Week 1: Spiritual Wholeness (January 9/10)
- Choose three adjectives to describe how you’re feeling as we venture into 2021. Go around the room (or zoom grid) and share your words; feel free to elaborate.
- Our theme for this sermon series (and for 2021 in general) is “The Beautiful Story.” Would you describe your own story as “beautiful”? Why or why not?
- This weekend we talked about how gathering as a church contributes to spiritual wholeness and blessing. What do you love about gathering with your church family? How have you personally experienced blessing or happiness as a result of being part of a local church body?
- Have you ever bought into the “Jesus and me” mentality that says, “I only need Jesus; I don’t need to be in community with other Christians”? Why do you think this is a popular mentality? How is it harmful?
- Read Hebrews 10:23-25. This text acknowledges that people are prone to “give up meeting together.” What are common hindrances to gathering? What are some practical ways we can spur one another on toward faithfully gathering for worship in 2021?
Week 2: Emotional Wholeness (January 16/17)
- Just for fun (and to get to know each other better!) hold up fingers in response to the following questions:
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- Are you more of a “thinker” (1 finger) or “feeler” (2 fingers)?
- Are you an external processor (1 finger) or internal processor (2 fingers)?
- Do you tend to be people-oriented (1 finger) or task-oriented (2 fingers)?
- Extrovert (1 finger) or introvert (2 fingers)?
- This weekend we talked about how serving one another enhances emotional wholeness. Do you think temperament and personality affects our approach to serving? How would you respond to someone who says, “I don’t serve because my personality doesn’t lend itself to serving. I’m just not wired that way”?
- Our teaching pastors talked about how self-absorption is actually the enemy of peace. How does an excessive focus on self diminish our sense of well-being?
- What are some practical ways we can train the next generation to be God-focused and others-focused, despite living in an ego-driven world?
- If someone polled the people closest to you, would they describe you as an emotionally healthy person? Why or why not? This week, what next step will you take toward emotional wholeness?
Week 3: Relational Wholeness (January 23/24)
- Growing up, how did your family view church and Christian community? Would you describe your family of origin as outgoing and relational, or more private?
- In your own journey toward investing in Christian community, what has hindered you from being “all in”? Are these hindrances still a struggle?
- One of our House Rules at Grace is Genuine Family: Grace frees us from performance and lets us live unafraid. How does God’s grace, demonstrated through the gospel, free us to live authentically in community with others?
- How would you describe the ideal Christian community? Read I Peter 4:7-11. Together, list attributes of the ideal Christian community according to Peter.
- How does our gC measure up to this ideal? What do we do well? Where can we grow?
Week 4: Financial Wholeness (January 30/31)
- Let’s start with an activity. As your gC leader reads the following list of words, raise your hand if you associate that word with money:
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- Responsibility
- Stress
- Fun
- Guilt
- Fear
- Joy
- Insecurity
- Why do you think money is such a loaded and even emotional subject?
- Read Luke 6:38. Imagine you are teaching this verse to a child. How would you explain the principle in simple language?
- What are some examples of the generosity of Christ in Scripture? Think about instances when He was generous with His time, affection, forgiveness, etc. (Challenge: See if you can come up with 10 examples as a gC.) How have you personally experienced the generosity of Christ in your own life?
- What was your greatest takeaway from this series? What’s one specific way we can pray for you in regard to personal wholeness in 2021?
