Life Group Lesson for June 2013
Title: Overcoming the Pit Mentality
Give 30 minutes of time to eat and fellowship. The “Span of Care” person should be ready to remind the group of any birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Celebrate these events during this time of food and fellowship.
1.)Give announcements. Make sure you have a complete list of the upcoming church events.
2.)During this time your secretary should record the names of the people attending (always contact those who aren’t in attendance in the next day after the meeting.)
3.)Before starting the lesson, please start with prayer & a brief time of worship.
4.)Start Lesson (Ideas: Funny Story relating to lesson, Leader personal testimony relating to lesson or Interesting facts or statistics relating to lesson
“The Pit Mentality”
Definition of pit: a hole, shaft, or cavity in the ground, mine, a scooped-out place.
In this life we find ourselves in some life pits, some because of our own faults and some because of others. How many of us have been in some holes that seemed like there was no way out?
You ever ask someone, how are you doing(with a great big smile) hoping they would respond with a positive answer. They might say something like:
1.) I’m in a rut and I just can’t seem to get out. I just keep spinning my tires.
2.) Every time I take one step forward I take two back.
3.) I feel like I’m just not going anywhere with my life.
4.) I feel like I’m in a black hole and the life is being drained from me.
5.) Do you really want to know?
6.) I’m down most of the time. Don’t have anything good to say so my Momma told me if you don’t have anything good to say don’t say nothing at all.
7.) I’ve been better.
8.) This day couldn’t get any worse.
9.) You... don’t... want... to…know.
Ps 40:1-2 “I waited patiently for the Lord, and He turned to me and heard my cry for help”. Verse. 2 “He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock making my steps secure.”
1.)Have you ever been in a real deeppit? How did it make you feel? If not a pit, how about a cave?
2.)If the steps, latter or rope was removed could you have gotten out?
3.)Have you ever tried to climb up something but the person helping you didn’t have the strength to pull you up and out?
Sometimes, when we find ourselves in the “pit” of life and we just don’t know if we have the strength to get up, climb out or yell for help anymore. Why do we just want to give up sometimes?
Tell story of the eagles, go over after reading and discuss the importance of helping each other and never giving up.
A North Carolina Preacher (unknown to me) would go onto the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina and watch Eagles for years. One sermon that he preached and what he witnessed was truly amazing. Eagles live around 30 years and go through what is called a “molting” process once in its lifetime. Some Eagles never live through this molting stage (which always happens in a valley).
The molting eagle finds himself in the valley, unable to fly and with its feathers falling out. As well, they all but loose their ability to see. Calcium builds up on their beaks and they can’t hold their heads upbecause of the weight so they constantly look down. They lose their desire to eat, they only eat fresh meat and they have no strength to hunt. When the eagle reaches the last stages of the molting process they often times will begin to peck on each other, occasionally killing another molting eagle as they gather together into one place.
As they lay in the sun something amazing happens. Other older non-molting eagles fly over the dying molting eagles and drop fresh food. It’s never the younger eagles that drop the food but it’s the older eagles that have survived this experience and know what the other molting eagles are going through. As they fly over they scream as if they’re giving them encouragement to eat and get back up.
Some eagles eat and recover but others roll over and die. The eagles that recover fly back to the very ROCK from which they had previously been born many years prior. As the author / preacher explain there’s a time or times in the life of Christian believer when it seems as though we’ve been stripped down to nothing. We forget even who we once were in Christ.We live in a state of depression forget how to be happy. You’ve flown before you can do it again.
Who was that significant person in your life who dropped you that fresh spiritual food (while you were in the valley or in the pit)?
Remember: God can reach further down than you can reach up.
Listed beloware some men who were thrown into some pits. These men didn’t even have the “Pit Mentality” but where thrown in anyway. What happened to them before, during and after they were thrown into these pits?
1.)Shadrach, Meschak & Abednego (Dan 3chap)
2.)Daniel (Dan 6: 4-24)
3.)Joesph (Gen 37: 18-36)
Sometimes we do nothing wrong and still get thrown into a pit. When we do we must be strong and ask the Lord to go with us and believe that he will deliver us. Is He not our Deliverer?
In closing ask for prayer requests (written down by the “Secretary” and emailed or texted to the group later) allow time for the Holy Spirit to speak to the group. Don’t rush but pray and worship in the spirit and watch the glory of the Lord shine.
***Lifegroup Leaders*** Please don’t forget to send a report of the meeting on the covenantlife.biz website (go to “Ministries” click “Lifegroups” on the drop down screen and scroll to the bottom right hand corner and click “Life Group Leader Reporting”. Thank You!