Entrusted- CG Leader’s Guide
Week 1: October 23-29, 2016 (Sermon Subject: Time)
Bottom Line: You’ve been given time. How are you using what you’ve been given?
Community Group Leader instructions: In preparation for the following group discussions and the use of the provided material, take a few moments to read through the instructions below.
***This group curriculum is written in a “funnel” format. The deeper you go into the questions, the deeper you get into community, application and accountability. So if time is an issue, get to the last couple questions even if you have to bypass others.***
Before the group meeting:
1. Spend time engaging the “Passages for Study/discussion” with prayer.
2. Read through all material.
· As you look through it, you will find helpful tips in the “Leader Guide” section that will allow you to better facilitate the discussion.
· At times, sermon notes may be provided by DBC, and in the meantime your own sermon notes would be beneficial.
· The “other passages” is a collection of the verses referenced throughout the series.
· “Other resources” is a growing list of helpful tools for more personal study. You need not make a big deal of them unless someone wants to know more about a particular topic.
3. Think through ways you can help your group apply what is being taught instead of “knowing” what’s been taught.
· Write out 2-3
At the Group Meeting:
1. Summarize/Read the “Intro”
2. Assign readers for the passages outlined in the “Passages for study” section.
3. Walk your group through each question (or as many that time will allow). Use the leader guide to facilitate the discussion.
4. Summarize the “Review & Reflection” section. Reading this aloud may be helpful.
5. Share your thoughts on how you and your group can begin to apply what was learned in this lesson. Help them formulate ideas for reading, studying, and meditating on the scriptures.
May you dig into this CG experience and find that “Our time is to be managed as stewards not consumed as owners.”
I. Intro: This world has many trap doors that lead our lives into being overstressed, underfinanced, and overcommitted. In this group time, we will dig into the temptations we face, the voices we listen to, and the person or Person we commit our time too.
II. Passages for study: Psalm 90:1-12; Romans 5:12, 6:23; 1 Cor. 15:21
Background of the passage: A Psalm of Moses
Main passage: Psalm 90:12 NIV 84, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
III. Discussion Questions:
1. Icebreaker: If you could spend the afternoon with any person who is not alive, who would it be? Why?
2. After reading Psalm 90:1-12, what does this passage say about God?
3. In your opinion, why would Moses say that God is from “everlasting to everlasting”?
4. Have you ever said, “I wish I had more time” or “I just don’t have enough time”? Of course, you have. The puritan William Penn said, “Time is what we want most but what we use worst.” This may be partially true of you. Is there something that tempts you to waste time? If so, what is it?
5. As Ferris Bueller once famously said in the 1980’s classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” In other words, you can live life on autopilot and miss the best things in life. You cannot afford to live life on autopilot. To get movement into reprioritizing our time, we have to get outside our normal to do list mentality. Consider making a “Kingdom impact list”. What would your life be like if you started making a daily “Kingdom” impact list?
6. What kinds of things would be on your Kingdom impact list?
7. Is there anything you would have to change to maximize your time for this Kingdom impact list?
8. What is the one thing you must do to ensure you steward your time well?
IV. Review & Reflection:
Time is one of our most valuable resources that we cannot replenish. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. Time used well can glorify God or glorify self. How are you using what you’ve been given? Does the time spent on ______simply benefit me or the Kingdom of God?
V. Other Passages:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NIV 84
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1 Corinthians 15:21 NIV 84, “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.”
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Romans 5:12 NIV 84, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—“
______Exodus 20:11 NIV 84, “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
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I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 NIV 84
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So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 2:17-19 NIV 84
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There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless— a miserable business! 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:7-12 NIV 84
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For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV 84
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For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:10 NIV 84
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