Small Group Guide Week of March 5, 2017 Sermon Subject: Believe and Repent Week 6 of Never Go Back Small Group Leader Instructions: Before the Group Meeting 1) Spend time engaging the Passages for Study with prayer. 2) Read through all of the material. a. As you look through it, you will find helpful resources in the Resources for Small Group Leaders section that will allow you to facilitate the discussion better. 3) Think through ways you can help your group apply what is being taught instead of simply knowing what s been taught. a. Write down a few ideas. At the Group Meeting 1) Kick off the Group with an Ice Breaker from the list provided. a. Feel free to use one of your own icebreaker questions. 2) Summarize the Message Summary. a. You can read the Message Summary aloud if that is helpful. 3) Walk your group through each question (or the ones that time permits). 4) Discuss the Reflection section. a. You can read this section out loud if it is helpful. 5) Share your thoughts on how you and your group can begin to apply what was learned in this lesson. 6) Before you end the small group, close in prayer. a. You can read the prayer given to you if it is helpful.
WEEK 6 Ice Breakers: 1) First or Worst a. Everyone goes around the room and tells what they did for his/her first or worst job. 2) Four C s- Playing "Four C's" is a nice way to get people to find out what they have in common. a. Ask each person has to write on a piece of paper or index card his/her favorite: candy, country (place you want to visit), cuisine and closet dream. b. The papers or cards are shuffled and redistributed. c. Each person has to read aloud the contents of the card given to him or her and guess the person who wrote it. Big Idea of the Series: If there are things in your life you never want to go back to, you are not alone. We all have made decisions, been in relationships, developed habits, or lived a season of life that we never want to repeat or relive again. Sometimes God gives us revelations that change the course of our lives and once we have them, we never go back to the old ways of doing things. And when that happens we are never the same. Passages for Study: Romans 1:16-17; Philippians 3:12-14 Message Summary: As we wrap up this series, the launching pad each week has been Paul s statement in Philippians 3. Because Jesus made me his own, I am forgetting what is in the past and straining and moving toward what is ahead. This isn t a statement of selfeffort, this is a statement of surrender. I don t press on to earn something; I press on because I am something. The gospel is this: we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. If we forget what is behind, and strain toward what is ahead, Paul is talking about two different realities. 1) FORGETTING WHAT IS BEHIND. Sin is the reason we want to forget the past. We all are sinners, but sin is deeper than the choices we make. Sin isn t just external choices. It is an internal nature (Romans 5).
The most difficult part of the Gospel, but at the same time incredibly freeing, is that there is nothing you can do on your own to remedy your sin. 2) STRAIN TOWARD WHAT IS AHEAD. No man or woman gets to let go of their past and move toward a life of freedom and significance apart from Jesus Christ. The saving response toward Christ is now and has always been belief and repentance in the Gospel. Belief- Jesus is who He says he is and did for me what I couldn t do for myself. Repentance- means reversing your direction based on who you understand Jesus to be. It is belief in action. Repentance is not confession. Sometimes confession is just our religious way of being sorry for sin because of its consequences. Repentance is a change of mind that coincides with the change of heart. Paul believed that what started his relationship with Jesus sustained his relationship with Jesus belief and repentance (Romans 1:16-17). Every person in this room was saved because they believed and repented. Every person in this room will grow and change because they continually believe and repent. Because of the work of Jesus on the cross, Jesus has slammed the door on our past. Our past is our past and God doesn t see us, deal with us, or relate with us based on what we ve done. God sees us, loves us, relates with us based on His Son Jesus Christ. God has shut the door on our past. Our problem is that we, not God, repeatedly open the door to our past. Eternal forgiveness becomes daily freedom when we choose the path of repentance. Discussion Questions: 1) Looking back at your notes from week 6 of Never Go Back. Was there anything that particularly caught your attention, challenged or spoke to you? 2) What are different definitions and uses of the word gospel in today s culture? In the church? 3) Can you have confession without repentance or vice-versa? Explain your answer. (See Resource section to help in answering this question.) 4) What does it look like as a follower of Jesus to daily surrender your life to Christ? 5) Do you fear what a lifestyle of full surrender might cost you? What fears might people have about fully surrendering every aspect of their lives to God? 6) If surrender is the answer to freedom in Christ, why do you think so many people choose the way of self-effort instead? 7) Would anyone like to share what they wrote or would have wrote on the chalkboard that they never want to go back to? Why did you write that?
8) Based on what Pastor Jason taught on, what action do you need to take to strain toward what s ahead and forget what is behind? 9) This message wrapped up the Never Go Back series. What was your biggest takeaway or challenge from this series? What has changed in your life because of this series? Reflection Questions: 1) Is the gospel the center point of your entire life, or have you relegated it to a certain part of your past, present, or future? 2) What part of your past are you opening the door to even though God has shut the door on your past? #faithinaction: (post this on your groups Facebook page this week) Repentance means reversing your direction based on who you understand Jesus to be. It is a change of mind that coincides with a change of heart. What do you know you need to repent of daily? Resources for Small Group Leaders: REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION: Overcoming Sinful Strongholds By Charles F. Stanley Many of us have found ourselves repeatedly confessing the same sin to God, wondering why we can t overcome it. At times like these, we feel trapped in Romans 7:15, For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. First John 1:9 assures us that if we confess our sins, God will forgive us, but merely confessing may not bring us victory. What is missing? What will help us get out of this cycle? The missing link is genuine repentance. What is repentance? Repentance is heartfelt sorrow for sin followed by a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ. It s not merely feeling remorse or guilt but changing direction. It includes a recognition that sin is against almighty God and is utterly wrong. When we have truly repented, the result is a changed life. We forsake our former ways and return to the Lord (Isa. 55:7). Repentance is essential for believers. Sin does not fit in our lives because God has predestined that we become conformed to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). Whenever we sin, the indwelling Holy Spirit convicts us so we can confess and repent. We should never ignore, tolerate, accept, or practice what we know to be sinful. It not only offends God, but also hurts us.
What does confession mean? Confession means agreeing with God that what we did was wrong. But that alone will not keep us from repeating it. That s why repentance should always be a part of confession. We are called to live a sanctified life, one that is set apart for God and His purposes. Confession and repentance are an important part of sanctification. THE GOSPEL IS NOT JUST THE DIVING BOARD; IT S THE POOL by Pastor J.D. Greear Christianity teaches something fundamentally different than every other religion. Every other religion says that if you change, you will be accepted. But Christianity says, Because you have been accepted, therefore change. Christianity doesn t proclaim good advice, but good news. And that news transforms us from the inside out. This is by no means an intuitive truth. And those of us in the church tend to forget it quite a bit. For many evangelicals, the gospel functions solely as the entry rite into Christianity; it is the prayer we pray to begin our relationship with Jesus; the diving board off of which we jump into the pool of the real Christian life. The gospel, however, is not just the diving board off of which we jump into the pool of Christianity; it is the pool itself. It is not only the way we begin in Christ; it is the way we grow in Christ. As Tim Keller says, the gospel is not just the ABCs of Christianity, but it is the A Z. All of the Christian life flows from the good news of what Jesus has done. That s why growth in Christ is never going beyond the gospel, but going deeper into the gospel. The purest waters from the spring of life are found by digging deeper, not wider, into the gospel well. The gospel of grace is a radically unique and liberating message in a world of religious commands and restrictions. But it s the only message that can really change us. Religion might be able to force outward conformity... for a while. But religion can never transform the heart. To borrow Jesus metaphor, it cleans the outside of the cup, but leaves the inside filthy. Believing that you ve been accepted by grace, though, transforms you in a fundamentally different way in an organic way. It does two things in your heart that religion could never do: 1. It gives you peace and security with God, which produces love for God. In John 14:18, Jesus said, I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. A faithful father does not leave his kids wondering whether or not he loves them. When I have to go away on a trip, I don t say to my kids, Daddy will be back soon... or maybe he won t. Maybe I m not your daddy at all. You ll just have to wait and see if I come
back. Sit around and think about that while I m gone, and let that compel you to become better children. That wouldn t produce love and loyalty in my children. It might produce a little fearbased obedience, but it s only a matter of time until fear-based obedience turns into father-loathing rebellion. God doesn t want that for us any more than we want that for our own kids. He wants us to be at peace with him, and that begins by recognizing his compassion for us. Understanding the love of God is the only thing that can truly inspire love for God. 2. It releases power in your life. There are only two things that the Apostle Paul ever calls the power of God. One is the gospel; the other is Jesus Christ himself. The same power that surged through Jesus ministry during his time on earth is available to us today. It s the power of the Holy Spirit, and it comes into our lives when we believe the gospel. As Paul put it, when we behold the glory of God in the face of Christ, we are transformed into glory (2 Cor 3:18-4:14). All it takes is a look. Look to me, Jesus says, and live! So at the Summit, we will constantly and loudly and unashamedly talk about the gospel. No Bible lesson is complete without it, because without the story of God s grace the Bible can become instructions to obey without the power to obey. No ministry strategy will take off without the gospel, because we aren t running a business based on pragmatics; we re responding to God s lavish grace with open hands. Nothing we do should ever lack a gospel-motivation and a gospel-focus.