Leaders CG Study Guide, The Generous Life, for the week of Nov 7, 2021 PDF VERSION
LEADERS COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY GUIDE
FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 7, 2021
This guide is designed to give helpful hints in preparing & leading your group in discussion.
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LEADER NOTES |
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ANNOUNCEMENTS ⇨ OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD Each Community group is asked to take several boxes and return them full November 14th. See www.samaritanspurse.org for details. ⇨ NEXT GEN PARENT CONFERENCE This Wednesday, November 10, 6:30-7:30pm, BP Campus, 3rd floor YTH Room Get updated on the latest information of technology including social media, online safety, screen time monitoring, and more. If you are serving in Awana or elsewhere, there will be a recording of the event so you won’t miss out. ⇨ DAVE PETTIGREW WORSHIP CONCERT Thursday, November 11th, 6:30-7:30pm Celebrate Recovery invites everyone to this very special worship/concert located in the East at the BP campus. The Rhode Island born singer/songwriter was selected among the Top 20 new emerging artists in contemporary Christian music and has opened for bands such as Mercy me and Michael W Smith. The event is free but we will be collecting a love offering. ALL are welcome. ⇨ VETERANS DAY BBQ TAILGATE Sunday, November 14, 4;00-6:00pm STF Military is hosting a BBQ Tailgate for active duty and retired military and their families. Free BBQ food truck, bounce houses, and yard games.Submit your group’s attendance online by responding to your email from church center. ⇨ MARRIED LIFE TOPGOLF DATE NIGHT November 20, 2021, 6:00 – 8:00pm The Married Life ministry is hosting a November date night that will be at Topgolf Tampa on November 20 from 6-8 p.m. Cost is $50 per couple which includes two hours of unlimited play and dinner platters at each bay. |
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?
MY STORY
1. This past week we learned about Paul saying goodbye to his beloved friends for the last time. If you knew today’s visit with your Community Group was your last, what words of wisdom or encouragement would you want to share with the group?
2. This week’s sermon talked about the importance of leaving a legacy. When you think of leaving a legacy, what are some of the first things that come to mind?
DIGGING DEEPER
1. Suddenly, Paul is more loving friend than hard-driving missionary. Has your preoccupation with the task of ministry ever caused you to miss out on loving people? (Read the following passage for reference.)
Acts 20:17-38 New Living Translation
17 But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him.
18 When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now 19 I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. 20 I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. 21 I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.
22 “And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, 23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. 24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.
25 “And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again. 26 I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault, 27 for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.
28 “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders.[d] 29 I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. 30 Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. 31 Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you—my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you.
32 “And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.
33 “I have never coveted anyone’s silver or gold or fine clothes. 34 You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me. 35 And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
36 When he had finished speaking, he knelt and prayed with them. 37 They all cried as they embraced and kissed him good-bye. 38 They were sad most of all because he had said that they would never see him again. Then they escorted him down to the ship.
Paul spent three months teaching in the synagogue in Ephesus, reasoning from the Jewish Scriptures, but some in his audience not only rejected his message but they became abusive toward “the Way” (Acts 19:8–9). Paul asked the Ephesian elders to meet him in Miletus, and they did. Paul prayed with them, encouraged them, warned them against false teachers, and predicted the hardships he would face in Jerusalem (verses 17–35). After tearful good-byes, the Ephesian elders saw Paul to the ship (verses 36–38).
2.Who makes up your “flock” for whom you are responsible? In what specific way do you shepherd them?
3. How would you complete this sentence: “The thing I must accomplish at any cost is _____”?
TAKING IT HOME
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1. In the race of doing Gods will, are you in the front of the pack, one of the stragglers, or an onlooker?
(Every believer runs his own race (1 Corinthians 9:24). Each of us is enabled to be a winner. Paul exhorts us to “run in such a way as to get the prize,” and to do this we must set aside anything that might hinder us from living and teaching the gospel of Christ. The writer of Hebrews echoes the words of Paul: “Lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2).
May we be diligent in our “race,” may we keep our eyes on the goal, and may we, like Paul, finish strong.)
2. Looking forward to the day those around you celebrate your life at your memorial, what one or two things do you hope those closest say is part of your legacy? Is there anything you need to do differently now to help make that happen?
PRAYER
How can this group remember you in prayer this week?