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In God We Trust | Week One

In God We Trust – Week One DG

Would you consider yourself as someone who’s strong political opinions puts you in political conversations? Being honest, how much influence have you had in those conversations? Have people ever told you that they voted differently because of conversations with you?

***For Leaders – answers will vary.

Have you found yourself looking at this coming election with the mindset, “We are going to be in an irreversible decline if my political party doesn’t get elected.” What were some things going on in your mind to give you that perspective?

***For Leaders – Answers will vary. Overall, when we get into the mindset of doom or gloom then we have to be honest with ourselves that we are trusting in man’s role in government more than the Lord. It’s humbling to realize that we don’t rely on God from a national perspective as much as we think. We can suddenly find ourselves banking on government more than God.

Follow up question: Being honest, have you had the “irreversible decline” mentality with an election in the past? If you could go back in time after hearing today’s sermon, what would you say to yourself?

***For Leaders – The reality is every election feels like a slippery slope, but it’s not in the end. God is still in control.

How should Proverbs 21:1 influence our perspective on elections in the future?

Take time to share your biggest takeaways from today’s message if they have not been discussed yet in the Group.

In God We Trust | Group Resources

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In God We Trust | Group Resources

Awaken | Week One

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AWAKEN – Week 1

Read 1 Thess 5:6-8 What does a “sober-minded” believer look like amid our current culture?

***For Leaders – Answers will vary

Read Matt 24:42-45:Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. ⁴⁵“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

What do you think are the most significant things that can lull “the master” (which is you J) to sleep at such a critical time?

***For Leaders – Different things can lull different believers into apathy so you must understand what activities trigger you into spiritual dullness. The other piece to this is the feeling of hopelessness. If people feel like they can’t change the outcome in their surroundings, they will stop trying to make a difference, but the master in this text does NOT feel that way!

The word master in the Greek refers to someone who has “significant authority over others.” What does this say about the influence a believer CAN have when a prevailing darkness seems to be occurring in the culture? How does staying “awake” or sober-minded affect their ability to influence?

***For Leaders – Pastor Josh shared that when he and Lisa meet with people, the number one thing they tell people as they listen is “that’s a lie.” So, we can tell ourselves lies about the things that are causing spiritual apathy in us and we can lie to ourselves that we cannot make a difference because it’s hopeless. The master of house goes face-to-face with the threat believing that he has what it takes to change the outcome.

Pastor Josh gave us three questions as a tool when facing difficulties:

What does my faith look like expressed in my situation? A person asked themselves how their faith becomes active in the midst of the trial they are facing.
What does God’s love look like expressed in my situation? The sober mind is thinking through the lens of love. Not impatience…not about winning…but love toward others.
What does hope in the gospel look like in my situation?
The gospel is summed up in the work of the Cross. The blood of Jesus changes everything. I find hope there, because everything that was broken is changeable there.

All these questions are around faith, love, and hope…you can’t even ask them without putting on your thinking cap.

Share a scenario where you were you wished you were more sober-minded enough to ask one or all of the questions above.

Awaken | Group Resources

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Awaken | Group Resources

God With Us

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God With Us

Christmas at Lakeland

Week 4 - December 17, 2023

Week 3 - December 10, 2023

Week 2 - December 3, 2023

Week 1 - November 26, 2023

God With Us | Week One

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God With Us – Week 1

Psalm 139:1-10

Have there been times in your life when you felt that God was just a passive viewer? How did that play out?

Pastor Josh made the point, “He is close when you are close and close when you are far.” He was with you in your best times and in your worst times. He is with you at your highest moments and with you at your lowest. He was caring for you in all times.

Share with the Group when you have experienced God’s presence during your best and worst times in your life.

Read 139:9-10 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

What are the differences between a guide and a taskmaster. How does this play out with God in your life?

***For Leaders – You’ll receive various answers. Overall, a guide is gentle and wise with your best interests at heart. God will guide us, whereas, Satan will attempt to be a taskmaster that is harsh every time we fail.

Read Col 1:22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

AND

Read Rev 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

We are faultless in God’s presence yet Satan accuses us before God. How do these truths collide in our hearts and minds during our daily lives?

***For Leaders – Satan is a liar (John 8:44) who accuses us with lies. What is his #1 target? Our identity. He knows how essential our self-perception is so he lies to us about who we are, that God is far from us and we are hopeless. How does that play out? Craig Groschel has some examples:

After you yell at your kids, you think “I’m a bad parent.”
When you don’t get the job you want, you think “I’m pathetic. I never get any breaks.”
When you realize you didn’t read your Bible, you think “I’m a bad Christian.”

More accusations: You are a spiritual failure. You will never amount to anything. You will never change. You don’t have what it takes. You can never be healthy. You can never be pure. You can never have a good marriage. You can never be financially free.

What is the difference between an affirmation and an accusation?

***For Leaders – God gives affirmations, and the devil gives accusations. Here are some affirmations from God. You are:

Sought after (Isa 62:12)
Precious in His sight (Isa 43:4)
A new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17)
Not condemned (Rom 8:1)
Forgiven (Col 1:14)
Loved (Col 1:14)
Accepted (Rom 15:7)
A child of God (1 John 3:1)
Corrected because he loves you (Heb 12:6)
Jesus’ friend (John 15:14)
Free (John 8:36)
The temple of God (1 Cor 6:19)
God’s reassured possession (Deut 7:6)

***As believers, it is important to note the difference in our Spirit between hearing the voice of a guide who affirms as compared to a taskmaster who accuses. The immature believer doesn’t figure out the difference and gets crushed in spiritual warfare. The mature believer recognizes God’s voice in affirmation when God speaks to them in their thoughts and responds with confidence to His direction even if it is disciplinary. (John 10:27-28)