Life Group Questions - November 1
Discussion Questions:
Opening
Going Deeper
On Christ's Finished Work
On the Assurance of Perfect Love
On Exercising Faith
On Responding to Evil with Good
Closing Prayer Focus
Close your group time by praying together over these themes:
Opening
- When you hear the phrase "the Christian life is a battleground, not a playground," what is your honest first reaction? Does that description match your experience?
- Think of a time when you felt genuinely victorious in your walk with God. What was happening in your life during that season?
Going Deeper
On Christ's Finished Work
- Pastor Rino said, "We believers don't fight for victory, we fight from victory." What is the practical difference between those two postures? How does it change the way you approach a difficult situation?
- In John 19:30, Jesus declares that his redemptive work is complete. How does truly believing that change the way you see your own failures and struggles?
On the Assurance of Perfect Love
- In 1 John 4:18, the apostle teaches that perfect love drives out fear. Where does fear most often show up in your life -- in relationships, in your faith, in your future? How does God's love speak directly to that fear?
- Pastor Rino pointed out that many people live as though God is waiting to punish them. Have you ever felt that way? What truth from Scripture challenges that belief?
On Exercising Faith
- Pastor Rino used the illustration of sitting at a gym without pedaling. In what areas of your spiritual life are you "sitting on the bike" without actually exercising your faith?
- He said, "If you don't live by faith, you will never know the power of God activated in your life." Can you think of a moment when you took a step of faith and saw God move? What made that step difficult?
On Responding to Evil with Good
- Romans 12:21 teaches that evil is overcome with good, not with retaliation. Who in your life is the hardest person to love right now? What would it look like practically to respond to them with good?
- Pastor Rino listed several things the world teaches -- retaliate, hold grudges, fight fire with fire -- and called these "the pathway to defeat." Which of these is most tempting for you personally, and why?
Closing Prayer Focus
Close your group time by praying together over these themes:
- Gratitude for the finished work of Christ
- Freedom from fear through God's perfect love
- Boldness to exercise faith in specific, practical ways
- Grace to love those who are difficult to love
- Full surrender of will to Christ