Discussion Questions:
Opening Question
Go around the group and share one thing that immediately marks someone as belonging to a particular family, whether it is a physical trait, a habit, a phrase, or a personality quirk. What do you think marks someone as belonging to God's family?

Section 1: Our Adoption

1. The sermon describes our adoption as God's children as radical and wild, something that astonished even the Apostle John. Why do you think so many believers struggle to fully embrace this identity in their daily lives?
2. Pastor Rino described walking in a positional statement, meaning that who we are in Christ should affect how we move through the world. What is one area of your life where you feel you are not yet walking in the fullness of that position?
3. 1 John 3:1 says the world does not know us because it did not know the Father. Have you ever been treated as strange or out of place because of your faith? How did you respond, and how do you wish you had responded?

Section 2: Our Transformation

4. The sermon connects the hope of Christ's return to a present motivation for personal holiness. How does keeping eternity in view practically change the daily decisions you make?
5. Pastor made the point that we strive for holiness not to earn our adoption, but because of it. How does that distinction change the way you think about spiritual discipline? Does it feel like duty or desire in your own life right now?
6. What is one area where you sense God calling you toward greater purity, and what would it look like to take a concrete step in that direction this week?

Section 3: Our Deliverance

7. The sermon draws a connection between sin and lawlessness, describing sin not just as rule-breaking but as a disposition of the heart that feels no constraint by God's commands. How does that definition challenge or expand the way you typically think about sin?
8. Pastor Rino referenced Isaiah's promise that no matter the depth of sin or wound, the blood of Jesus is sufficient to cleanse and restore. Is there something in your past or present that you have struggled to believe God can fully heal or forgive? What makes it difficult to receive that promise?
9. The sermon mentions that God can give us the power to forgive those who have wounded us. Is there someone in your life you are still holding something against? What would it look like to begin releasing that this week?

Section 4: Our Abiding

10. Pastor made a pointed distinction between visiting God and abiding with God. Which word more honestly describes your current relationship with Him, and why?
11. Four practical ways to abide were offered: keeping God's Word in your heart, keeping His commandments, resting in His love, and praying. Which of these four comes most naturally to you, and which feels most underdeveloped?
12. The Sunday night prayer time was described as a space where people learn to rest in God's love, not just bring requests. How comfortable are you with simply being still before God, and what makes that easy or difficult for you?

Section 5: Our Family Resemblance

13. The sermon closes with the C.S. Lewis quote: "To walk out of his will is to walk into nowhere." Where do you sense you may be walking outside of God's will right now, and what would it take to realign?
14. Pastor Rino described spontaneous conversations with strangers in Solvang as expressions of his identity in Christ. How does your everyday life, outside of church, reflect your belonging to God's family? Where do you see room to grow?
15. Romans 12:16-18 was referenced as a picture of God's will for how we treat one another. As a group, how well are we living out that passage toward each other and toward people outside this circle?

Closing Prayer Focus
Close your time together by praying over these three things:

1. That each person in the group would walk more fully in the identity of being a child of God this week.
2. That God would reveal any area of sin or lawlessness that needs to be surrendered, and that He would give the strength to walk in victory.
3. That your group and your church would bear a clear family resemblance to the Father, so that the people around you would see something unmistakably different.