! DNOW 2017 Small Group Leader Guide
Weekend Schedule: Friday, March 24 6:00 PM Arrive at FBC, drop off luggage, check-in 6:30 PM Dinner in the Fellowship Hall 7:15 PM Worship Session 1 9:00 PM Dismiss to host homes 10:00 PM Small Group Session 1 10:45 PM Free Time 11:30 PM Get Ready for Bed 12:00 AM Lights Out Saturday, March 25th 8:00 AM Wake Up, Breakfast in Host Homes 9:15 AM Depart for FBC 9:45 AM Worship Session 2 11:00 AM Small Group Session 2 12:00 PM Lunch in the Fellowship Hall 1:00 PM Service Project at I.G. Levy Park 2:45 PM Recreation at Ingalls Ave. Baptist 4:45 PM Return to Host Homes 6:00 PM Dinner in the Fellowship Hall 7:00 PM Worship Session 3 8:30 PM Small Group Session 3 9:30 PM Late Night Activity 10:45 PM Dismiss to Host Homes 12:00 AM Lights Out Sunday, March 26th Speak to your Student Pastor about your church s plan for Sunday School and church.
Small group leaders, Thank you so much for your willingness to give your weekend to serve students in Pascagoula! In my experience with DNOW events, some of the most valuable spiritual benefit comes in the relationship that develops between the small group leader and their students. Know that there are many people who will be praying for you as you love and serve your group. These three small group sessions are not meant to be a burden to you, but are to help guide you as you disciple students this weekend. You ll be in the main sessions, so as Ken leads us in the Word, try to add notes, highlights, questions etc. from his talk. If you want to skip, modify or add questions, that is fine! Students may bring up totally unrelated topics. Try to maintain control of the conversation, but meet the students where they are and let the Spirit and the Word guide you. Remember that the best thing you can do during small group time is to show the students in your group authentic love for Jesus, passion for the mission of the church, and profound dependence on God s word. Finally, the main theme of this weekend is Therefore Go. We want to pack that word therefore with as much meaning as we can from the Bible. We want our students to know that we go so that more people will worship God; we go because Jesus, our Savior, told us to go; and we go now, for the good of our neighbors. If I can sum up in one sentence what I want students to get out of this weekend it would be this: Whatever your age, the motivation of God s glory and the salvation of others should move you to be passionate about local and global missions. If you have any questions, feel free to ask your group s student Pastor or me. For His Name, David Easley 662-769-3325
Small Group Session One Friday Night Comments to the small group leader: Why am I here this weekend? That s the question we want to begin to answer tonight in our small groups. Your students may have signed up this weekend because they wanted something fun to do, because they had a crush coming, or because of the secret late night fun on Saturday night. Let s take whatever their reason for being here is and point them to Jesus! We want to help them have the right heart as they approach the remainder of the weekend. Also, know that with this being your first study time with your kids, it may take a little work to get them involved. The first question will ask students to go around the room. The goal is to get people talking. One tip for getting students to answer questions: They hate awkward silence worse than you do! Wait them out. While this has a limit, be sure and let the questions simmer long enough to let students think of answers and build the confidence to say them. Take a moment to pray together as a group before you start. Intro: 1. Let s start by getting to know each other. Let s go around the room and everyone tell me your name, your grade, and one thing you hope to get out of this weekend. 2. Someone share with me something you learned tonight while Ken was speaking? What stood out to you? (Let several people answer if they will.) NOTE: If your group wants to keep discussing what they learned in the session, let them have at it! Use the rest of these questions to help keep the conversation going if it starts to get quiet. Getting Started: How big of a deal is missions to God? How much does the idea show up in the bible? Why do we even care about missions? That s what we want to discuss tonight. Let s start at very beginning, turn to Genesis 1. Read Genesis 1:28 1. When God made Adam and Eve, they were very good, we might even say perfect. They worshiped God and walked with him. In Genesis 1, we find what s often called the creation mandate. QUESTION 1: God created people who loved and worshiped him. According to Genesis 1:28, how much of the earth did God want to fill with God loving, God worshiping people?
a. We want to see that from the very beginning, God had a plan to fill the whole earth with people who loved and worshiped him. QUESTION 2: What happens in Genesis 3 that changes everything? How did this affect the goal of a world filled with God loving, God worshiping people? a. SIN. When Adam and Eve sinned, they brought death and separation from God into the world. This means that as they multiplied and filled the earth they filled it with people who didn t love and worship God. From the very beginning, God had a plan to fill the earth with people who loved and worshiped Him. But sin caused a need for God to step in and rescue the people He created. God starts to reveal His rescue plan in a conversation with Abraham in Genesis 12. Read Genesis 12:1-3 QUESTION 3: Who is this guy Abram? Does anyone know another name that we know him by? a. Abraham! God changed Abram s name to remind him of the big promises he had made to him. QUESTION 4: God comes to Abraham and makes a big promise. He s going to make Abraham s family great. Who all does this promise to Abraham affect? Is it just for his family, or is God s plan bigger than that? How big is his plan for saving people? See Genesis 12:3 a. All the families of the earth! God had a big plan way back at creation to fill the earth with God loving, God worshiping people. b. When sin came into the world, we might think that God would shrink His plan for the whole globe, but not our God! When God stepped in to save us, He made it clear from the start, His plan of salvation is not just for Abraham and his family, it s for the whole world. Here s the point: God s plan for missions didn t start in the New Testament. It started with his plan at creation to fill the world with God worshipers. So, what about when Jesus comes on the scene? Did He continue the mission? Is missions just in the Old Testament or just in the New Testament? Read Psalm 96:3 & Revelation 7:9-12 Quote: Missions exist because worship does not. John Piper QUESTION 5: Based on the scriptures we just read, what do you think about this quote from John Piper? What does it mean that missions exist because worship does not?
a. We know that God deserves more worship and praise than we could ever give Him, we want more people to join us in worshiping him. So, we tell people, Look at our God! Look at how wonderful, and powerful, and beautiful, and gracious He is! QUESTION 6: We know one reason for missions is to be a part of God s plan to fill the earth with God loving, God worshiping people. What are some other reasons for sharing your faith? QUESTION 7: Do you find it hard to be motivated to be a part of God s mission sometimes? What did you learn tonight that inspires you to take our mission to share Christ more seriously? QUESTION 8: Who in your life do you think God might be calling you to share Jesus with? Does knowing that you get to invite them to be a part of God s big plan for the world help you be motivated to bring up your faith? This weekend, we ll keep diving into the theme Therefore Go. We want to be people who follow Jesus command to make disciples in all places. We want to do that faithfully in our homes, our schools, our city, and around the world. Take prayer requests and close in prayer.
Small Group Session Two Saturday Morning Pray with your group and ask the Lord to bless your time together. Intro: 1. Someone share with me something you learned this morning while Ken was speaking? What stood out to you? (Let several people answer if they will.) Remember: If your group wants to keep discussing what they learned in the session, let them have at it! Use the rest of these questions to help keep the conversation going if it starts to get quiet. Getting started: David Platt says, Every saved person this side of heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of hell. QUESTION 1: Have you ever thought about owing the gospel to lost people? How would it affect your life if you really believed you owed everyone who doesn t know the gospel the chance to know it? This morning we re going to dig a little deeper in the Matthew 28:17-20 and see what Jesus had to say about our call to the share the good news of the gospel with everyone. Read Matthew 28:17-20 Verse 17: Right before Jesus gives the command to go to all nations, the bible says, they worshipped Him. David Mathis says it like this: Missions is about the worship of Jesus. The goal of missions is the global worship of Jesus by his redeemed people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. The outcome of missions is all peoples delighting to praise Jesus. And the motivation for missions is the enjoyment that his people have in him. Missions aims at, brings about, and is fueled by the worship of Jesus. QUESTION 2: Based on what we learned last night and thinking about verse 17 and this quote, how are worship and missions connected? a. God s plan for the globe is for it to be filled with God loving, God worshiping people. It s when we worship Jesus for the King that He is that we find are ready to be commissioned to the mission.
QUESTION 3: Have you ever thought about how your worship of God and your call to tell others about Jesus are connected? How does this change the way you feel about worship? How does it change the way you feel about missions? Verse 18: a. Sometimes we may think that worship is something we do in church, and missions is something super Christians do around the world. The truth is, everyone who worships God has a part to play in inviting more people to worship Him. After the disciples worship Jesus, he begins his command to GO by saying, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. QUESTION 4: Why do you think Jesus starts his command to go with declaring His authority? What does Jesus authority have to do with our mission? a. First responses will likely include, He s in charge, so he can tell us to go. That is true! But keep prodding. John Stott once said: The fundamental basis of all Christian missionary enterprise is the universal authority of Jesus Christ, in heaven and on earth Only because all authority on earth belongs to Christ dare we go to all nations. And only because all authority in heaven as well is his have we any hope of success. QUESTION 5: How does knowing Jesus has authority give us confidence in missions? How does it make us think about going to dangerous places? How does it make us think about our chance of having success? Verses 19-20: We often call the words in this verse The Great Commission. This is the last recorded command we have from Jesus while he was on earth. That means we should listen up. QUESTION 5: Based on verse 19, in what places does God want us to share the gospel? NOTE: When the bible says, nations it is not talking about countries with flags and governments like we think of. It means something more like tribes. The International Mission Board (IMB) uses the term People Groups. These are groups of people who share a common language and culture. There are still 3,250 people groups that are considered unreached. Unreached means that less than 2% of the population is Christian. In these unreached people groups, people can be born, live their entire lives, and die without ever hearing the name of Jesus.
QUESTION 6: How does this information about unreached people add another motivation for missions? What is Jesus plan for making sure that the whole world hears about His good news? a. His plan is His people, the church. That s us. We all have a part to play in making disciples. Jesus saves us and sets us on mission. Without someone telling them, people will die without having made peace with God through Jesus, and they will spend eternity in hell. We have the news they need! There is salvation in Jesus. QUESTION 7: Verse 20 says we are to teach them to observe all that Jesus commanded. What does this tell us about our missions? Why would this make planting new churches and partnering with local churches an important part of missions? a. God s church is his way to raise up disciples. When we go, we want to help people learn to live the life Jesus called us to in the church, not just baptize people and leave them on their own. God has given us a huge mission as His church. This isn t one of our missions, it is our mission. This weekend, we want to commit together to play a part in God s plan for the nations. Spend some time praying that God would give your group a heart for missions and a clear sense of calling to play a part in His big plan.
Small Group Session Three Saturday Night Take a minute to pray with your group before you get started. Intro: 1. Someone share with me something you learned tonight while Ken was speaking? What stood out to you? (Let several people answer if they will.) 2. What is God doing in your heart so far this weekend? Remember: If your group wants to keep discussing what they learned in the session, let them have at it! Use the rest of these questions to help keep the conversation going if it starts to get quiet. Getting started: Have you ever thought about why God blesses His people? In His word, He tells us one of the reasons He blesses us is to empower us to complete His mission to fill the earth with God loving, God worshiping people. Last night, we looked at Genesis 12:1-3. Even back when God first made a promise to Abraham, He promised blessing for Abraham s family, and He promised that through Abraham s blessed family, all the families of the earth would be blessed. David knew about the promise to Abraham when he wrote Psalm 67. He knew about God s big plan for a world filled with people who loved and worshiped God. So, he wrote a song of praise to God, asking for blessing, so that all the nations would be blessed. Read Psalm 67: Verse 1: QUESTION 1: This song was sung by the people of God asking for blessing. What are some ways God has blessed you, your family, and your church? QUESTION 2: What does it mean to ask God to make His face shine upon us? a. God s face shining on us is like a father smiling at his child. This means he loves and favors us. It also means we are safe within his view. b. Encourage your students to talk about what this means for them in their lives. QUESTION 3: How do we know that God s face is shining on us? How do we know that when God looks at us, He loves and favors us instead of punishing us?
a. Jesus! Colossians 3:3, says that if we have given our lives to Christ, we are hidden with Christ in God. When God looks at people who have placed their faith in Jesus, He doesn t see our sin, He sees His perfect Son. b. This is the best blessing we could ask for! And we have it! We have a relationship with God. This blessing alone should drive us towards mission. We want to let others know how great our God is. For God s glory and for the good of all people, we want to be on mission with the gospel. Psalm 67 doesn t just ask for blessing, it points us towards God s purpose in blessing His people. Let s take a look at verses 2-3 Verses 2-3 QUESTION 4: As New Testament Christians, how do we participate in making His ways known on earth and His saving power known among the nations? a. Follow up question: Do you see a connection between the Great Commission in Matthew 28 and this Psalm? b. The church, as God s blessed people, goes into all nations to make disciples. Teaching them to obey all that Jesus commanded. That s making His ways and His saving power known! QUESTION 5: Verse 4 breaks out into the chorus of this Psalm. Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you. Talk for a minute about how God s blessing in your life (including salvation), drive missions and praise for God. What are some ways that God has blessed you, your family, and your church? How can you use those blessings to make His ways known on earth, and His saving power known among the nations? Verses 4-5 a. Try to draw each of your students out to get specific here. God has certainly blessed us. We want to work together to help each other see how we can use our blessings for God s mission. We commit to God s mission, not just so that God will be loved and praised, but because we want others to know the joy we have in knowing God! QUESTION 6: Verse 4 says, Let the nations be glad and sing for joy. What are some reasons why people might sing for joy after hearing the message of God s grace? a. The peace of knowing God, guilt being lifted, looking forward to heaven, knowing they are loved.we could go on and on!
QUESTION 7: John Piper said, Where do God-centered, Christ-exalting, missions-driven people come from? They come from God-[infatuated], Christ-addicted, Bible-breathing homes and churches. What does our own infatuation and addiction to God have to do with our passion for missions? a. Follow up question: Do you think your personal time with God in bible reading, and prayer, and your time with your church family hearing preaching and singing praises to God makes a difference in your heart for God s mission? b. When you find yourself not passionate about God s mission, what practical steps will you take to get back focused? We have learned some big motivations for missions! We ve learned that missions let s us be a part of God s big plan for the world, missions allows us to get more people praising our God who deserves all praise, missions is our way of obeying Jesus command to GO to all nations, missions let s us give people home and joy and peace with God. QUESTION 8: What are some ways that you can make this weekend count on Monday? What ways can you be a part of God s mission to bring joy to all people at home and at school? Ask students to share prayer requests of ways they want to take what they learned this week home. Spend some time in prayer asking God to help you live out his mission in your daily lives.