CG Study Guide, #AnyoneListening for the week of April 10, 2022
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COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY GUIDE
For the week of April 10, 2022
MY STORY
1. What is an example of a time you had to come up with an unusual, quick solution to get out of a bind because it was all that was available to you?
2. There are many ways we can try to justify or rationalize straying from obedience. When it comes to the areas that it can be tempting to compromise in (finances, relationships, etc.), which of the justifications below have you heard people use most often?
- “That ship has sailed anyway”
- “God will forgive me”
- “It’s not going to hurt anybody”
- “I can’t right now, but I’ll do it later”
- “It’s not that big of a deal”
- “God wants me to be happy”
- Other: __________________________
Can you think of a time you were tempted to compromise obedience in something because of one of the reasons listed above?
QUICK REVIEW
Looking back at your notes from this week’s teaching, was there anything you heard for the first time or something that caught your attention, challenged or confused you?
DIGGING DEEPER
1. Many times, we tend to stray from obedience when we feel like we are in need or in trouble. As you read Romans 6:15-23, what principles do you find most compelling to choose obedience in the moments you feel tempted to stray from doing the right thing?
Romans 6:15-23 New International Version (NIV)
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
How would you respond to someone who cited the reasons/justifications for not obeying listed in My Story #2 based on what you read in Romans 6:15-23?
2. As you read the verses below, what do you notice about the benefits of letting others into your life in a real and honest way instead of pretending?
Note about Digging Deeper #2: We hope Community Group will be a place where you can build the kind of relationships where you feel you have people you can be honest with, but Community Group will never be a place where you are forced to confess or share.
1 John 1:9 New International Version (NIV)
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Proverbs 28:13 New International Version (NIV)
13 Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Psalm 32:5 New International Version (NIV)
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
Hebrews 3:13 New International Version (NIV)
13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Hebrews 10:24-25 New International Version (NIV)
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Most of us can attest that telling the truth or being honest about our struggles is almost always harder than pretending or hiding. What are some of the hurdles that keep us from doing what these verses describe?
Do you have a victory story of a time you experienced the benefits these verses describe because you were honest about something you were struggling with? Is there a key lesson you took away from that situation?
TAKING IT HOME
1. Is there anything you could do in the coming week to strengthen your relationship with someone you can be honest with about your struggles?
2. Is there an area of your life where you feel you’ve been pretending or not being honest about something you’re struggling with?
PRAYER REQUESTS