Once Upon a Marriage – Week 4

For the final week of Once Upon a Marriage, Pastor Craig is going to share with us about the unstable Old Testament marriage of Hosea and Gomer. Hosea was told by God to marry Gomer who was a prostitute. Hosea obeyed God and in the early days of their marriage, life was great; however, things begin to change when Gomer began to seek fulfillment outside of their marriage. Unfortunately, Gomer’s affairs led to her having children with men that were not her husband. As a result of her transgression, God responded to her with anger at first and then showed His unfailing love and forgiveness towards her and commanded Hosea to do the same.

The story of Hosea and Gomer is a great illustration of when we commit spiritual adultery with God and go outside of our relationship with Him to find fulfillment. No matter how far we fall, God is always there to pick us up and forgive us. God is truly faithful and you will see that this weekend during the message.

For those LifeGroup leaders that want to start learning more about Hosea and Gomer, begin reading chapters 1, 2 and 3 of the book of Hosea. Additionally, here are a few of the questions you can expect to find in this week’s Talk It Over Study Guide that will help you as you prepare to lead your LifeGroup.

• In what ways do you see today’s society training people towards divorce?
• The story of Hosea and Gomer is a picture of what spiritual adultery looks like. What are some of the ways you have been unfaithful to God? What will be your next steps towards restoring your relationship?
• How have you experienced God’s unfailing love and forgiveness in your own life? Give examples.
• Describe how you can better model God’s faithfulness and forgiveness in your own relationships.

Once Upon a Marriage – Week 3

For week three of Once Upon a Marriage, we are going to look at the marriage of Abraham and Sarah and the steadfast faith they had in God. Pastor Craig is going to show us that even though their marriage endured seasons where their faith was questioned and tested, they never lost faith in God. In the end, God delivered on His promise to Abraham and Sarah of blessing them with a child even at an old age.

During his message, Craig will be preaching on a number of scriptures that detail Abraham and Sarah’s faith. These passages can be found in Genesis chapters 12, 16 and 17. As you prepare to lead your LifeGroup this week, you might take some time to read and study these passages.

Additionally, here are a few of the questions that you can expect to find in this week’s Talk It Over Study Guide that will help you in your preparation:

• What did your earliest dreams of marriage look like? How different is your life now from how you thought it would be?
• How have you seen fear affect your relationships with others and with God?
• Sarah’s impatience caused her to get ahead of God’s timing of keeping His promise. How have you seen impatience negatively affect your relationships?
• What are some specific things you can do to have the kind of faith that Abraham and Sarah had?

Once Upon a Marriage – Week 2

I’m sure that most of us have heard of someone being referred to as a Jezebel, but few really know about who Jezebel was. This weekend, Pastor Craig is going to talk about Jezebel and her marriage to Ahab for week two of Once Upon A Marriage. Craig is going to show us how their marriage was a troubled one because of a passive husband and a controlling wife. Unfortunately, the type of marriage Ahab and Jezebel had is quite commonplace in today’s society, but the good news is that these type of marriages can be healed as the Bible offers us a wonderful blueprint of the roles men and women should take within a marriage.

As you prepare to lead your LifeGroup through this weekend’s message, you might consider spending some time reading and studying 1 Kings 21, which is the passage that Craig will be speaking on. Also, here a few of the questions you can expect to find in this weekend’s Talk It Over study guide to help you in your preparation.

• How have you seen passivity weaken a relationship? What types of experiences have you had with passivity?
• Jezebel controlled Ahab by belittling him with her words. Why are saying the right words so vital to maintaining a healthy relationship? How can you strive to make your words more positive instead of negative in your own relationships?
• How can we be effective leaders in our lives and in our relationships without being overbearing or controlling?
• What changes do you need to make that will allow you to step into the role that God created you to fill as a man or a woman?

Once Upon a Marriage – Week 1

One of the most common problems among marriages is a lack of satisfaction that results from unmet expectations. Too often spouses put so many unrealistic expectations on each other that there is no way these expectations could ever be met. As a result, marriages are crushed because of the heavy weight of these unrealistic expectations.

This is not a new problem. In fact, this problem can be seen all the way back to the Book of Genesis. For week one of Once Upon a Marriage, Pastor Craig is going to look at the story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel in Genesis 29 and how their marriage suffered due a lack of satisfaction caused by unrealistic expectations.

As you prepare to lead your LifeGroup through week one of this new sermon series, take some time to read and study Genesis 29:16-35, which is the passage Craig will be speaking from. Additionally, here are a few of the questions you can expect to find in this week’s Talk It Over.

• Describe what your picture of an ideal marriage looks like. What do you think it takes to achieve the type of marriage that honors God?
• Why do you think so many people try to find fulfillment through relationships rather than finding it through God?
• Describe how different your marriage or dating relationship is when you put God first?
• God is your ONE and your spouse is your TWO. Who or what is your ONE in your life right now? What specific things can you do to ensure that God your ONE?

Margin – Week 4

Pastor Craig is going to close out the Margin sermon series this weekend by discussing the importance of creating moral margin in our lives. While there are many different facets of morality, Craig has chosen to focus on sexual immorality in this message due to the fact that sexual sin impacts so many people and typically has long-lasting effects.

In this message, we are going to learn the way to create moral margin is to simply put distance between ourselves and temptation. Craig will be using a number of scriptures in his sermon including James 1:13-15 and 1 Corinthians 6:18-20. You might consider studying these passages to help you as your prepare to lead your LifeGroup through this message.

Also, because of this week’s subject matter of sexual immorality, I want to encourage you to be very sensitive as you discuss this topic with your LifeGroup. Be prepared as some people will feel led to share the pain that sexual sin has caused in their lives, while others will open up and confess areas of sexual immorality that they are struggling with. If you lead a LifeGroup that consists of married couples, dating couples or mixed singles, feel free to split the men and women up during your meeting time. Sometimes when it comes to this topic, it is easier for men to be more open with other men and women to be more open with other women. Just use your best judgement in how to handle this topic and be sure and spend time in prayer asking God to guide you and give you wisdom and discernment while you lead your LifeGroup.

Finally, here are a few of the questions that you can expect to find in this week’s Talk It Over study guide that will help you in preparing to lead your LifeGroup.

• Why do you think sexual sin is such an easy trap for most people to fall into?
• In what ways does the world’s view of morality conflict with God’s view?
• What are some of the defenses and safeguards you have in place that help put distance between you and sexual immorality?
• In what areas of your life are you lacking moral margin? How can you go about creating that margin?

Upcoming LifeGroup Events

New LifeGroup Leader Orientation – Status: Open
Date: January 24th, 2010, 5:30 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.
Location: OKC Campus Lobby
Cost: N/A
Contact: suzi.hanson@lifechurch.tv

Description: Are you a new or nearly new LifeGroup Leader? This event is for you! Get to know your campus staff, find out about LifeGroup resources and learn how your group can make an impact!!


Family-ID – Status: Open
Date: February 27th, 2010, 8:30 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.
Location: OKC Campus
Cost: Pre-register: $79, After 2/24/10: $99
Contact: suzi.hanson@lifechurch.tv

Description: Every family ends up somewhere. Few end up somewhere on purpose. Shouldn’t you make sure yours does? Preregister cost: $79 After 2/24/10: $99. For more information or to register, visit www.family-id.com

Margin – Week 3

For week three of Margin, Pastor Craig is going to talk about how we can achieve margin in our finances. Chances are most of the people in your LifeGroup are bound by financial debt or have some sort of financial stress in their lives that keeps holding them back. In fact, you may be experiencing a lack of financial margin in your life as well.

In his message, Craig is going to show us that all we have to do to create financial margin is to simply put God first in our finances. He will also be using a number of scriptures in his message including 1 Timothy 6:6-10, Matthew 6:19-21 and Malachi 3:8-10. You might consider reading and studying these passages as you prepare to lead your LifeGroup. Furthermore, talking about finances is not an easy subject so be open and transparent with your LifeGroup as you lead them through this discussion. Your openness and honesty will help others in your group open up as well.

If you have several in your group that are struggling with their finances, this might be a good time to talk them about going through Financial Peace University together. This program designed by Dave Ramsey is one of the best curriculums available in teaching others how to manage finances in a way that honors God and live debt free. You can learn more by clicking here.

Finally, here are a few of the questions that you will find in this week’s Talk It Over study guide that will help you as you prepare to lead your LifeGroup through week three of Margin.

• How are you currently experiencing financial stress? How does that stress affect your life?
• Even though we all know better, why do you think most of us tend to be foolish with our money and possessions?
• Describe how you have seen tithing build your faith and break the cycle of materialism and consumerism in your life?
• In what ways has God blessed you with more of things that truly matter in life?

Margin – Week 2

“Say ‘no’ to many good things so that you can say ‘yes’ to the best things.” Pastor Craig made that statement during a sermon series about seven or eight years ago and since that time has become one of my core values. I, like many people, am guilty of taking on too many projects or tasks that are good things, but the unfortunate byproduct of being too busy is that we may end up missing the very best that God has in store for our lives. I realized that I do not want to miss out on God’s very best for my life so I am careful about what projects I undertake and how I utilize my time. I have learned that it is okay to say “no.”

During week two of Margin, Craig is going to revisit this concept and explain the importance of creating margin in our schedules. In his message, Craig will show us from Ephesians 5:15-17 and Romans 12:2 how we can schedule wisely by asking the right questions and learning to say no to things that are good, but may ultimately distract us from God’s very best. For those of you who will be leading your LifeGroups through this week’s Talk It Over, you might want to consider reading and studying these verses as well as Matthew 6:33 and Matthew 11:28-29.

Also, to help you in preparing to lead your LifeGroup during week two of Margin, here are a few of the questions you can expect to find in this week’s Talk It Over study guide:

• The “normal” pattern of today’s society is busyness meaning that if we are not busy we are not productive. What things in your life are keeping you too busy? How is that busyness affecting all areas of your life?
• Describe a time when you said “no” to something good that ultimately allowed you to say “yes” to God’s best.
• What are the things in your life that you value most? Does the way you use your time reflect those values? Why or why not?
• How important is your intimate time with God? How does that time impact your daily life?

Margin – Week 1

This weekend Pastor Craig kicks off a brand new series entitled Margin. In this series, Craig is going to show us the importance of having margin in our lives and how we can achieve it in the midst of busy schedules and the distractions of everyday life. In week one of this series, Craig is going to give us an introduction to margin by defining it as “the amount available beyond what is necessary.”

As you prepare to lead your LifeGroup this week, spend time reading and studying Luke 10:38-42 as this will be the key passage that Craig uses for this weekend’s message. Also, for those of you who will be leading your LifeGroups through the Talk It Over, here are a few of the questions you can expect to find that will help you in your preparation:

• When margin decreases, stress increases. What are some of the things that currently cause you the most stress? How is that stress affecting your life?
• A lack of margin is a reflection of idolatry. What are some of things you are placing before God? How will you go about putting God first?
• How have you found rest and comfort through Christ? How did that rest ultimately lead to satisfaction?

One Thing

Now that the holidays are over and we have finally dug out from the great Oklahoma blizzard of 2009, it’s time for us all to come back to reality and jump back into our daily routines. As we start a new year, I want to encourage you to really reflect upon what Pastor Craig said this weekend during his One Thing message. Now that 2009 is over and is in the past, let us all as LifeGroup leaders make this new year something completely different where we not only grow deeper in our relationship with Christ, but we also lead our groups to grow spiritually like never before.

As you lead your groups this week, think about casting a vision for your LifeGroup in 2010. For starters, ask your group to answer honestly the four questions that Craig asked during the message of the one things we need to indentify and do in 2010:

• What one thing do you desire from God?
• What one thing do you lack?
• What one thing do you need to let go?
• What one promise do you need to claim?

As you lead your LifeGroup through these questions, consider going one step further and setting some specific goals for your LifeGroup this year. If you are unsure of where to begin in creating your 2010 LifeGroup goals, here a few questions you might consider:

• How do we want to see our LifeGroup grow spiritually?
• How do we want to grow our LifeGroup relationally?
• What types of things would you group like to study this year?
• What types of specific mission opportunities would your group like to undertake in 2010?
• How can your LifeGroup impact your local community this year?
• How would you like to see your group grow and multiply in 2010?
• Which people in your LifeGroup would you like to focus on developing as leaders? How will you go about developing them?

These are just a few questions to start your thinking. I highly encourage you to not ignore setting goals for your LifeGroup over the next week. If every group has their own unique vision, then LifeChurch.tv will be full of some of the most spiritually-strong LifeGroups that are making a difference in their local communities. Go and make 2010 the best year ever.

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