02 Jun Discussion Guide: Love Where You Live Week 2

Prayer

Take the first 10 minutes of your time together to listen to what God is doing in one another’s lives and pray for any specific needs people in your group may have.

Today we continue our Love Where You Live series. Over the next few weeks we will be discussing how we can create a sense of community in our neighborhoods and serve our neighbors as we seek to obey Jesus’ command to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We will watch a short video and then talk through a few questions to help us make the theory of neighboring a reality we live out together.

Watch Lover Where You Live Week 2 Video: Tolerance & Grace

Discussion Questions

Last week, we talked about being present (getting to know and being known by one another) and practicing compassion (showing kindness and concern) right here in our neighborhood. Were you more intentional about being present and practicing compassion this week? If so, share your experience. If not, what obstacles or barriers stood in your way?

Tolerance “puts up with” a person whose opinions, beliefs, etc. are different from your own; while grace goes a step further to see the value in that person. Grace is an expression of kindness and love. What are the benefits of moving from tolerance to grace in our relationships with one another?

Can you think of a time you extended grace to a neighbor? What was the impact on both you and the other person? If you can’t think of an example, why do you find extending grace a challenge?

In the video, John Burke talked about the “mud” that can get in the way of us seeing the masterpiece in a person, and prevent us from moving from judgment to tolerance to grace. We all have “mud”—such as blind spots, quirks and flaws—and when we recognize this about ourselves, it’s often easier to extend grace to others. Think about what you would learn about yourself and your neighbors if you really looked for the masterpiece in each person?

How do you think our neighborhood would be different if we all extended grace?

Let’s take it a step further. In what ways would our city and even our nation be different if our culture was one of grace?

Project Discussion

Take the next 20-30 minutes to talk about potential service projects your group can execute for a neighbor of one of the people in your group. Think through what supplies would be needed, how many people would be involved, and what tools would be required? There is an evaluation worksheet on the website. After a couple of weeks you’ll want to narrow down the possibilities to one or two and then decide how your group is going to make that happen.

Prayer

Take the remaining time to pray for your group and for your neighbors as we look to reflect God’s Kingdom into the lives of the people we live near.