Lesson Two Discussion Guide for Group/Individual Use (click more)

Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time you have provided for us to come together to hear from you and have fellowship in your Word and to learn how to apply your Word to our hearts. We need you, Lord. We need your grace all the time. We praise you for your goodness and your love and mercy. Please open our hearts to you and to one another and lead our discussion. Help us not to fear, but to put all of our hope in Christ. Help us to remember there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. May you be glorified in all our thoughts and words and deeds. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I. LECTURE

Will someone share how the Lord used the lecture to speak to your heart? Did anyone have any questions or concerns about the lecture? If you ever have a question or something is unclear, please let us know. We want to serve you in any way we can!

II. PLEASE READ THE MAIN POINT FROM THIS WEEK’S HOMEWORK

Although it can be frightening to ask the Lord to show us what is truly in our hearts, doing so will bring the greatest joy, freedom and hope you have ever known in Christ. Yet we resist. Really, we just want things to be enjoyable and comfortable. We must not resist. We must trust that the Lord loves us perfectly when we are in Christ. We must truly believe Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” We must preach the good news of the Gospel to ourselves everyday.

This week we asked the Lord to take us gently by the hand and show us why we resist. We resist because of our blindness, fear, pride, laziness, selfishness, control and unbelief. We move from resistance to repentance by going to the throne of our merciful and loving Savior and confessing these sins and strongholds to Him and receiving His forgiveness in Christ.

III. QUESTIONS FROM THE HOMEWORK

Go through the homework, occasionally calling on women. Read scriptures aloud. After asking a question, remember to allow a brief period of quiet “wait-time” to give women a chance to think before answering. After pausing, if no one shares, go ahead with your answer, rephrase question, and/or move on.

DAY ONE

1. The devotion points out that even though we thirst to be filled with something that truly satisfies, we often resist the Lord as He beckons us to come to Him to be filled by Him. What spoke to you the most clearly about why you resist looking at your heart?

2. Spurgeon writes that the cheap “kiss of outward profession” is easy but to truly cleave to the Lord requires much. He states, “Blessed among women shall those be who for Christ’s sake can renounce all…” Are you ready to suffer “all worldly loss for the Master’s sake?” Why or why not?

DAY TWO

3. Read Psalm 32:1-5. Will someone transparently share what you have been afraid to confess to the Lord OR where is your greatest weakness – the area that you struggle with the most and feel like you’re losing the battle because you continue to do it?

DAY THREE

4. Read Romans 8:1. Does your life show that you truly believe this truth? Or do any of you still struggle with feelings of failure, hopelessness, or condemnation in an area? Will someone vulnerably share how these feelings have kept you from living in the freedom Christ has provided?

DAY FOUR

5. Read Psalm 51:3-4, 15-17. Are you struggling with a sense of insensitivity toward your sin? Are you sorry for the consequences it causes but not necessarily sorry about the grief it causes God’s heart?

6. What has kept you from having a broken and contrite spirit?

DAY FIVE

7. Read Psalm 32:7-9. God is our hiding place, but sometimes we hide from Him. Where did God show you that you run and hide?

8. When have you turned a deaf ear to what your pastor said on Sunday or to a scripture that convicts you to the core?

9. Who do you listen to?

IV. PLEASE RECITE YOUR SCRIPTURE MEMORY VERSES TOGETHER

V. TAKING THE TRUTH TO HEART TIME

We will now focus on taking God’s truth to our hearts and bringing it to life. James 5:16a states; “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” And 1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

Please turn to the Taking the Truth to Heart and Bringing it to Life page on Day Six. We will each have 3 minutes so that everyone will have a chance to share. Please record one another’s confessions on the Taking the Truth to Heart Guide on the following page so that you can pray for each other throughout the week. Leaders, please set the example by going first.

VI. PLEASE CLOSE IN PRAYER