Without Group Curriculum – Faith for Family

MAIN POINT:

This world doesn’t have the answers we need. We need to stop looking among the dead for the best for our families and instead look to the Living One.

ICEBREAKER:

What is one thing from your personal growth plan that makes you really excited for 2016? What is one thing that makes you really nervous?

INTRODUCTION:

After Jesus’ crucifixion, some of the women closest to him brought spices to his tomb to mourn and honor him. When they arrived, they were shocked to find that his body wasn’t there. As they stood there confused an angel said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?” Most of us would have done the same thing, right? In the natural, it only makes sense that Jesus’ body would still be waiting in the tomb. Thankfully, we serve a supernatural God.

Unfortunately, most of us still walk in the natural. We rely on our own abilities to make it through the day. This lack of faith extends to our family and friends. We believe the limitations this world has put on us. We buy into the lies that we hear everyday and repeat those lies to others as fact. If we want to see our relationships come alive in 2016 we have to stop looking to this world for advice. After all, why would we seek the living among the dead?

 

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ENCOUNTERING GOD THROUGH BIBLE STUDY:

 

Stop _____________________ about your family

Read 2 Corinthians 10:5

1. Pastor talked about speaking life into others. What does that mean? Do you tend to speak life into others or death?
2. What lies did your family buy into growing up? What lies about yourself have you bought into?
3. How have those lies affected you?
4. How can you confront the lies brought against you? What does it mean to “take every thought captive”?
5. What is one specific way you plan to speak life this week?
6. Take a few minutes and speak life to each other. What do you love about each other? What aspect of your new reality in Christ do you need to be reminded about?

 

Stop looking to _______________________ for answers

7. When you face a problem, where is the first place you look for answers?
8. What things can this world provide answers for? If we put our faith in natural things, what will be the outcome?

 

Start relying on the _____________ that is already in you

Read Romans 8:11

9. What power lives in you?
10. How would it change your day tomorrow if you really believed God’s power was in you? How would it change your week and year?
11. Why is it so much easier to rely on our own ability than to live by faith?
12. When is it hardest for you to live by faith and trust in the Holy Spirit?

 

Read Romans 8:32

13. God gave His son for you. Let that soak in. If God was willing to give His son for you, why is it so hard to have faith that He will give us everything we need?
14. What promises of God are you believing for your family this year? How are you going to ensure you speak those promises over your family?

 

LEADER NOTES

1. True life comes from one place, Jesus Christ. Speaking life then is primarily about speaking the truth of Christ to others. Speaking life is more than just avoiding being negative – it’s about seeing who others can become in Christ and speaking that for them in faith.

4. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 is primarily talking about spiritual warfare. One way the enemy attacks us is through doubt. He tries to make us doubt the truth about God and the truth about who we are in Christ. We can take these thoughts captive by always measuring our thoughts against Scripture. Is this thought true? What would God say about this thought? Does it reflect my identity in Christ or my old self? This won’t work without the help of the Holy Spirit. When those lies come into your mind seek the Holy Spirit, ask the Holy Spirit to remind you about God’s great love for you.

8. This world can provide great answers about the natural. Science is a great tool to observe and understand the natural order of things. However, this world can’t provide answers about what it can’t understand, namely the spiritual realm. Since we are spiritual beings, this world can’t provide us the answers we need to live the abundant life in Christ. When we put our faith in this natural world the outcome will be natural. Only when we put our faith in the Holy Spirit can we begin to live supernatural lives in Christ.

9. The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and working in every follower of Christ.

11. Faith is like a muscle. The more you use it the stronger it will get. We trust in our own ability because we have seen that it works – even when it doesn’t lead us to our desired outcome. The more we walk in faith, the easier it becomes to believe because we see that God is faithful. When we exercise our faith daily, in the small things, it becomes easier and easier to rely on the Holy Spirit and not ourselves.