Creative Community

When has someone gone out of their way to help you? When was the last time you've received an unexpected gift? What did you do with it? Read Mark 2:1-12. Which part of this story do you like the most? Are there parts of this story that you do not like? What questions do you have about this story? Why do you think the four men brought the paralytic to Jesus? What did they expect he would do? How do you think they responded when Jesus said, "Your sins are forgiven"? If you were the paralyzed man, how would you have reacted when Jesus said, "Your sins are forgiven"? When the religious leaders accused Jesus of blaspheming (because only God can forgive sins), he asked them a question (verse 9). What is the right answer to Jesus' question? Why? Were this man's sins forgiven? Did Jesus have authority to forgive sins? Why did Jesus think it was important to heal the man? How do you think people responded when Jesus healed the man? Which was more imp...

The following thoughts on discipleship are from Rick Warren : Not too long after John the Baptist baptized Jesus, he saw the Lord walking by and said to a couple of his disciples, “There goes the lamb of God. You need to follow him.” Andrew and John started following Jesus and they asked, “Where are you going, Lord?” Jesus answered — “Come and see.” You can’t ask for an easier commitment than that -- just come and see . That’s where you and I need to start in our churches as we offer an open door to the people throughout our communities. That’s what you tell people about your weekend service – Check us out. Come and see. Listen to our music. Hear the message. You don’t have to sing anything, sign anything, or say anything. No significant commitment required . We offer an open door for people to “come and see,” one that is easy to understand and participate in. But we can’t leave them there at that simple commitment level. Jesus didn’t. Over three-and-a-half ...

When have you missed out on something you really wanted? When have you been excluded from a group or activity of which you had hoped to be a part? What kinds of people get excluded from God's kingdom? Why? Have different people read each of the following sections of Matthew 7: verses 13-14 verses 15-20 verses 21-23 verses 24-27 Each of these passages highlights a kind of person who is "right" and a kind of person who is "wrong". Use the following questions to discuss what it means to be right with God and what it means to be wrong with God. What do you think is the "narrow gate" which leads to life? Why do you think Jesus calls it "narrow"? How have you experienced or observed that the narrow way is "difficult"? How would you describe the "wide gate" and the "easy road"? Do you think many church attenders are following the wide road? Why or why not? What is some of the bad fruit you might see in ...

At the Small Group Dynamics web site , Sam O'Neil wrote this brief article that he was concerned he might take some heat for. What do you think? As part of a download I'm working on called "Leading a Life-Changing Bible Study," I'm writing up an article on the topic of what it means to be a small-group leader. And for part of that article I try to define what a small-group leader is not. Here's the list I came up with. A small-group leader is not: * A teacher. We all understand that small-group leaders should not be lecturers who monopolize the group's time by spewing out facts and opinions. But I use the word teacher here intentionally in order to highlight an important misconception: many group leaders believe that the focus of their group's study time should be the transfer of information. They feel that a study is successful if their group members have learned something. But that is not the case, as we will see later in the article. * Just ano...

When has someone else done something to help or hurt your reputation? How did you respond? What kinds of things do people regularly do to increase their own reputation? Read Matthew 6:1-18. Break up into three groups. Have one group study "giving", one group study "praying", and one group study "fasting". Each group should answer the following three questions about their topic. 1. What warnings does Jesus give about how NOT to do this? 2. What instructions does Jesus give about how TO do this? 3. How do you think this activity can help someone grow in their faith? Why do you think Jesus refers to God as "Father" so many times in this chapter? What can we learn about God by thinking of Him as our Father? How might someone's bad experience with their Father impact their perspective of God? What encouragement would you have for this person? When have you been tempted to do "good things" in order to grow your own repu...

Sometimes becoming a better leader has less to do with adding good habits than it has to do with eliminating bad habits. Here are a few bad habits that small group leaders could stand to cast off: Adding too much: the desire to constantly throw in their opinions. Showing off: the need to demonstrate how much they know about a subject. Not listening: nuff said. Being too tough: refusing to humbly admit weaknesses or failure. Passing judgment: rating others and imposing one’s own standards on them. This week don’t focus so much attention on the things you need to add to become a better leader. Instead focus on what you need to subtract! What are some of the annoying habits you need to shed in order to become a better leader? source

Have different people share what some of the "house rules" were when they were growing up. Have them discuss what they think are the 2-3 most important "house rules" for the family of God. Break into groups of two (if you have too few people have them do this individually) Assign each group of two one of the following passages. Have them read it and study it and be ready to come back to the group with answers to the questions below. Matthew 5:21-22 Matthew 5:27-30 Matthew 5:33-37 Matthew 5:38-42 Matthew 5:43-47 Questions for each group: What was it that the people had heard taught in the past? How did Jesus change that teaching? What is an example of you might obey this teaching in your life? After each group presents, have the rest of the group add any comments or examples they might have. After all the groups have presented, suggest a list of the “Five ways we should live” 1. Live at Peace 2. Live Purely 3. Live Honestly 4. Live Generously 5. Live Love Ask the ...