Letters from the King: LIFEgroup Questions from 1 Peter 2

What is the most unique experience you have every had? What made it so unique?

As a group, read Matthew 5:13-16.

The theme of the three “pictures” used by Jesus seems to be focused on “uniqueness”. A city on a hill and a light in the dark stand out from their surroundings because of their uniqueness.

Give an example of a situation in which it would be good to be unique?

Why and how should Christians be unique? Are there times Christians should not be unique? How can you find the right balance?

As a group, read 1 Peter 2:11,12. The two key instructions of this passage are to “abstain from sinful desires” and to “live among the pagans (the world)”. Unfortunately sometimes Christians don’t quite get these two concepts right. Use the next two questions to talk about examples of Christians getting Peter’s instructions confused.

What is an example of someone who chooses to “abstain” from the world?

What is an example of someone who chooses to “live among” their evil desires?

The key is for Christians to find the balance of living IN THE WORLD while continuing to ABSTAIN from the sinful desires that come with the world.

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus contrasts salt with sand (sand is not good for anything except being trampled on). What is the major difference between salt and sand? If salt is not “salty” is it any different than sand?

Salt without saltiness is useless. What would it mean for someone to be a “useless Christian”?

Comments

10 Summer Activities To Keep Your Small Group Connected

I just sent an email to all our small group leaders (I do this 3-4 times each month). This week's focus was STAYING CONNECTED THROUGH THE SUMMER. Below is a list of 10 summer activities a small group can use to stay connected. These are specifically created for groups at The Gathering, but you can pretty easily modify the list to fit your church or your community. Go to a Dragon's Game together. You can buy tickets as a group from the church for the game on July 11. Design a Progressive Dinner. Have appetizers at one house, salad at another, the main course somewhere else and dessert at a final destination. Have a monthly barbecue party. Serve together. Pick a place (Good Neighbor House, St. Vincents, Victory Project, Pirate Packs, Caring Partners International, One Bistro) and sign up to serve as a group one afternoon or evening. Meet up at the Family Movie Night on June 15. Spend a day at King's Island. Work at the church for an afternoon. We have many proj...

20 Questions to Build Group Connections

Here is a great exercise for a new group. The instructions are pretty simple. Go around the group giving each person the opportunity to choose one question and answer it honestly. Anyone can follow-up with an opinion or clarifying question (no critiquing each other's answers, though). Once a question has been answered, no one else may answer that question. If your group is larger, you may want to alter the rule and allow each question to be answered 2 or 3 times. Ideally, each person should end up answering 3-5 questions. As the leader, pay attention to the conversation. Let the discussion run its course as this is how people in the group build their relationships with one another. You can use these questions, modify them or create your own.

5 Conversations Every Small Group Should Have

Small group gatherings are not business meetings. They need not have rigid agendas or strict time constraints. Although effective groups often follow set curriculum, there are times when they can take a break from their plans and have conversations about their group’s health. These five questions can be used together or one at a time. They are designed to help groups’ determine their identity, diagnoses their health and develop a plan for the future. How can we meet one another’s needs? Acts is full of stories about Christians finding creative means by which they can meet each other’s needs. Some even sold their properties and possessions. The small group is the ideal lab in which we can work out what it truly means to love one another as Jesus loved us. If the greatest love of all is laying down our lives for each other (and it is), then meeting the needs of others in our group should be one of our first and highest priorities. How can we encourage one another? 1...

Creative Community

Search This Blog