Week 3 Sermon Questions For Groups

Embrace Your Calling: How to make every moment of your life matter!

Introduction:

How would your life be different if you could truly grasp how deeply you are loved by God? By receiving God’s love, you are living in step with your purpose and calling. This Sunday we learned more about living in your purpose and being challenged to fully embrace God’s magnificent plan for your life.

Something To Talk About:

With so many distractions and information overload in today’s world, staying on track in pursuing our calling becomes harder than ever. By forming healthy habits over the long haul, we can train our focus muscles to stay faithful to our calling in life.

I feel accepted rather than ashamed: Many people go through their entire life avoiding God. And the reason why they avoid God is that they’re ashamed. They feel guilty and judged. After all, God is perfect and they are not. The Bible says this in Romans 5:1: “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” We have been made right in God’s sight. Because of that God accepts me completely, totally, and unconditionally. Because of His love, I live in peace with God. This is important because it sets you free from spending your entire life trying to gain the approval of other people. But when you realize that God loves you unconditionally and without conditions of any kind, you realize this: You don’t need the approval of other people. “Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one…” (Romans 8:33-34)
I’m bold in bringing my needs to God: We should pray boldly. God loves me unconditionally. And when I pray to Him I can talk to Him about anything, because I’m His son. Romans 8:14 says, “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God!” Be bold in bringing your requests to Him. We are all sons and daughters of God. You can come boldly to God and talk to him about anything, anytime, anywhere and God’s not going to say, excuse me but I have a lot of things going on right now. God tells us that anytime we need to talk to Him pick up the phone. Talk to God. You’re loved unconditionally.
I have peace in pain I don’t understand: You’re going to have a lot of things that happen in your life you don’t get. You’re going to ask the why questions of life. God, why is this happening to me? Why is this happening to our family? Why now? Why here? Why this? But here’s the thing. You don’t have to understand them to be at peace. In fact, an explanation doesn’t give you peace anyway. When somebody you love dies, if someone told you an explanation for it, it wouldn’t make you any happier. You’d still have the loss. What you need is not an explanation, you need God’s presence. Philippians 4:7 says this: “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” God is good. He loves each one of us and wants the best for our life. I know that I can trust him even when I don’t understand it. That’s the peace that passes understanding. And it comes from feeling the love of God in your life. God’s love does not exempt you from pain or suffering in this life. Christians have the exact same problems that non-Christians do. The difference is that we get the peace that passes understanding, where I can trust God in a moment when everything is falling apart around me.
I gain the courage to take risks: When someone believes in you unconditionally the way God does and when you experience that it releases you. You have dreams that have gone unfulfilled in your life because you have been scared to death to go after them. What if I fail? You’re going to die with unfulfilled dreams unless you key into the love of God. And you let Him give you that confidence that comes from Him believing in you. Even if you’re old, it’s not too late. God is saying you may have really messed it up royally. You gave it your best shot but it just flat out wasn’t good enough. And you’re disappointed in your life. And your heavenly Father comes to you today and says, “It’s okay. You can start over. And this time, I’ll help you. We will do it together.” One plus God is a done deal. God has been waiting for the moment when you get an inkling of how much He loves you. So let this be the moment you let go of fear. The Bible says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out all fear.” Because fear has to do with punishment. When love comes in the front door of your life, fear goes out the back. You need to stop being afraid of God. And you need to accept His love and the fear will drain out of your life.
I worship instead of worry: “ What is worship? Worship is simply expressing my love for God. Anytime you say to God, “I love you, God,” that’s worship. You can worship in a small group. You can worship in a church building, anywhere. When you worry, at that moment you have forgotten you have a heavenly Father who loves you, wants what is best for you, created you, and is watching over you. Worry is pretending like you are all on your own. You’re not. We need to choose worship over worry. Jesus said this: “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? (Mathew 6: 25-27)

Discussion Questions:

Read Ephesians 3:17-19: God’s love is high enough for Him to overlook every mistake we have ever made. As we grow in understanding how much God loves us, how does that help us to grow in love for God?
How does it comfort you to know that everything God does is initiated and influenced by love?
Read Romans 8:33-34: Many people live for the approval of others, even those who have already passed on. Whose approval are you seeking? Sadly, people run from God because they feel ashamed instead of accepted. Imagine fully accepting God’s unconditional God’s love as His chosen child. What needs would you boldly bring to Him?
What risk have you been unwilling to take because of a fear of failure? What securities in life keep you from taking a risk to reach your best life?
How have you grown closer to Jesus through a specific step of faith?
What can you do to remind yourself to choose worship over worry?
If our first purpose in life is to be loved by God, we must overcome obstacles that prevent us from fully receiving His love. How would your life change if you felt God loved you every moment of your life regardless of any mistakes you’ve made in the past or may make in the future? How has God freed you from mistakes you’ve made in the past, and how might he free you from mistakes you’re still holding onto today?
What did you hear? What point in this message was most impactful for you?

Take one thing home with you:

How much do we desire to know God’s, great love? Knowing the love of God for us is essential to healthy Christian living. God’s love is fundamental to our identity as His children and the sacrifice of Jesus. It may seem elementary that God loves you, but it is far far more than we can ever understand. God loves you simply because He loves you. You don’t have to work for His affection. You don’t have to set yourself straight before God can pour out His love over you. The father in the prodigal son’s story ran out to meet his son before anything had ever been set right. He didn’t know his son was there to apologize. He didn’t care. He simply wanted to love His child. Your heavenly Father feels the same way about you. He longs to love you right where you are, as you are. He longs to fill you with love until it is overflowing.