REALLIFE STUDY GROUP

“The Gift in Me”

 

ICEBREAKER:  Name one activity that makes you lose track of time.    

 

CONFESSION: This year....

May the Christmas lights remind me that Jesus is the Light of the world

 

May the Christmas meal remind me that Jesus is the Bread of Life

 

May the tree remind me that Jesus hung on a tree for me

 

May the Christmas snow remind me that Jesus’ blood makes my heart white as snow

 

May the Christmas gifts remind me that Jesus was the first Christmas gift from the Father

 

May the Christmas candy remind me that every day with Jesus gets sweeter and sweeter

 

May the Christmas cookies remind me that Jesus has prepared blessings for me in every shape and every size

 

May the Christmas cards remind me that the Bible is God’s inspirational love letter to me and the World

 

May my Christmas giving remind me that it really is a wonderful life

 

May the Christmas carols remind me that the first Noel, on a silent night, declared joy to the world by angels we have heard on high with the invitation, “Oh come let us adore him, Christ the Lord the new born king.”

 

May my Christmas stockings remind me that Jesus beautifies the feet of them that bring good news

 

May the Christmas decorations remind me that Jesus is clothed and decorated in splendor and majesty and is decorating me with honor and glory

 

May the Christmas wreaths remind me that Jesus’ love, like the circle, has no beginning or ending; it is an everlasting love

 

DEFINITION:

Troubled: Hard pressed on every side, afflicted in every way

Distressed: Crushed, straightened

Perplexed: To not know what to do, to be in straits, to be left wanting, to be embarrassed, to be in doubt, To not know which way to turn

In Despair: To be without resources, to be utterly at loss, to be utterly destitute of measures or resources, to renounce all hope

Persecuted: To be hotly pursued in a hostile manner

Abandoned: Deserted, forsaken, orphaned

Struck Down: Cast down to the ground

Destroyed: To perish, to put out of the way entirely, to abolish, to put to an end, to ruin, to render useless, to kill, to be lost

 

OUTLINE:

The Word of God unveils the gifts in me

The Word of God identifies the gifts in me

The Word of God activates the gifts in me

The Word of God fertilizes the gifts in me

The Word of God energizes the gifts in me

The Word of God multiplies the gifts in me

The Word of God protects the gifts in me

The Word of God cultivates (shapes) the gifts in me

The Word of God disciplines the gifts in me

The Word of God optimizes the gifts in me

The Word of God organizes (prioritizes) the gifts in me

 

TEXT: 2 Corinthians 4:6-9; 1 Peter 4:10; 2 Timothy 1:6

 

STUDY GROUP QUESTIONS:

1.    We often value what a word from God creates or produces, while God values more the word itself that will not return void and produces the thing of value.  Besides people, describe one thing that people value most. 

2.    Describe a time in your life when you have felt hard pressed, hemmed in, or between a rock and a hard place and how that feels. 

3.    The enemy often tries to press us on every side to the point of crushing us.  But like playdough, no matter how hard the pressure is applied it doesn’t change our content or what we are made of.  How do you keep the crushings of life from crushing you?  (Hint: Romans 8:35-39 – Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us?  There is no way!  Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:  They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.  We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.  None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us.  I’m absolutely convinced that nothing – nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable – absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.)

4.    What negative in your life would you like for God to turn into a positive?  (You may pick from the following list or you may be more specific.)

a.    That your FRUSTRATIONS would serve only to reveal your greatest need for a resurrected Savior and king

b.   That your ANGER would serve only to fuel your fires of passion to be all you can be in Christ

c.    That your SORROW would serve only to remind you that our God sent his Son to be a man of like passion and like sorrow to feel your deepest pain and He will one day make your joy complete

d.   That your LONELINESS would serve only to draw you close to the side of the one who knows you better than you know yourself, the one who loves you more than life itself, and the one who treats us all better than we treat ourselves

e.    That your BURDENS would serve only to encourage you to cast all your cares on the one who cares for you

f.     That your LIGHT AFFLICTIONS would serve only to strengthen your resolve to trust the King as you patiently wait for the exceedingly great reward of glory that will soon be yours

g.    That your STRESS would only serve to inspire you to stretch beyond your comfort zone and reach for your dreams

h.    That your QUESTIONS would only serve to motivate you to pursue the one who has all the answers and who indeed is, himself, the answer, and to trust him with questions that cannot be answered yet

i.      That your most TRAUMATIC MEMORIES would only serve to remind you that our King is a redeemer of things that were lost, a restorer of things that were discarded and a repairer of things that were broken

j.     That your STRUGGLES would only serve to convince you that your goals, aspirations, and destiny are worth fighting for and that those struggles simply prove how tenacious God has enabled you to become

k.    That your WOUNDS would only serve to cause you to recall that Our King was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon His shoulders, and by His stripes we were healed

5.    What would it mean to you to not only give gifts this year but to become a gift?

6.    Giving is about sacrificing, releasing or letting go.  Name one thing you must let go of and rely on God to accomplish through you with His strength and ability right now. 

 

PRAISE & PRAYER REQUESTS:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

ACTION POINT:  This year my Christmas will be different, or even better, because __________.  By reading God’s Word this week I will activate the gift of __________ in me.