“Together,” Part 1

Pastor Zach Bearss

September 9, 2018

Questions for Discussion

CONNECT
We were created to experience fellowship in community: to be known and loved by God and by others. Describe a time in your life when you have either experienced rich fellowship or the opposite, when you have experienced loneliness.

ENGAGE
Read Mark 3:13-19.  What do you know about each apostle listed? Would you have picked these group of men to be in your small group or to build your ministry?

Discuss this quote by Parker Palmer: “Community is that place where the person you least want to live with always lives. And when that person moves away, someone else rises up to take his/her place.”

Discuss this quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community.”

APPLY 
Many times in church life our Christian community has broken down.  How can we view our “great disillusionments” differently as the Lord uses these moments to transform our lives into holiness and to love others as Christ loves us?

PRAY
Ask the Holy Spirit to enter in and teach us how to grow in love for one another.

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“Together,” Part 2

Pastor Zach Bearss

September 16, 2018

Questions for Discussion

CONNECT
The 12 apostles chosen by Jesus represented a cross-section of Jewish culture that normally did not spend time together.  How about your relationships: are they more similar to your opinions and lifestyle or represent an array of backgrounds and thoughts?

ENGAGE
Read Mark 3:13-19.  What stands out to you about how Jesus chose the 12 and his thoughts towards them. 

Read Matthew 9:9-13  Where was Jesus to be found after Matthew became one of his disciples?  Picture yourself in this story and ask the question: where would I be found in this scene: a disciple, a sinner, tax collector, or a Pharisee?

Read Hosea 6:6 and Matthew 9:13.  Discuss what it means “I desire compassion and not sacrifice.”

APPLY
Discuss this statement by Eugene Petersen about the church: “I am here to invite outsiders and not coddle insiders.”

Matthew was only “one ask away” from a life with Jesus.  Is there someone you need to ask to get to know Jesus?  

Matthew could have chosen to stay in his tax booth but risked it all by becoming Christ’s disciple.  Where is God asking to you to take a risk and follow Him in faith?

PRAY
Pray  for one another to become more compassionate and extend mercy towards others ho are not like you, just as Christ did.

“Together,” Part 3

Pastor Zach Bearss

September 23, 2018

Questions for Discussion

CONNECT

Discuss this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone…Each by itself has profound perils and pitfalls.”

ENGAGE
Read Galatians 5:16-6:10.  Contrast the deeds of the flesh with  the fruit of the Spirit. Also contrast what is evident outward and what is evident inward.

Read John 15:1-5. Community starts in  your own heart with Christ.  What is our life in Christ to look like, both the seen and unseen?

Read Luke 15:11-32, then discuss what you see portrayed in Rembrandt’s “The Prodigal Son”  below in light of scripture.

APPLY

Make a date with God to be alone with Him or take a few minutes of quiet reflection with the Lord while meeting in your small group. Read Psalm 139.  List the specific ways He knows  you and loves you, then listen to what He has to say to you through His word to you. Then share with the group your insights.

PRAY
Pray for one another and bear one another’s burdens.

“Together,” Part 4

Pastor Zach Bearss

September 30, 2018

Questions for Discussion

CONNECT
Which is harder for you personally: to admit to others that you are struggling and need help (emotionally, spiritually, physically, financially), or to reach out and sacrifice time and energy  to help someone else in a time of need?

ENGAGE
Read Galatians 5:13-6:10.  How many “one anothers” do you see in this passage?  Which “one anothers” would fit under the heading “Desires of the Flesh” category and which “one anothers” would fit under the heading “Walking by the Spirit”category? Discuss the contrast.

Read Luke 22:23-27.  Discuss Christ’s example of servanthood and sacrifice that we are to follow as His disciples.

APPLY
Read Acts 9:36.  What was Dorcas known for?  What are you known for?  Encourage one another in the discussion of where you have seen others in your small group serve one another and bear one another’s burdens.

Discuss a current situation of where you could step in as a small group or as an individual to help bear someone else’s burden and then make a plan to follow through.

PRAY
Ask the Lord to change your heart if it has become hardened to someone else’s need that you can meet and ask Him to give you a way to quietly meet that need without drawing attention to yourself.

“Together,” Part 5

Pastor Zach Bearss

October 6, 2018

 

Questions for Discussion

CONNECT
Look over the chart below and discuss with one anther: where are you  in your journey of faith?

ENGAGE
Read Matthew 5:13-15. Discuss what it means to be the salt of the earth as the spice of life, as a preservative, and as used for medicinal purposes. Next discuss what it means to be a city on a hill and the light of the world.

Read Mark 8:22-29.  Discuss the healing of the blind man and the stages of his healing while referencing the graph above, “Stages in the Journey of Faith.”

APPLY
ClearView is entering a season of GO-ing together.  Where has the Lord placed you in the body to join in where God is leading  to serve our community and those around us?

PRAY
Pray for one another that the Lord will open our eyes to those around us and that we will see clearly where to be salt and light in this world.