SESSION1 - Amazon Web Servicesreallifechurchweb.s3.amazonaws.com/web/LG/Guides/... ·...

SESSION1WHEN MY PAST BECOMES MY PRESENT.MEMORY VERSE • JOHN 4:14 “… whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water well-ing up to eternal life.”

10 SHAMELESS

Shamless.indd 10 3/29/15 11:23 AM

SHAME IS THAT THING THAT STAYS WITH US AND THAT WE CARRY WITH US AND IT SEEMS TO NEVER GO AWAY. CERTAINLY WHEN IT’S SOMETHING FROM OUR PAST WE KEEP IT IN THE PAST. WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME TRYING TO KEEP IT CONCEALED. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT BECOMES OUR PRESENT? THE STORY WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT TODAY IS FROM JOHN 4 WHERE JESUS INTERACTS WITH A SAMARITAN WOMAN. SHE NEEDED SOMEONE TO SPEAK INTO HER LIFE. SHE NEEDED TO KNOW THAT THE THINGS SHE DID IN HER PAST DO NOT DEFINE WHO SHE IS.

WHEN MY PAST BECOMES MY PRESENT 11


When we share our stories, we also realize we are not alone—that we have common experiences and thoughts, and that others can under-stand what we are going through. Your story can en-courage someone else. And telling it can lead to a path of freedom for you and for those you share it with.

Open your group with prayer. This should be a brief, sim-ple prayer, in which you invite God to give you insight as you study. You can pray for specific requests at the end

of the meeting, or stop mo-mentarily to pray if a particu-lar situation comes up during your discussion.

Before you start this first meeting, get contact infor-mation for every participant. Take time to pass around a copy of the Life Group Roster on page 114, a sheet of pa-per, or one of you pass your Study Guide, opened to the Life Group Roster. Ask some-one to make copies or type up a list with everyone’s informa-tion and email it to the group during the week.

EACH OF US HAS A STORY. THE EVENTS OF OUR LIVES—GOOD, BAD, WONDERFUL OR CHALLENGING—HAVE SHAPED WHO WE ARE. GOD KNOWS YOUR STORY, AND HE INTENDS TO REDEEM IT—TO USE EVERY STRUGGLE AND EVERY JOY TO ULTIMATELY BRING YOU TO HIMSELF. WHEN WE SHARE OUR STORIES WITH OTHERS, WE GIVE THEM THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE GOD AT WORK.

SHARE YOUR STORY

12 SHAMELESS


BEGIN YOUR TIME TOGETHER BY USING THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS TO GET PEOPLE TALKING.

1. What brought you here? What do you hope to get out of this group?

2. What’s your usual approach to meeting new people?

a. To be honest, it’s pretty scary for me.

b. I’m cautious at first, but when I feel comfortable I open up.

c. I’ve never really met a stranger—what do you want to know?



Whether your group is new or ongoing, it’s al-ways important to reflect on and review your values together. On page 107 is a Life Group Agreement with the values we’ve found most useful in sustaining healthy, balanced groups.

We recommend that you choose one or two values—ones you haven’t previously focused on or have room to grow in—to emphasize during this study. Choose ones that will take your group to the next stage of intimacy and spiritual health.

If your group is new, welcome newcomers. Introduce everyone—you may even want to have nametags for your first meeting.

We recommend you rotate host homes on a regular basis and let the hosts lead the meet-ing. Studies show that healthy groups rotate leadership. This helps to develop every mem-ber’s ability to shepherd a few people in a safe environment. Even Jesus gave others the op-portunity to serve alongside him (Mark 6:30-44). Look at the FAQs in the Appendix for ad-ditional information about hosting or leading the group.

The Life Group Calendar on page 109 is a tool for planning who will host and lead each meeting. Take a few minutes to plan hosts and leaders for your remaining meetings. Don’t skip this important step! It will revolutionize your group.

14 SHAMELESS


USE THE SPACE PROVIDED BELOW TO RECORD KEY THOUGHTS, QUESTIONS, AND THINGS YOU WANT TO REMEMBER OR FOLLOW UP ON. AFTER WATCHING THE VIDEO FOR SESSION ONE, HAVE SOMEONE READ THE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS IN THE HEAR GOD’S STORY SECTION AND DIRECT THE DISCUSSION AMONG THE GROUP. AS YOU GO THROUGH EACH OF THE SUBSEQUENT SECTIONS, ASK SOMEONE ELSE TO READ THE QUESTIONS AND DIRECT THE DISCUSSION.

WATCH THE VIDEO



HEAR GOD’S STORYSome people think “emotion will sustain devotion”—that Christianity is a matter of mov-ing from one spiritual high to the next, and that if you can sustain these feelings it will be easy to follow Christ.

Unfortunately, life is sometimes hard, and it’s unrealistic to ex-pect your emotions to drive your spiritual life. Instead, you need to be grounded in God’s Word, in daily communication with him in prayer, and in con-nection to other believers who can strengthen your faith. Life is full of mountains and valleys, but God designed us to travel the path together.

16 SHAMELESS


READ JOHN 4:4-30 ALOUD.

1. Describe a time when you had a conversation when you could be truly authentic and share something that you felt shameful about—a secret you’ve been hiding. There is no need to get into particulars, just share about how it felt to unburden yourself and to unload the shame you felt.

2. How was your life different after you no longer carried that secret?



Let’s read about another person Jesus encountered in Jerusalem who carried a shameful secret around with her.

READ JOHN 8:2-11 ALOUD.

1. Everyone knew about this woman’s shame. Jesus knew it, too. Put yourself in her shoes for a moment. How would you feel when the great Teacher, Jesus stood before you as you were about to be punished for your sins?

2. How would you feel after Jesus set you free, not just from your punishment, but from your shame?

3. Jesus didn’t whitewash her sin. He didn’t ask her to defend herself. He acknowledged the sin, told her it was wrong and told her to change her life. Describe a time in your life (again, no particulars needed) when you were given a much lighter punishment than you expected. What impact did that act of mercy have on your life?

18 SHAMELESS


STUDY NOTESWHY DID THE JEWISH PEOPLE AVOID CONTACT WITH THE SAMARITAN PEOPLE?

Seven centuries before Jesus visited with the Samaritan wom-an at the well in John 4, an enemy army from the ancient As-syrian Empire conquered the northern part of Israel. The battle strategy of the Assyrians included dispersing the native peoples so that there would be no chance of a revolution. The Assyri-ans captured the able-bodied men from Israel and moved them to another place they had conquered. Likewise, they took the able-bodied men from that place and moved them to Israel.

So, in Samaria—in the northern part of Israel—the Israelite women who lost their husbands desperately needed to find new husbands. In that time and place, a woman could not have a job, own her home, or have any money of her own. In that time and place, a woman absolutely needed a husband to survive. Over time, the foreign men who were displaced by the Assyrians to Samaria married the Israelite women. The southern part of Israel remained intact for the most part and the people there chose to disassociate themselves with these mixed-race Samaritans. After several centuries the choice to disassociate became in-grained in the Jewish culture so much so that the Jews actually avoided crossing Samaria in order to reach Galilee to the north. So, when Jesus went through Samaria, this was counter-cultural and quite shocking.



CREATE A NEW STORYGod wants you to be part of His kingdom—to weave your story into his. That will mean change—to go His way rather than your own. This won’t happen overnight, but it should happen steadily. By starting with small, simple choic-es, we begin to change our direc-tion. The Holy Spirit helps us along the way—giving us gifts to serve the body, offering us insights into Scripture, and challenging us to love not only those around us but those far from God.

In this section, talk about how you will apply the wisdom you’ve learned from the teaching and Bible study. Then think about practical steps you can take in the coming week to live out what you’ve learned.

20 SHAMELESS


1. What is something that you did when you were a child that you kept a secret from your parents?

2. When you eventually told them your secret, how did that conversation go?

3. Talk about the freedom of unburdening yourself even in the face of potential or actual punishment.

4. If you are ready to share a burden that has been weighing you down and causing you to feel shame you can do that now. Jesus is here with us to bring not only mercy but healing truth.

5. If you are not prepared to share that’s ok. Jesus is always ready to hear from you. You can tell Him anything, anytime, anywhere. He won’t shrink from the truth nor will He withhold mercy. He’ll attack your burden with you to bring cleansing, healing and restoration.



TAKE A LOOK AT THE CIRCLES OF LIFE DIAGRAM BELOW AND WRITE THE NAMES OF TWO OR THREE PEOPLE YOU KNOW WHO NEED TO KNOW JESUS SO HE CAN CLEAN AWAY THEIR SHAME. COMMIT TO PRAYING FOR GOD’S GUIDANCE AND AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE WITH EACH PERSON. PERHAPS THEY WOULD BE OPEN TO JOINING THE GROUP. SHARE YOUR LISTS WITH THE GROUP SO YOU CAN ALL BE PRAYING FOR THE PEOPLE YOU’VE IDENTIFIED.

22 SHAMELESS


Also consider someone—in this group or out-side it—that you can begin going deeper with in an intentional way. This might be your mom or dad, a cousin, an aunt or uncle, a roommate, a college buddy, or a neighbor. Choose someone who might be open to “doing life” with you at a deeper level and pray about that opportunity.

This week how will you inter-act with the Bible? Can you commit to spending time in daily prayer or study of God’s Word? You can use the Dai-ly Devotions section to guide you. Tell the group how you plan to follow Jesus this week, and then, at your next meet-ing, talk about your progress and challenges.

Stack your hands just like a sports team does in the hud-dle and commit to taking a risk and going deeper in your group and in your relation-ships with each other.

Close your meeting with prayer. Ask, “How can we pray for you this week?” Invite everyone to share, but don’t force the issue. Be sure to write prayer requests on your Prayer and Praise Report on page 113.

CAN YOU COMMIT TO SPENDING TIME IN DAILY PRAYER OR STUDY OF GOD’S WORD?



DIGGING DEEPERIf you feel God nudging you to go deeper, take some time before the next meeting to dig into His Word. Explore the Bible passages related to this session’s theme on your own and jot your reflections in a journal or in this study guide. A great way to gain insight on a passage is to read it in several different translations. You may want to use a Bible app or website to compare translations.

The Bible is filled with regular people who make disastrous mistakes, who take a wrong path, and who bla-tantly live in opposition to God. Lots of the people we read about in the Bible eventually bring their shame to Jesus. Jesus acknowledges the error of their ways, sets them back on their feet, dusts them off and sends them back into the world with a renewed sense of who they are in Jesus’ eyes. We’ve already talked about two women; let’s now spend some time with two men who find themselves shamed.

24 SHAMELESS


READ LUKE 19:1-10.

A tax collector was required to send a certain amount of money to the ruling Roman government. It was a common practice for a corrupt tax collector to extort extra money from the people to provide for his own wealth.

1. What did Zacchaeus promise to do?

2. What was Jesus’ response?

3. What happened that Jesus said salvation had come to Zacchaeus?

The word “repent” has a negative connotation in our society. But it simply means to turn around. It means to turn away from the wrong things you’re doing and do the right things. For Zacchaeus this meant to stop cheating the people and to treat the people fairly.

1. What is something that you’re doing that you need to turn away from?

2. What is the right thing that you can do in its place?

When you acknowledge your wrong-doing to Jesus, he will not shrink from it. He’ll meet it head-on alongside you. Just like Jesus did not condemn the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, or Zacchaeus, neither will He condemn you when you choose to repent.



READ ACTS 9:1-22.

In the first century Jewish culture it was customary for men to have two names: A Jewish (or Hebrew) name and a Roman name. (The Roman government ruled Israel at this time.) The man who we know as Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, who carried the gospel far and wide during his ministry, had two names. Saul was his Jewish name. Paul was his Roman name. In this passage, you’ll see that he is called Saul. Later in the book of Acts, you’ll see that he is called more frequently by his Roman name, Paul.

Why was Saul going to Damascus (a city north of Israel)?

On the way to Damascus Saul had a dramatic encounter with Jesus that completely changed his life. Saul repented of his wrong-doing against the Jesus and spent the rest of his life working for Jesus.

1. What did Jesus say Saul would be doing (verses 15-16)?

2. Jesus had a job for Saul to do. Jesus has a job for you to do, too. If you already know what that job is, are you doing it? Share about your work at your next life group meeting.

3. If you don’t know about the work that Jesus has for you, you can learn about it by:

a. Praying and asking Jesus to show you.

b. Talking to your friends and church leaders to find out what they think you can use your gifts and talents for.

26 SHAMELESS


c. Reading about social issues that you are passionate about and finding a way to get involved to bring justice to unjust situations.

If you’ve accepted Jesus as your Lord and your Savior, turning your life toward Him is a natural out-come of your salvation. If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your Lord and your Savior, the members of your group would be delighted to help you learn more about how to do that. If you’re ready right now you can pray this prayer:

Jesus, I want to be free from shame, to be unburdened by You. I want you to come into my life and change it so that I follow your lead from now on. I know that I’ve done things that don’t please You, things that separate me from You. I want to accept your offer of forgiveness. You’ve made my amends with God for the sins that I’ve done and I want to accept your offer of that payment on my behalf. Please be my Savior and reconcile me to God. I know that this new life is a process and along the way I will stum-ble and fall off course. But I ask You now to pick me back up and set me back on course. I want my heart to be surrendered to what You want me to accomplish. I know I will need your power to accomplish the things You want me to do. Please be my Lord and lead me in all aspects of my life. Thank You for loving me before I loved You. Amen.

If you just prayed this prayer for the first time, be sure to tell your life group next time you see them. They will want to celebrate with you!

TURNING YOUR LIFE TOWARD [JESUS] IS A NATURAL OUTCOME OF YOUR SALVATION.



DAILY DEVOTIONSDAY ONE: READ PSALM 31:17.

Allow Jesus’ voice to be the only one that defines you. His is the only voice that can truly combine truth with love.

DAY TWO: READ PSALM 25:1-3.

What does it mean to you to put your trust in Jesus?

DAY THREE: READ MARK 3:28.

Focus on the first part of this verse: “…All sin and blasphemy can be forgiven…” Do you feel that your sin is just too big to be forgiven? Read Jesus’ words again and allow Him to heal you with forgiveness and repentance.

28 SHAMELESS


DAY FOUR: READ PSALM 130:3-4.

God doesn’t keep a record but serving Him is a natural outcome of his gift of forgiveness. How are you serving Him? How are you inspiring others to serve Him?

DAY FIVE: READ PSALM 103:8-13.

God not only forgives us, He chooses not to dwell on our errors. How can you do the same for others who you have forgiven?



SESSION1 - Amazon Web Servicesreallifechurchweb.s3.amazonaws.com/web/LG/Guides/... ·...

Documents

Transcript of SESSION1 - Amazon Web Servicesreallifechurchweb.s3.amazonaws.com/web/LG/Guides/... ·...