Wk 1 // August 3 & 4
Wk 1 // GREAT STORIES
August 3 & 4, 2024
Small Group Study
SERMON RECAP
Spend a few minutes recapping this week's sermon together.
Tap here to view the sermon notes.
INTRODUCTION
Stories are powerful. From the youngest of ages, we are saturated with various stories of whimsy, morality, honor, and adventure. In many ways, stories help to shape us into the adults we become. This creative storytelling impulse comes from our Creator and is so eloquently modeled for us through Jesus’s teachings.
STUDY [tap on scripture to read]
HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ Mark 4:1-12
Sometimes stories are most powerful when they aren’t spoonfed to us. Working to understand something makes it sink in much deeper. Maybe it is worthwhile to invite God to make our heads hurt sometimes so that we can grow into all he desires for us.
HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ Mark 4:13-20
This is where the rubber meets the road! Having to classify ourselves as hardhearted, corrupted, jaded, or pure and open to the beautiful leading of God… well, that’s not always a comfortable thing to admit. Jesus didn’t desire for us to experience comfort. He desired for us to embrace the better life that stems only out of obedience to God so that his direction and protection are seen plainly.
APPLICATION
PRAYER
Pray that God would make the condition of your heart (or soil) plain to you and call you to the exponential life he desires for you.
August 3 & 4, 2024
Small Group Study
SERMON RECAP
Spend a few minutes recapping this week's sermon together.
Tap here to view the sermon notes.
- What was one takeaway from this week's sermon for you?
- Were there any stories, ideas, or points that stuck out?
- Was there anything that challenged you?
INTRODUCTION
- What was your favorite book or story as a small child? Why?
- What do you think is the most well-known teachable story in our culture (like “Boy Who Cried Wolf”, “Tortoise & the Hare”, etc.)?
Stories are powerful. From the youngest of ages, we are saturated with various stories of whimsy, morality, honor, and adventure. In many ways, stories help to shape us into the adults we become. This creative storytelling impulse comes from our Creator and is so eloquently modeled for us through Jesus’s teachings.
STUDY [tap on scripture to read]
HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ Mark 4:1-12
- Why do you think Jesus used this storytelling method of preaching to people?
- Rather than the farming analogy of Jesus’ time, what might be a way to tell this story with an example that is more common in our culture today?
Sometimes stories are most powerful when they aren’t spoonfed to us. Working to understand something makes it sink in much deeper. Maybe it is worthwhile to invite God to make our heads hurt sometimes so that we can grow into all he desires for us.
HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ Mark 4:13-20
- On your more difficult days, which soil do you most relate with? Why that one?
- What is the one thing in your life that seems to keep messing with your soil?
This is where the rubber meets the road! Having to classify ourselves as hardhearted, corrupted, jaded, or pure and open to the beautiful leading of God… well, that’s not always a comfortable thing to admit. Jesus didn’t desire for us to experience comfort. He desired for us to embrace the better life that stems only out of obedience to God so that his direction and protection are seen plainly.
APPLICATION
- What is one thing you can change in your daily life this week to improve the condition of your soil?
- What does it look like for you to produce a crop of 30x, 60x, or 100x?
PRAYER
Pray that God would make the condition of your heart (or soil) plain to you and call you to the exponential life he desires for you.