REVO rGroup Discussion Guide - Baptism

This guide is a tool to help you facilitate discussion with your rGroup. Use it to lead your group in discovering, owning, and applying God’s Word. This is a flexible tool, not a rigid task list. Follow the Holy Spirit’s lead as you lead your group. You don’t need to ask every question.

Opening Question: What was your favorite part or something that stood out from Baptism Sunday?  

  Understanding God’s Word: Know and Understand the Truth

READ John 1:19-34

• What is baptism? What isn’t it? 
  • Examples: It is a story about who God is and what he’s done in our lives; it’s a picture of our death to sin and being made alive; it’s not something that saves us; etc.  
• Why was Jesus baptized?
  • Examples: It was a symbol of what would ultimately happen in his life (death, burial, resurrection); Even though he had never sinned in his life and didn’t need baptism, he did it to show that he loved and wanted to be identified with us, the sinners he had come to save; It demonstrated that Jesus would one day baptize people with the Holy Spirit; etc. 
• What does it mean that Jesus called the 'Lamb of God'? 
  • Hint: See Exodus 12 & 1 Corinthians 5:7 — Christ is the ultimate Passover Lamb who would die and pay for the sins of his people, so they might have forgiveness and a relationship with God. 

  Living and Applying God’s Word: Give a Vision of Life With God

• Why do you think baptism is such an important step for Christians to take? 
  • How do you know if you should be baptized?
• Baptism tells a story to those around us about who God is and what he’s done in our lives.  For many of us, the day of our baptism is behind us, but how can the story behind our baptism still go on each day? How can each day be like our baptism day? 
• What hope can the world receive when they experience a baptism and hear people continually sharing their stories of how God changed their lives? 

 Assessing the Heart: Identify and Address Sin

• If you haven’t been baptized, what are some of the reasons that are holding you back? Or if you’ve already been baptized, was there anything you struggled with before taking that step of faith and obedience?
• Like we said earlier, our story of life-change was meant to be shared long after our baptism. When was the last time you’ve publicly professed your faith, the last time you shared with others the story of who God is and what’s been doing in your life? 
• What is keeping your from being a witness and continuing to share the ongoing story of who God is and what he’s done in your life now? 
  • Examples:
    • Fear — I fear what people will think of me more than what God thinks of me. 
    • Guilt & Shame — I feel like I’m worse, or that I haven’t continued to change
    • Apathy — I've lost sight of who God is and what he’s done or doing in my life. 
    • Selfishness — I don’t want to make time and effort to share with others. 
    
    

Turn to God: Confess and Renew Belief in God

• As people who still continue to struggle with sin and continue to need life-change, why is remembering that Jesus is “Lamb of God” such a good reminder for us?
• READ Romans 6:3-11 — What do you think it would look like to remember this and live this out on a daily basis? 
• Living this way can be very difficult. It’s not something that we can accomplish in our own power. What help and power does Jesus give us that makes all of this possible? 
  • John 1:33 - Jesus baptizes us with / gives us the Holy Spirit! We are never left to do this on our own. God is always with us and helping us do all of these things. 

Come With Me Series (Where Are We Going?)

This guide is a tool to help you facilitate discussion with your rGroup. Use it to lead your group in discovering, owning, and applying God’s Word. This is a flexible tool, not a rigid task list. Follow the Holy Spirit’s lead as you lead your group. You don’t need to ask every question.

  

Understanding God’s Word: Know and Understand the Truth

READ Matthew 14:22-33

• In one sentence, how would you describe the message of this Scripture? 
• What does this passage tell us about who God is? 
• What does this passage reveal to us about ourselves? 

  Living and Applying God’s Word: Give a Vision of Life With God

• Like Peter, Jesus has called every Christians to come Him out of their “boat.” He is calling them from one way of living to a radically new way of life. Jesus is calling each of us to walk away from our old self, from our old routines, and from our comfort zones. Jesus is calling each of us to give up those things, and instead experience life in God’s Kingdom, where Jesus the King is good and all of his commandments are for our joy. 
  • In what ways have you experienced more joy following God’s wisdom and ways rather than your own? 
• Jesus’ divinity was on full display when his disciples witnessed his lordship and authority over things like elements and physics by walking on water and calming a furious storm. Peter’s and the disciples’ response in this passage were fueled by their worship for Jesus.
  • What role does our worship for Jesus play as we move from living for ourselves to living for the kingdom of God?
• Life with God isn’t always filled with calls to "walk on water.” Sometimes we might be called to take some huge steps, like helping start a church or move to another country as a missionary. But life with God was meant to be experienced most often in the ordinary, daily lives we lead. This can play itself in a thousand different ways in our homes, jobs, hobbies, and habits, but let’s think through one specific example. 
  • What would it look like for each of us individually and as an rGroup to "get out of our boats" in our neighborhood and start living for God’s kingdom among our neighbors?

 Assessing the Heart: Identify and Address Sin

• The other disciples found safety and security in their boat, and they clung to it even when they could have been walking on water.
  • What are the things in your life that you are looking to for your comfort, your safety, and your security? 
  • In what ways are these things taking God's place in your life?
• Like Peter, there are times when all of us can lose our focus on Christ. These are times when we can particularly struggle with sin and experience a strained relationship with God. During these times, in what ways have you seen yourself crippled by your failures, or how have you tried relying on yourself to repair your relationship with God?
  • How is that going for you?

      

 Turn to God: Confess and Renew Belief in God

• When you seem to be drowning in the struggles of this life, or when you just don't seem to be able to be the Christian that God is calling you to be, why can you have hope if you call out to and rely on Jesus?
• How do you think we can grow to more quickly and frequently call out to Jesus in our failures, rather than try to pridefully fix things on our own? 
• God's primary way of helping Christians in their struggles is by using other Christians to come alongside them and help them. What might our rGroup look like if we were open with one another about how we are struggling in our lives, rather than pridefully trying to deal with things on our own or fearfully hide? 
  • How might this look in our group, and what steps could we take to help make this happen?

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Announcement: REVO Baptism Service this Sunday at our North Campus at 11 am! (Located at 7105 Broad St, Rural Hall)

Come With Me Series (What Does It Look Like?)

This guide is a tool to help you facilitate discussion with your rGroup. Use it to lead your group in discovering, owning, and applying God’s Word. This is a flexible tool, not a rigid task list. Follow the Holy Spirit’s lead as you lead your group. You don’t need to ask every question.

 Understanding God’s Word: Know and Understand the Truth

READ Colossians 3:12-14

• In one sentence, how would you describe the message of this Scripture?  
• What does this passage tell us about who God is? 
• What does this passage reveal to us about ourselves? 

Living and Applying God’s Word: Give a Vision of Life With God

• As you look at these specific characteristics in people’s lives, can you tell when they are fake and when they are real? 
  • Why do you think you can tell the difference? 
• This passage reminds Christians of their identity, who we now are in Christ. Specifically, Paul reminds us that we are “God’s chosen ones.” Why is this statement so amazing?
• As we read Scripture like this and hear Paul reminding us of our identity, he is reminding us of who we are supposed to be, rather than reminding us of things we are supposed to do. What do you think the big difference is between being somebody vs doing things? 
  • Example: (Inside out vs. Outside In) When we do things from the inside out, they are genuine and their motivations are pure. Our actions are motivated by who we are, not what they will make us. When we do things from the outside in, we’re doing things even though we might not feel it or truly mean it. Oftentimes we do these things because of what we can get out of it, or we think that if we do these things we’ll be loved and accepted by God or others. God knows the difference. (Scriptural support: Proverbs 16:2. Also, in The Message, Romans 12:9 says “Love from the center of who you are. Don’t fake it.")
• How might your interactions with people look different were genuinely marked with these qualities? For example, how would you bear with someone who is deeply flawed and broken, if you openly acknowledged your own flaw and failures yet remembered you were chosen by God? 
• What might God do if we interacted with people like this? 

 Assessing the Heart: Identify and Address Sin

•  What dangers and consequences are there when the church and its individuals are not marked by these things, when they are only halfway committed to them, or when they fake it? 
• Which of these characteristics do you see yourself failing at the most in your life? 
• How often are the things you do as a Christians flowing out of who you are in Christ? 
  • Are you more of an inside-out type of Christian, or more of an outside-in person? 

      

 Turn to God: Confess and Renew Belief in God

• God does not want us to be outside-in people, Christians to just fake it. But how can we change? Read Colossians 3:1-11. 
  • As we read this Scripture, how does it show us we can experience change? 
    • We need Jesus to change us (Vs. 3, 5, 9 — put to death our old self; Vs. 3, 10 — put on new self or identity which comes when our life is hidden, wrapped up in Jesus.) 
    • We need to keep our eyes fixed on him (Vs. 1, 2 — when he’s our focus and the thing we pursue, we’ll start to look like him.)
    • Put sin to death (Vs. 5-9 — Let Christ change your desires, and intentionally fight against sin and temptation in your life.) 
• As an rGroup, we want all of our actions to be motivated by who we are in Christ. Instead of reminding or telling each other what we should be doing, how can we do a better job of reminding people of their identity in Jesus instead? 

Come With Me Series (Four Ways To Follow Jesus)

This guide is a tool to help you facilitate discussion with your rGroup. Use it to lead your group in discovering, owning, and applying God’s Word. This is a flexible tool, not a rigid task list. Follow the Holy Spirit’s lead as you lead your group. You don’t need to ask every question.

 Understanding God’s Word: Know and Understand the Truth

READ Luke 5:1-11

• In one sentence, how would you describe the message of this Scripture? 
• What does this passage tell us about who God is? 
• What does this passage reveal to us about ourselves? 

  Living and Applying God’s Word: Give a Vision of Life With God

• Like Peter, all people, each of us, are given the invitation to become followers of Jesus. We can’t literally follow around a physical Jesus like Peter did in this Scripture, but what would someone look like who faithfully follows Jesus today, here in Winston-Salem? 
• Followers of Jesus have a completely different purpose and aim in life from those who don’t follow him. In this specific passage, Jesus tells Peter that he wants to use him for a specific purpose, to become a “fisher” or “catcher” of men. What does that mean? 
  • Example: It means bringing people into the kingdom of God, and into a relationship with Jesus. 
• Why is this purpose to life, God’s purpose for our life, far greater and better than any other end or purpose that we could pursue on our own? 

 Assessing the Heart: Identify and Address Sin

•  Take a moment to reflect on your own life. Many of us call ourselves Christians, and believe we are faithfully following Jesus. But how many of us could honestly say that this is the intentional purpose of our life? How many of us can say that we are living our lives as “fishers of men?” 
  • If you aren't, why not?
• In the sermon we talked about things in our lives we are unwilling to drop or give up. What are things in your life that you’re holding onto, things that are keeping you from giving your whole self to Christ, things that are keeping you from living for this purpose?
• What are the consequences when God’s church only halfheartedly lives for this purpose or fails at it all together? 
  • What are the consequences that your family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors face when you halfheartedly or rarely live out your purpose of inviting people into God’s kingdom and help introduce them into a relationship with Jesus? 

      

 Turn to God: Confess and Renew Belief in God

• The church is filled with people who struggle or fail to live out this purpose. Even Peter went on to be a failure at living out Jesus’ calling, going so far as denying any association that he had with Jesus. But Peter didn't remain in that place of failure. READ Acts 3:38-41. 
  • Peter went from someone who, just weeks before, was denying Jesus to someone who was boldly calling thousands of people to give their lives to make Jesus their Lord and Savior. What did Peter experience that made such a big change in his life? 
    • Example: The reality of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection gave him boldness and conviction to pursue others; the Holy Spirit who is given to all believers helped him share the gospel; etc.
• How can your own encounters with Jesus, remembering the reality of who Christ is and what he has done for you, help you to genuinely live for God’s purpose rather than your own?
• Take a few minutes to pray in groups of 2-3 people, confessing where we have failed and asking that God would graciously help us change to believe in and pursue God's purpose for our lives. 

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Announcement: REVO's Guest Services event on Saturday, April 9th from 1:30-3:30 pm. Guest Services will be holding a Family-Style Backyard Barbecue at Michael Daniel and Ambar Russo's house (2890 Bradenton Dr, W-S 27103). This event is for any of you who might be interested in serving with Guest Services, is ready to commit to serving, or are already serving! There will be Little Richard's barbecue provided, as well as a photo-booth, 3-legged race, kids corner, and more. If you're looking to start serving at REVO, this is a great opportunity to get plugged in!