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The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.
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Love
Teaching Texts: 1 Peter 2: 4-6
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by Godand precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
Spirit-empowered
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
Think of a conversation that you had that changed your life.
Share this with your group.
John 3: 1-8
This is a pivotal conversation for how we understand salvation
Being united to God through Jesus
Being forgiven for our sins - anything that would separate us
Being filled with the life of God
“We are not begotten by God, we are only made by Him: in our natural state we are not sons of God, only (so to speak) statues. We have not got Zoe or spiritual life: only Bios or biological life which is presently going to run down and die. Now the whole offer which Christianity makes is this: that we can, if we let God have His way, come to share in the life of Christ. If we do, we shall then be sharing a life which was begotten, not made, which always has existed and always will exist. Christ is the Son of God. If we share in this kind of life we also shall be sons of God. We shall love the Father as He does and the Holy Ghost will arise in us. He came to this world and became a man to spread to other men the kind of life He has…Every Christian is to become a little Christ.” – C.S. Lewis
We are to be Little Christs built together into a spiritual house.
What is this spiritual house like?
A house of peace
A house of priests
A house of gifts
A house of compassion
A house of presence
A house of peace - God has given His life - the living stone - rejected by men and chosen by God to bring us to a place of peace (Ephesians 2 v 12-18)
So the question is, are we living that experience of PEACE WITH GOD which is your spiritual inheritance?
Is there a disconnect between your positional peace, received through Jesus, and the experiential peace in your life?
A house of priests
You are being built into a spiritual house; to be a holy priesthood
What do priests do?
Help people remember and connect with the presence of God.
Hears confession - to be those who really listen to those around us
Really, listening seems to be something of a lost art in the internet age
To be those who can receive and enter into other people’s stories
Communicates mercy
To say there is forgiveness available
To say the heart of Christianity is a man dying for His enemies
Intercession
To be those who pray fervently for the needs of those around us
Who stands in the gap
Speaking God’s Word
Encouraging and building each other up
Remembering that God’s words and promises will not fail
A house of gifts
We are given a picture in the New Testament of a people equipped to love in the way of Jesus by the power and gifting of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12 v 4-13)
A house of compassion (Romans 12 v 9-18)
How do you react when someone gets a win in their life?
How do you feel when you see the pain of another?
Jesus was moved by compassion - it stirred Him at the center of His being
A house of presence
There is a beautiful picture in 1 Corinthians 14
When people are living as a house of peace, walking in their gifts, moved by compassion.
When people are speaking God’s words - as the priesthood of all believers
Someone would come in from the outside and say – SURELY GOD IS AMONG YOU
What parts of a spiritual house do you feel is not as it is intended to be in your life?
Do you need peace with God?
Do you long for the distinguishing part of your life to be that God is with you?
Do you need to know or begin to live in your Spiritual Gifts?
