Lesson Three: Discussion Guide for Group or Individual Use (click more)
Journey to the Jordan
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 and 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
In order to follow Christ, we must be willing to leave. To be more like Jesus, we need to leave our extra baggage behind-all we think we need, our ways of doing things, the familiar and safe, what we desire to do. Sometimes, if we are slow to follow, reluctant to surrender, or unwilling to submit, a few small steps can take a lifetime. Yet when we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and submit to Him in every way, we enter into the precious, magnificent inner chambers of the kingdom of God, where nothing in this world can ever compare. So, let’s journey to the Jordan as the people did in response to John the Baptist’s call for them to repent of their sins…and find Jesus there.
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 Devotion: Journey to the Jordan
1. Would someone please share what spoke to your heart from Day One?
DAY TWO
2. Quiet Moment - Read Mark 1:4-5. Are you willing to journey to a place you are unfamiliar with? Are you willing to put God first and to venture out and follow Him wherever He calls you to go? If not, why not?
3. Going Deeper Question #1 – What did Isaiah the prophet say about John? Whose way was he preparing? Who was going out to see John? What does John say about the one who was coming? Why do you think the Father was “well pleased” with His Son?
4. Question #2 - What family traditions or beliefs might you have to leave; what items on your schedule or to-do list might you have to ignore; or what things might you have to let get disorganized in order to establish God’s order and obey the call to follow Jesus?
5. Question #3 - What would it cost you to follow the Lord?
DAY THREE
6. Quiet Moment - Read Matthew 3:13-15. Does anyone have a question about baptism? Please feel free to contact your small group leader if you have any questions or concerns. If you are a believer and have been baptized, are you living as though you have died and now live for Christ alone?
7. Going Deeper Question #1 – Will someone vulnerably share your story that led to your baptism?
DAY FOUR
8. Quiet Moment - Please read Acts 2:38. Are you growing? Are you changing? Are you following in obedience to the light God is giving you? If not, why not?
9. Going Deeper Question #1 – Are you living a life of continual repentance? If not, why not?
10. Question #3 – Would someone vulnerably share what the Lord showed you as to where you have been disobedient, slow to respond, or grown cold?
DAY FIVE
11. Quiet Moment - In the Titus passage, what does Paul instruct Titus to tell his flock? What does this passage say about who we once were? And what did Jesus do for us?
12. Going Deeper Question #1 - What did you learn from the passages in Ezekiel?
13. Question #2 – What does it look like in your life to put off the old, put on the new, and set your mind on Christ?
14. Question #3 - What do you need to do to follow Christ on the path of righteousness, to live according to the kingdom of God? What are your non-negotiables?
15. Question #4 – What area do you need to focus on?
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 your Taking the Truth to Heart and Bringing It to Life page. We will each have 3 minutes so that every woman 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 you can pray for one another throughout the week. Leaders, please set the example by going first.
VI. PLEASE CLOSE IN PRAYER
