Grow Group Questions – August 1, 2021
Announcements for your Group:
Mercy Justice Fun Day! We are asking your Grow Group to help us with this day designed to bless foster care families and children on August 21st. We need groups to volunteer to run carnival games. Everything will be supplied, we just need your group to run the booth. Arrive at 10 a.m. and the event ends at 2 p.m. so after everything is cleaned up your time to serve will be done. REGISTER ONLINE.
Conversation Starter/Questions (10 minutes)
When you hear the word “lust” what comes to mind? What definitions of this word do you think of? Why is it important to recognize that this is not only a “man issue”?
Sermon Based Questions (15-20 minutes)
Read Matthew 5:8 – Besides eternity, what do you think it means to see God in our life today?
Matthew 27-30
How does the explanation of lust in vs 27-30 impact your understanding of where sin begins? Does this impact your understanding of lust?
Definition of lust: (n) a moment in time when a desire becomes overwhelming to the senses in which it monopolizes the focus of an individual inappropriately. (v) when an individual is in the process of inappropriately desiring, fantasizing, or planning on engaging the object desired for personal fulfilment.
Discuss with your group the difference between healthy sexual desire and lust.
Digging Deeper (20-25 minutes)
Read 1 Cor 6:18; 1 Cor 10:13. Jesus utilized hyperbolic language in vv. 27-30 to communicate the importance of being pure in heart in regards to sexual misconduct or lust and asks us to take action against it. What do you do to be proactive against lust, whether it is sexual or something else?
Read Phil 4:8. Instead of only focusing on what we should not do, what does Paul tell us to focus on and how does this help us stay “pure in heart”. What are specific examples of the type of things (prue things, noble things etc.) Paul is talking about in this verse that help you focus on what is pure over sinful desires?
Read 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 which Pastor David spoke about a few weeks ago. How should a Christian relate to and respond to our culture which promotes and celebrates lustful living?
Challenge and Prayer (10-15 minutes)
Remind yourself of Matthew 5:8 – Spend time praying as a group for each other and the rest of the church to seek a pure heart so that we can see God.