Regional Small Group Questions
Week of 2/25/24 - Mission’s Value of Formation
1) What are the some of the specific ways that you “keep company with Jesus?” What practices and seasonal rhythms have been helpful to you and why? How have you encountered Jesus in these practices and how have you been changed? Describe your experiences of meeting Jesus.
2) We are all beautiful and broken people. Take some time to share your lives with each other, first sharing your beauty. Share some of the ways you believe that you are beautiful, how you reflect God’s image, beauty, and goodness in this world (spiritual gifts, Fruit of the Spirit, talents, creativity, etc.).
3) Share some of the ways you are broken, and what pieces of brokenness you are offering up to the Lord this Lent, desiring that He would mend these broken pieces. Another way to get into this question is: How would you like to heal and grow in this season?
4) In a busy, distracted culture, it is difficult to slow down and find space for spiritual practices and rhythms that form us into Christ’s likeness. How can we concretely support each other in this pursuit? Within our families? Within our congregation/Our Corporate Rhythms? Brainstorm ideas of how we can help each other grow at the Mission Cincinnati. (If you have a white board or post-it paper to put on the wall, consider writing these all down so everyone can see.)
Week of 2/18/24 - Mission’s Value of Rootedness
We ground ourselves in God’s deep love for us revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in the Anglican tradition, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, the Sacraments, Creeds, and practices of prayer engaged by God’s people over millennia.
1). How have you tangibly (not just intellectually) rooted yourself in God’s love and experienced that love for yourself in your lifetime? Share some experiences with each other. These can be big or small, like a sense of God’s presence in watching a sunset, an experience of being healed, and experience of having one’s “heart strangely warmed” as John Wesley did, a sense of being known and seen by God, being empowered for ministry, etc. etc.
2) How have you encountered God in the Sacraments, Liturgy, and prayers at church? Share some concrete experiences of meeting the Lord through these means of grace. What was that experience like?
3) How has the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection shaped your own story? (Another way to get at this question: Where have you experienced such life, death, and resurrection in your own life?)
Week of 11/26/23
1). This week, we had our final service at House of Joy and we had an opportunity to hear from both Fr. William and Bishop Todd about the beautiful friendship they have developed over the years. Bishop Todd has been a mentor, an great encourager, and a “soul friend” to William. (A soul friend is one who encourages another in their pursuit of God.) Share some stories of people in the Church (perhaps even at Mission) who have been soul friends to you over the years. What has been the significance of these relationships in your life?
2). During our time together on Sunday, we both celebrated and grieved our transition. We expressed thanks for the good things God has brought to us during our time at House of Joy and for the good things God will bring to us at Grace UMC. We also expressed sadness for the things we will miss as we transition to a new building and new neighborhood. As we move to Grace UMC in Norwood, what are you personally grieving and what are you celebrating?
3). During his part of the sermon, Bishop Todd talked about how God is always faithful to us, but He sometimes makes us take steps of faith into the unknown, and He sometimes makes us wait, sometimes even wait a very long time. This has certainly been the experience of the Mission over the last 6 years, and it is certainly the experience of all of us at some point over the course of our faith journeys. When you think of your life right now, are there any areas in your life where you sense God asking you to walk into the unknown? Or perhaps are there any areas of your life where God is asking you to wait? What are you waiting for? And what is your experience of God in the stepping out in faith or the waiting in patience for God to act on your behalf?
4) Spend more time in prayer this week as you conclude the Fall Small Groups. Especially spend time praying for the Church’s transition to the new building and for our transition into the season of Advent. Pray for the strengthening of soul friendships within the Mission family as we enter into this new season. Pray for the ways that God will meet us in wonderful ways in this upcoming season.
Conclude your time by reminding people of the Advent Selah on Dec 9th in the morning at Grace and also of the Advent guide.
Week of 11/12/23: Luke 24:44-49
Intro: This past week, the Bishop of our Diocese came to confirm 10 of our people at the Mission Cincinnati. In that service, he laid his hands on the confirmands and prayed for a daily increase of the Holy Spirit in their lives, as well as God’s strengthening of the confirmands for the life of service to Christ. So, this week in small group, we are going to talk a bit about the Holy Spirit and also about our Mission in this world.
1) Who is the Holy Spirit? What do the Scriptures say about the Holy Spirit? (See handout attached below: if you want, you can read some of the Scriptures from the Holy Spirit References.)
2) In his sermon, the Bishop said that in the West, we have too often lost the reality of the Holy Spirit. Why do you think this is so? If you were raised in the Church, what was your understanding and your experience of the Holy Spirit in that context? What is your understanding and experience now?
3) What does it look like to be dependent upon the Holy Spirit’s presence within us? Do you have any stories of your experiences with the Holy Spirit?
4) The Bishop said that our mission in this world to be witnesses for Jesus is bigger than our natural gifts, capacity, and wisdom. We are to live, walk, and serve in the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit. Like the first apostles, we are to wait for the Holy Spirit to come to us and to be clothed with His power What does it concretely look like to clothed by the Holy Spirit’s power? What does witness to Christ in this world look like? Do you have any stories of Gospel witness you would like to share?
Week of 11/5/23
1) Have you read or studied Joshua 3 before? If so, what mental images did you have for the events? What meaning did you make of it? How does considering these events in the context of the Big Story of God’s intention for Israel change how you think about this passage?
2) Of all the characters in this text—Joshua, the priests, or the people of Israel—is there any character you identify with particularly right now? Why?
3) On Sunday, Fr. William made the case that over and over throughout Scripture we see a pattern of God promising something, God inviting His people to move by making a sacrifice of faith in response to that promise, and then God’s people seeing God work to fulfill His promise…often over long periods of time. Where else do you see this pattern in Scripture? Have you ever experienced this pattern play out in your own journey of faith? What was that like?
4) How would you define a “sacrifice of faith.” What is a sacrifice of faith you’ve seen someone else make in a way that meaningfully impacted you? Have you ever made what you consider to be a sacrifice of faith? How did you experience God at work in and through that experience?
5) This past Sunday we witnessed a similar “miracle of water” as Josie & Aidan were baptized. How do you understand what God is doing in and through baptism to be similar or different to what He did for Israel in the crossing of the Jordan? Who are the characters involved in the baptismal liturgy? What sacrifices of faith are all the characters invited to make?
Week of 10/29/23
1) How have you heard the topic of evil/satan/spiritual forces discussed in your past church experience? Do you think it was under-emphasized or over-emphasized? How so? What does a balanced/Scriptural view on this subject matter look like?
2). Why is it so difficult for 21st-century Western Christians to hear verse 12? (For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.) What do you think this struggle actually looks like in our day to day lives? Is there anything personal you want to share in regard to these questions?
3) Why do you think Paul ends his letter in the way he does? How does the armor of God fit with the themes of Ephesians – i.e., having a new identity in Christ, embracing unity and diversity, and submitting every aspect of life to gospel living?
4) What does it personally mean to put on the “armor of God?” (Answer as best you can not in the abstract, but from a personal standpoint. Perhaps, look at each of the pieces of armor in Scripture and unpack that.)
5). What does it look like to draw close to God as we struggle against the spiritual forces of evil in our world? Any personal examples?
6) What does it look like for you to "stand firm in the gospel" in your context? (Again, seek to answer this as concretely and personally as you can.)
10/22/23
1) In Sunday’s message, we discussed how the animating logic for everything Paul says in verses 5:21-6:9 springs from verse 5:21 where Paul writes, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” What do you think it means for everyone in the Body of Christ to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ? What do you think it looks like when lived out?
Note: Questions 4 & 5 are potential alternatives to questions 2 & 3 Consider answering one of the sets of questions.
2) How do you understand Paul’s instructions in 5:22-24 for wives to submit to their husbands and in 5:25-30 for husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the church (i.e. in a sacrificial way that involves dying to self for the sake of the other)? Do you consider one of these to me a more challenging instruction? Why or why not?
3) How do you understand Paul’s instruction in verse 6:4 for fathers to “not exasperate their children,” and to “bring them up in the knowledge and instruction of the Lord?” If you are a parent have you had any learning experiences around this? Whether you’re a parent or not do you have any stories of times or ways you’ve seen this instruction lived out well?
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4) Based on this passage, what do you think should make a Christian marriage unique?
5) Based on this passage, what do you think should make Christian parenting unique?
6) How does the act of submitting in any of relationships we have talked about today effect our relationship with God? Do you have any experience of this where you felt drawn closer to God? How so?
7) On Sunday, Fr. William made the case that far from being an affirmation of slavery, Paul’s words in verses 6:5-9—set as they are against the backdrop of 1st century Greco-Roman culture—actually are a powerful call to Christians to affirm the God-given dignity of all people as image bearers of God, and to work intentionally to increase equity and justice and dismantle oppression and dehumanization in our world. How could we as a church (or as this small group…) live this out in our lives in Cincinnati today? Do you have any stories of Christians who have lived this out well that inspire you? If so, what are they?
Week of 10/15
1) William shared that for Paul, Christian morality always flows from identity in Christ. How have you understood Christian morality in your spiritual journey thus far? Is this teaching of Paul’s new or different? Why or why not?
2) William said that “following God’s example” means to live like Jesus: sacrificial and other-oriented. What does such sacrificial and other-oriented living look like? Have you had any experiences where someone else’s sacrifice blessed you? Have you ever sacrificed in a way that helped others?
3) When it comes to your spiritual journey, have you ever struggled with any of the following: drifting, apathy, and directionlessness, with obsessive, pressurized religiosity, or with something else entirely in your spiritual journey? What has helped you better understand God’s will and better align yourself to it?
4) Do you have any stories from your own life about when you sought to find out what pleases someone and then did something for them that led to joy for you or for them? What was that experience like?
5) Have you discovered any spiritual practices that have helped you find out more of what pleases God? What do you think about the idea of liturgy and singing together as powerful practices to help us follow God’s example, grow in wisdom, and better understand God’s will? How have these practices impacted your life, faith, and relationship with God? How have they been meaningful or transformative? What has your experience of God been like as you have engaged these practices?
Week of 10/8
1) Why is it important to read particular verses of Scripture in context of the whole Scriptures and the whole book where those verses come from?
2) According to Rev. Kristen, when we read the second half of Ephesians in context, what do we learn? What do we potentially miss when we read it with no context? What is the Good News of this particular Scripture?
3) In light of the greater context of the second half of Ephesians 4, what do these verses personally invite us to do? In other words, what does living out these imperatives look like concretely in our context?
4) When Rev. Kristen presented the list of “do’s and don’ts” at the beginning of her sermon, did they feel inviting, burdensome, numbing, or something else? Why? Does the greater context of the Scriptures change the way you respond to this list? If so or if not, why? (See list below.)
5) Rather than just trying to walk out these imperatives in our strength, how can we encounter God and invite Him to draw near as we seek to live out the implications of this Ephesians 4?
Week of 10/1
1) What are the barriers to unity in the church?
2) What are the barriers to unity in your life? What do you guard/prioritize above unity?
3) Have you ever had an experience of deep unity in the your local church, church team, mission trip, etc.? What did feel like? How was God present in that experience?
4) In 4:3 we're told to "keep" the unity that Christ purchased on the cross. What opportunities do you feel God has put in your life for fostering unity with others that you might not otherwise get along with?
5) Imagine what would church look like if you and everyone else sought to keep unity in the body of Christ. What could and should we be willing to let go of in order to preserve unity? What can we not afford to let go of?
For discussion:
1. What if any role has the Lord’s Prayer played in your personal prayer life? Is there any particular aspect of the prayer you have found especially meaningful? What it is and why?
2. If you grew up in the Church, was there a specific emphasis on the Lord’s Prayer either as a prayer to pray or as a model for prayer? If so, what did your corporate practice of Lord’s Prayer look like? Was it meaningful to you? If so or if not, why? What would have made it more meaningful?
3. When you pray, do you ever relate to the gentiles who used prayer to try to manipulate God into a certain response, or alternatively, do you ever relate to the religious folks of Jesus’ day whose prayers were really about gaining attention for themselves? Tell us about your own personal prayer life. When you are in your best rhythms of prayer, what patterns or exercises do you feel work best?
4. In your opinion, what makes for a good prayer life? When do you feel most satisfied with your prayers? When do you feel dissatisfied and why?
5. How well do you think you prioritize your prayer in this season of life? What helps you prioritize it or what gets in the way of you making space for prayer? What would it look like to make more space for prayer in your lives?