19 Sep Discussion Guide: Differently The Same – Community Part 1
Before We Get Started
For our discussion today we will be using the sermon series discussion guides. If you would like to follow along you can access this discussion guide on the website at mosaicchurchaustin.com and then select “community group resources” in the menu options.
Prayer
Because the main goal of our time together is to establish relationships and learn how to walk with one another in all that God has called us to be and do, we’d like to begin by praying for one another. So, does anyone have anything you’d like us to pray for, or anything to share regarding how you’ve seen God moving in your life that we can celebrate together.
This Week’s Topic
This week we continue our new Fall series titled Differently the Same. A lot has changed over the past two years, both out there in our world and internally within each of us. However, in light of all the things that are different today, there are some things that remain the same. One of those things is the purpose, mission, and vision we are called to as followers of Christ. During this sermon series we will be taking a fresh look at that mission, and the core values we believe God has called us to pursue together as Mosaic Church: Worship, Community and Mission.
Today’s Topic
What Community Looks Like Part 1
Discussion Questions
What, if anything, has made it difficult for you to connect with others on a meaningful basis over the last two years?
Exodus 14:10-12
“As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord . They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!””
Why do we tend to misremember the difficulties of our past when we find ourselves in the midst of difficulties of the present?
How can that tear apart the very community God wants us to build?
What’s a better way to remember the past and belong to the present?
Exodus 14:13-14
“Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Edwin Friedman, A Failure of Nerve
“In its simplest terms, therefore, differentiation is the capacity to be [an] integrated…person while still belonging to…a larger colony.”
Would you say fear and anxiety are impacting our action and relationships today?
Where do you think that anxiety comes from?
How do the opinions and perceptions of others keep us from experiencing the type of community God desires us to build?
What is the answer to the fear and anxiety we feel today? Why do you say that?
Fear and anxiety are the root of every kind of idolatry and sin. When we feel like something is being taken away from us, that we are no longer in control of our circumstances or situations, fear and anxiety take over. When that happens we reach for whatever it is that we think will restore that sense of control to us so that we can better predict and determine the outcome of our situation. Because we are formed in the image of God, the God who is love, then our greatest fear, the source of our greatest anxiety, is the thought that because of what I am going through I am somehow unloved or unworthy of being loved.
Therefore, the only thing that can move us past that fear and anxiety is a true understanding of God’s unconditional love for you. This is the very heart of the Gospel. Yes, the Gospel tells us our sins are forgiven. Yes, the Gospel tells us we have eternal life. But, the over arching purpose that both of those realities fit within, is this…”God demonstrates His love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It is this “ministry of reconciliation,” the fact that God so loved us that He gave His only Son to bring us back home. And when you can stand in the confidence of the Truth that the King of the Universe has loved you and called you by name, then you realize there is nothing, and no one, that can add anything to or take anything away from the worth, value, and love that is already, and will always be, yours in Christ Jesus.
That enables you to be a differentiated person in the midst of other people’s anxieties.
Closing Thought
What kind of people does it take form a community, in the face of challenge?