Small Group Guide

A BLESSED HOME: PURSUING GOD AS A FAMILY

The Church at Brook Hills Matt MasonOctober 2, 2016Deuteronomy 6

MAIN TRUTH

Message Summary

In light of Parent Commissioning this week, we pause our sermon series on Acts in order to focus on what it looks like to pursue God as a family. While this message does specifically address parents, it applies to the entire church because all believers have a responsibility to disciple the next generation. As Pastor Matt stated in the sermon, “We don’t have a more important stewardship as a church than that of investing God’s truth in the children He’s brought us.” In Deuteronomy 6, Moses teaches the Israelites how to live as the people of God, and from this chapter, we surmise three traits of a blessed home: a place where God is worshiped, a place where the Bible is treasured, and a place where the gospel is rehearsed. As Christian parents and as the church that comes alongside parents, our role in treasuring Christ and in sharing Him with others is never over, and our words and our actions should point others to Him as the only One Who is worthy of our worship.

WHY IT MATTERS

Digging Deeper

Not every member of every small group who uses this guide is a parent. Some are single, some are married without kids, some might have had a child die, and some might even be struggling with infertility. Depending on the life stage and the life story of those in your group, be sensitive with what questions you choose and with how you think about applying these truths. If you do have individuals who are not parents, be sure to emphasize how these truths apply personally: how are they worshiping God, treasuring the Bible, and rehearsing the gospel? These truths also apply in that being disciple-makers makes us spiritual parents, so while a Christian may not have biological children, they can have spiritual children or people in whom they are investing. This point can also provide an opportunity to challenge group members to make disciples and to even discuss what this involves and how they can begin discipling someone.

In the sermon, Pastor Matt mentioned that we all have a responsibility for investing God’s truth in the children in our church and in our lives. Discuss what it looks like to come alongside parents in our church. How can this small group do this for families in the church as well as for unbelieving families group members may know? Also, God may have placed other children in your sphere of influence. Whom has God put in your life? How can you speak truth, share the gospel, or even encourage their parents? This could extend from serving in Preschool Ministry to wrapping around a foster family to intentionally talking about God with the kids you babysit or tutor. No matter our age or life stage, our role in discipling the next generation is never over. We never reach a point where we have served our time and can retire in this particular area.

If you have parents in the group, ask them if there are one or two particular things that they would like for the group to pray for them, and spend time praying for these things specifically during this group meeting. Pray for wisdom and strength in parenting as well as for the salvation of their children. Pray for the parents to prioritize their own relationship with God and their marriage above their children.

NOW WHAT DO WE DO?

Group Discussion & Application

Use the following questions to examine what the sermon and its text mean, to apply the Word to your life, and to guide how you pray.

  1. How are you involved in investing God’s truth in the children He has brought to our church or into your life? How can you be involved in such efforts, if you are not already?
  2. If you are a parent, in what ways are you currently pursuing God as a family? In what areas do you need to change, so you can honor God as a family? How can you begin to do this? If you are married and without kids, apply these questions to your marriage.
  3. How do you know if God is the One who is worshiped in your home? What characteristics in your life and in your home indicate that it is God-centered?
  4. Read Deuteronomy 6:5. In your own life, what does it look like to love God wholeheartedly? How can you teach others to love God with all that they have?
  5. If God is not first in your life and in your home, how can you change and move towards this becoming the case?
  6. Read Deuteronomy 6:16. At Massah, Israel complained to the Lord and did not trust Him to provide (see Ex. 17:1-7). In doing so, they “tested” the Lord. In what ways do we put God to the test, especially when hard times hit? What does it teach our children and others when we test the Lord? What are you modeling and teaching others when you face a trial? How can you let others see and hear you trust in God in such seasons, not to self-righteously demonstrate your own spirituality but to point them to God?
  7. What does it look like for a Christ-follower to treasure the Bible? Do your words and your actions indicate that you treasure the Bible? How is reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on Scripture a priority in your life and in your family. If it is not a priority, why? What needs to change in order to make it a priority?
  8. What are reasons why a Christ-follower would not read God’s Word regularly or not love, value, or hunger for its truth?
  9. What can it look like for you to read Scripture together as a family? Why is this important? How can you make this fun and age-appropriate? How can you get started if this is not something you are currently doing?
  10. How can you encourage your children or those you disciple to value reading and studying the Bible?
  11. How is the Word of God shaping your conduct? How do you see it changing you – your speech, your attitude, your friendships, your parenting, your confession of sin, you resisting temptation, your work ethic, etc.?
  12. How is it true that we never move past our need for the gospel?
  13. How has parenting shown you your sin, inadequacy, and need for God? If you do not have children, how has evangelizing and discipling shown you your sin, inadequacy, and need for God? How have you seen parenting/discipling draw you closer to God?
  14. Do your kids or those whom you disciple know the gospel? If not, how can you begin to teach them the gospel?
  15. God’s grace is not dependent on your works. How is this truth evident in your parenting or in your disciple-making efforts?
  16. What aspect of the gospel do you need to rehearse to yourself this week or in this season? Why?
  17. In your life and with your kids, how can you nurture an awareness of God and how He is at work? What is an example of what it looks like to “encourage anything that moves spiritually in them”? How can you help them see that God is real and that He is at work in them or around them?
  18. What do you need from this small group or from the church to help you as you parent? As you disciple?
  19. In what ways do you need encouragement and prayer in this season of parenting or disciple-making?

Resources for Small Group Leaders

Weekly Prayer Focus (from Our Worship Guide)

  • Pray for Our Lives:
  • Praise God for the families that He has brought to be part of our larger faith family.
  • Pray for all parents within our church to readily and joyfully embrace their responsibility to make disciples of their own children.
  • Ask God to guide and strengthen new parents as they discover how to live in this new role.
  • Pray we will all join our families in raising up succeeding generations in knowledge of and surrender to Christ.
  • Ask the Holy Spirit to specifically help us in instilling a love for God’s Word into children and students.
  • Pray our faith family and the families in our church will be places where God is worshiped, the Bible is treasured, and the gospel is rehearsed.
  • Pray for Our City:
  • Pray for Red Mountain Grace, a non-profit organization dedicated as a place of refuge for out-of-town patients and caregivers who are receiving extended medical treatment in Birmingham.
  • Pray for Christ Church in Trussville and for Pastor James Dickson.
  • Pray for Our World:
  • Pray for Brook Hills partner, the International Mission Board (IMB), which is the primary mission organization for Southern Baptist churches, and the IMB is one of our main partners in sending Short-Term, Mid-Term, and Long-Term missionaries. To learn more about the IMB, visit imb.org.

“A Blessed Home: Pursuing God as a Family,”October 2, 2016 | Page 1