Dangerous Church rGroups!
The Dangerous Church rGroup guides are designed to be discussion based. It isn't lecture form. Instead of sitting in rows with all eyes on the leader in the front, rGroups are designed to be in circles, with each person interacting and sharing around the truths of God's Word. These questions each week are designed to get the conversation started.
If a person in your group did not get the opportunity to come to a REVO worship experience, the sermon podcasts are posted online by Monday at noon. The small group guides are always posted on the rGroups blog tab on the REVObackstage website on Sunday at 11:00am.
Encourage your group to listen to the podcast in order to better participate in your rGroup. However, attending REVO and listening to the sermon is NOT a necessity to attend an rGroup. The passages should be read again at the beginning of the group and the questions are formatted in a way that anyone can answer and reflect on them, even if they did not have the opportunity to hear the sermon.
Passage: Acts 1
-What are some different words to describe a person that adheres to the Christian faith? Follower of Jesus, Christian, evangelical, believer, etc. How often do you think "apostle?" It means "sent out ones." When you think of your Christian faith, do you think of yourself as a person that is "sent out?" How does your Christian life live up to that description of what a follower of Jesus looks like?
-What is the significance of telling the disciples to wait? It was so that they wouldn't start their ministry without the Holy Spirit. Where does a reliance on the Holy Spirit come into play in your life? Is the presence of God the first thing you wait on, having the mentality that without Him you aren't even going to try to do anything on your own? Or do you do everything you can and only call on God when you get stuck or frustrated or can't do it on your own anymore?
-Has God ever told you to wait? How hard was that? Did you ever rush into something and found out later it was the wrong move?
-Jesus's very last words were the to communicate to the Church what it's mission is. Let's break the locations down:
1. Jerusalem- what is your Jerusalem? Your current location, your job, your school, your direct sphere of influence. How can you be a witness to your Jerusalem?
2. Judea- what is your Judea? Acquaintances, new friends, co-workers, even complete strangers like cashiers, waiters, and retail workers where you shop. How can you be a witness to your Judea?
3. Samaria- what is your Samaria? These are people that are not like you. Not your social status, economic group, race, or class. There are people that don't have anything in common with you. These people are on the outskirts of society, like needy people, impoverished people. How can you be a witness to your Samaria?
4. To the end of the earth. Just in case there is an obscure group of people that you think, "I wonder if God includes them in his mindset of people that need him." The answer is yes. There are no areas or people that are left out.
Answer this question together: Are you called into the ministry? All believers have a general call. You may not be called to be a full-time minister serving in a vocational setting, but you are called to tell people about Jesus. Period. As a follower of Jesus, have you ever sat back and realized that Jesus has called you to be a "minister."
The Spirit of God was inside of Jesus when he was on earth. That is what gave him the power and authority to do what he did. All the miracles, healings, preaching, teaching, and incredible aspects of Jesus were attributed to the very spirit of God being inside of him. Now, that same spirit is inside of you. How does that make you feel? Empowered, confident, obligatory, unstoppable, dangerous.
The Church in the book of Acts lived by a certain pattern found so many times in the book. The pattern was 1. pray, 2. God showed up, and 3. Things start to happen. How can you make that applicable in your life today. Is that a pattern you can identify in your own life? What are examples of times you did this and it worked?
At the end of each group time, spend some time going over the memory verse for that week, and also help them define not only what it means to be a dangerous church, but also how we can apply it to our lives. I don't want this new series to simply be a study of a dangerous church. I want this series to help us BE a dangerous church.
Give some accountability to each other with your Scripture memory. Each week ask team members to recite the verse. Make it a big deal and put a priority and importance on the Word of God. Hopefully by the end of the series your group will have verses memorized out of each chapter that tell the story of the first 11 chapters of Acts and how God used this early church plant.
What does it mean to be dangerous?
-Listing to and relying on the Holy Spirit
-Praying with direct access to God
-Reading/Memorizing/Honoring the Word of God
-To be focused on the mission
Acts 1:8- But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Word Night, February 5th-11th
This week’s sermon revealed that in order to be All-In,
fully embracing the Gospel (not side hugging), one must submit themselves to
sanctification.
At any natural point during the sermon
recap, open the floor for questions, comments, light bulb
moments, etc…
-Redefine sanctification for your group:
Sanctification-the
process initiated and carried out by the Holy Spirit by which transformation
from wicked desires and actions to Gospel oriented and God honoring desires and
actions. In essence you become like Jesus.
"Sanctification"
comes from two Latin words: "sanctus" which means holy, and
"ficare" which means make, so to sanctify means to make holy.
-Assert this truth about
sanctification:
Sanctification is not
something you accomplish. You can’t make yourself holy. This is an essence
issue. You can act differently and you can change your behavior but you have
absolutely no power to change your essence. Jesus demonstrates this is Matt. 5
-Support this assertion with these
scripture references:
Romans 15:15 , "Grace has been given to me by God to be a
minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel
of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit."
1 Thessalonians 5:23, “The God of peace Himself sanctify
you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire,
without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Thessalonians 2:13 "But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the
Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in
the truth."
1 Peter 1:2 "who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through
the sanctifying work of
the Spirit, to be
obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours
in abundance."
We are not the active
agent in our sanctification, but we can proactively submit to sanctification!
-Pose this question to your question to
your group:
What are you going to do this week to put yourself in a
position to be sanctified?
-Don’t settle for these answers (even
though they are technically correct):
Spend more time reading the Bible
Spend more time in prayer
-Get them to commit to give something up
this week in order to intentionally pursue sanctification:
Television shows
Facebook stalking
Pintrest perusing
Video games
-Spend some time in prayer admitting our
need for the Holy Spirit to change us
-Spend some time praying that the time
spent pursuing sanctification would be rich and beneficial
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Word Night, January 29th- February 4th
Matthew 25:14-30
-Make a list of your talents. (Job, resources, money, time, friends, family, relationships, etc). Let's make sure we have a grasp of what Jesus is talking about when he says "talents." You can even substitute one of those words for the word "talent" while reading these verses.
-Everyone is given a starting position. Some have lots, some have a little, some are plain middle class. But understand, the starting point is irrelevant to God. The real test is what you do with what you have been given.
-Have you ever used the excuse, "I make too much money to tithe 10% to the church?" How about, "I don't make enough money to give anything away to the church?" Do you understand the flaw in logic of those 2 statements?
-What is the praise of the master based on? Effectiveness? Profitability? No, it's all about the faithfulness. What would your praise from God look like based on your personal faithfulness with your talents?
-What are some tangible ways you can be a better steward of your talents? Write them down and use the list to keep each other accountable in weeks to come.
-Listen to these and see if you agree:
1. Good stewardship of the little things ensures greater responsibility and blessings with bigger things.
2. Don't ask God for anything more until you're faithful with what he's already given you.
3. If you won't do anything with what God has given you, doesn't it make sense for Him to take it away and give it to someone else that will be faithful?
Now, let's apply those obvious truths to our own lives and be obedient, faithful, and proactive with the talents that we've been given.
-Make a list of your talents. (Job, resources, money, time, friends, family, relationships, etc). Let's make sure we have a grasp of what Jesus is talking about when he says "talents." You can even substitute one of those words for the word "talent" while reading these verses.
-Everyone is given a starting position. Some have lots, some have a little, some are plain middle class. But understand, the starting point is irrelevant to God. The real test is what you do with what you have been given.
-Have you ever used the excuse, "I make too much money to tithe 10% to the church?" How about, "I don't make enough money to give anything away to the church?" Do you understand the flaw in logic of those 2 statements?
-What is the praise of the master based on? Effectiveness? Profitability? No, it's all about the faithfulness. What would your praise from God look like based on your personal faithfulness with your talents?
-What are some tangible ways you can be a better steward of your talents? Write them down and use the list to keep each other accountable in weeks to come.
-Listen to these and see if you agree:
1. Good stewardship of the little things ensures greater responsibility and blessings with bigger things.
2. Don't ask God for anything more until you're faithful with what he's already given you.
3. If you won't do anything with what God has given you, doesn't it make sense for Him to take it away and give it to someone else that will be faithful?
Now, let's apply those obvious truths to our own lives and be obedient, faithful, and proactive with the talents that we've been given.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Word Night, January 22nd-28th
Matthew 18:23-34
-With the first servant, the debt wasn't large or simply intimidating. The debt was unrepayable! When you look at your life and read the consequences for your sins, do you realize that your debt to God is unrepayable? Do you ever catch yourself trying to "repay" God for what He has done for you?
-Talk about some of the ways that God has given you forgiveness, mercy, grace, and love. Now, talk about some ways that for some reason it's hard for you to show those same things to others. Why is it so hard? On paper it makes so much sense to give what has been given to you, but in a practical aspect it's tough!
-Do you have a sense of entitlement towards anything in your faith as a follower of Jesus? What are those things, why do you think that you are entitled to them, and what can you do to break that sense of entitlement and be overcome with true gratitude?
-Religious people were often characterized by their ability to know and inability to do. They were notorious takers but stingy givers. They played by the rules with people but wanted the rule book thrown out in their own life. What are some specific ways that you would qualify as a "religious person" as described by Jesus?
-How does it make you feel that God has tossed out the book and offered your grace and forgiveness?
-
-With the first servant, the debt wasn't large or simply intimidating. The debt was unrepayable! When you look at your life and read the consequences for your sins, do you realize that your debt to God is unrepayable? Do you ever catch yourself trying to "repay" God for what He has done for you?
-Talk about some of the ways that God has given you forgiveness, mercy, grace, and love. Now, talk about some ways that for some reason it's hard for you to show those same things to others. Why is it so hard? On paper it makes so much sense to give what has been given to you, but in a practical aspect it's tough!
-Do you have a sense of entitlement towards anything in your faith as a follower of Jesus? What are those things, why do you think that you are entitled to them, and what can you do to break that sense of entitlement and be overcome with true gratitude?
-Religious people were often characterized by their ability to know and inability to do. They were notorious takers but stingy givers. They played by the rules with people but wanted the rule book thrown out in their own life. What are some specific ways that you would qualify as a "religious person" as described by Jesus?
-How does it make you feel that God has tossed out the book and offered your grace and forgiveness?
-
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Word Night, January 15th-21st
Luke 15:11-24
-Prodigal means "recklessly extravagant; to spend until you have nothing left." Even though the story name is often affiliated with the younger son, explain how the father was prodigal in this passage? What elements of the story are related to God?
-What are ways in our lives sometimes when we ask God for our inheritance early? How do we say, "God I want what you can offer me, but I'm not really interested in you?"
-The word repent means to "turn around and go in the opposite direction." What made the youngest son turn around and go home? (thinking of the Father's goodness). When is the last time you have reflected on the goodness of God? What is your natural reaction to that?
-How does it make you feel that "while you were still a long way off," the Father noticed you and came after you? Wow!
-Have you ever convinced yourself that you weren't worthy to be called a son/daughter? Have you ever been on such a spiritual high that you convinced yourself you were worthy of favor and blessings from God? How are both of these thoughts theologically flawed?
Here are some great points to be reminded of this week:
1. We aren't worthy of anything from God. Everything we have and everything He has given was out of love and grace, not because we deserved it.
2. When you are at your lowest point, the goodness of God will convince you about the direction you need to go.
3. There is no sin that is a match for the grace of God.
4. The Father's love is not contingent on us. Our repentance doesn't merit God's acceptance. It's the other way around! God's love for us should drive us to our knees in repentance.
So what now? Who needs to hear this message? What do you need to do this week to share this message of grace?
How incredible is the invitation to sit at the table with God?
-Prodigal means "recklessly extravagant; to spend until you have nothing left." Even though the story name is often affiliated with the younger son, explain how the father was prodigal in this passage? What elements of the story are related to God?
-What are ways in our lives sometimes when we ask God for our inheritance early? How do we say, "God I want what you can offer me, but I'm not really interested in you?"
-The word repent means to "turn around and go in the opposite direction." What made the youngest son turn around and go home? (thinking of the Father's goodness). When is the last time you have reflected on the goodness of God? What is your natural reaction to that?
-How does it make you feel that "while you were still a long way off," the Father noticed you and came after you? Wow!
-Have you ever convinced yourself that you weren't worthy to be called a son/daughter? Have you ever been on such a spiritual high that you convinced yourself you were worthy of favor and blessings from God? How are both of these thoughts theologically flawed?
Here are some great points to be reminded of this week:
1. We aren't worthy of anything from God. Everything we have and everything He has given was out of love and grace, not because we deserved it.
2. When you are at your lowest point, the goodness of God will convince you about the direction you need to go.
3. There is no sin that is a match for the grace of God.
4. The Father's love is not contingent on us. Our repentance doesn't merit God's acceptance. It's the other way around! God's love for us should drive us to our knees in repentance.
So what now? Who needs to hear this message? What do you need to do this week to share this message of grace?
How incredible is the invitation to sit at the table with God?
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Word Night, January 8-14
Matthew 13:44-46
Let's take a look at the first parable in vs 44:
1. He stumbled across the treasure (that means he wasn't actively looking for it). The Gospel can transform a life even if that person isn't looking for Jesus, doesn't know about Jesus, or really doesn't realize the need for Jesus!
2. Notice how the Gospel changed his life. Once he found it, IN HIS JOY he SELLS ALL THAT HE HAS and buys the field. Is your life after conversion marked by joy and sacrifice for what matters the most? Is your life really all that different since you met Jesus?
3. Who do you know in your sphere of influence that would fall into this category? These people are far from God and may not even know they need God yet. Take some time to pray for them, write their names down, and set a goal to open up the conversation with them this week. You could be the map that God uses for them to find the treasure of the Gospel!
Now for vs 45-46:
1. This person was actually looking for answers. They were looking for something to fill the void in their life. Notice that the reaction is still the same. When the person finds it, there is great joy and rejoicing, and his life is forever changed.
2. Do you know people that are searching? Maybe they have been coming to church and have some really good questions. They could be really close to finding what they have been looking for. What is your plan this week to help these people take the last few crucial steps to a real relationship with Jesus?
Group leaders, take your time talking about the Gospel at the end of your group time. Rehash the thought of freedom in Christ and what salvation really offers. It is a side of the Gospel that someone in your group may have never heard before! Explain that, and ask your group if anyone wants to make a decision to give their life to Christ. If so, CELEBRATE THAT! One of the expectations of our rGroups is that people are hearing the Gospel and are given the opportunity to respond.
Be sure to let us know if someone in your group makes a decision to follow Christ so that we can rejoice with you and help them move forward in their life with Him.
Let's take a look at the first parable in vs 44:
1. He stumbled across the treasure (that means he wasn't actively looking for it). The Gospel can transform a life even if that person isn't looking for Jesus, doesn't know about Jesus, or really doesn't realize the need for Jesus!
2. Notice how the Gospel changed his life. Once he found it, IN HIS JOY he SELLS ALL THAT HE HAS and buys the field. Is your life after conversion marked by joy and sacrifice for what matters the most? Is your life really all that different since you met Jesus?
3. Who do you know in your sphere of influence that would fall into this category? These people are far from God and may not even know they need God yet. Take some time to pray for them, write their names down, and set a goal to open up the conversation with them this week. You could be the map that God uses for them to find the treasure of the Gospel!
Now for vs 45-46:
1. This person was actually looking for answers. They were looking for something to fill the void in their life. Notice that the reaction is still the same. When the person finds it, there is great joy and rejoicing, and his life is forever changed.
2. Do you know people that are searching? Maybe they have been coming to church and have some really good questions. They could be really close to finding what they have been looking for. What is your plan this week to help these people take the last few crucial steps to a real relationship with Jesus?
Group leaders, take your time talking about the Gospel at the end of your group time. Rehash the thought of freedom in Christ and what salvation really offers. It is a side of the Gospel that someone in your group may have never heard before! Explain that, and ask your group if anyone wants to make a decision to give their life to Christ. If so, CELEBRATE THAT! One of the expectations of our rGroups is that people are hearing the Gospel and are given the opportunity to respond.
Be sure to let us know if someone in your group makes a decision to follow Christ so that we can rejoice with you and help them move forward in their life with Him.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Word Night, January 1st-7th
Luke 15:1-10
-When you read Scripture, Jesus really loved hanging out with groups of people that the regular religious crowd avoided. Religious people really enjoyed hanging out with each other and avoiding people that weren't like them. Which best describes you?
-How does it make you feel to know that God pursues a real relationship with people? The creator of the universe actually desires that you have a second chance and experience life change. Wow! That viewpoint totally tears apart the misconceptions that many people that don't know Jesus have about God, Christianity, and Christians today. So share that side of the story with them!
-What does God desire? What gets God fired up? What causes the heavens to rejoice and celebrate? Shouldn't we as a church and as followers of Jesus be desiring, striving, working towards, and celebrating the same things?
-Review the 3 main points:
-Make the "Empty Chair" personal for you and your group. Discuss names of people from work, school, or your neighborhood that would fit the description. Challenge your group to verbalize a game plan for this week to invite them to church and tell them about Jesus. Next week, ask your group members how they did and keep them accountable. Also, as a group leader, make sure you are setting the bar on investing and inviting people.
-When you read Scripture, Jesus really loved hanging out with groups of people that the regular religious crowd avoided. Religious people really enjoyed hanging out with each other and avoiding people that weren't like them. Which best describes you?
-How does it make you feel to know that God pursues a real relationship with people? The creator of the universe actually desires that you have a second chance and experience life change. Wow! That viewpoint totally tears apart the misconceptions that many people that don't know Jesus have about God, Christianity, and Christians today. So share that side of the story with them!
-What does God desire? What gets God fired up? What causes the heavens to rejoice and celebrate? Shouldn't we as a church and as followers of Jesus be desiring, striving, working towards, and celebrating the same things?
-Review the 3 main points:
1.
God takes the initiative to go to great lengths to bring back to Himself those
who were estranged from Him.
2.
Reclaiming such people should lead to joyous celebration
3.
The faithfulness of the majority may never excuse us from ignoring anyone who
still remains distant from God.
Answer some of these questions with your group:
-Are
you inwardly focused, or outwardly focused?
-When you get up in the morning and you’re pulling out of your
driveway and you see your neighbor mowing his grass, what’s your thought?
-Do you have the desire and urgency for
them to experience life change through Jesus?
-Do you yearn for them to be connected to a local
church?
-Do you open up your house
to show them what real community is that so many people today are desperate
for?
-On a scale from 1-10, with 1 being total complacency, what is your level of urgency when it comes to seeing lost people found? (I imagine everyone would acknowledge the importance of that). Now, how do your actions coincide with that number? Does your mouth say a 9 but your actions say a 3? Do you acknowledge and appreciate the life changing message of the Gospel in your life, but fail to transfer that urgency in your actions and speech to others that don't know Him?
-Make the "Empty Chair" personal for you and your group. Discuss names of people from work, school, or your neighborhood that would fit the description. Challenge your group to verbalize a game plan for this week to invite them to church and tell them about Jesus. Next week, ask your group members how they did and keep them accountable. Also, as a group leader, make sure you are setting the bar on investing and inviting people.
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