Small Group Guide
“We Gather Faithfully”
Hebrews 10:19-25
In this sermon series, we will look at eight identity markers that describe who God calls us to be and what He calls us to do as a local church. Through our sermon series in Acts last year, we saw that worship, nurture, and mission are three dimensions of kingdom service, and in the We Are series, we will flesh out what it means to be the body of Christ and how we can accomplish these three primary tasks as a church. In doing so, we will see evidence of fruit and God’s grace in many areas, but we will also note areas in which further growth is needed. As we identify ways in which The Church at Brook Hills will take intentional steps forward, use these eight markers to assess your own life, and as a small group, discuss how you will live them out as we all come together to “glorify God by making disciples of all nations.”
Message Summary
To download the outline for this week’s sermon, visit brookhills.org/weare
As we saw in last year’s study of Acts, the most world-impacting generation in church history recognized that they needed fellowship with each other in order to reach the world with the gospel. They needed to gather with each other eating, sharing life, instructing one another with the Word, and encouraging each other (Acts 2:42-46). In addition to abiding biblically, gathering faithfully stands as another distinct value that reveals who we are as The Church at Brook Hills, and seven specific attributes should characterize our corporate worship: worship should be God-centered, Word-driven, gospel-saturated, honest, horizontal, expressive, and for all of life. God cares about how we worship, and He desires for us to see and savor Him with fellow believers. While private worship of God is vital to our spiritual growth, God also designed us to need each other and to benefit spiritually from regularly participating in corporate worship with our local church family. Therefore, “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:24-25).
Discussion & Application Questions
After briefly reviewing the message summary, use these questions to further examine the sermon and to discuss how these truths apply to daily life, so we can “be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (Jas. 1:22). Based on your knowledge of the people in your group, select the questions that will best help you frame the group’s discussion of this sermon and sermon text.
1. Worship, nurture, and mission are three primary tasks of the church. How does worship and nurture work together to fuel mission? What happens to mission if worship is lacking or if nurture is lacking in the church?
2. How has fellowship and community with other believers encouraged or challenged you in evangelism and/or discipleship? How has gathering with other believers shaped you? Give one or two brief examples.
3. Read Hebrews 10:24-25. Why is faithfully gathering together as a church and as a small group important? Why should it be a priority in our lives? Why is it important to recognize that worship is not just vertical (just me and Jesus) but also horizontal (something we do with other believers)? Discuss the importance of both personal and corporate time spent worshiping God. Why are both necessary for the spiritual health of a Christian?
4. Why would a Christian not prioritize gathering regularly with other believers? How would you explain the importance of live, corporate worship to a Christian who does not regularly attend a local church or who podcasts Christian preachers or watches them on TV but is not committed to a local church body?
5. Read Psalm 122:1. What can we do when we do not feel like participating in corporate worship and when it feels more like a duty than a delight? What can we do when we are there physically but distracted for whatever reason? How can we redirect our hearts when we are not “glad” to worship together with God’s people? What other things hinder us from either attending or participating in corporate worship gatherings or in small group? How can we overcome those barriers?
6. How can we savor and enjoy God? How can we grow in our desire to savor Him? Why don’t we delight in Him? What does it even look like to delight in Him?
7. How do you know if you are finding your joy, satisfaction, or delight from something or someone other than God? What would be distinguishing markers of this?
8. How do we discern if our church’s worship is God-centered or man-centered?
9. Why is important for our worship to be driven by Scripture? What happens if we are not Word-driven and gospel-saturated as a church and as a small group? Why do we need reminders of the gospel each time we gather as a church body or a small group?
10. Our worship is to be Word-driven, so what instructions does God give us in the Bible regarding how He wants us to worship? See Acts 2:42-46; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29; 16:1-3; Colossians 3:16; 1 Timothy 4:13; 2 Timothy 4:2.
11. With regards to worship, what is the difference between what we could do and what we should do? Give examples of things we should do because of the Bible’s instruction and what we can take liberty with doing or varying how or when we do it.
12. In Hebrews 10:19-25, identify the two “since we” statements and the three “let us” commands. In this passage, what motivation does the writer of Hebrews give for what we should do? How are the “since we” statements motivational and inspiring for us as Christians? What would happen to our obedience if we lacked this motivation? How does the gospel affect our guilt and our shame, our view of ourselves, our motivation to obey God, our love for others, etc.?
13. While we may not always have completely pure motives, how can we move towards obedience that is motivated by a love for God and a gratitude for what He has done for us? What would be telltale signs that an awe of God is not what is motivating our behavior?
14. How does the gospel saturate your interactions and conversations with each other as a small group? How should it?
15. For this small group, what are the implications of worship being honest and recognizing that suffering, sin, and grace is real?
16. What prevents us from being honest with God, with ourselves, and with other believers? What happens if our worship is not honest? How does a lack of honesty affect this faith family and this small group? If a Christian struggles with being vulnerable with others, what is one step that person can take in order to become more transparent with another believer?
17. How does honesty – living like we know and believe that suffering, sin, and grace is real – deepen our love for God, our appreciation of the gospel, and our relationships with other believers?
18. While studying the Bible and learning doctrine is important for every believer, how do we guard against our relationship with God becoming strictly an academic exercise that lacks spiritual vitality? How do we allow what we know in our head to affect our hearts, so our worship is not simply studying but delighting in the One we are studying?
19. What happens if our relationship with God is all head (truth, knowledge, study) with no heart (zeal, affection, rejoicing)? What if it is all heart but no head?
Things to Consider
If you have people in your group who did not hear the sermon, read the sermon text (Heb. 10:19-25) together and briefly summarize the main points of the sermon.
Before jumping into the discussion questions, it would be helpful to make sure that everyone in the group understands what worship is, so at the beginning of the group, have the group members define what it means to worship God and describe what it looks like (or can look like). While we have the seven characteristics of gathered worship in the sermon outline, worship can still seem like this ethereal thing that we talk about as Christians, so be specific in identifying what worship looks like or involves. Read 1 Corinthians 10:31 together and ask, “How do we worship God in daily life, in ‘whatever we do’?” Invite one or two people in the group to share what worship has looked like in their life this past week.
Because Pastor Matt identified honesty as being a characteristic of gathered worship, take time during the group meeting to evaluate together. How can this small group be a place where group members feel invited to be real about their suffering and to voice their battles with sin? How can this group be a place where grace is the response to such honest sharing? What does it even mean or look like to respond with grace to the suffering that people experience or to the sin that they are battling (or are being pummeled by)? What can the group do to foster an environment where people feel more comfortable sharing what is actually going on in their lives? Emphasize that honest worship does not mean that you must share your stuff with every single person in the group. However, it is important to have other believers (of the same gender) in your life who know the real you, who can encourage you, who can pray for you and with you, and who can gently correct you when needed. Who are those people in your life? What happens if we don’t have such people in our lives? If you do not have any such person in your life, what next step can you take to identify one? (This whole evaluation and discussion about honesty could take place as a whole group or, if co-ed, with the men and the women in separate groups. Also, discussion questions 15-17 relate to this discussion on honesty.)
At the end of group, break up into smaller groups (according to the same gender if a co-ed group), and have the people in those groups follow up with each other about the one step they had identified the previous week with regards to how they would abide in God’s Word. If they did not take that step or struggled in taking that step, instruct the groups to problem solve. Why was that step not taken and how can that step (or a different step) be taken this week? Remind each other why this – abiding biblically – is so important for us as Christians.
At the end of the sermon, Pastor Matt gave three points of application with regards to gathering faithfully: remember the law versus wisdom, lean forward, and make gathering together a priority. While in these smaller groups, direct them to identify one of those three application points in which they could stand to grow either in their thinking, attitude, or actions. How will they take a step to grow in that area this next week? Included below are some prompts that can be used, but do not feel tied to just the questions in the prompts.
· Remember Law vs. Wisdom: How can you take a step in holding loosely to the form or outline of our corporate Worship Gatherings or this small group? How can you change your thinking or your attitude when these corporate times do not look the way you want or prefer?
· Lean Forward: How can you intentionally engage someone around you either before or after the Worship Gathering? How can you intentionally encourage someone in the group or in our church this week?
· Make It a Priority: What can you do to make corporate worship a priority this next week? How can you be mentally present and attentive when in the Worship Gathering? What needs to happen so you are on time for the Worship Gathering and present for the entire service (or as much of it as possible)? How can you work with the Holy Spirit to change your attitude towards corporate worship?
Weekly Prayer Focus
Pray for Our Church:
· Praise God for His faithfulness toward us and ask Him to develop faithfulness within us as a people in our worship of Him.
· Ask God to help us maintain our focus on the gospel and its effect on our lives and world.
· Pray for God to unite us together as a faith family in our worship of Him and to teach us to worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
Pray for Our City:
· Intercede on behalf of human trafficking victims in Birmingham and around the world.
· Ask God to put an end to this terrible injustice that is plaguing our world on a local, national, and global level.
· Pray for Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church and for Pastor Bob Flayhart.
Pray for Our World:
· Pray for Brook Hills Long-Term Missionaries Dwight and Mary Kay Martin who serve in Thailand with Cross Ties Asia (crosstiesasia.org). Their role is to lead a ministry that supports and mobilizes the Thai church for evangelism, disciple-making, and church planting. The Martins have also developed a software that helps map out where unreached people groups still exist in Thailand and help with translation and distribution of disciple-making materials for pastors.
“We Gather Faithfully,” January 29, 2017 | Page 1