CG Study Guide JAMES for Oct. 27, 2019 PDF
Community Group Study Guide
For the week of October 27, 2019
MY STORY
1. Are you more likely to act without thinking or think without acting?
2. We’ve often heard it said, “faith is trusting God enough to do what He says.” We all have different experiences with trust and different levels of mistrust. Mark anything you would have trouble trusting below:
Parachute Airplane Food truck food
Elevator Bungee cord Cats/Dogs
Tap water Holiday treats from a neighbor
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 heard our faith must be much more than just a belief or understanding of God, it must be an action. As we look at the life of Jesus and watch the calls he made to the crowds following him, we get a better understanding of what faith in action looks like. The next four passages give examples of Jesus calling his followers to action. Read through each and answer the questions below.
Matthew 16:24-25 New International Version (NIV) 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
- In one or two sentences, how would you sum this verse up in your own words?
- How might this verse play out in a person’s life?
- What keeps you from doing this?
- Can you think of any times you’ve done this well?
Mark 9:35 New International Version (NIV) 35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
- In one or two sentences, how would you sum this verse up in your own words?
- How might this verse play out in a person’s life?
- What keeps you from doing this?
- Can you think of any times you’ve done this well?
Matthew 18:2-3 New International Version (NIV) 2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
- In one or two sentences, how would you sum this verse up in your own words?
- How might this verse play out in a person’s life?
- What keeps you from doing this?
- Can you think of any times you’ve done this well?
Luke 18:9-14 New International Version (NIV) 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
- In one or two sentences, how would you sum this verse up in your own words?
- How might this verse play out in a person’s life?
- What keeps you from doing this?
- Can you think of any times you’ve done this well?
TAKING IT HOME
1. In light of this week’s teaching and study on faith in action, is there anything Jesus is calling you to start, stop or keep doing?
PRAYER REQUESTS