Easter Sunday was pretty awesome, wasn’t it? I absolutely loved the sunrise worship service at the top of the hill. It was our very first sunrise service, and we were expecting around 20 or so people… So, we were very surprised that we had just under 100 that woke up early to celebrate the resurrection with us. And we couldn’t have had a more beautiful morning, could we? (okay, it could have been a touch warmer… But it was well worth it!)
It was especially powerful to see so many faces and to shake so many hands at the 10AM worship service at the Elementary School. We had a great group of people, and it was a good celebration. The new series that we’re doing, “Dear God, Resurrect This Marriage,” is a great way to connect the power of the resurrected Christ directly into our lives in a very practical way. I am praying that this will be very helpful to a lot of people. Find questions below for your life group time.
Lifegroup questions:
Listen to it on iTunes, or on our Podcast feed site
How long have you and your spouse been married? How did you meet?
If you aren’t married, What significant relationships do you have in your life now? (family, friends, neighbors, etc)
In Acts 1:8, Jesus makes us a promise, then gives the purpose for that promise. What is the promise and what is the purpose? How should this work out in our marriages and our other relationships?
Galatians 5 tells us that we are only free to become all that God intends when we are controlled by the Spirit… But in the flesh, “you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” (Gal 5:17)
- Have a look at Paul’s description of the results of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21.
- Next, look at the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.
Which of these best describes your relationship? The way you talk? The things you think about? The habits you cultivate?
Steve made the statement, “God never calls us to abandon our marriages. He only calls us to abandon ourselves.”
What is the difference between abandoning your marriage, and abandoning your spouse? In light of Ephesians 5:31-32, Why is this important?
In all of our Christian teaching here and there, sometimes we leave out the fundamental first step… I heard a Christian song that had a long, long interlude in which the singer spoke to the gathered audience about experiencing a “love encounter with God.” She talked quite a bit about recognizing the power of God’s love in your life. Have you felt that? How do you recognize that?
After explaining how “real” the love of God in the concert felt that night, the singer then invited her audience to experience that love encounter themselves… She continued, “If you’ve never encountered the love of God, then you’d better brace yourself…” After exclaiming that they would all encounter God’s love tonight several times, the song continued. It is a great song. We’ve sung it several times at church. But the singer left one very, very critical thing out. One critical thing, without which it is impossible to encounter the love of God. One thing without which we can never experience the power of God… The Holy Spirit… In our lives. Do you know what it was?
The truth is nobody can ever experience the power of God’s love in their lives outside of the person of Jesus Christ. You can try harder and harder to repair your relationships, but at some point, you give out. You don’t have the power. You don’t have enough love within you. It is only the power of the Holy Spirit that comes in the context of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ that gives us the strength we need. (John 14:15-17)
How can we continue to build each other up in these ways? How can we encourage and “spur one another along to good works” in our marriages? (Hebrews 10:24)
For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. Galatians 5:13-15 NLT
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:16 NLT