Mar 10, 2024

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He Gets Us

Student Ministries Pastor | Ryan Parquette

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Icebreaker:

Have you ever compared something to something else?

Do you ever compare yourself to what you see on social media?

Confidence is quiet; insecurity is loud

Reread the last sentence as a group. Take a minute to discuss how you have seen this in your life.

At The Springs, we say, “That the people who liked Jesus were nothing like Jesus.” How does that make you feel?

Luke 15:1-3

Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! So Jesus told them this story:

Where and when do spend time with people who are far from God?

Luke 15:11-13

To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.

Reread Luke 15:11-13. How would you respond if you were the father?

1) Insecurity leads to discontentment

Go around the group and share a time you were discontent.

How can we start to have contentment in our lives?

Hebrews 13:5

Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

Luke 15:14-20

About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’ “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

2. Insecurity creates difficult circumstances 

As a group, reflect back on some difficult circumstances that happened in your life. Was the circumstance the result of insecurity?

How does knowing “that pain isn’t the only option to experience God” make you feel?

Luke 15:28-30

“The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’

Both sons/brothers thought they knew better than their father. Have you ever thought that you knew better than the Father?

3. Insecurity hides behind good intentions

How do you live a life for Jesus because you have a relationship with Jesus, not trying to earn that relationship by what you do?

Luke 15:31-32

“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

As you close your group, start praying for those who you are going to invite to Easter as a group.

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Ways to Give: 

Mar 3, 2024

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He Gets Us: Week 1

Lead Pastor | Ron Sylvia

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ICEBREAKER!

Have you watched one of the He Gets Us ads? If not, go HeGetUs.com right now and watch a few ads.

John 1:14

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

Hebrews 4:15

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.

Take a minute as a group and discuss Jesus being fully human and fully God. Good luck!

What is your reaction to Jesus being like us and experiencing life just like us?

What do you worry about?

1. Don’t Struggle Alone

When dealing with anxiety and worry, why is it so important to have other people in our lives?

Matthew 26:36-38

Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Jesus dealt with anxiety. How does that make you feel?

2 Corinthians 5:21

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Matthew 27:46

At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

Matthew 27:46 is also the start of Psalm 22. In Jesus’ time, most Psalms were remembered by the first line. Take a minute and read Psalm 22 as a group. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+22&version=NLT

2. Pray like your life depends on it

Matthew 26:39-42

He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.”

When was the last time you prayed like your life depended on it?

How does it make you feel to know that God wants to hear your heart?

3. Stop trusting your feelings

“Your feelings are not facts.” What do you think of that statement?

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

Mark 14:35-36

He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

“You need to tell your feelings about your faith.” Take a minute as a group and practice this. Go around and name some feelings you have had recently and then tell those feelings about your faith.

Romans 8:28

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

“I know you did not choose it, but God wants to use it” Take a minute as a group as share some times you have seen this happen in your life or the life of someone close to you.

Job 19:25

“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last.

As you close together as a group; begin praying for people you want to invite to Easter service with you.

Connect Card:

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Ways to Give:

https://thesprings.net/giving/

Dec 17 – 18, 2023

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Light Of The World

Teaching Pastor | Joe LaCognata

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Icebreaker:

Have you been able to check out any Christmas light displays yet?

Being the Light of the World 

Isaiah 9:2

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.

How does it make you feel that Isaiah wrote hundreds of years before Jesus about Jesus?

Matthew 5:14-16

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Jesus came to be the light of the world so you and I can be the light of the world. What are your initial reactions to this statement?

What does it mean to be the light of the world?

Matthew 5:14

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.

What do you think an “Upsidedown Kingdom” means?

Philippians 2:14-15

Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

What does it mean for you to live as a bright light?

Matthew 5:15-16

No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Being the light leads to good deeds.

Investing in the lives of others

How are you investing in the lives of others?

Good deeds lead to good words.

Why do small good deeds usually have such a multiplication effect?

1 Peter 3:15

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

When was the last time someone asked you what was different about you?

Invite to faith

Invite to conversation

Invite to church

Invest and Invite

Matthew 5:16

In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Good words lead to changed lives.

Are your good deeds to turn people toward you or toward God?

Romans 10:13-14

For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?

Who shared the light of the world with you?

Who are you sharing the light of the world with?

1 John 1:5

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.

1 John 1:6

So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.

1 John 1:9

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

Changed lives lead to being the light of the world. 

Isaiah 9:2

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.

Being the light leads to good deeds

Good deeds lead to good words

Good words lead to changed lives

Changed lives lead to being the light of the world

As you close pray for those you are inviting to Christmas Eve services. Go around the group and share the names of those you want to invite and pray for them and for yourself to have boldness to invite!

Dec 10 – 11, 2023

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Light Of The World

Lead Pastor | Ron Sylvia

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Icebreaker

What do you still have to do before Christmas?

How do you feel about Christmas lights?

John 1:5

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

Light Dispels the Darkness

Why does fear set in, in the dark?

What does it mean to you today that Jesus is the light of the world?

How does it make you feel that light wins every time?

Light Transforms Your World

Do you worry about the sun coming up tomorrow? 

Does your life feel light or dark right now?

John 12:46

I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.

John 8:3

As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

John 8:6-7

They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”

John 8:9-11

When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

Why is Jesus’ interaction with the woman and the religious leaders so powerful?

Light Guides Your Path

Go around the group and share some different ways you trust God.

What is the most used app on your phone?

Psalms 119:105

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.

How can we make God’s Word our lamp and our light?

John 8:12

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

Why do we choose to walk in the darkness instead of light?

As you close pray for each other to stay in God’s Word and close to Jesus so you can have His lamp and light for our path.

CONNECT WITH US
We’re so glad you’re here! Be sure to fill out our Connect Card so we can be in touch. www.thesprings.net/connectcard

ICEBREAKER:

Have you ever tried functional fitness?

OR

What is your favorite type of exercise?

I believe our faith works

I also believe our faith takes work

How do these two statements coexist?

Do you think you have a functional faith?

1 Timothy 4:8

“Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

Why is physical and spiritual training good? Why is spiritual training better?

Hebrews 10:10

For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.

Why did Jesus sacrifice himself for us?

Philippians 1:6

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

How does it make you feel that God wants to finish the work He started in you?

1. Trust God

Hebrews 10:22

let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

You can go right into the presence of God? Why is that so important?

Colossians 1:22

Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

God sees you as holy and blameless through Jesus. What is your response to this statement?

2. Stay Steady

Philippians 3:12

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.

Why is it so hard to press on toward a goal sometimes?

Hebrews 10:23

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

Our hope is based on God’s promise. Why does this make this a different kind of hope?

 3. Motivate Others

Hebrews 10:24

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

How do you motivate others?

4. Stay Connected

Hebrews 10:25

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Why is it so important that we do not neglect meeting together?

As you close in prayer in your group prayer for God to work in and through us during our Uncharted series!

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