He Gets Us

He Gets Us Four– Discussion Guide

 Matt 4:1-10

Temptation is a heavy topic that requires trust between individuals in their Group. Please keep in mind the importance of confidentiality so trust is maintained 🙂

• What was your biggest takeaway from Pastor Michael’s message on Sunday?

 

• What were the three categories that Jesus was tempted in? In which of the three areas are you the most tempted to meet legitimate needs in illegitimate ways?

 

• Pastor Michael shared that Jesus was able to see past the moment of temptation by reflecting on the fact that “my resist now sets me up for a kingdom moment later.” What “Kingdom moments” have you had in past when you were able to see the right course for the future and you stuck to it? (In other words, what moments do you look back on and say, “I’m so glad I did the right thing!”)

 

Review & Bonus Reflections

 

• Temptation is an invitation to embrace self-interest with no regard for God. When we continue to make selfish decisions for ourselves, we will actually lose ourselves altogether.

 

• Jesus was sent to the wilderness by the Holy Spirit immediately after being baptized by John the Baptist to be tempted by the devil. (See Matt 3:16-4:1)

 

• The devil kept tempting Jesus to display his power by making bread or flying off the temple. Instead, Jesus modeled for us that power is not the primary benefit for the powerful. (Matt 4:3,6)

 

• Anything written in ancient literature (including Scripture) took on extraordinary authority because few things were written down for historical purposes. The story of Jesus being tempted by the Devil is so important and carries so much authority that it is in all three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke).

 

 

 

 

 

 

He Gets Us Three – Discussion Guide

 

• Share a moment from Pastor Josh’s message regarding anxiety that touched you the most.

 

(Leaders – Feel free to allow this to be a continual point of reference to go back to during your Group meeting. These are tender places of the soul and it’s wise to allow God to do business in the areas where people need it most.)

 

• If you are comfortable, share a time of your life when anxiety was at its highest point. What role did faith, friends or family play in getting you through that period of your life?

 

(Leaders – encourage people to summarize as best they can before they start to share. Admit to them that it’s tough to be brief when recapping these moments of difficulty, but it’s important so everyone can share and so the Group has time to get through the Bonus Reflections.)

 

• What are some ways that anxiety still affects you in your everyday life?

 

(Leaders – These don’t need to be earth-shattering moments. What we are looking for is to see how anxiety affects them even in the small things during the rhythm of their everyday lives.)

 

Bonus reflections from the Biblical Text

 

Read John 15:5 – Jesus said to “abide” in me and you will bear much fruit. What are the fruits of the Spirit? And what do they have to do with dealing with anxiety? (See Gal 5:22-23 – read out the fruits and let the participants speak on the connection).

 

Further reflection of what it means to “abide” in Christ. The word “abide” in Greek is meno which means to stay in a given place, state, relation or expectancy:  continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain. What obstacles do you have in your life that can deter you from “abiding” in Christ?

 

Read 1 Peter 5:5-11. This can be a playbook for Christians in dealing with anxiety. What are some things that we need to do in our lives before we get rid of our anxiety? (vv5-7) Should we be surprised if we suffer from time to time with anxiety? (vv8-10)

 

How does verse 11 (which is easy to overlook) and Col 3:15 say almost the same thing?

 

(Leaders – Verse 11 and Col 3:15 talks about Christ having dominion. Col 3:15 says the peace of Christ should “rule” our hearts which means that anxiety should not. The key is “Let”. Let the peace of Christ rule…and be thankful. Pastor Josh said on Sunday that gratitude can break strongholds of anxiety. You see it there in the Scripture, that we are to be thankful when we “let” Christ rule our hearts with peace.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He Gets Us Week Two

Suffering

 

• Do you think we have a true handle on suffering in America? What are some things we Americans considering “suffering” that people in the rest of the world won’t thing is a big deal or they can’t relate at all?

 

• God is God so do you believe and remember in the heat of the moment that he truly relates to your struggle? How so?

 

• “Who for the joy set before him endured the cross.” Joy was set before Jesus at a distance beyond the cross and suffering. How do we overcome the obstacle of seeing only the immediate suffering to seeing the joy of the future?

 

(Leaders: We need to the cling to truth in the moment to set us free. How bad off am I really right now? For example: I have a friend successful friend who is a high-level  executive at Home Depot who often says when a crisis comes up, “In 24 hours, it will look different”. )

 

• How can humility take the edge off our suffering?

(Leaders: One – it’s humbling to be honest with ourselves and realize when we have interpreted inconvenience as suffering. They are not the same! Two – when we are truly suffering from loss or tragedy we need to remind ourselves of the temporary condition of our suffering (2 Cor 4:17) and respond with gratefulness for the support we have (1 Thess 5:18). Three – Stop reacting and start listening. In the midst of this am I hearing what God is saying to me right now?

 

Bonus Reflection from the Biblical Text

 

• If you want to be an overcomer, then there will be things to overcome.

 

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says…To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God…He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says…He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death….He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says…To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”

(Rev 2:7, 11, 17)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He Gets Us Week Two

Psalm 119:60-61

Luke 5:31-32

Prov 14:29

Psalms 27:13-14

The Big Idea from Sunday

Pastor Jason preached on a heavy topic about critics or “haters”. He said that Jesus acknowledged that his critics were there (aka “I see you”), but Jesus decided “I’m not stuck with you” and instead focused on the mission from the Father.

Reflective Questions

Pastor Jason gave a transparent review on Sunday about how he tried to impress his critics. He would literally watch highlights of the Miami Dolphins so he could have something of interest to talk about with his critic. If we are honest with ourselves, who are some people in your life who were critical of you that you tried to “win over”? What did that look like?

What would your life look like if you did not spend all that energy on trying to win over someone that has been a critic in your life?

Discerning Question

The late US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia famously said, “I attack ideas. I don’t attack people. And some very good people have some very bad ideas. And if you can’t separate the two, you gotta get another day job. You don’t want to be a judge.” In looking back on your life, has there been times when someone may have skeptical or criticized your ideas and you felt like they hated you? How does separating the two help us in dealing with criticism?

Sometimes we need time to assess people’s intentions towards us. If someone is making us feel insecure, how does focusing on the mission at hand (like Jesus did) help us?

 

Bonus Reflections from more Biblical Texts

Pastor Jason said, “Patience over outcome – renounce your rights to a timeline” when hoping for a change in people. How does Ecclesiastes 7:8-9 confirm this thought?

We can hold grudges against our critics. Mark 6:18-19 NIV “For John (the Baptist) had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” So Herodias nursed a grudge against John…” The fastest way to stop a critic from affecting you is to stop replaying the conversation over and over in your head. A grudge is like a baby, if you stop nursing it, it will die. We keep negative emotions alive every time we hit the rewind button and replay conversations with critics in our head. In doing so, we allow people to keep hurting us over and over again.

Pray for one another in your group to be able to leave behind from critics what needs to be left behind and to learn what needs to be learned. Amen!