Throw Back Series, Pt I

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.

Summary: Christ’s church exists to spark a revolution of life change through Jesus.

 Understanding God’s Word: Know and Understand the Truth

READ Ephesians 5:1-16     

• What does it mean to be children of light? 
• Paul chooses to pick out one particular kind of sin in this section: sexual sin. Why does addressing sexual culture serve as a strong example today, just as it did for the readers back then? 
• What is Paul saying when he tells his readers to “make the best use of the time, because the days are evil”? 

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

• How do you think the people around us would react if we truly became imitators of God and lived counter-culturally with purpose? (People would probably look at it like a revolution.)
  • Is that a good or a bad thing? Why? 
• In what ways can our rGroup or church grow this year to do a better job of walking in love and being the light that engages the darkness in our city? 
• Can you give an example of what it looks like to “not be partners with sons of disobedience” or “not take part in the unfruitful works of darkness,” yet still come alongside people to share the gospel and be relational? 

Assessing the Heart: Identify and Address Sin

• Where are you personally failing to make the best use of "the time"? 
• What problems do we encounter when we try to shine a light on the darkness around us before we allow that light to shine on the darkness inside of us? 
• In what areas of life are you tempted to believe it would be easier to go along with the darkness, rather than living in the light? 

     

Turn to God: Confess and Renew Belief in God

• As children of God, what do we do when we’re exposed as people who have been living in the darkness? What does it look like for us to move out of darkness and into the light? (Confession;  Receiving Jesus’ grace and forgiveness; Repentance / Turning from sin and turning towards Christ; obedience / change.) 
• How can we as an rGroup community do a better job of helping one another when we see a member of our group living in darkness? 
  • What are practical steps we can all take?