February 1st-7th: FAITH
Open with Prayer: Invite the Holy Spirit to be present, illuminate the Scriptures, and have Jesus’ will done today in the group. Pray for God to work through your life group in these next four weeks.
Talk Together: (10 minutes) Start by asking this one question:
How have you understood FAITH throughout your life?
Do you think faith could be viewed as a verb versus a noun? Why or why not?
Read this Overview aloud to the Group:
Faith is an essential part of our relationship with Christ. Throughout Jesus’s ministry and even in many other areas of scripture, faith is emphasized heavily. Jesus tells parables about faith and also encourages us to have greater faith in our own lives. For example, in Matthew 17:14-21, a man brings his demon-possessed son to Jesus to be healed after the disciples failed to cast the demon out themselves. We see in this story that Jesus heals this demon-possessed boy, and while the healing aspect of this story is amazing, what I find most fascinating about this is what Jesus says to his disciples right after this miracle takes place. The disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Why could we not cast it [the demon] out?” Jesus replied to them by saying, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:19-21 ESV). This story of faith like a mustard seed is a very interesting one to me. I think we can read this story and immediately think to ourselves that Jesus is suggesting we have the opposite of faith like a mustard seed. Shouldn’t we have BIG faith rather than faith as small as a mustard seed? You probably came here today not expecting a lecture on mustard seeds, so I will keep this as short as I can for you guys. However, I do believe that the context of this is essential to understand for this parable. A mustard seed is about 1-2 millimeters in size. Yet, the brush can grow upwards of 20-30 feet tall and wide. So this small mustard seed that Jesus describes in this parable has the potential to grow up to 30 feet tall! That is pretty amazing if you ask me. In this same way, our faith does a similar thing. Our faith is meant to grow and go! One small act of faith, just like the mustard seed, can go a long way. This could look like a few different things. It might look like praying for someone that God has laid on your heart, it could look like an encouragement you want to pass along to somebody, or even doing an act of service for somebody just to bless them and show them the love of Jesus. Performing an act of faith for someone has the potential to have an eternal impact on their life and even cause a ripple effect for other people. You have no idea the things that the Lord could do through you if we just choose to step out in faith. Regardless of where you are at in life, the Lord wants to use YOU in mighty ways for his kingdom. It doesn’t matter whether you have been saved for 1 month, 1 year, or 1 lifetime, we all have the potential to be used by God and it all starts by having the faith of a mustard seed.
Talk Together: (10 minutes): In group ask the following questions:
Tell me about a time in your life where you or maybe someone you know stepped out in faith by maybe praying for, encouraging, or blessing you or somebody else and it ended up having an eternal impact on yours or their life?
How can you live out your faith for someone in your life this week?
Dive In (10 minutes): *I encourage you if you can, to put on some instrumental or soaking type music during this time. *
Take a few minutes to be quiet before God (if you’re able and willing, open your hands in a receiving posture). Ask the Holy Spirit to make Himself known and to speak to each person in the room. As you pray, ask how he can help you step out in faith this week.
Give a few minutes for people to listen to the Holy Spirit and write down their reflections. Words, pictures, verses, or phrases may come to mind. Some people may experience a feeling or an emotion. Be open to the different ways that God may speak to each person.
After spending time with the Holy Spirit and listening, have each person, as they are comfortable, share what they are thinking, experiencing, feeling, wanting, and/or reflecting on.
This Week’s Practice:
This week, ask the Lord how you can step out in faith and serve Him in a specific way. For example, maybe there is someone you know who is in need of prayer and you can step out in faith by praying for them this week. Maybe there is someone you know that could really use encouragement and you can step out in faith by encouraging them or speaking God’s truth over their life. Maybe it’s something like fasting. Maybe you can step out in faith this week by fasting or surrendering something to the Lord in order to have more intentional time with him this week. Whatever it is, take some time this week to be extra attentive to the Lord and ask Him how he may want you to serve him this week.
Close Your Time in Prayer.