Community Group Study Guide
For the week of February 3, 2019
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
1. What would you do if the phone rang, the doorbell chimed, your child called for help, and the water on the stove top began to boil over all at the same time?
2. Last week in our CG study guide, we saw through Jesus’s example that being in the middle of the storm may actually be right where God has led us. What encourages you from the sermon or the passage below to know when you are in a life storm?
1 Peter 1:6-7 (NIV)
6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
3. Looking back at your notes from this week’s teaching, was there anything you heard for the first time or anything that caught your attention, challenged or confused you?
DIGGING DEEPER
After reading the passage, discuss the following questions.
Mark 5:21-34 (NIV)
21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
1. What obstacles did Jairus and the bleeding woman have to overcome to reach out to Jesus for help?
2. Jairus, the synagogue ruler, fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to heal his 12-year-old daughter. When was the last time you “fell at Jesus feet” and begged for help?
3. What would you consider to be the worst of this bleeding woman’s problems?
- Her physical suffering
- Being financially drained
- Being a social outcast
- Always being religiously impure
- Guilt and low-self esteem
4. The woman with the bleeding problem spent all her money and a great deal of effort to find a solution for her suffering. How likely are you to try every other option before you take your problem to God?
5. Why was it important to Jesus to know who touched him?
- So the crowd would know a miracle had taken place
- So he could point out that the woman’s faith had healed her
- So the woman could know she had been given God’s peace
- So it would be clear her physical healing included social healing
6. What is the most significant aspect of this story to you?
TAKING IT HOME
- In what ways do these two people, Jairus and the bleeding woman, most remind you of yourself?
- Desperate for a cure or answer
- Having pain that no one can see
- Struggling with finances
- Struggling with God’s timing
- Feeling alone
- Feeling Spiritually impure
- Feeling frustrated at the interruptions of life
- Being shy about asking for help
2. Re-read the 1 Peter passage. When do you remember being the most desperate for God’s help? What is the point, according to the Scripture, of suffering?
1 Peter 1:6-7 (NIV)
6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
3. What do you need to ask Jesus to heal you from today? How can the group pray for you?
- A physical problem
- A family problem
- A financial problem
- An emotional problem
- A spiritual problem
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PRAYER REQUESTS |
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ANNOUNCEMENTS |
FINANCIAL PEACE UNIVERSITY
FPU is a nine-lesson course taught by Dave Ramsey and his team of financial experts. Through life-changing videos, online tools and resources, and group accountability, our church members will learn how to create and stick to a budget, save for emergencies, pay off debt, and plan for the future.
Classes start on February 10. Click the button below to register!
DiscoverSTF
DiscoverSTF is a way to find out about our family of believers and learn the next steps to get connected. It is one Sunday morning class in which a person can discover the history, personality, passion, and purpose God has placed on the heart of South Tampa Fellowship.
DiscoverSTF meets at our BP Campus.If you are interested in becoming a member of our church, this class is required. Our next DiscoverSTF class will take place on February 10.
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WAYS TO SERVE |
Next Week every Community Group will have a part in praying for our upcoming VBS. Be prepared to be assigned a group of volunteers in each age category that VBS hosts that your group will be responsible to pray for EVERY week until the first week of June. It is our hope that as we pray for one another we will become more united as we reach South Tampa through our Vacation Bible School.
West Florida Foster Care– We would love for you to connect with and support West FL Foster care families. Through your Community Group you can adopt a family and provide the care they need in order to navigate through the process of foster care and meet their needs.