and of itself, but in Paul s words, drinking too much leads to debauchery bad decisions and bad behaviors. Just ask the people who work in emergency rooms how many of the injuries they see relate in some way to alcohol. Paul offers an alternative to getting drunk on alcohol. He says: fill yourself up with the Holy Spirit. Doing so leads only to good decisions and behaviors. You will never regret being filled with the peace, joy, and power of the Holy Spirit. Second Stop: Orchestra Hall Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18b 20) This text bears witness to the fact that Christianity has been and will always be a singing faith. From Genesis to Revelation, we read of God s people lifting their voices together in gratitude to God for His goodness and grace. In the Old Testament, we read of festivals when people sang joyfully to God for days on end.
Message Recap 2 Bill Hybels Right after Jesus established the sacrament of communion at the Last Supper, He said to His disciples: let s sing together. In this passage of Ephesians, Paul issues a challenge sing, make music in your heart to the Lord. Of course, we should lift our voices and sing whenever we gather together. God has only ever given us His best, so when we stand to sing, there is only one kind of singing we can do our best singing. But how many of us are following Paul s exhortation to make music in our hearts to the Lord every day? Bill shared his practice of choosing a song for a season and saturating his heart with it by playing it over and over so that it will sink in deeply. About two years ago, the weight of his responsibilities as pastor and leader began to feel too heavy. So he decided to lean into music more to get out of his hyperactive, driven mind and allow something to get into his heart. Shortly after the 40th Anniversary, he began listening to the song Abba. Abba is a word Jesus used to refer to His Father. The term connotes a close, personal relationship with a person as opposed to a distant deity. (You can watch Brandon Grissom sing Abba on willowcreek.tv). Bill discovered that Quick the reason Connect this song registered so deeply with him was because for Willow s Host 40 Resources years, from a parental standpoint, he never really felt Suspendisse like he belonged lobortis, quam to anyone. He was not close with his mother and his ac euismod sodales, diam father passed away when he was young. Through this song, he realized that he has always belonged and will turpis luctus nunc, vel always belong to the Father Abba. There is power in music. It can touch our hearts in ways that other things cannot. porta mauris enim quis ipsum. Third Stop: A Home Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21) This verse and the 20 or so verses that follow describe how spouses, children and parents, and employees and employers should treat each other with mutual submission. As we think about a home, Paul s words tell us that every relationship inside that home would improve significantly if every person who lived there would make a conscious and courageous decision to submit to the others in the house out of reverence for Christ. Paul tells us to put aside our rights and privileges in order to humbly serve the others in love. The One whose name we bear Jesus Christ put aside His rights and privileges to humbly serve us in love. He left the security and riches of heaven to serve us and die an atoning death on our behalf. Paul says that out of reverence for what Jesus did, we should set aside our rights and privileges in order to humbly serve one another in love. This is especially challenging given that we live in a time when our rights really matter to us we sue each other if someone doesn t recognize our rights and privileges. Often this goes too far. Bill shared the story of a lawsuit two siblings brought against their mother for enforcing curfew and failing to put cash in their birthday cards. Paul asks every Christ follower this question: Has anybody ever set aside his rights and privileges to humbly serve you in love? And he answers: Yes! Jesus did this for you at great cost to Himself. So, out of reverence for Him, when you get home, when you greet extended family, or when you walk into work or worship, would you consider setting aside your title, position, perceived authority, and entitlement mindset and putting a serving towel over your arm?
Message Recap 3 Bill Hybels Fourth Stop: A Military Base Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Host Resources (Ephesians 6:10 18) These words from Paul seem dramatic, but Jesus said that the evil one comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) And Peter said that the evil one is on the prowl. (1 Peter 5:8) We are at war. The forces of evil work 24/7 in opposition to every single thing God is trying to move ahead in this world. From time to time when Bill feels discouraged, the Holy Spirit reminds him that there is a cosmic conflict being waged that is real and serious. Paul tells us that in response we are to put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, we can stand our ground. If you watch the news these days, it feels like we are in the days of evil we see nearly constant reports of terrorism, racism, shootings, refugees, sex trafficking. It is hard not to wonder whether the wrong side is winning. What are we to do in these times? Paul says we are to pray and his words reflect urgency he says, "pray all kinds of prayers! God registers each and every one of them. Bill shared that he has added this sentence to his prayers: God, would you bring peace soon to our troubled world? Although a cosmic conflict is being waged, the faces of evil are vicious, powerful, and on the move, and that the evil one would like to wreak havoc in individuals lives, we are not to be discouraged or lose hope. As the Apostle John said, Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4, NASB) We do not need to be worried that we are out- gunned. We do not need to wonder if we are alone in the fight. We do not need to worry that we are going to lose this battle. We know how history is going to end and we must live out this verse. We know that the Holy Spirit in us is greater than the threat in the world. (Listen to We Are No Longer Slaves on willowcreek.tv) This material is protected by U.S. Copyright Law and is for your own personal use. Any further use requires permission. Contact Kellye Fabian at Willow Creek Community Church with your request.