LEADERS 4th Quarter CG Study Guide for Sept. 29, 2019 PDF
Leaders Community Group Study Guide
For the week of September 29, 2019
ANNOUNCEMENTS/REMINDERS
Hey CG Members! This concludes our 4th Quarter Series. We hope you have enjoyed your Community Group and will stay for our new series as we dive into the book of James. Please let your leader know if you are unable to continue or if you need to switch to another group because of schedule conflict.
Fall Women’s Conference – November 15 – 16!
The conference will take place at our Ballast Point Campus, kicking off Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. and concluding Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Tickets are $49. If you have a need for financial assistance, please contact Lauren Cordner at Lauren@stfchurch.com.
Please email groups@stfchurch.com if you have a member that needs to change groups or is not continuing for the James series. Our prayer is that everyone will stay in a Community Group.
Please take attendance. Thanks!
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
1. The advertising industry spends billions of dollars each year trying to convince you that you need their products. Can you think of any ads or products (past or present) that really made you want something? Did you end up buying it? Did the purchase live up to its promise?
2. Looking back over the last couple weeks, what are a few things that competed for your time, attention, or resources? Now list at least three things that you would most like to pursue on a regular basis.
3. Looking back at your notes from this week’s teaching, was there anything that particularly caught your attention, challenged or confused you?
DIGGING DEEPER
This week, we will study two different Sauls in the Bible. The first is King Saul and the second is Saul whose name became Paul. Ask members of the group if they know any highlights of the men’s lives.
1. King Saul could have done some great things for God. Saul had tremendous potential. But King Saul had a heart of rebellion and a spirit of jealousy and an independent spirit that cause him to backslide and lose his power and lose God’s blessing on his life. Near the end of his life, read what King Saul said concerning his life in 1 Samuel 26:21 What three things does he say that characterized his life?
–“I have sinned.”
–“I have played the fool.”
–“I have erred exceedingly.”
2. This Saul was later renamed Paul, and we know him as the Apostle Paul, Christianity’s first missionary and the writer of half of the books of the New Testament. Read 2 Timothy 4:7 which are some of the last words of Paul, written shortly before tradition tells us that he was beheaded in Rome. Contrast those last words of King Saul with the Saul of the New Testament.
–“I have fought a good fight.”
–“I have finished my course.”
–“I have kept the faith.”
3. These last four weeks, we have been encouraged to be sure that God’s agenda for our lives is our first priority. Both Sauls clearly had different priorities in their lives. How do the following verses help you understand what’s on God’s heart and motivate you to continue pursuing those things intentionally?
Matthew 22:37-40
Matthew 28:18-20
Philippians 2:1-5
1 Peter 4:7-11
Which of these verses caught your attention most and why?
4. The Apostle Paul was consistently able to maintain a long-term perspective despite facing many challenges and difficulties while having a “fourth quarter” life. What do you see in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 that helps explain how he was able to maintain his perspective in the face of those difficulties?
What is most challenging to you about developing the long-term perspective found in this passage?
TAKING IT HOME
1. Looking back on this sermon series, what’s most important for you to remember?
2. How has your scheduled changed or needs to change to schedule the best of you for your Lord, your family, and your friends?
3. When the whistle is blown and the game is over, what do you hope is said about you as a result of how you lived in the fourth quarter? How are you living now to make that true?
4. How can your group pray for you as you live for Christ and in Christ every day?
PRAYER REQUESTS