Community Group Guide

> Why We Gather

At The Springs Church, we desire for community groups to be a place where we BEHOLD JESUS, BECOME LIKE JESUS, and BELONG IN COMMUNITY. This means that our primary goal for groups is to gather around the transforming presence of Christ. As we gather around the transforming presence of Jesus, we believe by faith that we will be incrementally transformed into His image and likeness. With that in mind, let's begin in prayer by asking the Holy Spirit to lead our time together, move on our hearts, and help us behold Jesus, become Like Jesus, and experince the gift of belonging in community. Let's pray.

> Announcements

  • Last week of Community Groups for the Fall semester is next week, December 8th-14th!
  • Save the Date!! Our Candlelight Chirstmas Service will be on December 17th at 7 PM!

> Give Thanks

Take a few moments to briefly share about anything that you are thankful unto the Lord for? Perhaps you've witnessed God answer a prayer or experienced a moment that strengthened your faith. Feel free to share any recent occurrences that have encouraged you or instances where you've felt God's presence at work in your life.

> Scripture Reading

Have someone read 2 Corinthians 5:11-21.

Does anything stand out to from the text or Sunday's sermon?

> Discussion Questions

The Gospel Transforms Lives

Pastor Peter shared in his sermon how the gospel transformed his life. In our scripture passage, Paul is similarly describing the incredible way lives are transformed by Christ Jesus. The backdrop to this passage is that various members of the Corinthian church has criticized Paul in many ways. They thought he was unqualified, or too controlling, or not gifted enough. In the early part of the passage, Paul redirects away from addressing those criticisms to focus on the gospel that he declares and the power of Christ to change lives. In doing this, Paul gives his main defense against their criticisms: that God has worked in his life and is at work in his ministry.

Reflection Question: Spend some time reading the passage to identify some contrasts that Paul makes. These contrasts may be between someone’s life before they follow Jesus and after they follow Jesus, or they may be contrasts between what Christ has done for us and how we respond to him.

Reflection Question: How have you experienced the kind of transformation that Paul describes in this passage? How do you need to experience it more?

Salvation is Our Response to Christ

A key idea in this passage is that anything we do to serve God arises as our response to what Jesus first did for us. As Pastor Peter shared in his sermon, this idea is what separates Christianity from other world religions and philosophies. Christianity does not tell us what we need to do to connect to God or to be made perfect. Christianity tells us what God has already done to connect us to him and to make us perfect. As Peter said, a philosophy might make a bad person less bad or a good person better, but it will never make a dead person alive. The miracle of the gospel of Jesus is that he can transform our lives and bring spiritually dead people to spiritual life with God.

Reflection Question: What does Paul emphasize in the passage about what Jesus has done for us? What does he describe as our right response?

Reflection Question: Why is it good news that God accepts us based on what Jesus has done, not based on what we have done? Why is this a stumbling block that makes some people reject Christianity?

God Saves Us for His Mission

Paul emphasizes in the passage how God not only saves us for our good, but also so that we can share good news with others. We get to join God in his mission to reconcile people to himself. Pastor Peter emphasized five things about this mission:

  1. God’s mission is global – God is reconciling the world to himself and this call is for all peoples.

  2. God’s mission is local – God works through local communities who share life together and who show God’s love to their community.

  3. God’s mission is personal – Christ died to save you and to make you a new creation in his kingdom. God invites you to be reconciled to him in Jesus.

  4. God’s mission is supernatural – The way Jesus transforms lives is a miracle. God also works other kinds of miracles through his people to show his power and goodness.

  5. God’s mission is vulnerable – Paul is highly vulnerable in this letter sharing his heart with the Corinthian church that had criticized him in so many ways. What is important is that Paul is not just sharing a philosophy or teaching, he shared his life and his love with this church that he planted.

Reflection Question: Which of these aspects of God’s mission do you need to pray to be able to live out this Advent season?

Reflection Question: Who are people that you want to serve in Jesus’ name this week? How can we be praying for your participation in God’s mission?

> Confession and Prayer

Reflect and Pray: As we sit with this passage, ask God to bring to mind anything you need to confess or need prayer for. Take a moment to share and pray for one another. Feel free to split up into pairs depending on the group size.