In this first week of discussion, you may find that the best thing for some of your group members is just to allow them to share their view of God's mercy/grace/love and what we must do to procure it. Do some loving confrontation and ask,
"Interesting thought, Bob....how did you arrive at that conclusion?"
"Mary, a lot of people would agree with you view. But can you show us in the Bible where that comes from, because it seems it says something else entirely..."
Once we begin to see just how amazing Grace actually is, it doesn't make us lazy Christians or people who take God for granted (although there are very often seasons of that as people readjust to the relationship, and come out of rule following...), but very free, peace-filled followers of our loving Father in Heaven. And that changes everything.
Thaw
- Has there ever been a time that you messed something up at work, and rather than it turning out as bad as you anticipated, you were given grace and retained your position and involvement? Do tell.
- Have you ever seen examples of someone deserving punishment or isolation was given the opposite and it worked out for the better?
- What has stuck with you the most from Sunday's message?
- What was something you had never heard before?
- How has Grace been shaping your view of God and your relationship to Him?
Read
- Ephesians 2:1-10
- Thoughts?
- What does it mean to be "dead in transgression and sin"?
- What does it mean to be "alive in Christ"?
- What is it that makes one cross over from "death to life"?
- Does your answer to the previous sound like God is responsible, or some well focused human energy gets you there?
Discuss
- What are some of the problems with grace?
- If God had chosen the same system that other religions had used, what would Christianity look like?
Read
- 1 Timothy 1:12-16
- Considering Saul/Paul's history (Acts 8-9), what are your thoughts?
- In verse 16, Paul refers to the grace and patience he was shown, despite his past, as an example God was making of him for others to see. How does this differ from how we usually think of an authority confronting our darkness by "making an example of us"? What are the risks? Why would God do it?
Read
- Galatians 4:4-9, Philippians 3:4-8
- Thoughts?
Discuss
- Why wouldn't someone want to surrender themselves to the grace of God? Why do we seem to gravitate to a system that requires work to be on a scale?
- How is all this different than the Jesus you learned prior?
- Does this mean that there is nothing to work at at all?
- Respond as a group to this quote by Dallas Willard:
"Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action."
Apply
- So what? What does this have to do with our life?
- How does a better understanding of grace shape your relationships?
- How does a better understanding of grace help you deal with your past, or your anxieties about the merits of your present?
- If you have been trying to impress God with your scale-tipping goodness, how can this group help you step into the grace of Christ and become a trusting follower of Jesus Christ?
Prayer
- Spend some time praying that the Holy Spirit would reveal all the ways we live as a people trying to get God to love us, to be impressed with us, or to be less upset with us due to our resume of deeds. Pray that the group would know peace that only comes with understanding the grace and love shown to us in Christ Jesus. Pray also for people that have cheapened grace by making it something that gets you out of trouble. That it's something to shrug our shoulders at since "God is going to forgive it any way". Finally, pray over anyone in the group that doesn't know this grace and has, as a result, settled for living outside of it in the world where you must work to keep the scales tipped to the "good" side so that God will be good to us.
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