Small Group Covenant

OUR SMALL GROUP COVENANT
Because life in a small group

• brings special responsibilities as well as privileges;

• thrives in an environment characterised by unconditional love and care;

• provides a unique opportunity of members to grow in spiritual maturity, relationships with one another, and service.

Believing that this is God’s will for the group, I will endeavour to:

1. be committed to the group and to our meetings together.
2. be open and honest.
3. listen to others in the group.
4. regard as confidential all that is shared in group meetings and so foster trust.
5. encourage all members of the group in their walk with God and in developing their gifts in His service.
6. be open to God’s leading, to listen to and to seek to obey Him.
7. be outward looking.
8. be compassionate towards those in need outside the group.
9. pray for other group members regularly.
   

My commitment to this covenant will be for 11 months.
A review will be held in December...

Small Group Goals

Small Group Goals

• To grow in your relationship with God so that it becomes deeper,stronger and more exciting.
• To experience a loving, caring, supportive and healing community of friends.
• To experience the excitement and challenges of growing in your faith with others (getting "stretched" is much more bearable when done with others!)
• Learn more about your spiritual gifts, and provide an opportunity to use them to serve others.
• To learn to relate the word of God personally and practically to everyday life.
• To reach out to other members in your group to bless, encourage and care for them.
• With others in your group, reach our in practical ways to touch the local community and wider world with the love of God.
  

Romans 12:1-8 - Living Sacrifices

Romans 12:1-8 - Living Sacrifices

1. What influences have significantly shaped your life?

2. What is the most reasonable response to God's great mercy? (12:1-2)

3. How is the Christian to be different from unbelieving people? (12:2)

4. What facts should keep a person from feeling superior or inferior to other Christians? (12:3-6)

5. What did Paul use the human body to illustrate? (12:4-5)

6. What are the gifts of God? (12:6-8)

7. How should each person use his or her gifts? (12:6-8)

8. What makes offering our bodies as living sacrifices an act of worship?

9. To what worldly life-styles or values do we typically conform?

10. How can a Christian renew his or her mind?

11. How can the gifts God bestows on Christians help others in the church or community?

12. What is one step you can take this week toward eliminating habits that merely conform to the world's pattern?

13. How can you put a spiritual gift to work for others this week?

Psalm 105:1-45 Celebrate Together

Psalm 105:1-45 Celebrate Together

1. How do you feel when you look at old photo albums or record books of your past?

2. What specific instructions does this psalm give to God's people? (105:1-4)

3. What is the main idea of this passage? (105:1-45)

4. How did the Lord demonstrate His faithfulness to Israel? (105:8-41)

5. What conclusion did the psalm writer draw from his meditation on God's goodness? (105:42-45)

6. What specific instructions are given to us in this passage?

7. How should we respond to God's goodness?

8. Why should we tell others about what God has done for us?

9. How could you keep a record of God's faithfulness to you?

Every Day - Lamentations 3:19-39

Lamentations 3:19-39

1. If you were to portray pain and suffering through poetry, music, or painting, which one medium would you choose? Why?

2. What did the poet recall? (3:19-21)

3. In the middle of lamenting the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, what profound assurance did the writer express? (3:22-24)

4. What virtues were affirmed by the author? (3:25-27)

5. How was God's mercy revealed in suffering? (3:28-33)

6. How did the writer describe the nature of God's knowledge? (3:37-38)

7. What did the writer say about sin and suffering? (3:39)

8. What do you know about the mercies of God in the middle of difficulty?

9. Why does relying on God give you hope?

10. What message of hope can we offer to people who are in despair?

11. When can you spend some time in prayer to thank the Lord for His faithfulness and acts of mercy in your life?

Read Zechariah 4:1-14

12. What was the explanation given concerning the golden lampstand and the two olive trees? (4:1-14)

13. What ministry project are you involved in that you would like to see completed?

Be a Servant

Suffering and Glory of the Servant
Isaiah 52:13-53:12 -
1. What kinds of human suffering are particularly abhorrent and difficult for you to watch?

2. What are the different ways in which a person might attract a following?

3. How did God, through Isaiah's prophecy, characterize the actions of the coming Servant? (52:13)

4. Why was it necessary for a righteous servant to be the bearer of sins?

5. What opposite reactions would people have to the Messiah before and after His suffering? (52:14-15)

6. What sufferings of Jesus (such as those described in Luke 23:1-56) were foretold in Isaiah 53?

7. What was unbelievable about the message of God's chosen deliverance? (53:1-3)

8. What would actually be happening when people were assuming that God was punishing Jesus? (53:4)

9. What would the wounds of the Messiah accomplish for all believers? (53:5)

10. What has God done with the sin of each human being? (53:6)

11. How did Isaiah say that the Messiah would respond to mistreatment and suffering? (53:7)

12. What was God's will in relation to the life of His Son? (53:10)

13. Why did Isaiah say that the Messiah would be exalted and "divide the spoils"? (53:12)

14. What one goal for your relationship with God can you work on in the coming weeks by contemplating His sacrifice for you?

Don't Forget

Don't Forget
Read Deuteronomy 8

1. What is one thing you tend to be forgetful about?

2. How did the Lord humble the Israelites? (8:3-4)

3. How does God discipline us? (8:5)

4. Why did God want Israel to remember His commands? (8:6-9)

5. How was Israel told not to forget God? (8:10-14)

6. What was Israel commanded to remember about God? (8:17-20)

7. What is the relationship between forgetfulness and responsibility?

8. How do you feel when you have to keep reminding people to do things?

9. What does this section of Scripture teach you about remembering God?

10. What can we humbly give to God for all the blessings He gives us?

11. What is a practical way you can remember God in all you do this week?

Join In

Join In
Exodus 19:1-9
1. Why do people put up No Trespassing signs?

2. When did the Israelites arrive at the Desert of Sinai? (19:1)

3. What did God tell Moses from the mountain? (19:3-6)

4. How did Moses respond to God's instructions? (19:7)

5. What types of limitations do certain institutions have on our lives?

6. Why does God place certain limitations on our lives?

7. What is one practical way you can follow God's direction for your life?

1 Peter 2:9-10

8. What status did Peter ascribe to believers in Christ? (2:9)

9. What is your ethnic heritage and how has it influenced you?

10. How does our past compare with our present condition? (2:10)

11. How does being chosen by God for a special task make you feel?

12. What are the implications of believers being a chosen people, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation?